PHS Expository Writing 100
Fall 2014
Assignment #1
Margin Notes:
Rough Draft (1250 words):
DUE first day of school
DUE by midnight, September 3, 2014, on Google Drive.
Readings:
 Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns.
 Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, “The Girl Effect.” In Michelle J. Brazier, Ed., Points of
Departure, 3rd Edition. Pages 203-216.*
In their essay, “The Girl Effect,” Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (K&W) describe many
gender-based abuses and atrocities; they emphasize that these atrocities take the heaviest toll on girls
and women in poor nations that have cultural histories of misogyny. K&W also describe the positive
results that can occur when women gain independence and autonomy; they call this positive trend
“the girl effect.” Fiction imitates life. Khaled Hosseini’s novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, tells a story of
two Afghan women, both of their suffering and their resilience, during Afghanistan’s tumultuous
history from the 1960s to the early 21st century. Hosseini’s novel about Mariam’s and Laila’s imaginary
lives illustrates many of the ideologies and behaviors that K&W describe as typically misogynistic;
Hosseini also offers a vision for change that in some ways parallels the vision that K&W believe can
occur in the real world.
READING:
Reading Kristof and WuDunn’s research-based essay reveals that sexism is a world-wide
issue. Using K&W’s observations and ideas as a guide, read A Thousand Splendid Suns and take
careful MARGIN NOTES about the actions and ideologies that constitute misogyny (and/or
resistance) in Hosseini’s novel.
WRITING:
Synthesize a theory about sexism based on Hosseini’s narrative, A Thousand Splendid
Suns, and Kristof and WuDunn’s article, “The Girl Effect.” You may wish to discuss causes,
trends, ideologies, and/or solutions.
Some questions to help your READING and DRAFTING process:
o What are the gender-based injustices and abuses that Kristof and WuDunn describe and
Hosseini envisions? Do abuses fall into different categories? What abuses that Hosseini
imagines relate to real-world abuses that Kristof and WuDunn describe? How so?
o How are the experiences of Laila and Mariam gender-based? How does the Taliban (whose
policies are not fictional, although Hosseini’s book deals with fictional characters) seek to disempower women in Afghanistan? Consider how personal relationships, economics, and/or
politics impact each other.
o Does Hosseini share Kristof and WuDunn’s positive vision for change? How so or how not?
* “The Girl Effect” is an essay in the anthology Points of Departure; it is NOT posted online.