Second Paper: The Kite Runner and Stories from the Middle East
Choose an issue, idea, or narrative element in The Kite Runner or one of the stories from the Middle East to explore/argue in a paper of at least 750 words (normally three full pages). Some example topics are listed after the Requirements. The Topics for Discussion on CN for each class session may also provide additional ideas. There are also some additional writing guides in Document Archive 1 on CN and Canvas that you may find helpful.
Requirements:
First, review the syllabus statement on academic honesty, available here.
Your submission must be a Word document or a pdf file,
Your paper must have a “real” title representing the paper’s topic. “Second Paper” is not a real title. “The Kite Runner” is a good book title but not a real title for your paper. “Amir’s Essential Goodness in The Kite Runner” is a real title that tells readers what the paper is about, in this case an idea that many readers would disagree with..
The paper must have a thesis (some claim for which you have support). Here is an introductory paragraph on HamletDownload Here is an introductory paragraph on Hamle for a paper that I never wrote. I wrote this introduction as an example of how to move from an opening sentence to the thesis without spending time with plot summary other than go identify the specific part of the play I will be focusing on (see the next point). Also note the explicit title of this paper.
Do not waste time telling your readers what happens in the text. You must assume that your readers have read The Kite Runner or the story you are writing about and thus know what happens in it. Avoid the plot-summary wording “Then Amir enters the bathroom and screams.” To point to the section you want to discuss, say “When Amir enters the bathroom and screams.” “Then” introduces plot summary; “When” points to a specific place in the text that you will discuss.
The Kite Runner or the story you are writing about is your only primary source. Your paper should include specific reference to The Kite Runner or the story you are writing about. This normally takes for form of short quotations followed by discussions of how the quotations support your argument. Avoid long quotations, especially if they only describe what happens. That is just another form of plot summary.
For secondary sources, use only your posts and your classmates’ posts, as described in the next points. (Exception: you may use outside sources for factual information that you need to make your argument.) In general, try to have the conversation within your paper have some texture, depth, and resonance, to the extent you can in a brief project like this.
One source must be one of your own posts. As with the next listed requirement, cite this source in the style of a typical secondary source, with “CN Post” as the title of the “book.” For example: Last Name, First Name. CN Post. October 3, 2024. If you know the post number,, include it, as, for example, “CN Post 7.”
At least two classmates must be sources (quotations of claims, arguments, observations)—cited in the style of a typical secondary source (use “Conversation,” “Interview” or “CN Post” for the source type, including the date). These sources can be CN Posts or comments made in class, especially in your discussion group.
Your paper must include a Works Cited page in MLA style (see the next point). This works Cited list must include the primary text (in this case The Kite Runner or the story you wrote about) and any secondary sources you use, such as CN posts and any other use of outside sources. Your primary source (the text you are writing about) and all outside sources, including CN posts and words or ideas taken from other sources, including AI-generated text, must be cited.
Use MLA style to format your paper. Here is the section on MLA styleDownload Here is the section on MLA style from The Little Seagull Handbook. And here is a sample paper in MLA style Download here is a sample paper in MLA style from the same source. Also, here, once again, is the opening paragraph of my unwritten Hamlet paper, this time as an example of MLA style.
Final reminder: Be sure to present a strong argument. Be specific: use specific details from the text and explain why those details are important for your argument.
Some Possible Topics:
“Learning to be good again.” How does Amir learn “to be good again”? Write an essay in which you focus on the process through which this happens. Don’t just tell the story; pick a few key incidents or stages and show how his character changes through the novel. Consider how his relations to others in the novel affect these changes. What specific incidents help him to change, and how do they help? Why did it take so long? The trick here is to turn this into a strong argument, not just a series of events. One approach might be to focus on what exactly “good” means in Amir’s situation. What are the stages Amir goes through to do this? When does it begin? What are key incidents or thoughts?
Fathers and Mothers. In the early portions of The Kite Runner we are in a world in which there are fathers but no mothers. Later mothers also appear (Sanaubar, Khala Jamila, Farzana, and, in brief descriiptions by the former professor, Amir’s mother; you might also consider Soraya). Write an essay in which you consider the roles of fathers and mothers in the novel and the effect of their presence or absence on the other characters. You should focus on one or two examples rather than covering all the characters. Or you might focus on the importance of mothers and/or fathers in the novel.
Two Afghanistans / two countries. In The Kite Runner we see two very different pictures of Afghanistan, the “golden”world of Amir’s youth and the devastated world he finds when he returns. In between we see America through the eyes of Amir (and indirectly through the eyes of other characters. especially Baba). Write an essay in which you consider these locations and their importance for the novel. You might want to focus just on the two versions of Afghanistan (remembering Farid’s comment “You’ve always been a tourist here, you just didn’t know it.”) or on Amir and Baba in Afghanistan and then in America. Consider how the locations contribute to the meaning of the novel.
Theft is the only sin. In chapter 3 of The Kite Runner Baba says “[T]ere is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft” (17). Much later in the novel Amir applies this directly to the issue of Hassan’s father, but if you dig more deeply you may find other examples of how Baba’s statement can be applied to events in the novel. And you may well consider whether you agree with Baba or not, based on what happens and is said in the novel. (You should restrict yourself to what happens or is said in the novel; this is an essay about The Kite Runner, not about your ideas about whether or not you agree with Baba.) Write an essay in which you consider Baba’s idea in relation to the rest of the novel and argue whether, in the context of the novel, he is either right or wrong.
Trauma and its effects. The Kite Runner has several examples of people who have suffered trauma of one sort or another. The obvious ones are Hassan and Sohrab, but there is also Kamal and perhaps Sanaubar. Perhaps we can even add Baba and Amir to the list of those suffering a version of trauma, as well as Soraya and her infertility. Perhaps we can eve add Mr. Andrews at the American embassy. You can’t work on them all, but write an essay in which you consider the trauma of one or two of these characters.
A close reading of a single short passage. (This can be a paragraph or two, but it could even be a single sentence,). What is the passage doing within the novel (or in its part of the novel as a whole)? How does the passage focus in on whatever its topic is? How does Hosseini use language to make the passage work? There are many ways of looking at a single passage within the context of a larger work. You can also use this topic for a paper on one of the stories from the Middle East that we have read. One example of a single sentence that could serve as the basis for an entire paper is “Blood is a powerful thing, bachem, never forget that” (p. 187).
The book versus the film. I think that the film of The Kite Runner is pretty good, but obviously a film cannot do exactly what a book does, and a book cannot do exactly what a book does. Think about differences between the book The Kite Runner and the film The Kite Runner. Then write an essay in which you focus on an important difference (or similarity) and compare how the two differ or develop the similarity. Do you prefer one over the other in terms of the difference you have chosen? It’s easy to quibble about bits that are omitted in the film. Focus instead on the overall relationship between the novel and the film. You will need to cite and discuss specific examples that support your argument.
Character relations in a story. As a way of approaching the stories from the Middle East we have read (Nawal El Saadawi’s “In Camera” and Hanan Al-Shaykh’s “The Women’s Swimming Pool”), write an essay in which you consider the relations between two characters in one of them. Focus on the relationship and develop your thinking about it into a strong argument about the relationship. You may also write on your own topic on one or both of the stories. See “Your Own Topic” below.
A theme or motif. Trace a theme or motif through the novel or one of the stories and show how it works. As a reminder, here is my page on the two Download here is my page on the two. Some of those themes are identified by Isabel Allende on the cover of my older copy of The Kite Runner as “Love, honor, guilt, fear, redemption,” And there are more. Write an essay on one theme or motif that you find in Norwegian Wood or in one of the stories from East Asia. Begin by identifying the theme or motif and explaining its use in the novel or story. Then show in greater detail how it is used in that text and consider how it relates to the text as a whole. Please remember that a work of literature is much more likely to be putting a particular theme “on the table” for discussion and then presenting different aspects of the theme for the readers’ consideration. Good works of literature normally do not tell you what the theme “means” but ask you to look at the many things it could mean in that particular work.
Your own topic, including a topic related to the novel or one of the stories. Feel free to pick a different topic that interests you, but please check it with me first via email.
Link to book:
I’ll try to attach it also.
These are some CN posts (each paragraph is a separate post).
Evelyn Esponiza: After reading chapters 8-13 I can’t even begin to explain how disappointed I am with Haroun’s character. More specifically in chapters 8-10. I feel as if he continues to dig up a deeper hole for himself that eventually one day he won’t be able to get out from. I was devastated when I first learned that he didn’t help prevent or intervene with Hassan getting raped and how he truly didn’t view him as anything other than a servant. Despite the fact that the only reason Hassan did not give up the blue kite was because he knew how much it meant to Amir. He really lets the audience down when we find out that he frames Hassan knowing that he would never even think about stealing from him or his father. The fact that Hassan took accountability consciously knowing he played no part in that is quite saddening. However, that deeply speaks on his character because he was willing to go through any lengths to protect Amir. #Disappointed #CharacterAnalysis
Nicole Koscakova: When reading the beginning of Kite Runner, chapters 1-5, by Khaled Hosseini, what stuck out to me was when Baba said that there is only one sin and that is theft. The first thing that came to mind was that there are many sins and wrongs in the world but when I think of the word “theft”, the first thing that comes to mind is something physical like stealing a belonging from someone or robbing a store. Baba felt strongly about this sin after Amir’s grandfather was killed. In Chapter 3, it states, “‘When you kill a man, you steal a life.’ Baba said. ‘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, Amir'”. (Page 18). I think this part of the chapter really teaches us readers that there is more to theft than just something physical, there is a much deeper meaning behind it. #StoryAnalysis #Guilt
Nicole Koscakova: After reading chapters 7-12 of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, I was happy to see how the story ended. Throughout the entire book, we learn the importance of storytelling. Even though the stories that were being told were fictional and full of imagination, we as readers, and the characters in the book, were still learning a lesson. When I read one of the last sentences in chapter 12, “‘Yes,’ he nodded to himself, ‘time is definitely on the move again around these parts.’ This sentence stuck out to me because in the beginning of the book, I remember Haroun’s life was almost like on a pause, just like his clock after it broke and was stuck on 11 and wouldn’t move. At the end of the book we get a happy ending because Haroun gets a new clock where the time can finally move again, just like his life can finally move forward. #StoryJourney #Imagination
Natalie Castaneda: In chapters 20-25 of The Kite Runner, Amir returns to a war-torn Kabul, spurred by Rahim Khan’s message that he can find redemption. He confronts the devastating changes in his homeland and learns about the fate of Hassan, which deepens his guilt and regret over past betrayals.As Amir prepares to rescue Sohrab, Hassan’s son, he wrestles with his own inadequacies and the emotional scars from his childhood. The tension escalates when he confronts a Taliban official, symbolizing his fight for redemption and a chance to break free from his guilt-ridden past.In the aftermath, Amir begins to bond with Sohrab, suggesting the possibility of healing and a new beginning. These chapters highlight themes of friendship, betrayal, and the enduring struggle for forgiveness, marking a pivotal journey toward atonement. Overall the last couple of chapters in the book really reveal the redemption and used a lot of detailed and impressive writing. #Redemption #Guilt