LITERATURE ANALYSIS #2: THE KITE RUNNER BY KHALED HOSSEINI

1) Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to elements of plot that you've learned in the past courses. Explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose.
a) Introduction/Exposition: The novel begins with a phone call to Amir, the narrator, from an old friend of his asking him to meet him and telling him how there's still hope for him to change for the better. The novel then begins to go in a flashback of Amir's story.
b) Rising Action: The story then proceeds in the flashback leading up to an event in the winter which changed the life of every character. Later in the story, Afghanistan is taken over by Russians, followed by the Taliban. Amir and his dad moves to America.
c) Conflict: The entire story doesn't necessarily have an external conflict but an internal one. Amir suffers the guilt of ruining his friend's life and him being a coward.
d) Climax: Amir risked his own life to save his friend's son's life.
e) Falling Action: Amir struggles to bond with Sohrab, the son of Hassan - Amir's friend.
f) Resolution: Sohrab was finally able to agree to his growing and closing relationship of him and Amir.

The first person point of view of the story helps the readers to connect with Amir, the protagonist. The emotional ups-and-downs of Amir and his life allows the readers to witness his growth and maturation as a challenged character.

2) Succinctly describe the theme of the novel.
The biggest theme of the novel is betrayal. The betrayal of Amir towards Hassan; the betrayal of Amir's dad towards Amir; the betrayal of Assef towards the society of Afghanistan; the betrayal of Hassan's mother towards Hassan. The author uses this theme to indirectly characterize all the characters in the book.

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.
1) Foreshadowing: "I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today." (Pg:2)
2) Allusion: "The slingshot made a thwiiiiit sound when Sohrab released the cup." (Pg: 291) (Allusion to the Biblical story of David and Goliath.)
3) Imagery: "It looked like someone had stuck an air pump nozzle under my skin and had pumped away. My eyes were puffy and blue. The worst of it was my mouth, a grotesque blob of purple and red, all bruise and stitches... There were stitches across my left cheek, just under the chin, on the forehead just below the hairline." (Pg: 303-304)
4) Irony: "...I was learning that Baba had been a thief. And a thief of the worst kind, because the things he'd stolen had been scared: from me the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali his honor." (Pg: 225)
5) Flashback: "Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years." (Pg: 1)
6) Onomatopoeia: "He killed the engine and we sat for a minute, listening to the tink-tink of the engine cooling off, neither one of us saying anything." (Pg; 273)
7) Metaphor: "He'd count them off on his fingers: America the brash savior, Britain, and Israel.... 'The rest of them-' he used to wave his hand and make a phht sound '-they're like gossiping old women.'" (Pg: 125)
8) Simile: "At least two dozen kites already hung in the sky, like paper sharks roaming for prey." (Pg: 63)
9) Characterization: "The boy had his father's round moon face, his pointy stub of a chin, his twisted, seashell ears, and the same slight frame. It was the Chinese doll face of my childhood, the face peering above fanned-out playing cards all those winter days, the face behind the mosquito net when we slept on the roof of my father's house in the summer." (Pg: 279)
10) Point of View: "There is a way to be good again. I looked up at those twin kites. I thought about Hassan. Thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul." (Pg: 2)


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?
Examples of direct characterization include: "I can still see Hassan up on that tree, sunlight flickering through the leaves on his almost perfectly round face, a face like a Chinese doll chiseled from hardwood: his flat, broad nose and slanting, narrow eyes like bamboo leaves, eyes that looked, depending on the light, gold, green, even sapphire." (Pg: 3) "...Even in birth, Hassan was true to his nature: he was incapable of hurting anyone." (Pg: 10)

Examples of indirect characterization include: "It should have been just the two of us - that was the way I wanted it - but by Wednesday night, Baba had managed to invite another two dozen people." (Pg: 82) "I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had. But I didn't. I just watched. Paralyzed." (Pg: 73)

The author uses more indirect characterization than direct characterization. By doing so, he's giving his readers an option to decide the personality of each character. It almost makes him seem unbiased because he gives the readers the option to decide who's guilty and of what.

2) Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
The author's syntax and diction remains almost the same because his point of view is first person. His tone of approach does change, changing the mood of the story, but his syntax and diction remains fairly constant.

3) Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
The protagonist is very much dynamic and round because he has an amazing transformation from a cowardly and disturbed young boy to a brave, sure, and matured adult. And he achieves this transformation through very much hardships and obstacles, just as a person in real life.

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.
I came away, feeling as if I met a reflection of me. Even though Amir did some things that I personally wouldn't have, I do understand his desperation to achieve his Baba's love, trust, and faith and his desperation to go at any lengths to achieve it. The Afghani culture is also very much similar to mine (Indian), so I could not only understand some of the Urdu words used by the author (similar to Hindi, national language of India), but I could also relate to the festivities and traditions of Muslims, seeming like jargon to many of the readers.

CHAPTER 3-4 "BRAVE NEW WORLD": NOTES

• A connection between Huxley's style and the subject of his book.
• Bekonovsky process - fictious human cloning process.
• Difference between theory and practice: America is a "melting pot" vs. The reality of absence of that level of mixture in the country for the immigrants.
• Huxley's point: we haven't lost humanity yet but if we are not careful, this is what happens.
• Modern society: even though differences are acknowledged, some form of technology and the intelligence exceed those of human capabilities and knowledge; creepy and necessity of compassionate.
• Who's in charge, who has most power and position.
• The sense of "I'm still using that but it's not using me."
• Assembly line of people
• Necessity of a lifeline
• There's only seven plot lines: all the books are reenactment of the same line.
• Fragmentation: taking something whole and breaking it up into fragments.
• The characters in the book aren't taught to relate.
• Any science that the Director addresses is unknown to him in terms of understanding.

LITERARY TERMS # 6

Simile: A figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison.

Soliloquy: An extended speech, usually in a drama, delivered by a character alone on stage.

Spiritual: A folk song, usually on a religious theme.

Speaker: A narrator, the one speaking.

Stereotype: Cliché; a simplified, standardized conception with a special meaning and appeal for members of a group; a formula story.

Stream of Consciousness: The style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character’s thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images, as the character experiences them.

Structure: The planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization.

Style: The manner of putting thoughts into words; a characteristic way of writing or speaking.

Subordination: The couching of less important ideas in less important  structures of language.

Surrealism: A style in literature and painting that stresses the subconscious or the nonrational aspects of man’s existence characterized by the juxtaposition of the bizarre and the banal.

Suspension of Disbelief: Suspend not believing in order to enjoy it.

Symbol: Something which stands for something else, yet has a meaning of its own.

Synesthesia: The use of one sense to convey the experience of another sense.

Synecdoche: Another form of name changing, in which a part stands for the whole.

Syntax: The arrangement and grammatical relations of words in a sentence.

Theme: Main idea of the story; its message(s).

Thesis: A proposition for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved or disproved; the main idea.

Tone: The devices used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literary work; the author’s perceived point of view.

Tongue in Cheek: A type of humor in which the speaker feigns seriousness; a.k.a. “dry” or “dead pan.”

Tragedy: In literature: any composition with a somber theme carried to a disastrous conclusion; a fatal event; protagonist usually is heroic but tragically (fatally) flawed.

Understatement: Opposite of hyperbole; saying less than you mean for emphasis.

Vernacular: Everyday speech.

Voice: The textual features, such as diction and sentence structures, that convey a writer’s or speaker’s persona.

Zeitgeist: The feeling of a particular era in history.

ALDOUS HUXLEY

• Aldous Huxley was born in a family of renowned scientists, his two brothers and grandfather. He was born on July 26, 1984 and died on November 22, 1963.
• His grandfather was a naturalist, famously nicknamed as "Darwin's Bulldog."
• He was mostly known as his novelist (his 5th novel "Brave New World") but he also wrote short stories, poetry, travelogues, and film scripts.
• An interesting fact: Disney had rejected Huxley's screenplay of "Alice in Wonderland."
• He was the kind of author, concerned about the potential harm of scientific discoveries and progress on mankind.
• At the age of 20, he became an art critic, an official novelist, and publisher of poetry, and a journalist.
• He finished "Brave New World" in four months; Hitler not a ruler at that time period.
• Dies the same day as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
• "New Age" schools would quote him and his "mystical writings and studies" and continues to do so.

Sources:
http://www.egs.edu/library/aldous-huxley/biography/
http://www.quirkbooks.com/post/happy-birthday-aldous-huxley-some-interesting-facts-about-his-life

LOVE OF LEARNING - A BRIEF ESSAY

Learning and Education seem to be similar words but have entirely different meanings. The denotative meaning of learning is "the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, study, or by being taught." The denotative meaning of education is "the process receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university." Learning is a continuing process, developing an individual to be an innovative and imaginative.

Through the love and passion for learning, an individual acquires characteristics of self inspiration, motivation, and confidence. The inspiration not only pushes the individual to move forward but also inspires the surrounding community to envision a future. It's as if this quote: "The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change." (Quote by Carl Rogers) The love of learning will inspire the use of resources surrounding all of us - everything from media to counselors to friends.

The incorporation of resources in our day to day lives will shape all of our perspectives to better the futures of "ourselves and our posterity." It will make each individual as imaginative as possible, brightening up the darkness of lack in knowledge and open the doors to solutions to complications and problems. This is what learning truly means: to utilize the resources provided and the experience gained to create a vision for the future and make the vision a reality.

FIRST IMPRESSION - AP EXAM

My first impression as I went through the multiple AP tests on the blog is a sense of hope and doubt at the same time. My biggest problem in the AP test for English is the syntax and the diction of the multiple choices. Since my vocabulary isn't that powerful, I struggle in choosing the correct answer or making an educated guess because of my lack of technique in taking an exam. Another one of my problems was reading fast enough to understand it, preventing re-reading it, but I am getting better at it because of a technique I learned through the SAT prep classes from Righetti.

LITERARY TERMS # 5

Parallelism: The principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form.
Parody:  An imitation of mimicking of a composition or of the style of a well-known artist.
Pathos:  The ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness.
Pedantry: A display of learning for its own sake.
Personification: A figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or  abstract ideas.
Plot: A plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose.
Poignant: Eliciting sorrow or sentiment.
Point of View: The attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing.
Postmodernism: Literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms, multiple meanings, playfulness and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary.
Prose: The ordinary form of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern.
Protagonist: The central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist.
Pun: Play on words; the humorous use of a word emphasizing different meanings or applications.
Purpose: The intended result wished by an author.
Realism: Writing about the ordinary aspects of life in a straightforward manner to reflect life as it actually is.
Refrain: A phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus.
Requiem: Any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead.
Resolution: Point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement.
Restatement: Idea repeated for emphasis.
Rhetoric: Use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade.
Rhetorical Question: Question suggesting its own answer or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion.
Rising Action: Plot build up, caused by conflict and complications, advancement towards climax.
Romanticism: Movement in western culture beginning in the eighteenth and peaking in the nineteenth century as a revolt against Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact.
Satire: Ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general.
Scansion: The analysis of verse in terms of meter.
Setting: The time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem occur.

BREANNA RODRIGUEZ - ALIVE IN ALL OUR MEMORIES, FOREVER

January 30, 2015. It has been four days since the tragedy happened but I am still unable to process it in my head enough to comprehend it completely. I did not and still do not have the courage to share this, especially not here but even though it is tough and painful, Bree deserve this last goodbye, a last tribute

There are many regrets I have: I wish I would've been more open with her, I wish I would've had a conversation just about her instead of grades or school, and more importantly - I wish I was not out of town this weekend. But they are nothing more than just the "I wish" list - a list I will never be able to complete.

I don't remember our first official meet, or our first official conversation. I guess it just happened. Maybe it was on the avid trip last year when I was late for the bus and everyone was like, "Really?" Or maybe it was planning the fundraisers for Relay for Life. Or maybe it was just a homework question that triggered it. But what I do remember is seeing her laugh through all the troubles and pressure without a tiny bit of effort. "Oh crap, that assignment is due today, huh?" Or "Dang, I forgot to read that!" And she would burst out laughing.

Hearing the news of her car crash and then her death shook me completely. I didn't have the time to think. I just sobbed; bawled like a baby. She didn't deserve to go like this. She had so many plans for her future, so many hopes, and so much excitement to grow up, travel and live the life of her dream. But as I've always heard, God picks the best of people from down here to become his angels.

You were, are, and always will be the most beautiful angel anyone could've ever seen. You came into my life like an angel, brightened it up with your laughter and joy, and then flew away to do the same for others in a different world.

Rest in Paradise Bree! I miss you and I always will! I love you and I always will! Always and forever! And I hope that even though you are physically gone, you will still always rise and shine with the sun every morning and spread the warmth and love that your heart carried!

P.S. I wish I wasn't vegetarian and could eat eggs: I missed tasting your 'Slutty Brownies.'

#BreeTheG #ForBree #RIP #Loveyou #MayGodBlessYou

To those who have never been on her blog, you should! It's as if she left so much of her behind for us to cherish.

http://breethegrodriguez.blogspot.com/?m=1