The Kite Runner Review

Fermin Carrera

Mr. Sutherland P.2

11-23-10

                                                   The Kite Runner Review

The Kite Runner is now one of my favorite books. The Kite Runner is a book that I first thought it was boring. Then as I started to read it very carefully, I began to see how the there were changes in the characteristics of the main characters. The main characters of the novel are Amir, Hassan, Assef and Bubba. The character that best interested me was Amir. Everything that goes on in Amir’s life is because of conflicts that happen in the book. These conflicts changes Amir’s life in a good way. Even if the conflicts are very horrifying. As the book goes on, Amir starts to change.

As I read the book, I started to notice the characteristics of the characteristics. Reading the book and noticing Amir’s characteristics, I knew that it will affect him in the future. One of the characteristics of Amir is that he is a boy who is careless in a way, but he also cares. It may seem confusing, but I will explain why.

When Hassan got raped by Assef, the only thing that Amir did was watched and did not do anything to help Hassan when he was being raped. He did not even bother to say something about it. People may think that Amir is careless, but there was nothing that he could of done to help Hassan. Assef was much older, taller, and stronger than Amir and Hassan.

“Blocking Hassan’s way out of the ally where three boys…I left my body clench up, and something cold rippled up my spine…Hassan lay with his chest pinned to the ground. Kamal and Wali each gripped an arm…Assef knelt behind Hassan, put his hands on Hassan’s hips and lifted his bare buttocks …He unzipped his jeans, Dropped his underwear. He positioned himself behind Hassan. Hassan didn’t struggle. Didn’t even whimper. He moved his head slightly and I caught a glimpse of his face saw the resignation in it…it was the look of the lamb…I stopped watching turned away from the ally. Something warm was running down my wrist…I was weeping…I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could  step into that ally , stand up for Hassan –the way he’d stood up for me all those times in the past. Or I could run. In the end, I ran…I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef, and what he would do to me.”

This entire quote shows that Amir was not brave enough to help Hassan. In the past, Hassan has helped out Amir. But, why didn’t Amir help Hassan when he needed it the most? Amir was a coward. He even said it. Amir and Hassan will never forget what they both experienced. In the future, this horrible thing that happened to Hassan and Amir witnessing it with his eyes will not leave Amir from its side. This experience would soon help Amir redeem him one way or another.

Time passes and Amir is now a professional writer, has a great life with a loving wife Soraya who loves him. Amir gets a call from Rahim Kahn to go to Pakistan. Amir decides to go. As he’s in Pakistan, hares that Hassan was assassinated by the Taliban. At that point, Hassan was married and had a child. Hassan and his wife were killed and Sohrab was taken to an orphanage. Sohrab is Hassan’s son. Another thing is that Amir finds out is that Hassan is Amir’s brother. At that point, he was very disappointed and extremely angry. Amir decides to go and get Sohrab from the orphanage. When he gets there, He finds out that the kid was sold to a mysterious guy who knows for what. The orphanage was falling apart and money was needed desperately. Amir is now in a quest to get Sohrab, his nephew.

Amir is a person who is brave and willing to risk it all to save a life. He was now in a mission to save Sohrab from the Taliban. Amir goes to meet the mysterious guy. Amir was very scared but that wasn’t going to stop him from going and taking Sohrab with him. In the end, the guy reviled his identity. Well, that guy happened to be Assef! That’s when Amir got very frightened. That still wouldn’t stop him from completing his mission, saving Sohrab.

Amir and Assef began to have a discussion about the boy. Amir wanted to take Sohrab with him. He was willing to offer Assef money. Why money? Assef is a member of the Taliban; He has money, food, everything he needs. In the end, it came to a conclusion. Amir and Assef had some unfinished business to settle. That business is a battle to the death.

“Assef but down his prayer breeds. Reached in the breast pocket of his black pocket. What he fished out of that pocket did not surprise me one bit: stainless-steel brass knuckles…I don’t know if I gave Assef a good fight, I don’t think I did…His brass knuckles flashing in the afternoon light; how cold they felt with the first blows and how quickly they warmed with my blood. Getting thrown against the wall…Sohrab screaming…The knuckles shattering my jaw. Choking with my own teeth…blood from my split upper lip…The sound of my ribs snapping like the tree branches…getting kicked. Sohrab screaming…I started laughing…The harder I laughed, the harder he kicked me, punched me, scratched me. “WHATS SO FUNNY?”  Assef bellowed me. Another rib snapped…I laughed because I saw that in some hidden nook in a corner of my mind, I’d even been locking forward to this. (Sohrab hits Assef in the eye using his slingshot). Sohrab said pulling my hand. “Let’s go!”

This part of the book is the climax. IT is the climax because this conflict changes the story. First of all, this chapter (22) contains a lot of suspense. This is an important quote because it tells a lot of Amir’s character. This entire quote shows that Amir was brave. He was brave because he was risking his life to save Sohrab’s life. In the past, Amir was not brave enough to save Hassan’s life. As years passed, He developed that important skill. To be brave, especially when it comes to family. Amir could of died settling that business with Assef. But, he made it through alive. When Amir said “I’d even been looking forward to this.” This tells me that this was the way to release his guilt from not helping Hassan when he was being raped by Assef. Another thing is that in the end, Amir takes Sohrab with him to live in San Francisco with him and his wife, that’s like an apology to Hassan and a promise to him.

In conclusion, the characteristics of Amir affected the entire novel in different ways. One of them is causing conflicts. For example, Amir was a coward for not helping Hassan when he was be violated by Assef. And then, Amir becomes brave. He is brave when he goes to save Sohrab from Assef. He succeeds and takes Sohrab with him to San Francisco.   

The Kite Runner Final Book ReSPONSE

Now that i read the Kite Runner, I feel great. Reading this book, may be one of the best books that I had ever read. This is one of those books that just makes you want to read it and find out the resolutions for every problems. One thing for sure, this novel did contain many conflicts. All of these conflicts that happen in this book, are then solved. Not only that, these conflicts is what made the story really good. Thats why it made me want to keep on reading as I read every single page.

In chapter 22, A big climax in he book happens that changes many things. This chapter was my favorite chapter of the entire book. As I read this chapter i actually had an adrenalin punch because i was so eager to find out what will happen. As I read this book. It was like if i was in the scene. In this chapter. Amir goes to save Sohrab from the man who had bought him from the orphanage. That man was Assef. When I read that part, I was surprised because i said to myself that sooner or later,  Assef will come back. I had also predicted that, that guy was going to be Assef and I was right all along. You need to read this chapter again and see how it contains a big climax.

When I read the last chapter, It ends as how I thought it would end. I said that this novel will end in away that you least expected to end like. Through the entire book, You see mysteries being solved and how they will affect later on. In the end of this novel, It ends with Amir and Sohrab being together as a family. Not too many people liked the ending because it was somewhat boring in a way. Well thats the thing, some books contain many conflicts that shapes the mood  of the reader. In this situtaion,  my mood came to be excited to read the book and and be so in to it. and as i read yhe ending the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "oh wow." Over all, The Kite Runner is a VERY GOOD BOOK!!!

Drawing

   Something that I enjoy to do on my freetime is to draw. I love to draw! I only need a notebook, pencil, and an ipod to keep myself active not physically but mentally. Almost everyday, I draw for about half an hour. I started to draw when I was a little kid and as years passed, my drawing skills improved a lot. What motivated me to start drawing was when I saw many favorite cartoons. When I was a little kid, I loved to watch DragonBall Z and WWE. Those were my favorite TV shows. As I observed the characters very closely, I took out a piece of paper and a pencil. I then began to draw. At first, my drawings were not too good. Day after day, I practiced and by the time I looked at my past and present drawings, I noticed dramatic changes. I can't say that I'm an expert because I'm not. I'm just an amature.
  
   When I was in the secondgrade, I use alaways draw DragonBall Z characters. My friends thought that I was a very good drawer. Since they were so cool, other students even offered me like $2 to make them a DragonBall Z picture. When was seven, I looked at my drawings and said, "wow they are so cool." Not too long ago, I found one of those drwings and all I said was "damn, they are crap."

  Before I begin to draw, I always use my ipod. The music that I  have In my ipod is rock, and rap.
For example, If I listen to hardcore rock, then I will draw something that is hardcore. A couple of days ago, I drew a hardcore intimidating biker by just listening to a band named Distubed. I say that music is what makes my drawings.

  Since I love to draw, my dream career is to be an animation artist. I really love to draw and to work as an animation artist, then I love my job. My parents always tell me to be someone in life and be happy with what I like to do. I enjoy drawing and I like to make creative cartoons. I like the animation jobs, so basically, animation is my thing. As you can see, I love to draw and someday I hope to become an animation artist.

This is a quote that I got from Jessica Chen's blog post of Black Friday .

Black Friday is the day that provide excitements for everyone. Although a numerous of people would stay up all night just to receive things that are on sale, it is worth it. This year I am excited about Black Friday, I am definitely going to GO :D

I've never gone shopping on Black Friday. i really want to go this year but my parents would not go. If you really want to get the best of everything, you will need to wait outside of the stores for a real long time. I really want to get a Fender 4 string bass guitar. That's all I want for Christmas and nothing else. I want to go to Guitar Center and buy the bass that I really want. The guitar will be on sale.  Like Jessica said, its worth the wait to get something that you really like. As you wait, your also full of excitement. Once those doers open and the sign turns on saying open, you get adrenalin punch. I've never gone to Black Friday, but as i think of it, it just makes me want to go.

There are always things on sale in stores and the sale could be up to eighty-five percent off.

Wow! this is a great deal and very affordable. Like I said, I really want to get a bass guitar from the brand Fender. If those guitars are up to eighty-five percent, Then its just an amazing deal. i can just buy the guitar like nothing. I heard that Guitar Center will be on Black Friday and I would really want to go. A couple years years back, it was Black Friday and there was a huge commotion in Walmart. Many people fought over a single toy. There were fights outside and inside of the store. After my parents saw that, I think that convinced them enough to not go to the mall for Christmas shopping on Black Friday. Maybe thats it or maybe they just don't want to  wait a long period of time outside the mall. But hey, it will be worth the wait.

 

The Kite Runner 2nd Response Post

   At first I did not find The Kite Runner very intersting. All I did on my weekend was just read the Kite Runner. But, only this time, the book seemed very intersting. Everytime i finished a chapter, the curiosity of what happens next, made me want to read and find out what happens next. Reading to the first paper clip did not really give me the curiosity of wanting to find out what happens next. I began to annotate a lot more and keeping track of what happens in every chapter. This will really help me a lot when it comes to writing the next essay.   
   As I read,  I found many important events that happened that might later have an impact in the future. Theres the part when Baba dies and Amir is now alone exept for his wife. I think that if Baba would of died before Amir marys Soroya, then Amir would of not have a good life and be miserable. If that would of happened, I think that Amir might of gone back to look for Hassan because he would have no where to go. I tturns out that Amir publishes four book and earns enough mony to buy a house. Amir becaome a profesional book writer and succeeds in life.
   
  Amir and Soroya can not have children for some reason and the doctors can't find the answer why. Aleah agree that he cant get his wife pregnant and if he trys, then he will fail because of karma. Back then in the beginning of the book, Amir see Hassan getting raped by Assef and does not do anything to help Hassan. He just stands there and watches his brother get raped in front of him. As a result, later in the future, Amir cant have children. We say that it is karma.

  I'm satrting to really like this book a lot more now because I'm getting the hang of reading very closely and paying very good attension to what I'm reading. If I just read fast and skip around then I wont know what i had read. Sometimes I dont even bother to go back and reread. I dont do that any more. If i do that, then whats the point of reading. Overall, I like the book.

Death

 I'm not really scared to die. Sooner or later you will die and cant do anything about it. I live in East Oakland and to be honest, I sometime just dont feel safe walking through the streets. If I see a car that is going really fast and filled with guys wearing a common color, I say to my self, "these guys are gang members". If I see that, I just hope that i wont get shot and killed. But,  If that would ever to happen, it is what it is.

A guy that i knew, is no longer with us today. His name was Eric and he was shot and killed by nortno which is a dangerous gang in Oakland. Eric was a very cool, smart and atheletic teenage kid who enjoyed playing football and hang out with friends. He was not gang affileated. He was going to go to Chico State University because he was offered a chance to play in their football team. In March 28, 2010, he was shot and killed. He was celebrating his birthday when a drive by happened. Now, he is no longer with us today.

East Oakland is known to be a vioelnt city. About two days ago, it was late and i was doing my homework. Then all of a sudden, I heard a discussion between two guys. All I heard was, "Run b**ch  run"! Then came the gun shots. The next mornig, on of those guys ended up dead infront of my aut"s house. To me, this is something that did not surprised me at all. Shit like this always happens in OAKLAND!!! I'm just glad that wasn't me who got shot. But, like I said, If I were to ever get shot and killed, then it is what it is. I'm not scared to die.

Response Post to Kristine's Blog.

  This is a quote from Kristine Chin.

At this moment, there are thousands of people fighting for equal treatment. These people are being constantly put down by society and everyone around them. Their rights are constantly being shot down and anything they try to do to gain their rights back lead to even more suppression and pain. These people are those who have different sexual orientations than everyone else. Whether someone is gay, lesbian, bisexual or anything else, they are still human beings. Nothing can change that. America is supposedly the country in which anyone is accepted and anyone has the same rights as everyone else.

I like this quote because i agree 100 percent with what Kristine is trying to say. I have nothing against people who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual. They are all human beings and should always be respected. Something that i do not like about people is that when they call other kids that are actually gay "fagets". I really hate that word being used towards gay people.
Not too long ago went to the mall, I saw a guy being descriminated because he was gay. That guy was be insulted by another group of kids. It really shocked me because it's something I've never seen it with my own eyes. the poor guy was crying while the other group of kids were just laughing. I was disgusted.
The Declaration of Independece states "All men are created equal" in the modern day, this becoming to be false. Like Kristine said, "They are not getting the rights they deserve." Which they should because everyone has equal rights. Were not in the 18th and 19th century anymore. Back then, not everyone had equal rights. Now, were in the 21st century and every human being has equal right. The people who says that gays are not real men, are ignorant. To me, thats machismo. Like  I said, I dont have nothing against gays, lesbians, or bisexuals. They are all equal in the inside and should be respected like any other person should be. This is why I agree with Kristine's blog posts.

The Kite Runner 1st Response Post

So far in the book, The Kite Runner is intersteing. It is intersting because as you read, something big happens and you want to keep on reading some more. For example, when Hassan and Assef fight, one thing lead to another. Assef and Hassan start to fight. Assef says " give me your kite or give me your body." Hassan ends up getting but raped by Assef. As I read, I was surprised of what was happening. If this is someting that is very shocking to the students, then there must be more events that happen in the novel that can be twice as shocking and contains a lot of suspense that just motivates you to keep on reading. I know this Because Eric Lau read ahead the chapter that he could of stopped. He rad and read because the book was so interstng to him and motivated him to keep on reading. If his happened to Eric, then i can tell that as he read, he vizualized every scene.

If i read and vizualize the scenes that are happening, then i know that what I'm reading i understand. For me, this doesn't really happen often. As i read the book, there are sometimes where i dont know what i had read. At that point, i have to go back from the beging of the chapter and reread it all over again. One thing that Ihave to work on is to loose the habit of not wanting to read and being very lazy at reading. At the end, when we finish the book and it is time to write an essay based on what we read, i will have difficulties writing the essay because i wouldnt even know what i read. I have to reread and annotate as i read. One thing that i can do as iread is to write down a littile summary of what i read. That way i would go back and read what i wrote and understand what i had read. If i start to do that, then whwen it comes to write the essay, it would be very easy for me to write it. Over all, the book is good and i have to anotetate what i read for me to understand later on in the future what i had read.

reflective essay

Fermin Carrera \
Mr. Sutherland
English P.2
10-29-10    

  

                                              Reflective Essay

Since the first day I began using blogger, I wasn't too excited. well  that's because I thought that I was going to be assigned things to write about. I stand corrected . When Iwas told of how Blogger works, I felt a lot more comfortable. I then knew that in Blogger, I can write about anything that comes to my mind. I feel better writing about things that Ienjoy and not writing about things that I'm assigned. writing on my blog is know becoming one of my hobbies because in blogger, I just write about my days, feelings activities ect...

The writing that i do on my blog is different from writing i do in academic essays .When it comes to writing in Blogger, my writing is very unorganized and sometimes unprofessional . On the other hand, when I’m writing an academic essay, everything a is a lot more organized. In Blogger, I just type down anything that comes to my mind. I’ll try to organize it, but first i would have to brainstorm on the topic that i would write about. I will type about a topic but I wouldn't go to in debt about it which i should. For example, when I wrote about how i like to listen to rock music, I just explained the bands that i like to listen to and how I feel about that type of music. If I would of written an essay about rock music, then I would of gone more in debt about it. I would of written about how it began and how it had evolved over time. I could of wrote about that. To do that research would be needed. When it comes to writing an essay, I add good details. In essays, I take my time writing then and developing them.

When I’m writing something on Blogger, I don't really take my time developing my blogs and take time time writing them. On my last essay, wrote about the central conflict of the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, before I even started to write the essay, I first gathered all of my ideas and wrote them on a piece of paper. From there I organized everything and then started to write down my essay. Those are the steps I take when I'm writing an essay. when I’m writing about something on Blogger, I just write nonstop until i feel that i have finished. maybe If i take the same steps as if I'm writing an essay, then maybe my writing on Blogger will be a lot more better. Although it will take time, a good result comes out. That result is a much better and improved writing piece. Here you can see how there is a big difference in writing on blogger and writing academic essays.  

What inspires me to write is constantly happening. If theres something really cool, funny or weired that happens in my eceyday life, then i will write about it on my blog.  For example when  I first started attending ASTI I wrote if how i feel about it.  I also wrote about a poem that i developed and how all of a sudden it impacted my life in way with noticing it at first.  As i wrote it, i didnt really thought of putting a messege in the poem. My poem is called Death or Meth. After reading a the poem over a couple of time i finally found a messege  which was not what i was really looking for. This was just a random thing that happened. Things like that makes me want to write  on my blog.  If theres something that happens in my life that seems really cool, then the first thing that i would do is write about in mu blog. As you can see, things that happen in my everyday life, inspires me to write.

As of now, I haven’t really seenany improvements in my writing. I think that writing on Blogger is just messing up my writing skills. Like I said before, in Blogger i dont organize my writing and dont really take my time developing what i write. I belive that  i should be taking my time writing  and not rush through. I feel that writing on Bloggr really messed me up.  I also want to see improvements in writing because writing is a big thing that i need to work on. Also, the quickwrites help me a lot because i just write nonstop about a topic. The point of this is to parctice of the  SAT essay that only gives me twenty-five minutes. Blogger doesnt work that way. To post good blogs posts you should tke your time. If you would to compare my blog to other student’s blog posts, you will see a big difference. That tells me that I need to make some improvements.

In conclusion, using Blogger has helped me and also weakind me. It has hepped me a lot because using Blogger is now one of my hobbies. Thing that happen in my everyday life, is what i  blog about. At the same time, using Blogger has affectped me in my writing skills. Thats something that shouldn’t happen at all. Also, i diddn’t really see any improvements on my writing skills using blogger. On the contrary, It has weakend my writing skills. I hope to see better improvements on my Blogg posts.