Khaled Hosseini Essay Example for Free

Khaled Hosseini Essay The story is about Amir and Hassan, a Hazara. They spend their days in a peaceful Kabul, kite fighting, roaming the streets and being boys. Amir’s father loves both the boys, but seems critical of Amir for not being manly enough. Amir also fears his father blames him for his mother’s death during childbirth. However, he has a kind father figure in the form of Rahim Khan, Baba’s friend, who understands Amir better, and is supportive of his interest in writing stories. Assef, a mean and violent older boy, blames Amir for socializing with a Hazara. According to Assef, the Hazaras were an inferior race that should only live in Hazarajat. He prepares to attack Amir with his steel knuckles, but Hassan bravely stands up to him, and threatens to shoot Assef in the eye with his slingshot. Assef and his friends back off, but Assef says he will take revenge. Hassan is a successful kite runner for Amir. He knows where the kite will land without even watching it. One triumphant day, Amir wins the local tournament, and finally Babas praise. Hassan goes to run the last cut, it was a great trophy. Hassan then said For you, a thousand times over. Unfortunately, Hassan runs into Assef and his two henchmen. Hassan refuses to give up Amirs kite, so Assef exacts his revenge, assaulting and raping him. Wondering why Hassan is taking so long, Amir searches for Hassan and hides when he hears Assefs voice. He witnesses the rape but is too scared to help him. Afterwards, for some time Hassan and Amir keep a distance from each other. Amir reacts differently because he feels ashamed, and is frustrated by Hassans saint-like behavior. Already jealous of Babas love for Hassan, Amir worries if Baba knew how bravely Hassan defended Amirs kite, and how cowardly Amir acted, that Babas love for Hassan would grow even more. To force Hassan to leave, Amir frames him as a thief, and Hassan falsely confesses. Baba forgives him, despite the fact that, as he explained earlier, he believes that there is no act more wretched than stealing. Hassan and his father Ali, leave anyway. Hassans departure frees Amir of the daily reminder of his betrayal, but he still lives with his guilt. Five years later, the Russians invade Afghanistan; Amir and Baba escape to Peshawar, Pakistan and then to Fremont, California, where Amir and Baba, settle in an apartment and Baba works at a gas station. Amir eventually takes classes at a local community college to develop his writing skills. Every Sunday, Baba and Amir make extra money selling used goods at a flea market in San Jose. There, Amir meets fellow refugee Soraya and Sorayas father, who was a high-ranked officer in Afghanistan. Baba is diagnosed with cancer but is still capable of granting Amir one last favor: he asks Sorayas fathers permission for Amir to marry her. He agrees and they marry. Shortly thereafter Baba dies. Amir and Soraya get to know that they cannot have children. Fifteen years after his wedding, Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan, who is dying from an illness. Rahim Khan asks Amir to come to Pakistan. He tells Amir there is a way to be good again. Amir goes. Ali was killed by a land mine. Hassan had a wife and a son, named Sohrab, and had returned to Baba’s house as a caretaker at Rahim Khan’s request. One day the Taliban murdered Hassan, along with his wife. Rahim Khan reveals that Ali was not really Hassans father. Hassan was actually the son of Baba, therefore Amirs half-brother. Rahim Khan tells Amir that the true reason he has called Amir to Pakistan is to go to Kabul to rescue Hassans son, Sohrab, from an orphanage. Amir returns to a Taliban-controlled Kabul with a guide, Farid, and searches for Sohrab at the orphanage. He does not find Sohrab where he was supposed to be. The director of the orphanage tells them that a Taliban official comes often, brings cash and usually takes a girl back with him. Once in a while however, he takes a boy, recently Sohrab. The director tells Amir to go to a soccer match and the man who does the speeches is the man who took Sohrab. Farid manages to secure an appointment with the speaker at his home, by saying that he and Amir have personal business with him. At the house, Amir has his meeting with the man in sunglasses. The man is revealed to be his childhood enemy, Assef. Assef is aware of Amirs identity from the very beginning, but Amir doesnt realize who hes sitting across until Assef starts asking about Ali, Baba and Hassan. Sohrab is being kept at the home where he is made to dance dressed in womens clothes, and it seems like Assef might have been sexually assaulting him. Assef agrees to release him, but only for a price a fight with Amir. Amir is the protagonist of the story. He lives with his father, while his mother died when he was born. He has trouble getting attention and love from his father. He is best friends with Hassan, and the story follows him from the time he is a child to adult. He is good at school, but he is a boy who is struggling to get his father to be happy, he feels that he is the disappointment of his father. He characterizes himself as a coward, with little purpose. He changes his personal beliefs twice throughout the history. First time when Hassan is raped, after the event he is not talking with Hassan because of his guilt and gets Hassan kicked out of the house. The second is when he goes back to Afghanistan to retrieve the son of Hassan. As an adult, he proved what he can do, and is presented as a man with so much courage that no one else ever had. Hassan is the son of Ali, who is the servant of Baba. Hassan is a Hazara and he is often discriminated against and oppressed by others. Hassan is brave, loyal and always protects Amir. Since Hassan has not gone to school, he learns to read and write from Ali. Hes doing what hes told. He is incredibly loyal to Amir. When Amir accuses him of stealing his watch, he said to Baba that he was the one who took it, without Amir asking him about it. Hassan is the character that changes at least throughout the history. Assef is the evil character in this book. He hates Hazaras, which is shown clearly in the book. Therefore, he is looking for Amir. He believes that it is his fault that Hassan lives with him. He is the one that causes problems between the childhood friends Amir and Hassan. We have two turning points in this book. The first comes when Hassan is sexually abused by Assef and his gang. It changes the friendship of Amir and Hassan. Amir stops talking with Hassan because he feels ashamed and feels that he has betrayed Hassan. The second turning point comes when Rahim Khan calls Amir. Amir changes and realizes that he can make things better. He decides to find Sohrab and get him to safety. This is the structure of the story. The story starts with a short introduction where the narrator tells us a little about himself and Kabul. Then we get more excitement and we get the climax. The climax is when Hassan got raped by Assef. Anything could happen at that point because Amir was looking at everything that happened. The excitement fell down after that incident because Hassan and Ali left the house, but it became more and more interesting after that because the Russians invaded Afghanistan and Amir had to leave Afghanistan. That was a big change in the story. Once again we got a climax when Amir stood face to face against Assef. He had a chance to take revenge now. This was our presentation of ‘’The Kite Runner’’. We have told you a little about the plot, the characters, the turning-points, climax, the setting, the themes and the message in the book. I will end the presentation by talking about my opinion about the book. I loved this book. It has a good structure, the content is really good and you don’t want to stop reading. I don’t like to read books, but this book was special. Sources:The Kite Runnerhttps://thekyterunner. wikispaces. com/Dragel%C3%B8peren| http://www. smartguy. no/klaer/t-shirt/t-shirt-logo/marinebla_polo-ralph-lauren-t-shirt_179718_21 http://www. smartguy. no/klaer/t-shirt/poloshirt/hvit_lacoste-poloskjorte_175476_3 http://www. smartguy. no/klaer/t-shirt/poloshirt/mellembla_tommy-hilfiger-poloshirt_187632_74 http://www. smartguy. no/klaer/t-shirt/poloshirt/svart_hugo-boss-orange-poloskjorte_182674_4 http://www. smartguy. no/klaer/jeans-bukser/bukser/sand_vito-chino_192150_27 http://karrierestart. no/jobb? jobtype=2municipality=89page=5 http://www. free-tv-video-online. me/internet/the_ellen_degeneres_show/season_10. html http://www. handelsportal. no/butikk/iphone-4-4s/iphone-4-deksel-og-etui http://max100. no/index. php? route=product/productpath=20_64_67product_id=292.

The Multicultural Education Essay -- essays papers

The Multicultural Education John Searle addresses the â€Å"major debate†¦ going on at present concerning†¦ a crisis in the teaching of the humanities.† [Searle, 106] He goes on to defend the canon of works by dead white males that has traditionally made up the curriculum of liberal arts education. I disagree with many of his arguments, and believe that multiculturalism should be taught in the university, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Openmindedness will take much more than just minimal changes in curriculum. In order for works by different races and women to be judged and studied alongside works by white men, they have to be seen as equal to works by white men. They have to be studied for their literary content, not for the statement they make about feminism or race. We don’t just need to evaluate them by the same standards, we need to change the standards. The standards set by the traditional liberal arts education have been set by white males and are inherently biased. Ne w standards need to be set that are as openminded as we want students to be. This is a trend that needs to be started way before college. A diverse curriculum should be taught throughout a person’s education, because that is what will produce well rounded, openminded individuals that will change the tradition of oppression in society. Searle says, â€Å"We should not be embarrassed by the fact that a disproportionately large percentage of the major cultural achievements in our society have been made by white males.† [Searle, 118] To this, I say yes we should! We should be embarrassed that there are people who don’t see that this â€Å"disproportionately large percentage† is not due to the overwhelming intelligence of the white male, but to centuries of oppression. Our culture hasn’t nurtured the intellectual efforts of women or minorities, their ideas and pursuits have been repressed, probably out of fear. We have a society dominated by white males, it shouldn’t be surprising that literature is too. We need to change the way our society view women and minorities. Trying to do this by changing the curriculum of college students is pointless. We need to start from the beginning, with the children. Children need to be taught that they exist as a part of the world, rather than just as a part of America. If worldliness is encouraged at a young age, it will replace the â€Å"us† and â€Å"them† mentali... ...be expanded to new ideas and cultures. University education should be an extension of, not a replacement for, grade and high school education. I think that, in general, we are on the road to a more openminded society. Children and young adults are more accepting than their parents and their grandparents, and I think if we encourage and appreciate this trend, it will continue on to their children. But, it is not the case in all families, and even if it were, family is only one of the influences in a child’s life. As they get older, they are increasingly influenced by outside factors, such as school, the media and culture. We need to encourage children and open their minds with all the tools we have available to us as a society. Children are the ones that will make up the bulk of the influential population in twenty years. Broadening their horizons is broadening the future’s horizons as well. As we change the way our society views women and minorities, as they are embraced as equals, we will start to see literary works of the same caliber, if not better than the works encompassed by the traditional canon. Then , we will be on the road to having a more diverse university education.

Legalization of Marijauna

Daniel FaybyshevPeriod 8-9 6/11/12â€Å"Legalization of Marijuana† Although to many it may seem as though marijuana is a harmful substance that poisons our nations youth, marijuana has the potential to open many new doors in economics, medicine, security and more. Marijuana should not be as easy to obtain as walking into a convenience store and buying a pack of gum. However, the use of cannabis should be a choice left up to responsible people of age who can make their own wise decisions. Marijuana should be extremely regulated.With that said, Marijuana can be hugely beneficial. Tax revenue could significantly increase with the legalization of marijuana because of its huge popularity. Forty-two percent of America’s population has tried marijuana at least once. Keep in mind this is while it is illegal and harder to obtain than it would be if it were legal. An estimated forty to one-hundred billion dollars in revenue could be collected if taxes that are put on tobacco and alcohol products were to be put on marijuana.Legal marijuana production would create jobs both domestically and globally. Locally, dispensary shops would create numerous legitimate jobs for people. Globally, producers all around the world including South American countries, Middle Eastern countries, and African countries would have new job opportunities involving the production of cannabis sativa. Marijuana can help aid in the reduction of global unemployment and jumpstart our economy. Marijuana has been clinically proven to treat and sometimes cure many diseases that unfortunately plague the human body.It can act as an effective painkiller and it can replace harmful generic opiate-based painkillers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone that are known for being extremely addictive and highly abused drugs that can severely harm the body if taken more than prescribed. Marijuana is just the safer alternative. Also, marijuana can successfully treat anxiety disorders and depression because t he main chemical in Marijuana, THC (tetrahydrocannabanoid) acts as an anti-anxyolitic and an anti-depressant. In many cases Marijuana can treat insomnia.In conclusion Marijuana has numerous medical benefits and I believe it is a shame that its medicinal powers cannot be taken advantage of just because the government believes it should be illegal. Medicinal Marijuana offers hope to many people who suffer from disease. Another reason marijuana should be decriminalized, is to ultimately create a safer environment for the general public. Because of the high demand for marijuana the black market has taken upon itself to mass-produce and distribute it to the world.Along with the manufacturing and distribution of drugs come numerous other illegal activities to support it. Guns are given to those who are involved with drug trafficking. From the growers all the way to the local dealers people are carrying guns. Also, other more dangerous drugs are sold to fund the production and distribution of marijuana. Prostitution is also used as a way of funding the production of cannabis. Gang violence is also prevalent with the distribution of marijuana because rival gangs often compete for territory on which they sell their product.Legalizing marijuana would lessen if not eliminate essential components of the black market. It is a valid and reasonable point to make by those who oppose the legalization on Marijuana that Marijuana is a dangerous substance. Unfortunately the use of marijuana does have some negative side effects. Although they are minimal they are still present. Despite its many wonderful benefits marijuana is still a drug and still alters the way the mind and body function.However, the fact of the matter is that we live in an imperfect world and in an imperfect world certain sacrifices must be made for stability to be maintained within a society. The negatives of Marijuana cannot compete with benefits that would come about with its legalization. Gaining a stable e conomy, advancements in medicine and safe streets for the public are just a few of the many reasons that are worth the few minor negative affects it may have on those who will use it.

Most Influential Jazz Singer, Billie Holiday - 693 Words

Billie Holiday The Harlem Renaissance was an African American cultural movement specifically in creative arts such as music and literature. Jazz represented the flavor and zest of African American culture in the 1920s-1940s. Billie Holiday had a great impact on the Harlem Renaissance because she was one of the most influential jazz singers of all time. She performed with other great jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson, Jo Jones, and Henry Allen. Her career as a jazz singer was an incredible and thriving one, however, it was shortened because of her battle of substance abuse. Despite the drug use and the loss of her mother, the only thing she could turn to was her music. Billie Holidays legacy will always live on when the discussion of the Harlem Renaissance is present. Billie Holiday was born on April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania under her birth name, Eleanora Fagan. Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer, from the 1930s to the 50s. All her life she live d with her mother because she did not know her biological father. She grew up in Baltimore, Maryland until her mother, Sadie Fagan, decided to move to New York in search of a better job. In New York, Holiday found a job at a Harlem nightclub. This job will encourage her to pursue a career in music and go on tour with other great artists. She borrowed her professional stage name from her favorite screen star, Billie Dove. Holidays career started off on a good note by performing at jazzShow MoreRelatedMusic Has An Acute Effect On People1436 Words   |  6 Pageslisteners well being. Jazz has been an extremely popular form of music throughout time. Its interesting melodies and meaningful lyrics give voice to artists to display their emotions through beauteous music. During its heyday in the 1920’s, jazz singing was a landscape of the American sound (Carr 9). 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