SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE English Department YOUR NAME: Jasmine Pascua Advanced Reading 0990 DATE: November

11, 2013

Signature Assignment FICTION BOOK RESPONSE

Title: Kite Runner

Author: Khaled Hosseini

____________________________________________________________________ Brief description of the author: (Two four paragraphs) Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1965. His mother was a Farsi and history teacher and his father was a diplomat in the Afghan Foreign Ministry, which relocated him and his family to Paris in 1976. In 1980 the Soviet Army was invading his homeland. He and his family then moved to San Jose, California. Hosseini earned a bachelors degree in biology in 1988 from Santa Clara University and in 1993 he earned a medical degree from the University of California in San Diego. He practiced medicine as an internist between 1996 and 2004. Hosseini later established The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, which provides opportunities, shelter, education and health care for refugee families. In 2003, Hosseini debuted his first novel, The Kite Runner and published his second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, a New York Times bestseller for an entire year. His third novel, And the Mountains Echoed, was published earlier this year. He now lives in Northern California with his wife, Roya, and his two children, Farah and Harris.

1 Advanced Reading 0990

Characters

Amir Hassan Soraya Baba Ali Rahim Khan Sohrab

Setting

Kabul, Afghanistan (1970-1990) San Francisco, California (1990-2001)

Theme

Persistance of the past Redemption - Atonement of sin Father and son relationships Social class and ethnic tension

Plot

Hassan and Amir grew up together. Amir was a Pashtun and Hassan was a Hazara. They were like brothers, except Hassan and his father, Ali, were servants to Amir and his father, Baba. Although Hassan and Amir were like brothers, Amir was always unfair to Hassan. Amir would tease him, make him fight his battles, get him in trouble, blames everything on him and kept silent about Hassan's rape. Because of this, Amir eventually drove Hassan and Ali away to Pakistan at the start of the invasion of the Soviet Army. Baba and Amir fled to California. Separated by countries and thousands of miles, Amir is still haunted by the actions he has made towards Hassan as a child. Amir marries Soraya and Baba dies shortly after their marriage. Amir and Soraya are unable to have children and Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan, who was more of a father to him than his own. Amir visits Rahim Khan and he tells Amir that Hassan and his wife are dead. Rahim Khan makes a request for Amir to save Sohrab, Hassan's son, to atone for his sins.

2 Advanced Reading 0990

Why did you choose this book? (Type one or more paragraphs) I chose this book because a friend who read it in high school recommended it to me. She said the book was amazing! She was at a loss for words on how amazing the book was. It taught things about society and the events that occurred drew the reader to become emotionally attached and addicted. REFLECTION: Type your personal reflections on the book in one three paragraphs.

The book compels you to become emotionally attached. The descriptions of the settings were accurate and the ending was perfect. The events that occurred in the book do not just provide entertainment but they provide prospective, insight, and emotion. What you gain from this book is life changing. The prospective lies within the society and how Pashtuns and Hazaras are on different sides of the social spectrum but how they could also get along with the example of Hassan and Amir. The cowardice that Amir displayed when he was a child contributed greatly into a major theme: the past cannot be buried but your sins can be forgiven. There was lot of symbolism used in the book that tied with the themes perfectly like including the invasion and its effects on society, the kite and how it represents recreation and joy and the tournament leading into the turning point of the storyline. The storyline made me emotionally engaged. It was unexpected, though there was a lot of foreshadowing, which puts quality into the book. Emotional engagement is what gives a book its spark, its what makes this book as amazing and as powerful as it is.

3 Advanced Reading 0990