Lang+A

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__Baba's Wordle So Far:__ Baba Orphanage Ali's Childhood Friend Pashtun Old Favors Hassan Father of Amir Gas Station Cancer Wealthy 1933 1987 Rahim Khans Friend

When you kill a man you steal a life, you steal his wifes right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie you steal someone's right to the truth.When you cheat you steal the right to fairness. There is no act more wretched than stealing.

__Ali.__



__Amir:__



__Hassan:__

__‘The Kite Runner’- Khaled Hosseini.__ The novel ‘The Kite Runner’ is a story of strong childhood friendship between two young boys which is later destroyed by secrets and betrayal. The cover of the novel ‘The Kite Runner’ suggests that two boys are sharing a special friendship and also that they share the passion for Kite Fighting. I also think that it shows how things used to be when the boys were younger compared to now, for example: the clear blue sky and the pretty snow capped mountains. The author Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1965, and then moved to United States in 1980. He earned his medical degree in 1993, in which time he wrote ‘The Kite Runner’. The book was published in 48 different countries. He started a foundation called ‘The Khaled Hosseini Foundation’ which provides humanitarian assistance, which was inspired by a trip he made to Afghanistan in 2007. The book is set in pre communist times, (1970’s – 80’s) and the political views are Tribal leaders and the Taliban, the Ethnic background include Hazaras and Pashtuns. This text was the teachers’ selection. In this novel they are 4 main characters, Amir, Hassan, Ali and Baba. These 4 characters are all different in every way. __Amir__, who is the narrator of the story, tells the story about his childhood in Afghanistan and the sins he committed against his best friend Hassan, which ends up being his half brother and his journey to redemption. Amir is very intelligent and scared .He is a Pashtun, which is a higher class of people / religion. He feels like he is not good enough for his father just because he can’t stand up for himself and he prefers to read and write stories instead of watching football. His friend __Hassan__ is described to have a China doll like face with big green eyes a broad nose and a cleft lip. Hassan’s character is described as brave, confident, faithful, gentle and loyal. Hassan faces discrimination everyday because he is a Hazara, a lower class of people/ religion. Hassan is the kindest character in the book and would do anything for Amir, like he says : ‘For you a thousand times over’ after asked to collect the winning kite After his life changing event he knew that Amir knew about and didn’t try and help him, he forgives Amir straight away because he loves him so much. __Baba__, Amirs father is a very well known, well respected man whom is tormented by secrets. He is believed in the book to favor Hassan over Amir until they win the Kite Fighting Tournament. He takes to the grave, the secret of being Hassans father, because the shamefulness of the fact that he is a Hazara. Baba eventually ends up dyeing from terminal cancer in the U.S and never returns to Afghanistan, he believes it is his punishment for what he did to Hassan and Amir. All together he is a good man who finds a way to be good again. Baba’s favorite quote was ‘When you kill a man you steal a life, you steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat you steal the right to fairness. There is no act more wretched than stealing’ which pretty much sums it up. __Ali__ is a loyal servant and childhood friend of Baba’s. He is just like Hassan except he has polio in his right leg and paralysis in his lower face and is bullied by the Pashtun children of the neighborhood and doesn’t let this bother him and continues his figure of goodness. Ali acts as a father figure to Hassan for his whole life. This story takes place in Afghanistan and the United States from the 1960’s until present day. This story is based in the society of three main factors, War, Poverty and Class. Due to the war Amir and Baba decide to leave and flee to America in order to start a new life, yet no one knows that they won’t return except Baba’s good friend Rahim Khan. Themes ; ‘The Kite Runner’ does not really have a defined plot, it’s a narrated version of the past which is called retrospective. I think this is more important because your actually seeing the story through the eyes of a child and their views and opinions on what is going on in this time and it would be a lot different if you just saw it from an adults perspective. The story is told in a shifting narrative way, past-present-future. The book contains many symbols, some of which are the kite- which is a metaphor that represents friendship, betrayal and redemption. The kite fighting tournament represents what Afghanistan has become today, trying to get rid of other people just to get what you want. The Taliban is a clear representation of war in the time of the book and also in present day. And also all the betrayal from one friend to another is an exact replica of what is happening in today’s society in Afghanistan. Some images that pop into my head so far of ‘The Kite Runner’ are the kite fight, Baba’s death , the rape scene in the alley after the tournament and the escaping to America when they had to get there is a gas tank truck. -Ella Worme MYP 4

__ The Lost Friend.- Ella Worme. __

November 17th marked the beginning of it all. The first time I’d seen her in a week. She was floating on the lake, her shadow stretching behind her, almost like an angel. I wanted to run to her, I was confused by what was going on. Why was she here? Wasn’t she dead? But then I just smiled.

My memory went back to that one sunny day in the beginning of June, Brooke and Avril were just about finished choosing the perfect colours for their dorm room at their future university, University of Harvard. They were so excited for the years ahead that they had together, little did they know what the future held for one of them. These girls were inseparable and did everything together, so no surprised they pulled into Harvard, sitting side by side. They turned to face each other and smiled a perfect All American girl smile, did a little jump in their seats and turned to look out the window to the surrounding campus, which would be one of theirs for the next four years. They walked up the steps through the old wooden doors, and down the hall to the administrations office, each holding theirs mom’s hands. For Avril it would be the last time. After they enrolled they all went to the dorm and started unpacking there boxes and bags, started setting up everything in the precise places until perfection was met. That night the four of them went for a lovely fancy dinner and later spent the last hours together until Christmas Dancing the night away at a lively club, down town. The next day as the run was rising and the birds were singing in the trees and the moms were making there way to the car, hugs, tears and smiled fill the air. The two girls watched as the car drove down the road and turned right at the stop sign. And just like that, they were gone. Frosh week commenced that day and continued for a full week of fun, games and activities. They made loads of new friends, some of which would be taking the same classes as them. The next week was the beginning of the hardcore work load, it was actually a bit overwhelming. Each of them going their separate ways to class with new friends to sit through two hour lectures and three hour essays then come home and have to write notes and do three more hours of homework. Even though the girls lived together they were hardly in their dorm at the same time, usually only to pick up a book or just to sleep. They tried their hardest to have lunch everyday, and that was the one thing that kept their friendship alive. They grew apart slowly, day by day, until they bearly even saw each other. They knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. One day, the 17th of November to be exact, the day Brooke decided to skip lunch cause she was upset at Avril for leaving her laundry in pile in the middle of their room with a note saying, hitting the gym with a few, please do this load, I’ll make it up to you- Avril xxx :) . It was the night of the annual prom and Brooke was getting ready with her new friends Tina and Lilly. As they checked their selves over in the mirror for about the 20th time they left for the night. The room was ecstatic, filled with excitement. Walking all together side by side across campus, they heard a scream , ran toward it and then saw a bunch of men in black, about five , each carrying a body. All of the corpses had been slit at the throat by a knife. I stopped breathing for what felt like forever and then the tears hit me, started falling from my eyes like an angry waterfall rushing to it bottom. With every single tear came a different memory. And just like that they had taken her, and the worst part was, I didn’t even get to say goodbye. A week later before I knew it I was standing in the grave yard in my hometown, for the memorial of my best friend or pretty much sister. As I stood there speechless, the tears slowing making their way to the corners of my eyes, started rolling down my cheek. It was my turn to speak, nothing of what I had prepared seemed right at this moment so I pretty much summed it up as much as it killed me look at the casket in which a young beautiful teenage girl lay at peace. Everyone was looking at me, I looked up , then at her mum then her father, and said : “ All that I can say to sum it all up, I loved that girl with all my heart, and when she went, she took a peace of me with her. It feels like I die inside every time I think of her, then I remember that perfect smile, and I know she’s happy.” I couldn’t anymore, surrounded by black and tears, I broke free from the crowd and ran to the riverside. The sun was about to set and I watched it go, every single move it made. I stood up and looked at my reflection in the water, but did not see my face. A familiar face, but not mine. I blinked a couple of times and remembered those blond curls like string gold. It was Avril. She would always be in my heart from that day on.