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 the introduction of one of the protagonist, Mariam. The author then gives the background of Mariam and her mother and how Mariam was an illegitimate child of Jalil.
b) Rising Action: Begins when Mariam was married off to Rasheed, 30 years elder to her. Mariam was unable to conceive seven times and so Rasheed became abusive.
c) Conflict: Women discrimination and abuse by men.
d) Climax: When Rasheed gets killed by Mariam.
e) Falling Action: After Rasheed is killed, Laila and Mariam both bury him and then think how they can escape. Mariam sarifices herself and asks Laila to escape.
f) Resolution: Mariam is executed by the Taliban and Laila leavs to live in Pakistan. At the end of the book, Laila realizes the sacrifices of her parents and Mariam and decides to go back to Kabul.
2) Succinctly describe the theme of the novel.
The theme that's been highlighted in the entire novel is women discriination. Since the beginning of the book, women were shown to be degraded by men. Jalil degraded Mariam's mother and blamed the cause of birth of Mariam to be her fault. Mariam was married off by her own father to a man 30 years elder to her. When Mariam was unable to conceive, Rasheed had beaten her, blaming her for it. Towards the end, Mariam was killed even though it was self-defense when she killed Rasheed.
3) Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The author's tone was serious yet hopeful. Whenever a hardship was shown towards the women, his diction and sentence structure along with the dialogue between the characters created a sense o hope or the audience - hope that it, somehow, will get better or the women in the book. But the women who tried to stand up against the discrimination ended up hurt, either emotionally, physically, or both.
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: "Mariam smelled him before she saw him. Cigarette smoke and thick, sweet cologne, not faint like Jalil's." (Pg: 47)
2) Allusion: The Title: received from a line from a poem written by a Persian poet Saib-e-Tabrizi.
3) Imagery: "With one finger, she had poked the taut, shiny skin just below his left knee. Her finger had found little hard lumps there, and Tariq had told her they were spurs of bone that sometimes grew after an amputation." (Pg: 118)
4) Irony: "'Lovely guns!' he yelled. 'Fabulous jeeps! Fabulous army! Too bad you're losing to a bunch of peasants firing slingshots.'" (Pg: 131)
5) Flashback: "Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami." (Pg: 1)
6) Onomatopoeia: "There was a click at the other end, and Mariam thought he had hung up." (Pg: 276)
7) Metaphor: "'To Jalil and his wives, I was a pokeroot. A mugwort. You too and you weren't even born yet.... A weed, something you rip out and toss aside.'" (Pg: 8)
8) Simile: "His harsh, raspy voice reminded Mariam of the sound of dry autumn leaves crushed underfoot." (Pg: 48)
9) Characterization: "She limped and huffed her way across the clearing and made a great show of rubbing hip and lowering herself, with a pained sigh, onto the chair that Nana pulled up for her." (Pg: 15)
10) Point of View: "Mariam backed away. She was hyperventilating. Her ears buzzed, her pulse fluttered, her eyes darted from one face to another." (Pg: 61)
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?
"Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami." (Pg: 1) - Direct Characterization
"The women in his part of Kabul were a different breed from the women in the poorer neighborhoods - like the one where she and Rasheed lived, where so many of the women covered fully. These women were - what was the word Rasheed had used? - "modern"." (Pg: 67) - Direct Characterization.
"The trip was Babi's idea. Though he could hardly afford it on his salary, he'd hired a driver for the day. He wouldn't disclose anything to Laila about their destination except to say that, with it, he was contributing to her education." (Pg: 131) - Indirect Characterization
"'I want to marry you, Laila.' For the first time since they were on the floor, she raised her eyes to meet his. She searched his face. There was no playfulness this time. His look was one o conviction, of guileless yet ironclad earnestness." (Pg: 165) - Indirect Characterization.
Hosseini uses more Indirect Charcterization than Direct Characterization because he wanted to leave the choice to the readers to decide the characters' personality. He seems unbiased when he does this because the sole responsibility of deciding the characters' intentions rely on the readers, not on him.
2) Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
The author's syntax or diction don't necessarily change while focusing on one character but it still has a different tone when he focuses on Mariam compared to when he focuses on Laila because his point of view is third person limited.
3) Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
The protagonist(s) is dynamic and round because both Laila and Mariam evolve as characters from naive and innocent young girls to mature, understanding, bold, and independent women. Even though Mariam ended up dying, her legacy lived with Laila continuously evolving to be a better person.
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.
After finishing the book, I came away feeling as if I met a person because Mariam and Laila both were typical women found in a culture similar to that of in India. With girls having the impression of being inferior to boys, the development to become an independent woman without any fear and being strong is difficult and praiseworthy.
a) Introduction/Exposition: The novel begins with the introduction of one of the protagonist, Mariam. The author then gives the background of Mariam and her mother and how Mariam was an illegitimate child of Jalil.
b) Rising Action: Begins when Mariam was married off to Rasheed, 30 years elder to her. Mariam was unable to conceive seven times and so Rasheed became abusive.
c) Conflict: Women discrimination and abuse by men.
d) Climax: When Rasheed gets killed by Mariam.
e) Falling Action: After Rasheed is killed, Laila and Mariam both bury him and then think how they can escape. Mariam sarifices herself and asks Laila to escape.
f) Resolution: Mariam is executed by the Taliban and Laila leavs to live in Pakistan. At the end of the book, Laila realizes the sacrifices of her parents and Mariam and decides to go back to Kabul.
2) Succinctly describe the theme of the novel.
The theme that's been highlighted in the entire novel is women discriination. Since the beginning of the book, women were shown to be degraded by men. Jalil degraded Mariam's mother and blamed the cause of birth of Mariam to be her fault. Mariam was married off by her own father to a man 30 years elder to her. When Mariam was unable to conceive, Rasheed had beaten her, blaming her for it. Towards the end, Mariam was killed even though it was self-defense when she killed Rasheed.
3) Describe the author's tone. Include a minimum of three excerpts that illustrate your point(s).
The author's tone was serious yet hopeful. Whenever a hardship was shown towards the women, his diction and sentence structure along with the dialogue between the characters created a sense o hope or the audience - hope that it, somehow, will get better or the women in the book. But the women who tried to stand up against the discrimination ended up hurt, either emotionally, physically, or both.
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: "Mariam smelled him before she saw him. Cigarette smoke and thick, sweet cologne, not faint like Jalil's." (Pg: 47)
2) Allusion: The Title: received from a line from a poem written by a Persian poet Saib-e-Tabrizi.
3) Imagery: "With one finger, she had poked the taut, shiny skin just below his left knee. Her finger had found little hard lumps there, and Tariq had told her they were spurs of bone that sometimes grew after an amputation." (Pg: 118)
4) Irony: "'Lovely guns!' he yelled. 'Fabulous jeeps! Fabulous army! Too bad you're losing to a bunch of peasants firing slingshots.'" (Pg: 131)
5) Flashback: "Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami." (Pg: 1)
6) Onomatopoeia: "There was a click at the other end, and Mariam thought he had hung up." (Pg: 276)
7) Metaphor: "'To Jalil and his wives, I was a pokeroot. A mugwort. You too and you weren't even born yet.... A weed, something you rip out and toss aside.'" (Pg: 8)
8) Simile: "His harsh, raspy voice reminded Mariam of the sound of dry autumn leaves crushed underfoot." (Pg: 48)
9) Characterization: "She limped and huffed her way across the clearing and made a great show of rubbing hip and lowering herself, with a pained sigh, onto the chair that Nana pulled up for her." (Pg: 15)
10) Point of View: "Mariam backed away. She was hyperventilating. Her ears buzzed, her pulse fluttered, her eyes darted from one face to another." (Pg: 61)
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?
"Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami." (Pg: 1) - Direct Characterization
"The women in his part of Kabul were a different breed from the women in the poorer neighborhoods - like the one where she and Rasheed lived, where so many of the women covered fully. These women were - what was the word Rasheed had used? - "modern"." (Pg: 67) - Direct Characterization.
"The trip was Babi's idea. Though he could hardly afford it on his salary, he'd hired a driver for the day. He wouldn't disclose anything to Laila about their destination except to say that, with it, he was contributing to her education." (Pg: 131) - Indirect Characterization
"'I want to marry you, Laila.' For the first time since they were on the floor, she raised her eyes to meet his. She searched his face. There was no playfulness this time. His look was one o conviction, of guileless yet ironclad earnestness." (Pg: 165) - Indirect Characterization.
Hosseini uses more Indirect Charcterization than Direct Characterization because he wanted to leave the choice to the readers to decide the characters' personality. He seems unbiased when he does this because the sole responsibility of deciding the characters' intentions rely on the readers, not on him.
2) Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How? Example(s)?
The author's syntax or diction don't necessarily change while focusing on one character but it still has a different tone when he focuses on Mariam compared to when he focuses on Laila because his point of view is third person limited.
3) Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
The protagonist(s) is dynamic and round because both Laila and Mariam evolve as characters from naive and innocent young girls to mature, understanding, bold, and independent women. Even though Mariam ended up dying, her legacy lived with Laila continuously evolving to be a better person.
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.
After finishing the book, I came away feeling as if I met a person because Mariam and Laila both were typical women found in a culture similar to that of in India. With girls having the impression of being inferior to boys, the development to become an independent woman without any fear and being strong is difficult and praiseworthy.
No comments:
Post a Comment