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Hi, my name is Lief and in this blog I will be sharing my lessons learned and experiences from my grade 10 English class.   Included, you will find three lit circle responses, four unit prompts, a memoir involving a catch and finally an essay on the riveting novel by Khaled Hosseini, "The Kite Runner" 

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Hi, my name is Lief and in this blog I will be sharing my lessons learned and experiences from my grade 10 English class.   Included, you will find three lit circle responses, four unit prompts, a memoir involving a catch and finally an essay on the riveting novel by Khaled Hosseini, "The Kite Runner" 

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It was a chilly summer morning, when I woke to the sound of birds chirping from outside of my little wooden room at the cottage up north.   Still - today, I knew was the day planned for a fishing trip with my grandfather, Papsi. With the thrill of anticipation, I slipped off my pajamas, and put on a pair of long pants, t-shirt and my favourite gray hoodie.

I rushed downstairs to the kitchen, where my mom was already awake, like always, ready with my breakfast.  Papsi on the other hand was hard at work preparing the heavy dark motor, which had sat ideally in the corner of the garage for over a year. Quickly, I gobbled down a quick bowl of Cheerios, and then went to the garage to see what I could help with.

“Don’t worry you go inside and watch some TV and I'll get the gear ready”, said my grandfather.  But I insisted in helping, even though I knew nothing about motors.  Together, we brought down our long fishing rods, enough for five men, his big old blue lifejacket which he has had for years and my brand new shiny reflective yellow one, his lucky silver lures which he claimed are the best ones he's ever used and has been using for almost as long as he’d been fishing on Lake Simcoe.  We loaded everything into the light aluminum boat, where the floor was covered in sticky spider webs and old leaves.  After some cleaning, arranging and rearranging, we were ready to go. My mom wished me good luck and gave me a long warm hug before we took off on the large and not so still blue lake.

As my grandfather was steering the boat to his favourite spot where he promised the fish would bite nonstop, I could feel the strong wind whip against my face.  With all my strength,  I had to hold down my beloved blue Maple Leafs baseball cap so it wouldn't fly away into the vast lake. Soon enough, we arrived at the “our” spot, where there were countless other boats just like ours, also fishing.

I thought to myself, “why does everyone have to be fishing at the same spot, when there is many kilometers of open water to fish?”  Later that day, I would understand why.

After setting up the two long black rods with Papsi’s favourite lures, we were ready to fish. We dropped the lures to the bottom of the lake which seemed like it could be a kilometre deep, but was only actually ninety feet. For over two hours, we got nothing.  Not even a nibble, as we sat on the burning hot silver aluminum seats. My patience was really being tested - afterall, I am only but a boy.  But, then suddenly I heard the reel go “rrrriiiiiii” as it started spinning. I had one on my line!

Quickly I jumped up and yelled, “Fish on!” My heart started beating as fast as a race car as I grabbed the rod with the biggest smile on my face. I started reeling in the line, one slow foot at a time because, I couldn't go five seconds before the fish would try to make a run for it. The fish pulling on my line, didn't feel like anything I’d ever caught before. I knew it was big. It was the one.  After 10 minutes of fighting with the monster, it was almost at the top of the water.  As Papsi was getting the net ready to land the fish, and get it in to the boat, it surfaced.

The lake trout was humongous. Almost as big as my little brother at the time. I was so proud of it.  After admiring, oohing and aahhing, we decided that it was time to head back, so we threw the trout into the bucket and started the motor. The whole ride back I couldn't stop looking at my catch and how beautiful its silver skin was in the sunlight.

That day in June 2013 will be remembered.  I treasure the time spent with my grandfather, and how being patient can be rewarding.

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In order to pursue goals in life, one must overcome adversity which takes much perseverance and determination, even if it feels hopeless. Because nothing in life comes easily; often what we desire most, has to be fought for, both mentally and physically.  In Khaled Hosseini’s novel “The Kite Runner”, the characters throughout the story demonstrate that there perseverance is necessary to overcome adversity.  Amir, the main character demonstrates perseverance to adopt Hassan’s son Sohrab, even if it means putting his own life at risk.  Amir also works throughout the story to prove to his father Baba that he is worthy of his respect and admiration. This excellent piece of literature demonstrates how perseverance leads Amir to accomplish his goals and ultimately succeed.  I too know that in order for me to achieve my goals, I will need to work hard, persevere, and overcome adversity that I confront.

In the second half of  “The Kite Runner”, Amir gets invited by his old family friend Rahim Khan to visit him in Pakistan, and with hesitation Amir agrees to go.  When Amir arrives at Rahim’s home, he gets told the terrible news about Hassan - that he has been killed by Taliban.  Amir is shocked and does not know what to say.  But Rahim also adds that Hassan and Amir share the same father, making them half-brothers.  He further tells Amir that Hassan had a son named Sohrab, still in Afghanistan.  Rahim asks Amir to make it right, and go find Sohrab and bring him to safety.  Amir reluctantly agrees, even knowing that he will face much adversity returning to Afghanistan.  With perseverance, he sets out to save Sohrab.  The first step for Amir to find Sohrab was to go back to Afghanistan, which was already a challenge as Afghanistan was mostly under Taliban control, putting himself at risk.  Amir perseveres through the long journey into the country by preparing and disguising himself as a typical Afghani.  ”I made a list that included exchanging dollars for Kaldar and Afghani bills, my garment and pakol---ironically, I’d never worn either when I’d actually lived in Afghanistan” (Hosseini 242).  After overcoming many adversities on his journey, Amir finally gets to the orphanage where his nephew is said to be.  He finds out that Sohrab had been taken by a Taliban official. Most people would be scared to go anywhere near a Taliban, especially in disguise. But Amir courageously persevered and continued with his mission, even though he was putting himself in real danger. Even with Rahim telling him that it's dangerous and not going with him, he still decided to go, which show tremendous amount of perseverance, “This is your business now” (Hosseini 286).  As Amir enters the building guarded by many Taliban, he knows there is no backing away from his plan. Soon enough he finds Sohrab but does not get him easily.  The Taliban leader Assef who immediately recognized Amir was Assef, the bully from Amir’s and Hassan’s childhood. Assef started beating Amir near to death, as once again he was not able to defend himself.  Sohrab grabs his slingshot and fires at Assef’s eye, which allowed the boy and his uncle to escape. After much perseverance and overcoming many obstacles including Sohrab’s suicide attempt, Amir gets what he came looking for, Hassan’s son Sohrab. Thus proving that if Amir had not persevered he would not have overcome all the adversities achieving his goal of getting Sohrab to safety and making it right again.

Perseverance is necessary to overcome adversity, was demonstrated throughout “The Kite Runner” again as Amir relentlessly tried to gain his father Baba’s respect and admiration. Whether Amir was flying kites or writing stories and poems, he constantly aspired to gain Baba’s  appreciation and respect. Amir showed much perseverance; no matter how many times Baba showed his lack of appreciation and respect for his son Amir, Amir continued to try and would not give up. If Amir did not push through the adversity he would have never reached his goals and maybe never would have gained Baba’s appreciation and respect. Perseverance is directly related to achieving goals by overcoming adversity. “And that right there was the single greatest moment  of my twelve years of life, seeing Baba on that roof, proud of me at last” (Hosseini 71). That is what Amir said after he won the kite competition which was a direct result of his hours of training and persevering to become better even when facing adversity.  Amir shows perseverance even more with his writing. He constantly asked Baba to read his stories and poems, even when repeatedly Baba showed no interest, “Baba went on staring me down, and didn’t offer to read” (Hosseini 34).  Amir was determined to get Baba to look at his work and gain his acceptance, so he kept trying. He persevered throughout his childhood into adulthood, even when having the adversity of his father not being interested.  Eventually, with all his hard work, Amir achieved his goal and became a professional author, writing his first novel. Again showing that perseverance is  most important for overcoming adversity, and achieving your goals.

These examples of Amir being determined and overcoming obstacles without giving up, to succeed proves that, perseverance is the key to overcome adversity. Amir faced many challenges, but with perseverance he achieved his goals, as seen in winning the kite competition, becoming a writer, getting his father’s admiration, and ultimately finding Hassan’s son, his nephew Sohrab and bringing him home.  Persevering over adversity to achieve goals can also be seen in real life, including my own. When I started playing hockey I wasn't a great player but I did not give up.  I kept practicing and training, and now I have become one of the better players on my team. Proving that with anything that you do in life perseverance is always needed to achieve.

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4 Unit Prompts About Mythology, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Documentaries, and Memoirs 

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4 Unit Prompts About Mythology, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Documentaries, and Memoirs 

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What makes/defines a hero? What values do they possess or reflect?

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In many of the myths studied this unit, all heros have characteristics in common which makes them who they are, a hero. Here are some of the attributes a person needs to be a hero. Heroic leaders have to have the motivation and determination to achieve their goals no matter how hard it is. Even with high levels of stress, they are not afraid to back down no matter how dangerous or risky there task is. They step up to the spotlight when everyone else is not brave enough. Next is courage. For someone to be a hero thay next to be very courageous. To be courageous enough to face his own fears, and also to know that there are many people counting on him. Another character trait is selflessness. A hero's job is to help others and to do that they have to put there life before others. They have to care more about a stranger then they do about themself which only a hero can do. In the myth “Orpheus and Eurydice”, Orpheus proved he is a hero by having enough courage to go save her wife from the underworld which his father said, “those who go to the underworld can never return”, thus proving that he is a hero. Another myth which a hero has these characteristics is “The Archer and the Moon Goddess”. In this myth the hero is Yi the archer who is courageous,brave and compassionate, “Yi was the best archer of the universe. He was also a compassionate god, and proposed shooting down the sun birds only because it was the last resort to stop the suffering on earth”. This proves that all heros have characteristics that a normal person wouldn't have, and that is what makes them so special.

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What role do women play (or the absence of them) in the text? What does this say about their role/position in this society?

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In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, the role of women as desperate and without voice are shown through Helena’s desperation, Hermia’s recklessness and Hippolyta’s hypocritical behavior. Adding to this, in the story all the women are treated very poorly by the men and not respected as for example when Lysander, Demitrius, Helena and Hermia are in a debate, Lysander gets angry and yells at Hermia,

“Get you gone, you dwarf,

You minimus, of hindering knot-grass made.

You bead, you acorn.” (Shakespeare 3.2.339-341)

This also proves that at that time and society women were not much respected, and men were allowed to say anything they wanted and a women would not be able to do anything about it. Many times throughout the play it is evident that the women in the play are very desperate for any man who they can get, and do not care if that means getting harmed,

“Use me but as your spaniel—spurn

me, strike me.” (Shakespeare 2.1.190-191)

This kind of behavior and attitude nowadays would not happen, but back in that society the women were considered not as important as men, and let themselves be beat on.

Also in the play women do not have much say, as for example one time when Lysander and Demetrius both wanted to marry Helena, they did not ask her as normally people would do nowadays but instead they fought to see who gets her. Which proves that in the play the women were demonstrated as desperate, without a voice and not respected.

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Who has power/a voice and who is powerless/voice is silenced/missing?

1. How does that affect the story being told and shape our understanding of the story they want to tell us?

2. If the silent had a voice, how would it change the narrative?

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In the documentary “Blackfish” it is shown that the power voice is coming from people who are against the captivity of whales at Seaworld amusement park. Which include former trainers and workers and also members from OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). The missing voice which is not represented in this documentary is the voice of the people who work at Seaworld, and believe that it is safe for the whales to be kept captive. With the documentary having only one perspective which is that Seaworld is bad and cruel against whales, affects the viewers perspective, and makes it easier for the documentary to persuade them to believe them, as there is no other voice in the documentary to say otherwise. In a scene, a retired trainer from Seaworld says that Seaworld workers tell visitors that all orcas die at 25 to 35 years, but again there is no current worker at Seaworld in the documentary to backup that claim. If “Blackfish” showed the audience another perspective on how the orcas are happy and not in danger, it could have changed many people's opinion on this topic, and there would not only be one option. After the documentary got released many current workers of Seaworld expressed their opinions which shows a different perspective. Many people called “Blackfish” propaganda, this was said by a Seaworld employee who expressed her point of view on the topic. In conclusion if “Blackfish” added different perspectives of the topic, the reaction and outcome by the audience could have been much different then it was.

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What lesson/theme do the text promote? How does it connect to your own personal life?

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In the memoir “My Left Foot”, the lesson taught by the author is that if you really love someone you should never give up on them, even when you feel like there's no hope left. In the memoir, Chris Brown is born different from other children and at 5 months his mother and father noticed that there was something wrong with him, but still helped and thought that Chris would get better. When Chris turned 1 they went to see many doctors in search of help. Every doctor told Chris’s mother that he is a lost cause, “Almost every doctor who saw and examined me, labelled me a very interesting but also a hopeless case”,  but she did not give in, even though everyone told her she was wrong. In the next couple of years, other relatives were trying also to convince Chris’s mother that Chris is a lost cause but she did not believe them, proving that she cares for him and will not stop believing that Chris is smarter than people say, “I know my boy is not an idiot”. At the end of the memoir, Chris’s mothers patience and believing payed off as Chris learned to write with his left foot. I can connect this to my personal life because my mother and father have always believed, loved and supported me no matter what I do. If it is school related, hockey, fishing or just things in life in general. Even if I fail at something they will help me get back up and keep supporting me. For example, for a very long time when I was little it took me many years to learn how to stop while skating, but my father never quit trying to teach me until one day I got it. In conclusion believing in someone is the best support you can give and is very important for success.

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Literature Circles 1,2,3 on "The Kite Runner"

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Literature Circles 1,2,3 on "The Kite Runner"

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Chapter 1-10                                                                                           Does Amir consider Hassan a friend or not?

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Chapter 1-10                                                                                           Does Amir consider Hassan a friend or not?

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Throughout the first ten chapters it is easy to tell that Amir and Hassan are the two main characters in the story. But harder to understand the relationship between the two of them. It seems that Hassan consider’s Amir a very good friend even though he is his servant but at the end starts doubting if Amir feels the same way about him. Especially after Hassan gets beat up and raped by the three neighborhood bullies after telling them, “Amir agha and I are friends” and then gets laughed at and called a pathetic fool. Amir’s perspective at the relationship is much different because the two of the boys grew up together and playing and being friends but as Amir gets older he understands that him and Hassan are different by their religion and at that time Hassan's religion was not accepted and was made fun of. At that time and place Amirs type were not supposed to hang out with Hassans and so now Amir has to decide if he’s going be friends with Hassan and get the consequences of being picked on and being made fun of. Or if he’s not going to be friends with him and fit in with everyone else.

My Group Answer:

They agreed with me that and added that Amir feels very embarrassed but that he shouldn't just because Hassan is different.  They didn't think that it was right that Hassan treated Amir so well but not the other way. Also we all thought that later on in the story Amir will get karma for what he did and/or feel guilty.

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Chapters 11-20                                                                                       Why does Baba have such a hard time adapting to the life in america?

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Chapters 11-20                                                                                       Why does Baba have such a hard time adapting to the life in america?

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As Baba and Amir arrive to America they see how much different it is then where they came from. They struggle to adapt to the life, as the people who live here are much different and not what they are used to. One part of the book that Baba really notices how much the people are different in America, is when he goes into a convenient store where he shops often and tries to pay with a check, but the cashier does not trust him, and then thinks back to how in Afghanistan there was no trust problems between people. Also even Amir struggled to adapt and even said to Baba one night at dinner, “maybe we should go back to Peshawar”, Even though they had thoughts about America not being good, they still decided to stay and started to get used to it and stuff started to go better.

My Group Answer:

They agree with me that Amir and Baba had a hard time adapting to their new life, but adding to what I said they believe also they are not used to the culture difference in religion, people, language, food, music and also how people act. Also they believe that there were no trust issues in Afghanistan because most people were friends and the competition for money wasn't as competitive as America where everyone only thinks about themselves.

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Chapters 21-30                                                                                     Why does Amir believe that it is his duty to find Sohrab and bring him back to America?

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Chapters 21-30                                                                                     Why does Amir believe that it is his duty to find Sohrab and bring him back to America?

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After getting comfortable in America with his new wife he gets a call from Baba’s old friend and business partner Rahim, who wants Amir to come visit him. As he gets there he finds out that Hassan was his half brother and that he is now dead but has a son still in Afghanistan. Rahim asks if Amir would go find him and bring him back to America with him. Amir immediately agrees to go find him. I believe the reason for this, even knowing that it is very dangerous to go back is because now knowing that Hassan was his half brother and he feels bad for the way he treated him as a child. Amir is ready to do anything to get him back and gets very angry when he hears that there is a talib who comes every month and, “usually he’ll take a girl. But not always.” After hearing this he takes the risk of visiting a taliban home to try to find Sohrab, risking his own life proving he’ll do anything to get Sohrab.

My Group Answer:

They all agreed with me that the reason why Amir went out of his way to find Sohrab is because of a feeling of guilt from his childhood. They also said that I should have added at least one example from Amir's childhood where he is being rude or did something bad to Hassan.

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Hosseini, Khaled. "The Kite Runner." Print.

Shakespeare, William. "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Print.

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Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you have enjoyed!

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Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you have enjoyed!