Thursday, January 24, 2013

English IV: Critical Thinking Expression and Interpretation Essay

There are quite a few instances of deformity or scarring in the novel. To name a few: Ali's limp, Hassan's cleft lip, Amir's scar, Assef's crushed eye, and Soraya's birthmark. Why do you think Hosseini included so many deformities and scars in the novel? Think of metaphorical deformities and metaphorical scars. How does Hosseini reveal these and in which characters do we see these? Try to think of the underlying themes we've discussed, as well as your understanding of the human psyche. What roles do these things play in the novel? How have they proven to be important thus far in the novel? What sort of "justice" is there in these metaphors?

Think critically and brainstorm a list of the metaphors as well as evidence to support them. In a comment to this post, construct a list of your group's ideas and explanations. Be prepared to discuss these ideas in front of the large group. This will be a participation grade.

Then, individually, chose at least TWO of the ideas from the discussion and construct a well-written (pay attention to structure, grammatical rules, and usage) essay to support your understanding and assertions. Write a minimum of 3 paragraphs (5-7 sentences each).

11 comments:

  1. Kyle, Zach, Lucas

    Ali has scars, both physical and mental. He has poli. He is deformed and can't walk right. Because of his deformities, he got called names by the kids. He was born Hazara, which put him already into the lower class. Finally he had a wife but couldn't have a kid. He had a kid but it wasn't his

    Hassan has a cleft. He was born a hazara. He was born without a mother that ran away. He was raped. That happening ruined his relationship with Amir.

    Amir had scars also. He was born without a mom. He had a half brother without even knowing it until after a long time after. He wasn't too close with his father. Finally, he got beat up trying to rescue Sorhab by Aseff.

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  2. Trae, Joe, Trevor

    Baba wife died he felt responsible for her death. He also felt bad for being hassan's father and never actually being there for him.

    Amir never really being the true child baba wanted. Knowing hassan was always the true real child baba wanted but couldn't truly have. The scar on his lip reminds him of hassan's.

    Hassan never knowing his mother and when he finally does she passes away. Being born as a hazara, no hope in being anything but that.

    Soraya knowing she could never give amir children, maybe because of the drugs and stuff she has done in the past.

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  3. Chris, Adam, Brianna
    There are many problems in the book that the characters go through. Amir has no idea what his life has been, when he goes to American he finds out the truth about his life. Amir realized that he is going to do what he wants with his life. He goes to school for a writer. Amir feels that Baba hates him because he is not wanted. He does not tell Amir anything about his mother. He feels gilt that his mother is gone because it was his fault. When she died after she gave birth to him. Hassan mother left after she gave birth to Hassan. Amir and Hassan was nursed by the same woman. People always making fun of Ali because of his muscle defect in his face, and he could not smile and he talked funny. Amir went back to Afghanistan and he finds out that Hassan was his half brother. Amir was feeling like he was betraying him for all them years. He did not treat Hassan with all the respect that he should of. Hassan never knew he had a brother because before Amir got there Hassan was shot by the Taliban. Baba was a very wealthy man in Afghanistan and then when he came to America he was not treated wealthy. There was a deal at the store, no body trust each other in America.

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  4. Amir is emotionally because he lost his mother and never knew her. He only had one parent to raise him. He never knew anything about his mother so he was always looking for details about his mother. his whole childhood and most of his adult life he lived wondering. He never got any information from Baba he got more info from a bum in one day then he did in a life time from Baba.

    Hassan was a very loyal friend to Amir. But when they were in public Amir acted like they were not friends. When Hassan was being raped he didn't do anything to help him. Amir set Hassan up by putting money under the bed and blamed it on Hassan. Even after all the years of being apart Hassan stayed loyal and tried writing Amir.

    Amir and Hassan were brothers and they never knew it. Baba kept it a secret because he didn't want people to talk. He loved Hassan as much as Amir. Baba never wanted to miss Hassan's birthday. Baba bawled when Hassan and Ali left. Hassan never knew they were related. Amir found out in his 30s
    Dakota friederick kalen backes jessica greve

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  5. Lexia and Jenny
    Hassan was scarred because he was a Hazara, he had a cleft lip, his mother left him and his father alone, he was rapped, Amir was a poor friend, he was always bossed around, he didn't know it but his real dad was Baba.
    Sohrab was also scarred. He lost his parents, grandma, and Rahim Khan. He was sent to an orphanage which was a bad experience for him. He was rapped by Assef. He found out that his uncle was Amir.

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  6. Tim Jones, Ryan Lucas, Nick Hefel

    Amir has the scar that split his upper lip that made him look like a clef lip, and a scar also by his eye, which made him feel just like a Hassan.
    Hassan has a clef lip that was fixed, he never fit in and being a hazara nobody liked him as much. He was always blamed for stuff that would be missing.

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  7. Logan Puelz, Jj Gerner, Brian Boardman

    Amir was scared in many different ways. One of those ways with his difficulty with his father. He does not feel like he is accepted. Hassan can stand up for himself but Amir cannot. Another way he is scared is because he cannot have children with his wife. Amir watched Hassan get rapped and saw him at his lowest point. Hassan also has many different scars. He is a Hazara so he feels like he does not fit in with everyone else. Hassan was raped which is a major scar. His mom just dropped him off and left and he never knew his mom until later. Amir never stood up for him when he needed him most.

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  8. Cory Preston, T.J. Schmitt, Pheonix Briggs

    Amir is scarred in many different ways. He watched Hassan, his best friend, get raped and didn't do anything to help him. He put money and a watch under Hassan's bed and accused him of stealing them to try and turn Baba against him. He's also scarred because he feels he is the reason his mom died after his birth. Baba is scarred because he had to keep the secret about Hassan. He had to leave his homeland and all his riches, and start over in poverty in America. Rahim Khan is scarred because he never told Amir or Hassan the truth about them being brothers. Sanubar was scarred because she left Hassan when he was born, and she tries to make up for it by taking care of Sohrab. Sohrab is scarred from everything that the Talib did to him. It makes him feel dirty and sinful because of what happened to him.

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  9. Orlando Ramos, Samantha Kephart, Brad Schumann

    Hassan has a cleft lip which his mother hated, so she wouldn't even hold him when he was first born. He also has a major emotional scar because he was raped by Assef when he was being loyal to Amir. Then afterwards, Amir no longer wanted to be his friend because of the guilt he had for not helping him. Also, Baba and Rahim Khan were scarred by the guilt of holding the truth from Amir and Hassan so they didn't know that they were brothers. Hassan's mom was also scarred because she felt guilty for leaving Hassan.

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  10. Jonah Davey, KeAndre Armstrong, Vanessa Marovets, Dana Meyer

    We believe that the author included all of these scars to show emotional issues. Its a way to portray how the characters are actually feeling.

    Baba is scarred because he has to keep that huge secret for basically his whole life. Baba also likes to be controlling, he wants to control Amir's life and tries to make him do things he might not want to do. This keeps Amir and Baba from becoming to close and therefore creates an emotional scar on both Amir and Baba.

    Amir can now relate to Hassan. Hassan actually has a facial scar. But after Amir sees him being raped, and chooses to keep it a secret and pretend he doesn't know about it, he is scarred emotionally and this secret scars him.

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  11. Jesse, Lindsey, Jayna

    Amir has guilt because of his mom dying while giving birth, watching Hassan get raped, holding everything in.
    - Thinks it’s his fault
    - Never got to know her
    - Felt he took Baba’s wife
    - Amir felt like he sinned Baba’s one sin: “Theft, for stealing the life of his wife
    - Watching the rape showed he was a coward
    - Watching the woman on the bus about to get raped brought back the memory
    - He tried to stop Baba from protecting said woman
    - He tried to forget about it, but inevitably it came back to haunt him


    Baba: Losing his wife, having to keep the secret from Amir, Control was a metaphorical deformity
    - Struggled with raising Amir alone
    - Leaving Afghanistan because of the Russians
    - Facing poverty in America
    - Having to try to adapt to America
    - Trying to control Amir’s life
    - Saying that Amir’s hobby had no hopes

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