The Kite Runner – Unit Plan
English 12 G/CP
Mr. Bullis
During the next month or so, we will be exploring a world completely unknown to most
Americans. By reading Khaled Hosseini’s internationally acclaimed novel, The Kite
Runner
, you will expand your “world view,” which is necessary for all aspiring college students to do.
Hosseini was born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan. As a result of the Soviet invasion in the 1970s, Hosseini and his family were granted political asylum in the United States in
1980, so he then moved to San Jose, California. Although the author is not British, nor does any part of this book take place in Great Britain, there are many references in the novel regarding the British influence in Afghanistan, prior to the overthrowing of the monarchy in the mid 1970s.
The novel is set in Afghanistan, America, and Pakistan that shows how “what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime” (p.
142). The book explores themes of privilege and prejudice, friendship and family, guilt and forgiveness, redemption, identity, courage, and deception.
The Kite Runner is the story of strained family relationships between a father and a son, and between two brothers, how they deal with guilt and forgiveness, and how they weather the political and social transformations of Afghanistan from the 1970s to 2001.
The adult narrator, Amir, lives in San Francisco and is contemplating his past, thinking about a boyhood friend whom he has betrayed. The action of the story then moves backward in time to the narrator's early life in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he is the only child of a privileged merchant. Amir's closest friend is his playmate and servant Hassan, a poor illiterate boy who is a member of the Hazara ethnic minority. The Kite Runner , a coming-of-age novel, deals with the themes of identity, loyalty, courage, and deception.
As the protagonist Amir grows to adulthood, he must come to terms with his past wrongs and adjust to a new culture after leaving Afghanistan for the United States (enotes.com).
Ali-
Hassan’s father; servant to Baba and Amir
Amir- narrator, Baba’s son
Assef- son of one of Baba’s friends; child and adult who enjoys hurting others
Baba- Amir’s father
Farid-
Amir’s driver in Afghanistan
Farzani-
Hassan’s wife
Hassan-
Amir’s boyhood playmate and servant, one year younger than Amir; the kite runner
Rahim Khan-
Baba’s business partner and Amir’s friend
Sohrab-
Hassan’s son
Soraya-
Amir’s wife
Zamen- director of the orphanage

Unit Assignments o In-class assignments (2-5): Background information on Afghanistan, Human Rights,
Ethnicities, terminology, etc. o Research project/oral presentation: You will have the option to work in pairs for this research presentation. Presentations will be done on Tuesday, Feb. 23 and Wednesday,
Feb. 24. o Reading Checks (2-4): Reading checks will be given after each reading assignment is expected to be completed. You will be able to drop your low score. o Reading: Obviously, you will be required to read the book, and will be asked to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the novel through blogging, participation in Socratic circles/class discussions, reading checks, and a final writing assignment. o In-class essay (1-2): There will be at least one, unit-ending essay that you’ll have to write. Also, there’s a possibility of another mid-way through the novel. o Blogging: You will be asked to thoughtfully respond to different prompts on my class website, while we proceed through the novel. o Class Participation: Active participation in class discussions and Socratic circles will earn you maximum points here. o Vocabulary: I will provide you with a list of vocabulary words which you will be responsible for defining, etc. Near the end of the unit, there will be an exam on these words from the novel, and we’ll potentially do vocabulary skits for these words.
More than likely, there will be other small assignments added as we go along. Of course, this is subject to change.
I have updated my protopage, www.protopage.com/mr.bullis
, to include pertinent information on the novel and Afghanistan.
My class page, http://bullisworld.weebly.com
, will have an updated list of assignments, blog topics, attachments, and other resources to help you along in this unit. As always, if you have any questions, you may email me at bullisk@wcskids.net
.

Hope is knowing that people, like kites, are made to be lifted up.”
Afghanistan Relief Organization
Kite-running (Gudiparan Bazi) has been a favorite pastime in Afghanistan for the last 100 years, but there are few on the streets of Kabul that can forget the terror of living under the Taliban regime for so many years. Under Taliban rule, if you were caught with a kite, many times you would be beaten and the spool would be destroyed. However, since the fall of the Taliban regime, kite-running has again resurfaced tenfold.
Kite-running is a two-person affair, with one person called the “charka gir” and the other called the “gudiparan baz.” The charka gir is in charge of the holding the wooden kite spool, around which the wire, or “tar” is wound. The second person, called the “gudiparan baz” actually is in control of the movement of the kite in the air. Kite flyers stand on tops of buildings, fighting with kites from all over the city. The object is to strike down the kite of your opponent with the string of your kite, after which you will be called the winner. The strings are often made with razor wire which gives the sharpness to cut down other kites. After an opponent’s kite is set free, it flutters away into the wind where it is usually picked up by the local children, who fly it the next day as their own.
Kites are made of either extremely fragile tissue paper, or heavier more durable mylar fabric.
They come in many colors, shapes, and sizes. Kites range in price depending on the size and materials used to make the kite. For a small, simple, child sized kite, the price starts at just a few cents. For large, elaborate, colorful kites, many with dangling adornments, the price can cost as much as [2 to 100] Afghanis, or $2 US.
(Quoted from “Kites for Kabul: Flying for Freedom”. Available online at http://www.kitelife.com/archives/issue45/kabul45/index.htm)
Even though Afghanistan plays a pivotal role in U.S. foreign policy and so much time, manpower, and money has been invested into making it a functional state, Afghanistan remains largely an enigmatic and misunderstood society to many people in the west. I still frequently encounter people who believe that Afghans are ethnic Arabs, or that Afghans as a people are antiwest, or that the Taliban accurately represent a majority of the Afghan people. One of the most rewarding aspects of the success of The Kite Runner to me has been in dispelling some of these pre-conceived notions, and in seeing that the book has helped spark interest in Afghanistan among readers.
One of the most vocal groups of readers has been high school and college students. I have visited many college and high school campuses to discuss the novel and still regularly receive letters in batches of thirty or more from students who read The Kite Runner in class. I am always impressed by how sophisticated students at that age are, and by their ability to grasp subtext and context.
Many of them write to tell me that The Kite Runner is their favorite book and that they eagerly look forward to seeing the film. I think this guide is a wonderful way of turning the experience of merely watching a film into an opportunity to learn about a vastly different culture. As both an author and an Afghan, I appreciate the care that the Human Rights Education Program at
Amnesty International USA has taken in devising this guide to the film. I am thrilled that this film will help students understand better issues such as ethnic relations, regionalism, and fundamentalism. Additionally, as an envoy to the UN Refugee Agency, I am very pleased to find within a section on the plights of the Afghan displaced and refugees.
I thank the Human Rights Education Program at Amnesty International USA for using the release of The Kite Runner as an opportunity to build bridges and engage students in meaningful discussions about issues that, given the realities of today’s world, affect us all.