Top 3 choices

Top 3 Novels from my research:

The Kite Runner (published in 2003):

It is a book written by Khaled Hosseini, the same author as A Thousand Splendid Suns. The Kite Runner is a story about the friendship between two boys, Amir and Hassan in the city of Kabul at Afghanistan. The city of Kabul appeared both in The Kite Runner and also A Thousand Splendid Suns. Furthermore, The Kite Runner covered from 1970s to 2000s a similar time range as A Thousand Splendid Suns. The main themes of The Kite Runner are the persistence of the past and endurance of guilt, which on the other hand, the main theme of A Thousand Splendid Suns is endurance. Due to the reason that both books are written by the same author; therefore, they also share a very similar writing style.

Mornings in Jenin (published in 2010):

The author of the book is Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian-American writer. The book is a Palestinian story about four generations of a single family, Abulhejas.  The book is described on goodreads in comparison to The Kite Runner, "A heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel that could do for Palestine what The Kite Runner did for Afghanistan." In addition, the main themes of this book are endurance and love.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (published in 2006):

The story took place in Hunan county at China in 19th century. The story is about the friendship between Lily and a girl named Snow Flower, and how they reached out of isolation to share their loneliness, dreams, hopes, and accomplishment. The main theme of this book is endurance. 

Methods:

I found Mornings in Jenin and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by using Google search engine by typing Books like A Thousand Splendid Suns into the box, which the first link to goodreads appeared. As for The Kite Runner, I researched the books Khaled Hosseini had written before, and The Kite Runner appeared. The Kite Runner can be found on the Lexile with the reading level of 840 L, but as for other two books, I can’t find them. I consider it as a really ineffective way to find books because I have tried to find a book, which it either turned out to be unavailable or some books that are too short or too long. So I tried the way around, I found some books that are deep and fitting, but I just can’t find it in Lexile. Despite the fact that I can not find Morning in Jenins and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan on Lexile, but since they both recommended on goodreads; therefore, I consider them as the same reading level as A Thousand Splendid Suns.

What drew me to these books? 

The Kite Runner: This is the book that have drawn my attention the most for the reasons that not only because it was written by the same author as A Thousand Splendid Suns, but also the similar settings and backgrounds of two stories. In fact, I have heard of The Kite Runner years before I came to Canada, but I never get a chance to read it. The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns share quite amounts of similarities in many ways not only for the reason they were written by the same author.

Morning in Jenins: I was drawn to this book because the statement on goodreads, "A heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel that could do for Palestine what The Kite Runner did for Afghanistan." The main themes of this book are endurance and love.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fans: It was about Chinese culture, something I am familiar with. I believe it will interest to read about a book written by a Chinese-American Writer. Not only that, I also wish to learn some Chinese history about China in this opportunity. Add to that, I find its book cover artistic and well designed.

ENG 4U Novel Seminar Self-Evaluation

My Group's Topic: The East - West Schism: Influences of Afghan Culture in A Thousand Splendid Suns

In discussion, my strength as a communicator are I tried to keep the discussion running while i tried to lead the discussion into the direction that I want them to go through interpreting my idea, and have them expand on it. 

My strengths as a listener are I listen carefully and show my respect to the speakers. I participated in most of the discussions passionately. 

One oral communication goal i need to work toward is that I should manage my time wisely. I should have typed out the quotation I want the students to read on the handout, specifically the first point I provided, which was Titanic city (P.302 - 304). I should not have the reader reading that much because i ran out of time. 

In my written analysis, one goal i need to work toward is to make the paragraph for each supporting point a little bit shorter, so more time can be spent on discussion.

One thing Ms. Fournier should know about my presentation: 

I could have done better if I don't have the student reading a big section about Titanic city from p.302 - 304. I honestly think these points I provided, especially the Titanic city and AK 47 are two very interesting points to discuss because they are both significant in the book. 

Expectation of the book

A Thousand Suns is surely a well-written book, but I am not really enjoying this kind of book because I enjoy science fiction novel more. The fact is that I have read half of the book years ago in mandarin, which I didn’t finish it. I did not quite get the deeper meaning of the book at that time.

Anyway, I will say the novel did reach my expectation because I get to learn about Afghanistan through a story in victims’ (Mariam and Laila’s perspectives) instead of just reading off a news article.

Moreover, I first expected that the book will be more about hopes at the beginning because the name and cover of the book. Sun is commonly seen as the symbol of hope and essence because almost many living things need it to survive; however, the fact is the protagonist (Mariam) met a turning point of her life, her journey of endurance.

Honestly, I didn’t really have an expectation before I read this book because I have no idea what I was about to read. So I am not really surprised to read a story about Afghanistan because the book cover was a woman in burqa, and only women from mid-west wore those (or those whom were Muslims).

The book actually turned out to be an interesting book to read, despite the fact that I am not living in that kind of society and country, which it usually turned out to be boring for most of the readers.

Reflection on the Word Cloud

I filled in the word cloud with symbols,themes, motif and big ideas of the book, such as burqa, religion causes the gender inequality, afghan women are not allowed to be educated, love, and etc. I have covered most of the themes, some big ideas and motifs in my word cloud.Not only that these are significant, but these elements helped creating the book's atmosphere and what made it such a good book.From reading this book, I learned a lot more about what happened in Afghanistan more than reading it off newspaper or magazine.

Referring back to the research I have done few week ago on the social history of Afghanistan, I have verified the plots that happened in the text are realistic and basing on facts. The fact is that I only know Afghanistan women are less respected than the men are and that is it; however, after I read this book and the websites I browsed, in which I found myself actually not knowing much about Afghanistan, until I read this book.

A Thousand Splendid Suns Nightwork (October 24th)

I define a source as a good source by making sure the author's name, published date (if available), citation or reference (citing where the information is from), neat and organized format and paragraphs, and reliable information (credibility). 

Confirmed Truth:

1.     Afghanistan has two main languages, which are Pashto and Dari. Dari was the most spoken language and Pashto the second.

Qazi, Abdullah. "A Look at the Languages Spoken in Afghanistan." Afghanistan Online. Abdullah Qazi, n.d. Web. 19 Oct 2013. <http://www.afghan-web.com/language/>.

2.     The honor of family is sacred and crucial because it helps the family to determine its position in the society. Each family matters are extremely privately and can’t be brought up easily. The women in the family are highly reversed in the family, but only receive respect once they become mothers.

Ali, Sharifah Enayat. "A Look at the Languages Spoken in   Afghanistan." Afghanistan. University of West Florida, n.d. Web. 19 Oct 2013.       <http://uwf.edu/atcdev/afghanistan/society/Lesson1Family.html>.

3.     The food in the daily life includes flat bread with meat stock, yogurt and dairy products such as butter, cream, and milk. Hot dishes usually contain onion, peas, beans, dried fruits, and nuts.

      Onsutti, A.Lessandro M.. "Afghanistan." Countries and Their cultures. A.Lessandro M. Onsutti, n.d. Web. 19 Oct 2013. <http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Afghanistan.html>.

 Gender inequality can be proved by the survey related to the domestic violence from the women aged 15-49 toward whether husbands beat or hit their wives in particular situations for particular reasons. It is a severe issue that will take times for Afghans to change.

      Kagan, Kimberly. "TAJIKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN." Institute for the Study of War. Institute for the Study of War. Web. 20 Oct 2013. <http://www.understandingwar.org/tajikistan-and-afghanistan

5.     The Soviet War in Afghanistan started in 1979 while Afghanistan allied with USA. The war continued for 9 years, which it ended in 1989.  

McCracken, Kevin. "THE CONVERSATION." The long road to gender equality in Afghanistan.       The Conversation Trust (UK), 7 Jan 2013. Web. 23 Oct 2013.   <http://theconversation.com/the-           long-road-to-gender-equality-in-afghanistan-11441>.

As the role of Mullah Faizullah

"No, no, Mariam jo..." 

“I have known your mother when she was a young girl. She had a rough youth. Now, your loved one has escaped from all worldly suffering that once was around her.It is not your fault. Your mother chooses the path, and that's her decision. There is nothing you can do to bring her back.”

“You will need to let the time carries the sorrow away and move on. Your mother will want you to live in that way. Our god will lead her to a better place where there’s no more suffering, and you should be happy for her. There is a reason why your mother is taken away. You may not see a reason right now, but it will come to you when you get older.”

“Now, you are at the age of 15, is the time you need to be independent. I will try to be there whenever you need me, but you see I am an old man and I will not always be able to stay beside you. I will pass away eventually. You need to be strong enable to live on your own.”