WHAT DOES DIALECTICAL MEAN?
• DIALECTICAL: THE ART OR PRACTICE OF ARRIVING AT THE TRUTH BY THE EXCHANGE OF LOGICAL
ARGUMENTS.
• CREATING MEANING THROUGH HAVING A DIALOGUE WITH THE TEXT.
• YOU ARE GOING TO BE AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THIS EXPLORATION. YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN
MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THIS ROOM.
HELPING US TO UNDERSTAND DIALECTIC
• HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=T1LO3P-DP4Y
DIALECTICS?
• IF NOTHING ELSE DIALECTICAL THINKING IS AN INVESTIGATION.
• IT IS VITAL TO MENTAL TRAINING, CONVERSATIONS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SCIENCES.
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
UNIQUE AND INDIVIDUAL
KEY PASSAGES:
• WHEN YOU ARE CHOOSING A KEY PASSAGE YOU SHOULD LOOK FOR:
• A REVELATION OF THE CHARACTER FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, OR THEIR’S
• A TURNING POINT IN THE STORY
• AN INSIGHT
• A PASSAGE WHICH REVEALS THE STYLE OF THE WRITER AND PULLS YOU IN
• A PASSAGE WHICH LEAVES YOU WITH QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS.
YOU ARE GOING TO START TODAY…
• CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING 5 PASSAGES TO RESPOND TO. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME THAT I WILL GIVE
YOU A KEY PASSAGE.
TARGETING AMIR AND HASSAN:
•
CHAPTER 4 PAGE 36-37
“WELL,” HE SAID, “IF I MAY ASK, WHY DID THE MAN KILL HIS WIFE? IN FACT, WHY DID HE EVER HAVE TO FEEL SAD TO
SHED TEARS? COULDN’T HE HAVE JUST SMELLED AN ONION?”
I WAS STUNNED. THAT PARTICULAR POINT, SO OBVIOUS IT WAS UTTERLY STUPID, HADN’T EVEN OCCURRED TO ME. I
MOVED MY LIPS SOUNDLESSLY. IT APPEARED THAT ON THE SAME NIGHT I HAD LEARNED ABOUT ONE OF WRITING’S
OBJECTIVES, IRONY, I WOULD ALSO BE INTRODUCED TO ONE OF ITS PITFALLS: THE PLOT HOLE. TAUGHT BY HASSAN, OF
ALL PEOPLE. HASSAN WHO COULDN’T READ AND HAD NEVER WRITTEN A SINGLE WORD IN HIS ENTIRE LIFE. A VOICE,
COLD AND DARK, SUDDENLY WHISPERED IN MY EAR, WHAT DOES HE KNOW, THAT ILLITERATE HAZARA? HE’LL NEVER BE
ANYTHING BUT A COOK . HOW DARE HE CRITICIZE YOU?
“WELL,” I BEGAN. BUT I NEVER GOT TO FINISH THAT SENTENCE BECAUSE SUDDENLY AFGHANISTAN CHANGED FOREVER.
CHAPTER 5 PAGE 45
• “I TURNED AND CAME FACE TO FACE WITH HASSAN’S SLINGSHOT.
HASSAN HAD PULLED THE WIDE ELASTIC BAND ALL THE WAY BACK. IN
THE CUP WAS A ROCK THE SIZE OF A WALNUT. HASSAN HELD THE
SLINGSHOT POINTED DIRECTLY AT ASSEF’S FACE. HIS HAND TREMBLED
WITH THE STRAIN OF THE PULLED ELASTIC BAND AND BEADS OF SWEAT
HAS ERUPTED ON HIS BROW.
“PLEASE LEAVE US ALONE. AGHA” HASSAN SAID IN A FLAT TONE. HE’D
REFERRED TO ASSEF AS ‘AGHA’ AND I WONDERED BRIEFLY WHAT IT
MUST BE LIKE TO LIVE WITH SUCH AN INGRAINED SENSE OF ONE’S
PRESENCE IN A HIERARCHY.
CHAPTER 6 PAGE 57-58
• “HIS EYES SEARCHED MY FACE FOR A LONG TIME. WE SAT THERE TWO
BOYS UNDER A SOUR CHERRY TREE, SUDDENLY LOOKING, REALLY
LOOKING, AT EACH OTHER. THAT’S WHEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN; HASSAN’S
FACE CHANGED. MAYBE NOT CHANGED, BUT SUDDENLY I HAS THE
FEELING I WAS LOOKING AT TWO FACES, THE ONE I KNOW; THE ONE THAT
WAS MY FIRST MEMORY, AND ANOTHER, A SECOND FACE, THIS ONE
LURKING JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE. I’D SEEN IT HAPPEN BEFORE- IT
ALWAYS SHOOK ME UP A LITTLE. IT JUST APPEARED, THIS OTHER FACE,
FOR A FRACTION OF A MOMENT, LONG ENOUGH TO LEAVE ME WITH THE
UNSETTLING FEELING THAT MAYBE I’S SEEN IT SOME PLACE BEFORE.
THEN HASSAN BLINKED AND IT WAS JUST HIM AGAIN. JUST HASSAN.”
CHAPTER 6 PAGE 61
• “I SIGHED, ‘THOSE IRANIANS….’FOR A LOT OF HAZARAS, IRAN REPRESENTED A
SANCTUARY OF SORTS- I GUESS BECAUSE, LIKE HAZARAS, MOST IRANIANS
WERE SHI’A MUSLIMS. BUT I REMEMBERED SOMETHING MY TEACHER HAS
SAID THAT SUMMER ABOUT IRANIANS, THAT THEY WERE GRINNING SMOOTH
TALKERS WHO PATTED YOU ON THE BACK WITH ONE HAND AND PICKED YOUR
POCKET WITH THE OTHER. I TOLD BABA ABOUT THAT AND HE SAID MY
TEACHER WAS ONE OF THOSE JEALOUS AFGHANS, JEALOUS BECAUSE IRAN
WAS A RISING POWER IN ASIA AND MOST PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD
COULDN’T EVEN FIND AFGHANISTAN ON A WORLD MAP.’ “IT HURTS TO SAY
THAT.’ HE SAID, SHRUGGING ‘BUT BETTER TO GET HURT BY THE TRUTH THAN
COMFORTED WITH A LIE”
KEY PASSAGE
1.
2.
3.
4.
CONTEXT
PERSONAL THOUGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES
ELEMENTS OF FICTION
CONCLUSION