World Literature

Period 2Week 9

Do Now: Monday, October 20th (7)

• In the do now section of your notebook:– Create a KWL about the Six Degrees of Separation

theory as shown:

Unit 2: Six Degrees of Separation (10)• Six Degrees of Separation is the theory that everyone and

everything is six or fewer steps away from any other person in the world, so that the chain of “a friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps.

• Exploration of Character Analysis– Why do characters do the things they

do?• Significance of readers’ connections to

characters. • Significance of characters connections

to other characters (in any capacity).

Unit 2: Six Degrees of Separation

Introducing the Kite Runner (7)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLtavGjAOJY

Objective:• SWBAT explain background

information to Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.

Khaled Hosseini

• Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965

• Lived in Tehran, Iran, and Paris, France, for parts of his childhood. In 1980, moved to California as a refugee.

• Graduated from high school, college and medical school in California.

• Practiced medicine and now a writer. The Kite Runner was his first novel, published 2003.

• Works with the United Nations Refugee Agency, as a goodwill envoy.

Present Day Kabul, Afghanistan

Present Day Kabul, Afghanistan

Present Day Kabul, Afghanistan

Inspiration…• Relationship: Khaled taught Hossein Khan, the family’s racial Hazara cook to read and write despite the social injustice and racial bias imposed by their society.

• Memories: Fond recollections of pre-Soviet era childhood in Afghanistan.

• Literature: Persian stories and poems, characters and themes presented in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.

Ethnic Groups in Afghanistan• Pasthun Boy • Hazara Boy

Try to make a time line…• Man does he talk fast… Try to make a timeline

of key historical events leading up to Afghanistan’s current state:

• http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,45950304001_1931954,00.html

Before The Kite Runner

• Ruled by a monarchy • 1933 – 1973: King Mohammad Zahir Shah reigned during the longest period of stability.

King Mohammad Zahir Shah in 1963

Afghanistan during The Kite Runner

• 1973: King’s brother-in-law wages a war and declares a republic.

• 1979: USSR invades, kills president and up to 2 million civilians. Over 5 million flee the Afghanistan.

• 1994: Taliban rise to power in Afghanistan; by 2000 the Taliban occupied about 95% of the country.

Taliban occupation of Afghanistan

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11451718

Kite Fighting in Afghanistan

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiOFpLd1jKE

Exit Ticket

• On a half sheet of paper write:– Three facts you learned about Afghanistan

and/or the Taliban – Two pieces of information you learned

about the author –One question you still have about the book