The+Kite+Runner

EN3041/EN3051 Reid Linforth Instr.: A. van Beinum Oct. 26, 2009 media type="googlemap" key="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Kabul,+Afghanistan&daddr=Jalalabad,+Afghanistan&geocode=&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=34.528455,69.171703&sspn=6.180218,9.876709&ie=UTF8&ll=34.528455,69.171703&spn=6.180218,9.876709&t=h&output=embed" width="425" height="350" align="right"

**// The Kite Runner //** //By Khaled Hosseini// a) I would suggest using this text in grade 11 or 12 university prep. classes b) __Social knowledge__ __Textual knowledge__ __Cultural knowledge__
 * __Novel Study Assignment__:**
 * Language is a little complex, almost poetic
 * Book a little long – though could easily look at sections or chapters with students less proficient in text reading and analysis
 * Messages not too deeply coded – different layers, can talk about social justice issues arising just from plot development
 * BUT some graphic content – violence, a few graphic deaths, and the image of a young boy getting raped that is revisited throughout
 * hits all the social justice topics identified by the Canadian Centre for Social Justice (@http://www.socialjustice.org/ )
 * economic inequality
 * racial inequality – protagonist’s best friend is a Hazara, regarded as inferior
 * gender inequality – not many female voices in text, but discusses double standards
 * health inequality – not as directly as others, but definitely present
 * peace and justice – several wars, political changes, extremism
 * 1st person narrative
 * Framed in ‘present’ with flashbacks that run more or less chronologically
 * Some insertions, ‘visions’ out of order, usually foreshadowing
 * Sections of matrix language – Dari or Pashto (I wouldn’t know the difference, so that’s a limitation for me)
 * Bildingsroman, and search for redemption for internalized guilt, from a perceived crime – though character is also a victim
 * Won’t “Spoil the End” – because I hope you all read it
 * Afghan culture is focus, in Afghanistan, Pakistan and US
 * Familiar to some, new to others (I for one, knew little and am still learning)
 * Personal telling, compared to news footage
 * Difference & similarities between Afghan and North American culture as narrator travels between them
 * Kites represent a constant through many cultures, as mentioned in the text
 * Immigrant experience in US
 * Multiple language, matrix text
 * Could be used in conjunction with //Kiss of the Fur Queen//, by Tomson Highway (Native Canadian experience) or //The Wars// by Timothy Findley (white European Canadian experience)
 * Some critics suggest depicts Taliban in demonic light: nemesis
 * Reversal of opinions – blurs lines, heroes questioned

__Topic knowledge__
 * Historical: Afghanistan before Soviet invasion, before Taliban rule, before 9/11 and the ongoing war that ensued
 * Geographical: narrator travels to several places in Afghanistan and into Pakistan, which some students may not be familiar with
 * Could use maps as visual reference

[|Interview with author Khaled Hosseini]

c) __Assignment__
 * //__Social Justice Seminars__//**
 * divide class into 5 equal groups
 * each group will select a social justice issue (as defined by the Canadian Centre for Social Justice, www.socialjustice.org)
 * economic inequality
 * racial inequality
 * gender inequality
 * health inequality
 * peace and justice
 * other groups/issues can be added
 * groups will create a 20 minute presentation for the class that will
 * reference to at least one other fiction and one non-fiction text //per member// (each member will be responsible for one of each -- presentation of these need not be done by the same member)
 * employ at least one visual component //per member// (ie. 5 visuals) (overhead, handout, manipulable, poster, etc)
 * relate to today's Canadian society (in Toronto)
 * add personal experiences to the discussion, if possible
 * students should hand in their research notes for feedback (one week) ahead of the presentation
 * should include list of sources / citations
 * students will hand in their presentation notes for feedback (3-5 days) ahead of the presentation
 * after the presentations are complete, students will hand in a two-page analysis of their own personal inquiry in social justice that will
 * reference three seminar presentations, which can (and should) include reference to their own presentation
 * reflect on what they have learned