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1. The power of memories to keep pain at bay

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Love, Loyalty, and Belonging

Suffering and Perseverance

Shame and Reputation

Victimization vs. Survival

Gender Relations

Female Friendship

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Gender Relations

Religion, Traditions

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"For years, Mariam had looked on as he ate, the muscles of his temples churning, one hand making compact little rice balls, the back of the other wiping grease, swiping stray grains, from the corners of his mouth."

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"Laila remembered how Mammy had dropped to the ground, how she'd screamed, torn at her hair. But Laila couldn't manage that. She could hardly move. She could hardly move a muscle" (page 204)

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Victimization vs Survival

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"It wasn't so much what he said, the blatant lies, the contrived empathy, or even the fact that he had not raised a hand to her, Mariam, since he had dug the girl out from under those bricks. It was the staged delivery. Like a performance. An attempt on his part, both sly and pathetic, to impress. To charm."

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The perspective of one's reputation is also indicative of how one is treated

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Parental Relationships for both

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Passage/Quotation Theme: Female friendship (Hot Spot)

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Passage/Quotation Theme: Female friendship (Hot Spot)

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P. 249-250

"She had passed these years in a distant corner of her mind. A dry, barren field, out beyond wish and lament, beyond dream and disillusionment. There, the future did not matter. And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. And whenever those twin poisonous flowers began to sprout in the parched land of that field, Mariam uprooted them. She uprooted them and ditched them before they took hold. But somehow, over these last months, Laila and Aziza a harami like herself, as it turned out- had become extensions of her, and now, without them, the life Mariam had tolerated for so long suddenly seemed intolerable. We're leaving this spring, Aziza and I. Come with us, Mariam.

The years had not been kind to Mariam. But perhaps, she thought, there were kinder years waiting still. A new life, a life in which she would find the blessings that Nana had said a harami like her would never see. The two new flowers had unexpectedly sprouted in her life, and, as Mariam watched the snow coming down, she pictured Mullah Faizullah twirling his tasbeh beads, leaning in and whispering to her in his soft, tremulous voice, But it is God Who has planted them, Mariam jo. And it is His will that you tend to them. It is His will, my girl.

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"Not that I am mistrusting. Quite contrary...But you are still a young woman Laila jan, a dokhtar e jawan and young women can make unfortunate choices. They can be prone to mischief. Anyway, Mariam will be accountable... On and on he went... Rasheed's demands and judgments rained down on them like the rockets on Khabul"

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"The girl set the cup on the floor and put her hands out for the shirts, palms up."I'm sorry about all of this she croaked. "You should be," Mariam said. " You should be sorry."

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P. 249-250

-->Imagery

Kinesthetic

Visual

Auditory

-->Metaphor of Mariam's mind and inner conscience and symbolism relating to love and friendship

--> Alliteration

-->End rhyme

--> Code-switching

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"Wallah o billah, i'll go down and teach her a lesson. Who does she think she is,that harami, treating you-"

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"‘The point is, I am your husband now, and it falls on me to guard not only your honor but ours, yes, our nang and namoos. That is the husband’s burden. You let me worry about that.’"

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P.1 "Sometimes, I swear, sometimes I want to put that thing in a box and let her float down Kabul River. Like baby Moses." Mariam never heard him call his daughter by the name the girl had given her, Aziza, the Cherished One. It was always the baby, or, when he was really exasperated, that thing." P. 231

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"And it's possible you hid it somewhere to aggravate me."

"And you're a whore. A whore and a dozd. A thieving whore that's what you are?"

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"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent"

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"She sat on the chair instead, hands limp in her lap, eyes staring at nothing, and let her mind fly on. She let it fly on until it found the place, the good and safe place, where the barley fields were green, where the water ran clear and where Babi was reading a book beneath an acacia and Tariq was napping with his hands laced across his chest, and where she could dip her feet in the stream and dream good dreams beneath the watchful gaze of gods of ancient, sun-bleached rock." (page 204)

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passage 1: page 204

anaphora (she...)

rhetorical question (was this her penalty...?)

passage 2: page 204

anaphora (she could hardly move...)

asyndeton (...dropped to the ground, how she'd screamed, torn at her hair.)

passage 3: page 204

internal rhyme (stream, dream)

stream-of-consciousness

kinesthetic imagery

passage 4: page 193

alliteration of s (sometimes she spoke...)

asyndeton

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Manipulation, justification of harm and inhuman acts of cruelty Pg. 265

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Manipulation, justification of harm and inhuman acts of cruelty Pg. 265

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-->"You try this again and I will find you. I swear on the Prophet's name that I will find you. And, when I do, there isn't a court in this godforsaken country that will hold me accountable for what I will do. To Mariam first, then to her, and you last. I'll make you watch. You understand me? I'll make you watch."

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--> Tone and the use of italics: Hostile, threatening

--> Characterisation of Rasheed

--> Rhetorical question

--> Epistrophe

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P.2 "Of all the earthly pleasures, Laila's favourite was laying next to Aziza, her baby's face so close that she could watch her big pupils dialate and shrink. Laila loved running her finger over Aziza's pleasing skin, over dimpled knuckles, the folds of fat at her elbows.

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-->"Downstairs, the beating began. to Laila, the sounds she heard were those of a methodical, familiar proceeding. There was no cursing, no screaming, no pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten, the thump, thump of something, someone, hitting a wall with footsteps, a worldless chase, furniture turning over, glass shattering, then the thumping once more."

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Passage 1:

Primarily Hosseini makes Rasheed look unintelligent. "Sometimes, I swear, sometimes" A sentence which has no grammatical sense.

He then proceeds to use Historical Allusion, "I want to put that thing in a box and let her float down Kabul river. Like baby Moses." In the bible, baby Moses was put in a basket and released onto the river Nile. It is also simultaneously a smile, the comparison of the action of abandoning a baby by letting them float away in a river"

When mentioning Aziza he never uses her name, a sign of detachment, lack of affection and emotional connection. Instead he uses objectifying names like the baby or that thing.

Irony, Irony is used as Aziza means "the Cherished One" and he does everything except Cherish her.

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"Eighteen years... and I never asked you for a thing. Not one thing. I'm asking now."

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--> auditory imagery

--> Anaphora

--> Asyndeton

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"But even though the baby inside her was no bigger than a mulberry, Laila already saw the sacrifices a mother had to make. Virtue was only the first."

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1. How does Hosseini convey the power of hope despite times of suffering and struggle through his authorial choices?

2. Are Rasheed's actions a product of his past experiences and how does Hosseini reflect this through stark characterisation?

3. How does Rasheed use Religion as a tool to justify abuse and manipulate others whilst using it to his advantage?

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"For years, Mariam had looked on as he ate, the muscles of his temples churning, one hand making compact little rice balls, the back of the other wiping grease, swiping stray grains, from the corners of his mouth."

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The passage focuses on the female perspective, particularly Laila's experience as a mother. The act of observing and cherishing her baby brings Laila a sense of purpose and fulfillment that she had never experienced before. She finds solace in the small moments of joy and tenderness that motherhood brings, which is highlited by the quote:" of all the earthly pleasures, Lailas favourite was laying next to aziza"

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Imagery:

Visual

kinesthetic imagery

Sensory Language

Metaphor

Symbolism

Characterization

Sentence structure

Participial phrase

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1. How does Hosseini convey the theme of Parental relationships?

2. In what ways does the author...

3. In exploring the theme of parental relationships the audience comes to understand further why Rasheed is a disgusting person.

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Motherhood

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Suffering and Perseverance

Motherhood

Conflicts: Man vs Man

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"You were probably out back napping," said Laila.

"Don't provoke him, Laila jo," Mariam said.

"I'm warning you, woman," he said.

"Either that or smoking."

"I swear to God."

"You can't help being what you are."

And then he was on Laila, pummeling her chest, her head, her belly with fists, tearing at her hair, throwing her to the wall. Aziza was shrieking, pulling at his shirt; Zalmai was screaming too, trying to get him off his mother. Rasheed shoved the children aside, pushed Laila to the ground, and began kicking her. Mariam threw herself on Laila. He went on kicking, kicking Mariam now, spittle flying

from his mouth, his eyes glittering with murderous intent, kicking until he couldn't anymore.

(page 298)

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Suffering and perseverance

Female friendship

Power of memories to keep pain at bay

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It would end with Mariam on her back, surrendering, agreeing again to be Rose. "Fine, you be Jack," she relented "You die young, and I get to live to a ripe old age." "Yes, but I die a hero," said Aziza, "while you, Rose, you spend your entire, miserable life longing for me." Then, straddling Mariam's chest, she'd announce, "Now we must kiss!" Mariam whipped her head side to side, and Aziza, delighted with her own scandalous behavior, cackled through puckered lips. Sometimes Zalmai would saunter in and watch this game. What didhe get to be, he asked "You can be the iceberg," said Aziza.

(page 296)

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'Rasheed grinned. "Spoken like the arrogant daughter of a poetry-reading university man that you are. How urbane, how Tajik, of you. You think this is some new, radical idea the Taliban are bringing? Have you ever lived outside of your precious little shell in Kabul, my gul? Ever cared to visit the real Afghanistan, the south, the east, along the tribal border with Pakistan? No? I have. And I can tell you there are many places in this country that have always lived this way, or close enough anyhow. Not that you would know."

"I refuse to believe it," Laila said. "They're not serious." "What the Taliban did to Najibullah looked serious to me," Rasheed said. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"He was a communist! He was the head of the Secret Police."

Rasheed laughed.

Mariam heard the answer in his laugh: that in the eyes of Taliban, being communist and the leader of the dreaded KHAD made Najibullah only slightly more contemptible than a woman.'

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'"They're savages," Laila said.

"You think?" he said. "Compared to what? The Soviets killed a million people. Do you know how many people the Mujahideen killed in Kabul alone these last four years? Fifty thousand. Fifty thousand! Is it so insensible, by comparison, to chop the hands off a few thieves? Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. It's in the Koran. Besides, tell me this: If someone killed Aziza, wouldn't you want the chance to avenge her?"'

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p.208

"Mariam waded in. She dug in her heels and burrowed against the elbows, hips, and shoulder blades of strangers. Someone elbowed her in the ribs, and she elbowed back. A hand made a desperate grab at her face. She swatted it away. To propel herself forward, Mariam clawed at necks, at arms and elbows, at hair, and, when a woman nearby hissed, Mariam hissed back.

Mariam saw now the sacrifices a mother made. Decency was but one. She thought ruefully of Nana, of the sacrifices she too had made. Nana, who could have given her away, or tossed her in a ditch somewhere and run. But she hadn't. Instead, Nana had endured the shame of bearing a harami, had shaped her life around the thankless task of raising Mariam and, in her own way, of loving her. And, in the end, Mariam had chosen Jalil over her. As she fought her way with impudent resolve to the front of the melee, Mariam wished she had been a better daughter to Nana. She wished she'd understood then what she understood now about motherhood."

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Suffering and perseverance:

1. "Laila was aware of the face over her, all teeth and tobacco and foreboding eyes. She was dimly aware, too, of Mariam a presence beyond the face, of her fists raining down. Above them was the ceiling, and it was the ceiling Laila was drawn to, the dark markings of mould plaster that was a stolid smile or a frown, depending on which end of the room you looked at it from..."

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'"What's keeping you off the streets, your smarts or me? I'm despicable? Half the women in this city would kill to have a husband like me. They would kill for it.'"

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'"Let me explain," he said. "If the fancy should strike me-and I'm not saying it will, but it could-it could-I would be within my rights to give Aziza away. How would you like that? Or I could go to the Taliban one day, just walk in and say I have my suspicions about you. That's all it would take. Whose words do you think they would believe? What do you think they would do to you?"'

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Suffering and Perseverance

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Linguistic devices

Rhetorical question p.272, 275

Exclusive pronouns p.272

Compound adjectives p.272

Sentence structure = staccato phrases p.275

Tone = hostile p.275

Punctuation language = use of dashes p.275

Literary devices

Hypophora p.272

Hyperbole p.276

Metaphor p.272

Epistrophe p.276

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Memories to keep pain at bay:

2. "The crack wasn't a smile any longer now but a mocking leer. And it was receding. The ceiling was shrinking, lifting, rising away from her and toward some hazy dimness beyond. It rose until it shrank to the size of a postage stamp, white and bright, everything around it blotted out by the shuttered darkness. In the dark, Rasheed's face was like a sunspot."

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“But just as he was bearing down on her, Mariam saw Laila behind him pick up something from the ground. She watched Laila’s hand raise overhead, hold, then come swooping down against the side of his face. Glass shattered. The jagged remains of the drinking glass rained down to the ground. There was blood on Laila’s hands, blood flowing from the open gash on Rasheed’s cheek, blood down his neck, on his shirt. He turned around, all snarling teeth and blazing eyes.

They thrashed to the ground, Rasheed and Laila, thrashing about. He ended up on top, his hands already wrapped around Laila’s neck.”

p. 339

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Literary Devices:

Staccato phrases

Code-switching

Peripety

Linguistic Devices:

Kinesthetic Imagery

Polysyneton

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Memories to keep pain at bay 2.0:

"Back in a Kolba, it seemed after all these years."

"He had a pronounced shaking of his hands and head that reminded Mariam of Mullah Faizullah's tremor."

"And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of confidence at last."

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irony

repetition = anadiplosis

biblical allusion

kinesthetic imagery

visual imagery

auditory imagery

tricolon

exclusive pronouns

punctuation (semi-colon)

writing contractions

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Literary Devices:

Linguistic Devices:

Symbolism

Characterization

Foreshadowing

Imagery

--> Visual

--> Tactile

--> Auditory

--> Kinesthetic

--> Gustatory

p.g 337-338

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Literary Devices:

foreshadowing

Parataxis or syntax

Visual imagery

"visual" or "tangible symbolism.

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1. How does Hosseini convey the theme of gender relations between Laila and Rasheed through Rasheed's hostile manners when defending the Taliban?

2. In regards to the theme of religion and tradition in Rasheed's life, how does Hoesseini reveal its significance?

3. In exploring the theme of the importance of religion in such dire situations, how does the audience come to understand the beliefs in which contributes to Rasheed's ideal expectations of women?

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How does Khaled Hosseini express Mariam's change in affection towards Laila and her stillborn child, and how does this identify with her own life in such a way to do anything necessary to help them?

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1. How does Hosseini highlight the broader societal issue of the pervasive mistreatment and abuse of women in Afghanistan through the theme of conflict between man vs man?

2. How does Hosseini reflect the resilience embedded in in the face of oppression, through the maternal bond between the children and Mariam and Leila?

3. How does Hosseini highlight the intricateness of power dynamics within Rasheed's household, building onto the manipulation of faith to fit Rasheed's abusive temperament?

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friendship

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Favorite Passage from Chapter 16-18 (BAM only)

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Favorite Passage from Chapter 16-18 (BAM only)

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She (Laila) kicked at his (Tariq) shin, not his artificial but his real one, and he`d playfully whacked the back of her head.

pg: 107

"Well, his flashlight will be going off before you know it" Babi said, referring to Laila and Tariq's nightly signalling game. They had played it for so long it had became a bedtime ritual, like brushing teeth.

pg: 110

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"She is a dehati. She is a village girl...Have you told her Mariam, have you told her that you are Herami?"

"Mariam was a thirty-three-year-old woman now, but that word, herami still had a sting. Hearing it still made her feel like she was a pest, a cockroach."

" If she were a car, she would be a Volga. You, on the other hand, would be a Benz. A brand new, first class, shiny Benz"

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Conflicts: Man vs. Society (The government laws vs. women)

---> Man vs. Nature (medical needs that women naturally must tend to, ex: pregnancy)

Gender Relations

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1. How does Hosseini employ imagery and characterization to portray the suffering experienced by Laila in the passage?

2. In what ways does Rasheed's characterization contribute to the themes of suffering and manipulation in the passage?

3. In exploring the theme of suffering and perseverance, how does the audience experience Laila's perspective and emotions during such a violent scene?

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Similes

Judgmental Tones

personification

irony

alliteration

repetition: Anadiplosis

second/first person point of view: You, me, I

Code switching

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Female friendship:

"At last, she said, 'Sit down Laila Jo'. Laila did, obediently."

"Let me tend to your wounds now. You're all cut up Laila Jo."

"Mariam's soft maternal voice went on, brought a degree of comfort to her."

"A lovely lie meant to soothe. Like cooing to a distressed child"

"Think like a mother, Laila Jo. Think like a mother. I am."

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1. Imagery:

Kinesthetic

Visual

2. Polysyndeton --> all teeth and tobacco and foreboding eyes

3. Personification --> her fists raining down + the crack in the plaster that was a stolid smile or a frown

4. Repetition (epistrophe) --> Above them was the ceiling, and it was the ceiling she was drawn to

5. Simile --> like ink on a dress

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1. Imagery:

Visual

2. Personification--> The mark was a mocking leer

3. Tricolon and Asyndeton---> Shrining, lifting, rising away

4. Internal rhyme --> white and bright

5. Simile --> Rasheed's face was like a sunspot

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War in Afghanistan

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Favorite Passage from Chapter 16-18 (BAM only)

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Favorite Passage from Chapter 16-18 (BAM only)

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Then a giant roar. Behind her, a flash of white. The ground lurched beneath her feet. Something hot and powerful slammed into her from behind. It knocked her out of her sandals. Lifted her up. And now she was flying twisting and rotating in the air.

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Gender Relation

Lover

Female Friendship

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Favorite Passage from Chapter 16-18 (BAM only)

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Favorite Passage from Chapter 16-18 (BAM only)

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Pg 226: He felt her belly, not through the shirt but under it, his fingertips cold and rough like bark on her distended skin. Laila remembered Tariq´s hands, soft but strong, the tortuous, full veins on the barks of them, which she had always found so appealingly masculine

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p. 278-279

'This hospital no longer treats women,' the guard barked. He was standing at the top of the stairs, looking down icily on the crowd gathered in front of Malalai Hospital.

A loud groan rose from the crowd.

'But this is a women's hospital!'

...

'Go to Rabia Balkhi,' the guard said.

A young woman pushed forward, said she had already been there. They had no clean water, she said, no oxygen, no medications, no electricity. 'There is nothing there.'

'That's where you go,' the guard said.

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Literary Devices:

Irony

Linguistic Devices:

Repetition

Epistrophe

Tone-->unsympathetic, tense

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Pg 230: Mariam saw the girl, a swaddled bundle in the hook of her left arm. She had one foot outside, the other inside, against the door, to prevent it from springing shut. She was stooped over and was grunting, trying to reach for the paper bag of belongings that she had put down in order to open the door.

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List of the Various Themes that are weaved throughout the text.

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List of the Various Themes that are weaved throughout the text.

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History and Memory in Afghanistan

Suffering and Perseverance

Shame and Reputation

Love, Loyalty, and Belonging

Victimization vs Survival

Gender Relations

Female Friendship

Parental Relationships

Religion, Traditions

Victim vs Survivor

Juxtaposition of love & war

Conflicts: Man vs Man, Man vs Self, Man vs Society

Manipulation, Justification of Harm, Inhuman Acts of Cruelty

The power of memories to keep pain at bay

Secrets

Motivations behind one’s actions

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When considering the tensions between genders in society, how does this affect the needs of women throughout medicinal ideologies, and how this factor may cause distress if removed from their lifestyle?

---> How does Khaled Hosseini portray the needs of women's survival in the hospital scene, p.278-280?

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Metaphor

Simile

Characterization

Tone

Critical

Revealing tone

Sentence structure

Straightforward and direct

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Tone

Emotional

Parallelism

Rhetorical strategy

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1. How does Hosseini use Mariam's silence and observations, particularly during Rasheed's mealtimes, to underline the theme of resilience?

2. In what ways does Hosseini establish Rasheed's manipulative behavior using his delivery?

3. How does the Housseini use Laila's discovery of her pregnancy to progressively unfold the theme of sacrifice tied to motherhood?

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1. How does Hosseini use syntax to deepen the understanding of this scene?

2. In what ways do the characterizations of the three charcters contriubte to the themes of victim vs Survivor

Victimization vs Survival?

3. In exploring the theme of and perseverance, how does the audience come to understand Rasheed's death?

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Gender Relations

The power of female doctors in society

Historical context of employed women

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p.284

"'They want us to operate in burqa,' the doctor explained, motioning with her head to the nurse at the door. 'She keeps watch. She sees them coming, I cover.'

She said this in a pragmatic, almost indifferent, tone, and Mariam understood that this was a woman far past outrage. Here was a woman, she thought, who had understood that she was lucky to even be working, that there was always something, something else, that they would take away."

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1. Oxymoron--> Pronounced shaking

2. Anaphora--> She was leaving

3. Tricolon and Asyndeton--> A friend, a companion, a guardian.

4. Emphasis using syntax--> on the word "mother"

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1. In what ways does Hosseini explore the resilience of the human spirit in the face of extreme suffering?

2. To what extent does the role of love and friendship influence a women's ability to persevere through hardship in a thousand splendid suns?

3. In what ways does Hosseini explore the enduring power of hope and compassion in a country filled with violence and injustice?

# data[].attributes.body
Literary:

Staccato phrases

Linguistic:

Pragmatic, indifferent tone

Repetition

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In what way is disloyalty towards laws in society represented in this passage?; how does it affect the understanding of corruption and solidified rules?

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The power of memories to keep pain at bay

Parental relationships

Dreams

Love

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p.293-294

'In Laila's dream, she and Mariam are out behind the toolshed digging again. But, this time, it's Aziza they're lowering into the ground. Aziza's breath fogs the sheet of plastic in which they have wrapped her. Laila sees her panicked eyes, the whiteness of her palms as they slap and push against the sheet, Aziza pleads. Laila can't hear her screams. Only for a while, she calls down, it's only for a while. It's the raids, don't you know, my love? When the raids are over, Mammy and Khala Mariam will dig you out. I promise, my love. Then we can play. We can play all you want. She fills the shovel. Laila woke up, out of breat, with a taste of soil in her mouth, when the first granular lumps of dirt hit the plastic.'

# data[].attributes.body
Literary:

Staccato phrases

Linguistic:

Stream of consciousness

Amplification

# data[].attributes.body
How do Laila's memories evoke in her dreams and describe the affection she has for her daughter, Aziza?

# data[].attributes.body
1. How does Hosseini convey the theme of ...

2. In what ways does the author...

3. In exploring the theme of ... the audience comes to understand...

4. What perspective on women do Mariam and Laila receive during their upbringing?

5. How does the relationship between these two women change throughout the novel?

6. How does Mariam's prejudice towards Laila create a divide in their relationship?

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"She was remembering the day the man from Panjshr had come to deliver the news of Ahmed's and Noor's deaths. She rememered Babi, white faced, slumping on the couch, and Mammy her hand flying to her mouth when she heard. Laila had watched Mammy come undone that day and it had scared her, but she hadn't felt any true sorrow. She hadn't understood the awfulness of her mother's loss. Now another stranger bringing news of another death. Now she was the one sitting on the chair. Was this her penalty, then, her punishment for being aloof to her own mother's suffering?" (page 204)

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p.g 337-338

"Rasheed swung the belt again.

This time, Laila shielded herself with a forearm and made a grab at the belt. She missed, and Rasheed brought the belt down again. Laila caught it briefly before Rasheed yanked it free and lashed at her again. Then Laila was dashing around the room, and Mariam was screaming words that ran together and imploring Rasheed, as he chased Laila, as he blocked her way and cracked his belt at her. At one point, Laila ducked and managed to land a punch across his ear, which made him spit a curse and pursure her even more relentlessly. He caught her, threw her up against the wall, and struck her with the belt again and again, the buckle slamming against her chest, her shoulder, her raised arms, her fingers, drawing blood wherever it struck.

Mariam lost count of how many times the belt cracked, how many pleading words she cried out to Rasheed, how many times she circled around the incoherent tangle of teeth and fists and belt, before she saw fingers clawing at Rasheeds face, chipped nails digging into his jowls and pulling at his hair and scratching his forehead. How long before she realized, with shock and relish, that the fingers were hers."

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1. How does Hosseini convey the theme of the power of memories to keep pain at bay?

2. In what ways does the author illustrate how memories can play a crucial role in both Laila and Mariam's stories?

3. In exploring the theme of memories the audience comes to understand how they can be a part of the process of healing. How does Hosseini portray Laila's experience?