Hi Alisa, I was absolutely floored by your presentation. It was really eye-opening, and will help a lot for the AP Lit Test, when we'll undoubtedly have to use specific details of author style. I did have some questions, though, that I just wanted to put out into discussion. Though Khaled Hosseini is ethically Afghan, he seems to have become an immigrant very early in his life. He then moved to France, and later the US, before he was even a teenager. Taking this into consideration, do you believe that even as well-researched the book was, are his words and sentiments truly authentically from an Afghani perspective? Or, do you think that being displaced from the social context results in a distinct political perspective in the text, marked by Western values that he picked up early in his life?
I also just wanted to address your poem that had the distinct juxtaposition between the amicable Arab, and the one torn by cultural angst. The poem was very profound, and I just wanted to know whether the duality and contemplation of inner struggles that is found in that poem can directly relate to the prominent ethnic and sectarian tensions in the Kite Runner? Even in a real-world approach, the pathos that the poem evokes lends a more humanizing perspective to struggles in the crisis that are often demonized by the media.
Alisa, without a doubt your presentation was one of the most impressive I have seen. You had nothing to worry about. The way you pull out those short snippets of Farsi, agha, inshallah, so on, imbues your presentation with the same authenticity that that vocabulary gave to Kite Runner. I think you synthesized the texture of Hosseini’s writing style well, by identifying the way he uses imagery to bring scenes to life, and the use of sentence structure to reflect the timescale over which the story is told. Your first prose analysis essay piqued my interest. Hassan certainly is a very admirable character, as you explained how he had an “undying loyalty” to Amir. How does Hosseini develop Hassan’s character, to show that his love is genuine, to make the reader believe that Hassan is a diamond even in the rough of Afghanistan, without flattening Hassan’s personality? I know you already dug very deep into the nature of human relationships in this presentations; this is only one of a few lingering questions that I have. I like your choice of “Leda and the Swan” as one of the poems you analyzed. I agree with you that the juxtaposition of the innocence of Leda and the power of the swan within the structure of the poem is highly impactful, just as Hosseini presents the juxtaposition of the two sides of Afghanistan. The swan as an aggressor is difficult to understand: a swan is usually a symbol of grace and purity, yet in Yeat’s poem the swan has been twisted. Similarly, as a Taliban fighter Assef ostensibly stands for religious struggle, but in reality, he is corrupted by violence and cruelty, as with the Taliban itself.
In your essay, you talk about the incorporation of traditional Afghani words in the English dialogue that occurs in your novel. In your presentation, you focused on the specific point that Hosseini also incorporates the definitions of such words when he integrates them into his writing. I thought this was particularly thought-provoking when examining this essay and how much of an impact this use of diction native to the setting of the book had. Particularly interesting to me was the concept of respect and titles of respect present in the Afghani language that were incorporated into the book. As you mentioned, these titles serve to show the relationship between Amir and Hassan, where Hassan addresses Amir as “agha” in a respectful manner. This of course ties in to the relationship the two share, in which Hassan is also encouraging and championing his half-brother, even when the same is not true in reverse. This use of traditional titles of respect held particular importance to me too when I read the book last year for an assignment for AP Language and Composition. Like you, I found the relationship interestingly characterized by the way the two children address each other, and the specific ramifications this had in regards to the socioeconomic differences found between the two different classes the boys are part of. In languages and culture across the world, titles of respect are often granted to nobility and specifically in my home country of Egypt, elders and other respected members of society are referred to as “professor” out of respect, even when these individuals aren’t actually professors. I thus found this use of respectful novels in the book to be translational to my own real experiences.
Hi Alisa, I just want to say that you did a really through job actually addressing the writing style of Hosseini. You obviously have a really deep understanding of Hosseini and his work, so I would like to present a question to you. What is the most important theme that Hosseini presents in this prose passage and how does he go on to frame? I feel like that you answer this in your paper, but you should go further by addressing some of the things that have happened in Afghanistan so that you could parallel it to his works. Hosseini, in a sense, wrote to make the people aware of the suffering that is occurring in the Afghanistan area. Also, do you think Hosseini wrote to achieve some sort of political change within Afghanistan? And in the long term, how is Hosseini going to be remembered as a writer? Does he merely right to see political aid, or more to see some sort of closure to the fact that people are becoming more aware to the human’s rights abuses occurring in Afghanistan? Thanks for taking time to read this. Regards, Manny
Hi Alisa,
ReplyDeleteI was absolutely floored by your presentation. It was really eye-opening, and will help a lot for the AP Lit Test, when we'll undoubtedly have to use specific details of author style. I did have some questions, though, that I just wanted to put out into discussion. Though Khaled Hosseini is ethically Afghan, he seems to have become an immigrant very early in his life. He then moved to France, and later the US, before he was even a teenager. Taking this into consideration, do you believe that even as well-researched the book was, are his words and sentiments truly authentically from an Afghani perspective? Or, do you think that being displaced from the social context results in a distinct political perspective in the text, marked by Western values that he picked up early in his life?
I also just wanted to address your poem that had the distinct juxtaposition between the amicable Arab, and the one torn by cultural angst. The poem was very profound, and I just wanted to know whether the duality and contemplation of inner struggles that is found in that poem can directly relate to the prominent ethnic and sectarian tensions in the Kite Runner? Even in a real-world approach, the pathos that the poem evokes lends a more humanizing perspective to struggles in the crisis that are often demonized by the media.
Thanks,
Harsha
Alisa, without a doubt your presentation was one of the most impressive I have seen. You had nothing to worry about. The way you pull out those short snippets of Farsi, agha, inshallah, so on, imbues your presentation with the same authenticity that that vocabulary gave to Kite Runner. I think you synthesized the texture of Hosseini’s writing style well, by identifying the way he uses imagery to bring scenes to life, and the use of sentence structure to reflect the timescale over which the story is told.
ReplyDeleteYour first prose analysis essay piqued my interest. Hassan certainly is a very admirable character, as you explained how he had an “undying loyalty” to Amir. How does Hosseini develop Hassan’s character, to show that his love is genuine, to make the reader believe that Hassan is a diamond even in the rough of Afghanistan, without flattening Hassan’s personality? I know you already dug very deep into the nature of human relationships in this presentations; this is only one of a few lingering questions that I have.
I like your choice of “Leda and the Swan” as one of the poems you analyzed. I agree with you that the juxtaposition of the innocence of Leda and the power of the swan within the structure of the poem is highly impactful, just as Hosseini presents the juxtaposition of the two sides of Afghanistan. The swan as an aggressor is difficult to understand: a swan is usually a symbol of grace and purity, yet in Yeat’s poem the swan has been twisted. Similarly, as a Taliban fighter Assef ostensibly stands for religious struggle, but in reality, he is corrupted by violence and cruelty, as with the Taliban itself.
In your essay, you talk about the incorporation of traditional Afghani words in the English dialogue that occurs in your novel. In your presentation, you focused on the specific point that Hosseini also incorporates the definitions of such words when he integrates them into his writing. I thought this was particularly thought-provoking when examining this essay and how much of an impact this use of diction native to the setting of the book had. Particularly interesting to me was the concept of respect and titles of respect present in the Afghani language that were incorporated into the book. As you mentioned, these titles serve to show the relationship between Amir and Hassan, where Hassan addresses Amir as “agha” in a respectful manner. This of course ties in to the relationship the two share, in which Hassan is also encouraging and championing his half-brother, even when the same is not true in reverse.
ReplyDeleteThis use of traditional titles of respect held particular importance to me too when I read the book last year for an assignment for AP Language and Composition. Like you, I found the relationship interestingly characterized by the way the two children address each other, and the specific ramifications this had in regards to the socioeconomic differences found between the two different classes the boys are part of. In languages and culture across the world, titles of respect are often granted to nobility and specifically in my home country of Egypt, elders and other respected members of society are referred to as “professor” out of respect, even when these individuals aren’t actually professors. I thus found this use of respectful novels in the book to be translational to my own real experiences.
Hi Alisa,
ReplyDeleteI just want to say that you did a really through job actually addressing the writing style of Hosseini. You obviously have a really deep understanding of Hosseini and his work, so I would like to present a question to you. What is the most important theme that Hosseini presents in this prose passage and how does he go on to frame? I feel like that you answer this in your paper, but you should go further by addressing some of the things that have happened in Afghanistan so that you could parallel it to his works. Hosseini, in a sense, wrote to make the people aware of the suffering that is occurring in the Afghanistan area.
Also, do you think Hosseini wrote to achieve some sort of political change within Afghanistan? And in the long term, how is Hosseini going to be remembered as a writer? Does he merely right to see political aid, or more to see some sort of closure to the fact that people are becoming more aware to the human’s rights abuses occurring in Afghanistan? Thanks for taking time to read this.
Regards,
Manny