Quotation Integration
Introduction
 Should include a thesis tie and topic of paragraph
 Author
Context
 One or two sentences about where the quotation appears in the story and what is
happen
 Be brief but comprehensive regarding how it relates to your topic
Explanation and Analysis
 Explain the quotation
 Analysis
The most positive and enduring theme in A Thousand Splendid Suns is the idea
that hope springs eternal. Hosseini examines some serious and grave issues in this novel
about his beloved homeland, but it is this idea of hope alone that celebrates the beauty
and indestructibility of the human spirit. Even Mariam, Hosseni’s most oppressed, abused
and defeated character finds hope and beauty in her bleak existence. When Mariam
discovers she’s pregnant, she is suddenly more aware of the beautiful colours around her
as she begins to hope for a brighter future. This hope, “swelled and swelled until all the
loss, all the grief, all the loneliness and self-abasement washed away” (89). The thought
of bringing a child into the world, for Mariam, is wondrous to the point of exclusion; all
of the oppression and despair that preceded it in her life is forgotten. Another aspect of
hope the prevalent in the novel is the way Hosseini chooses to end it . . .
Student Examples:
1. This quote represents the whole main idea of the book – oppression. The
women of Afghanistan are hiding behind the veils that they are forced to
wear. The problem is, they are not allowed to show their world what they
are capable of doing. They do not get to shine: “One could count the
moons that shimmer on her roofs, or the thousand splendid suns that hide
beneath her walls” (192). The point of this quote, from a poem, is that no
one can see how bright they really are.
2. One of the most prominent themes in a Thousand Splendid Suns is that
women are often oppressed in the Afghani society depicted in the book.
Hosseini shows us evidence of this in many situations throughout the
book. In Afghanistan, “like a compass needle that points north, a man’s
accusing finger always finds a woman. Always” (7). Hosseini proves this
through Nana and Mariam’s relationships’ with Jalil and Rasheed. All four
of these characters have made mistakes, but the women are always to
blame.
3. Here in North America we take for granted the freedoms that all genders
and races are given. In other parts of the world people can only dream of
this way of life. Khlaled Hosseini gives us a glimpse into the lives of
Afghani women through Laila and Mariam: “A women who will be like a
rock in a river bed, enduring without complaint, her grace not sullied, but
shaped by the turbulence that washes over her” (401).