Literary Analysis #2

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni


1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses (exposition, inciting incident, etc.).  Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose (based on your well-informed interpretation of same).
This story takes place from 1975-2001 mainly in Kabul, Afghanistan. We follow the story through the eyes of Amir, starting when he was a young boy all the way until about his mid-40s. We witness how his relationships with his 'best' friend and father change based on certain events and how this affects his personality and overall course of life. I believe Hosseni was trying to convey human nature with his story and basically it is us against ourselves, we are the only one holding ourselves back. He achieves this purpose by the story of Amir. Amir lets his instincts overtake him, he takes the easy road out on whatever the cause, trying not to face his fear. In the end Amir is swallowed up by his guilt and cannot fully live his life because of it.
2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. Avoid cliches.
As stated above I believe the theme of this novel his.
Humans vs. Themselves.
We are our own worst enemy (CLICHE. I know. I know.) But it's true in the fact that we only complicate our lives. Take for instance Amir's father. Baba lives his life in debt forever to his servants which is extremely ironic. Baba cast this upon himself when he slept the his servants wife and she had a child who also became his servant. This forced Baba to focus less of his time on his son and more on repaying his servants for his wrongs which ultimately leads to Amir believing he is not good enough of a son and spending his life trying to prove himself to his father.
3. Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
I believe the author uses a very forgiving tone throughout the story as shown in these quotes:
"There is a way to be good again"
(Rahim Khan says this to Amir in his phone conversation with him.)
"I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering it things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night."
"Forgive your father if you can. Forgive me if you wish. But most importantly, forgive yourself."
4. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. For each, please include textual support to help illustrate the point for your readers. (Please include edition and page numbers for easy reference.)
I am not going to answer this question so I can spend more time working on inlocopolitico

CHARACTERIZATION
1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization.  Why does the author use both approaches, and to what end (i.e., what is your lasting impression of the character as a result)?
An example of indirect characterization is when Amir witnesses Assef assault Hassan and does nothing about it, this shows he is a coward and afraid.
Another example is when Amir says this quote, “I was going to win, and I was going to run that last kite, Then I’d bring it home and show it to Baba. Show him once and all that his son was worthy” This quote shows Amir constant pleading for his Father's approval.
An example of direct characterization is:
"I can still see his tiny, low-set ears and that pointed stub of a chin, a meaty appendage that look like it was added as a mere afterthought. And the cleft lip, just left of mid line, where the Chinese doll maker's instrument may have slipped, or perhaps he had grown tired and careless"
and
"Born to a German mother and an Afghan father, the blond, blue eyed Assef towered over the other kids"
2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?  How?  Example(s)?
I don't believe so. The author's tone does change though. For example when Hassan is talking the tone is suddenly for calm and joyful while when Amir is talking it's often frantic and condescending.
3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic?  Flat or round?  Explain.
Amir is a Dynamic and Round character. We watch Amir avenge his guilt by adopting Sohrab and in the end realizing he never should've had the guilt the in the first place, that he was not a bad son. We also witness Amir as he is obedient around his father, fearful around Assef, and powerful towards Hassan.
4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?  Analyze one textual example that illustrates your reaction.
Yes I have met a character. We witness the story through Amir's eyes. When he has a major event happen to him we are with him when it happens and for the most part we react the same way he does. I will end this Literary Analysis with my favorite quote from the story:

""She said, 'I'm so afraid.' And I said, "Why?,' and she said, "Because I'm so profoundly happy, Dr. Rasul. Happiness like this is frightening.' I asked her why and she said, 'They only let you be this happy if they're preparing to take something from you,' and I said, 'Hush up, now. Enough of this silliness.'"

Brave New World Essay

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, while fictitiously showing the future possible advances of science and technology, is actually warning people of what science could become. In the Foreword of Brave New World, Huxley states: “The theme of Brave New World is not the advancement of science as such; it is the advancement of science as it affects human individuals”. He is not suggesting that this is how science should advance, but that science will advance the way that people allow it to. The novel is not supposed to depict a “utopian” society by any means, but it is supposed to disturb the reader and warn him not to fall into this social decay. Huxley uses satire to exploit both communism and American capitalism created by Ford.

Huxley’s first example of satire is that he shows elements of communism in the World State. Dictatorship is an element of communism and is shown in Brave New World by means of the World Controller, Mustapha Mond. In the World State, people “belong” to everyone else. Mustapha Mond, when lecturing students, says, “…’every one belongs to every one else’”. This thought in the novel is similar to that of communism where everyone shares everything. In Brave New World, however, Huxley takes this thought to another level. Sex, in the World State, is encouraged to occur with everybody. Even kids are encouraged to participate. People are scolded for having only one partner. Fanny, Lenina’s friends said, “’I really do think you ought to be careful. It’s such horribly bad form to go on and on like this with one man…’” . Lenina could possibly be punished for “having” only one man. This is how Huxley uses satire to exploit communism.

Huxley also uses satire to show that consumption is becoming a religion in America. Henry Ford is a god in this novel because he invented the assembly line. The assembly line creates a means for mass production of items. In the novel, mass production is how people are born. Because of this, Ford is an ideal god for the World State. He symbolizes a religion that lets a ruler rob people of their individuality for progress and stability. People in the novel use the name of Ford like people today use God’s name. Bernard, when talking to Lenina, said, “…’for Ford’s sake, be quiet!’”. This means that they see Henry Ford as their God. Huxley also uses the “T,” as in the model-T, instead of the cross as a symbol of what the people worship. This is a perfect example of how Huxley uses satire in Brave New World to show how people have made technology their god.

Aldous Huxley uses many examples of satire in Brave New World. The entire theme of the novel is one predominant example of this. Huxley warns people that society could become like the World State if the people allow it. He also uses satire to exploit communism. He gives the example that everyone belongs to everyone else, like the communists believe that everything they have goes to the government. Huxley also uses Ford as a god to show society what it has become. By creating a brave new world without morality, individuality, and religion, Huxley ironically shows their importance in society.

Brave New World Essay Prompt

State through the author's style and tone how Huxley relates his novel Brave New World as a satire to communism and American capitalism.

Ray Bradbury's The Last Night of the World

Originally published in the February 1951 issue of Esquire

"What would you do if you knew this was the last night of the world?"

"What would I do; you mean, seriously?"

"Yes, seriously."

"I don't know — I hadn't thought. She turned the handle of the silver coffeepot toward him and placed the two cups in their saucers.

He poured some coffee. In the background, the two small girls were playing blocks on the parlor rug in the light of the green hurricane lamps. There was an easy, clean aroma of brewed coffee in the evening air.

"Well, better start thinking about it," he said.

"You don't mean it?" said his wife.

He nodded.

"A war?"

He shook his head.

"Not the hydrogen or atom bomb?"

"No."

"Or germ warfare?"

"None of those at all," he said, stirring his coffee slowly and staring into its black depths. "But just the closing of a book, let's say."

"I don't think I understand."

"No, nor do I really. It's jut a feeling; sometimes it frightens me, sometimes I'm not frightened at all — but peaceful." He glanced in at the girls and their yellow hair shining in the bright lamplight, and lowered his voice. "I didn't say anything to you. It first happened about four nights ago."

"What?"

"A dream I had. I dreamt that it was all going to be over and a voice said it was; not any kind of voice I can remember, but a voice anyway, and it said things would stop here on Earth. I didn't think too much about it when I awoke the next morning, but then I went to work and the feeling as with me all day. I caught Stan Willis looking out the window in the middle of the afternoon and I said, 'Penny for your thoughts, Stan,' and he said, 'I had a dream last night,' and before he even told me the dream, I knew what it was. I could have told him, but he told me and I listened to him."

"It was the same dream?"

"Yes. I told Stan I had dreamed it, too. He didn't seem surprised. He relaxed, in fact. Then we started walking through offices, for the hell of it. It wasn't planned. We didn't say, let's walk around. We just walked on our own, and everywhere we saw people looking at their desks or their hands or out the windows and not seeing what was in front of their eyes. I talked to a few of them; so did Stan."

"And all of them had dreamed?"

"All of them. The same dream, with no difference."

"Do you believe in the dream?"

"Yes. I've never been more certain."

"And when will it stop? The world, I mean."

"Sometime during the night for us, and then, as the night goes on around the world, those advancing portions will go, too. It'll take twenty-four hours for it all to go."

They sat awhile not touching their coffee. Then they lifted it slowly and drank, looking at each other.

"Do we deserve this?" she said.

"It's not a matter of deserving, it's just that things didn't work out. I notice you didn't even argue about this. Why not?"

"I guess I have a reason," she said.

"The same reason everyone at the office had?"

She nodded. "I didn't want to say anything. It happened last night. And the women on the block are talking about it, just among themselves." She picked up the evening paper and held it toward him. "There's nothing in the news about it."

"No, everyone knows, so what's the need?" He took the paper and sat back in his chair, looking at the girls and then at her. "Are you afraid?"

"No. Not even for the children. I always thought I would be frightened to death, but I'm not."    

"Where's that spirit of self-preservation the scientists talk about so much?"

"I don't know. You don't get too excited when you feel things are logical. This is logical. Nothing else but this could have happened from the way we've lived."

"We haven't been too bad, have we?"

"No, nor enormously good. I suppose that's the trouble. We haven't been very much of anything except us, while a big part of the world was busy being lots of quite awful things."  

The girls were laughing in the parlor as they waved their hands and tumbled down their house of blocks.

"I always imagined people would be screaming in the streets at a time like this."

"I guess not. You don't scream about the real thing."

"Do you know, I won't miss anything but you and the girls. I never liked cities or autos or factories or my work or anything except you three. I won't miss a thing except my family and perhaps the change in the weather and a glass of cool water when the weather's hot, or the luxury of sleeping. Just little things, really. How can we sit here and talk this way?"

"Because there's nothing else to do."

"That's it, of course, for if there were, we'd be doing it. I suppose this is the first time in the history of the world that everyone has really known just what they were going to be doing during the last night."

"I wonder what everyone else will do now, this evening, for the next few hours."

"Go to a show, listen to the radio, watch the TV, play cards, put the children to bed, get to bed themselves, like always."

"In a way that's something to be proud of — like always."    

"We're not all bad."

They sat a moment and then he poured more coffee. "Why do you suppose it's tonight?"    

"Because."

"Why not some night in the past ten years of in the last century, or five centuries ago or ten?"

"Maybe it's because it was never February 30, 1951, ever before in history, and now it is and that's it, because this date means more than any other date ever meant and because it's the year when things are as they are all over the world and that's why it's the end."

"There are bombers on their course both ways across the ocean tonight that'll never see land again."

"That's part of the reason why."

"Well," he said. "What shall it be? Wash the dishes?"

They washed the dishes carefully and stacked them away with especial neatness. At eight-thirty the girls were put to bed and kissed good night and the little lights by their beds turned on and the door left a trifle open.

"I wonder," said the husband, coming out and looking back, standing there with his pipe for a moment."

"What?"

"If the door should be shut all the way or if it should be left just a little ajar so we can hear them if they call."

"I wonder if the children know — if anyone mentioned anything to them?"

"No, of course not. They'd have asked us about it."

They sat and read the papers and talked and listened to some radio music and then sat together by the fireplace looking at the charcoal embers as the clock struck ten-thirty and eleven and eleven-thirty. They thought of all the other people in the world who had spent their evening, each in their own special way.

"Well," he said at last. He kissed his wife for a long time.

"We've been good for each other, anyway."

"Do you want to cry?" he asked.

"I don't think so."      

They went through the house and turned out the lights and locked the doors, and went into the bedroom and stood in the night cool darkness undressing. She took the spread from the bed and folded it carefully over a chair, as always, and pushed back the covers. "The sheets are so cool and clean and nice," she said.

"I'm tired."

"We're both tired."

They got into bed and lay back.

"Wait a moment," she said.

He heard her get up and go out into the back of the house, and then he heard the soft shuffling of a swinging door. A moment later she was back. "I left the water running in the kitchen," she said. "I turned the faucet off."

Something about this was so funny that he had to laugh.

She laughed with him, knowing what it was that she had done that was so funny. They stopped laughing at last and lay in their cool night bed, their hands clasped, their heads together.

"Good night," he said, after a moment.

"Good night," she said, adding softly, "dear..."

HAFTA/WANNA

After high school I'm expecting a big difference. Santa Maria has provided me with opportunities but with not enough. I do believe high school knowledge is important but the most important lesson I learned these past four years is how to deal with others. I don't think anybody will change that much after graduation, although it will be a large reality shock for many but I think life will change for all. No longer must you associate with the same people you've been surrounded by for the past 14 years and that provides the room for a person to discover their true selves and to create new friendships and connections. I expect that leaving high school will be a good thing for me. In all honesty this last semester is a complete waste of my time, in the schooling department. Not saying it's my teacher's fault but there is simply no motivation and I'd rather spend my time doing something beneficial for my future. Only thing motivating me to get to school on time is the grades I need to maintain my college acceptance.

The Nose by Gogol

1. What does Ivan Yakovlevich do for a living?
Yakovlevich is a barber in Russia.
2. What does Ivan find in a loaf of bread?
Yakovlevich finds the nose of a previous customer, Major Kolvalev
3. How does his wife respond to Ivan's discovery?
His wife isn't very responsive to the act. She does give some say about reporting him but the action is never taken through.
4. What does Ivan set out to accomplish?
Get rid of the nose
5. When Ivan tosses the "package" in the river, for a brief moment he is happy; then he is arrested. What does this scene suggest about the role of happiness in Ivan's life/community/society?
It gives evidence to the fact that happiness is fleeting and never a constant in the community.
6. Where does the title object belong, and how does it finally get there?

It belongs to Major Kolvalev, eventually the police return it to him when he is sleeping

LAUNCH/DRAFT

What am I passionate about?  What do I want to do?
I change my passion a lot. But right now I would have to say my passion is learning. Not being taught, but learning about things I find interest about. Especially things have to deal with Sociocultural Anthropology In the past week I've learned important facts such as Project MKUltra and Truganini. Things I never learned it school but found extremely interesting. My younger sister will constantly check the live stream of the big surfing competition while I'm watching the livestream of the Ukraine Riots. I think Documentaries and nonfiction hold much more value than reality TV or the new Twilight book.
How can I use the tools from last semester (and the Internet in general)?
The Internet is the main source of information I can draw from. For example my homepage on my computer is a random wikipedia page so every time I open my browser I learn something new. Netflix helps a lot with documenteraries.
What will I need to do in order to "feel the awesomeness with no regrets" by June?
Just passing my classes honestly. I've already acheived what I set out to do in high school. Get into my dream school and attain a scholarship, both already accomplished.
What will impress/convince others (both in my life and in my field)?
I believe the best way to gain another's support is to show your passion.
How will I move beyond 'What If' and take this from idea --> reality?
Not sure how to answer this.
Who will be the peers, public, and experts in my personal learning network?
Again not very sure. Everybody?

Literary Terms #5

parallelism- a reoccurring phrase in a sentence or passage.

parody-a satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing

pathos-the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion.

pedantry-the character, qualities, practices, etc., of a pedant, especially undue display of learning.

personification-giving human characteristics to inanimate objects.

plot-main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story

poignant-affecting or moving the emotions

point of view- specified or stated manner of consideration or appraisal; standpoint

postmodernism-any of a number of trends or movements in the arts and literature developing in the 1970s in reaction to or rejection of the dogma, principles, or practices of established modernism, especially a movement in architecture and the decorative arts running counter to the practice and influence of the International Style and encouraging the use of elements from historical vernacular styles and often playful illusion, decoration, and complexity.

prose-the ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure

protagonist-the leading character, the good guy

pun-the humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications.

purpose-the reason for which something exists

realism-interest in or concern for the actual or real, as distinguished from the abstract, speculative, etc

refrain-to abstain from an impulse to say or do something

requiem-any musical service, hymn, or dirge for the repose of the dead

resolution-a formal expression of opinion or intention made. the resolution of the conflict

restatement-to state again or in a new way

rhetoric-the art or science of all specialized literary uses of language in prose or verse, including the figures of speech.

rhetorical question-a question asked solely to produce an effect or to make an assertion and not to elicit a reply

rising action-a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the climax

romanticism-the Romantic style or movement in literature and art, or adherence to its principles

satire-the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc

scansion-the metrical analysis of verse

setting-the locale or period in which the action of a novel, play, film, etc., takes place

Dictionary.com