The Kite Runner Theme Project
Directions: Create project based on your knowledge of The Kite Runner. Each part of your presentation will
represent one of the following key points. You will present all of this in a power point presentation on Google
Docs. See separate attachment!
1) Theme- Choose one major theme reflected in the work. On one portion of the presentation, write your
theme in a thesis statement (see theis builder handout), explain it in a short CEW paragraph, and provide
a visual representation of that theme using computer images or video. You will explain the visuals in your
analysis!
2) Character- Choose one major character (not Amir) and provide a short CEW paragraph on how that
character changed throughout the story as well as a visual representation of that character. You will
explain the visuals in your analysis!
3) Turning points- There are many important turning points in the story. Choose one (not the rape scene
and it should be for your character) and demonstrate in a short paragraph its importance to the character
and its impact on the outcome of the story. Include a visual representation. You will explain the visuals in
your analysis!
4) Symbols-We all know that the kite is an important symbol in the story, symbolizing Amir’s self-torture and
eventually the release of his guilt. In a short paragraph, discuss another symbol you found in the story.
Include a visual representation. You will explain the visuals in your analysis! It will be about your
character.
Final slides-Provide three visual representations of your character’s transformation throughout the novel. You
will explain the visuals in your analysis!
The Kite Runner Rubric:
4 Exceptional Quality (meets all of the consistent qualities plus those below)
 Explanations include 3 or more examples and
quotes and are especially thoughtful and thorough
 Thesis and theme are especially deep, insightful, and interesting; worded clearly.
 There are no grammatical errors
3 Consistent Quality
 Each section is included and complete
 Thesis and theme* is fine; it is clear, universal, ties to the book, and is written as a complete sentence
 Explanations* are supported with 3 specific examples from the book
 Understanding of each section is reflected in appropriate words, phrases, and visuals
 Presentation is complete, colorful, and thoughtfully done
 Few grammatical errors
2 Basic Quality
 Each section may be complete but is done at a more basic level
 Meets 4 or 5 of the “Consistent” criteria
1 Limited Quality
 Meets 2-3 of the “Consistent” criteria
*Required elements for the project.
Thesis Builder Literature
Step
High Concept Word/Phrase
Theme Statements
Definition
A high concept word or phrase captures a
profound idea. In many ways, these words and
phrases are what make us distinctly human.
A theme statement uses a high concept word as
its base, and expands that word into a central
message or life lesson.
Connection to the Book
The connection applies a theme statement to a
particular piece of literature.
Thesis Statement
A thesis statement takes all of the above AND
smoothly incorporates the subtopics.
******Thesis will include the character you are studying.
Thesis Statement
Connection to
the BOOK
Theme Statement
(Life Lesson)
High Concept
Word/Phrase
Examples
Courage, Love, Peer Pressure, Cooperation,
Hopes, Dreams
Sometimes the most unlikely people show the
greatest courage.
Love can be just as destructive as hate.
Hopes and dreams can motivate people to do
things that don’t seem possible.
The Great Gatsby shows that hopes and dreams
can motivate and challenge a person just as well
as they can control and destroy a person.
Jay Gatsby’s life and death in The Great Gatsby
illustrates that hopes and dreams can motivate
and challenge a person just as well as they can
destroy a person.
Example of what I would have in a presentation for The Great Gatsby- There is an example power point on the assign drive and my website.
Theme Jay Gatsby’s life and death in The Great Gatsby illustrates that hopes and dreams can motivate and challenge a person just as
well as they can destroy a person. Jay Gatsby is driven to have a better life. This drive for a better life can be seen in Gatsby as a kid. On
page 181, Mr. Gatz shows Nick a page from Gatsby’s childhood book, Hopalong Cassidy. In the book, Gatsby had created a schedule and
resolves for himself: “No more smokeing or chewing[;]read one improving book or magazine a week[;]save $5.00 [crossed out] $3.00 per
week[;] be better to parents”(181-2). As a child, Gatsby set goals to improve himself in order to somehow create a better future. This
dream allows him to take advantages that come along, like his friendship with Dan Cody. Before the events in the book and during the
book, Daisy is Gatsby’s dream girl-beautiful and wealthy, and everything he does is done to get her attention and win her over. Gatsby
threw lavish parties in hopes that these parties would attract Daisy’s attention and the two of them would connect again after years apart.
Additionally, Gatsby goes out of his way to arrange a tea party at Nick’s where he, Gatsby, just “happens” to show up. His dream of
building a life with Daisy has motivated him to spend time and money creating situations in which Daisy returns to him, turning her back on
Tom and the life they have built together over the last five years. However, these hopes and dreams also destroy Gatsby. Blinded by his
dream of having Daisy, he ignores obvious signs that this is not an easy decision for Daisy. When Gatsby meets Tom and Daisy’s child for
the first time Nick comments, “Afterward he kept looking at the child with surprise. I don’t think he had ever really believed in its existence
before” (123). Gatsby never seriously considered that Daisy had moved on; she had other ties to Tom that went beyond their relationship.
Pammy (Tom and Daisy’s daughter) tied Tom and Daisy together, and she didn’t figure into Gatsby’s vision of their future together-at least
not until that point. Additionally, Jay’s refusal to see their connection, allows him to hang onto the hope that there is a future for he and
Daisy when the reality is the opposite, especially after the argument in the hotel and Myrtle’s death. In his last conversation with Nick,
Gatsby says, “’I suppose Daisy’ll call too.’ He looked at me anxiously as if he hoped I’d corroborate this” (161). Nick knows this is not going
to happen, but can’t bring himself to tell Gatsby. It is this relationship and hope for the future which leads to Gatsby’s death. Tom states,
“That fellow had it coming to him” (187). Tom’s jealously of Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship destroyed Gatsby. Tom sent Wilson to
Gatsby’s home on purpose. Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for a life with Daisy motivated and challenged him to go from simple beginnings to
extreme wealth, but those hopes and dreams betrayed him and lead to his demise as well. **I would then have some visual
representations of this theme using magazine cut-outs, computer images, drawings, etc.
Character- Nick changed through this story. He began as a young man from Minnesota (which is represented by the image of the state),
looking forward to all the East had to offer him. He was impressed by Tom and Daisy and all their money at first. But, at the end of the
book, he states that, “They were carless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up thing and creatures and then retreated back into their
money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made….”
(188). Nick has ceased to be impressed by the Buchananns (from East Egg on the map) and people like them. When he came to New York,
he looked forward to his future. Now, seeing the world in a different way, he ends with the line “So we beat on, boats against the current,
borne back ceaselessly into the past” (189). Like Gatsby, Nick is looking at the past now, not the future. He may not go as far as Gatsby,
perhaps due to this experience, but he has changed from looking to the future to remembering the past. He is more serious. Like the image
of the man in the boat, he decides which direction to go. Unlike Gatsby, Nick recognizes that what was once is now gone with the line, “…it
was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the public rolled on under the
night.” Life will go on, just not in the same way. ** I would include a visual representation of Nick as well.
Turning points- One turning point in the story would be Nick’s invite to Gatsby’s party. Had Nick never attended Gatsby’s party, he would
not have befriended Gatsby and been drawn into the Daisy-Gatsby drama. This affair is one more secret Nick keeps. This friendship, while
something he enjoys (Gatsby’s company and the money), also changes Nick’s view of the world. He realizes the crooked people who seem
to benefit. Meyer Wolfsheim profits from fixing the World Series. Gatsby seems to profit from his “businesses.” Tom is not held
accountable for any of his affairs (those in Chicago or New York). Daisy is not held accountable for Myrtle’s death. Nick also learns the
shallowness and self-centeredness of many of those who claim friendship-or not--with Gatsby. No one besides Owl Eyes, Mr. Gatz, and Nick
attend Jay’s funeral. Years later, Tom even makes the comment “had it coming to him” in reference to Mr. Wilson murdering Gatsby. **I
would also include a visual representation.
Symbols-One symbol from The Great Gatsby is the green light. This light represents Gatsby’s dreams. He dreams of having Daisy as his
wife, and having the ability to keep her happy. This means a fancy house, cars, money—every materialistic item Tom has, but with him. In
order to be able to provide this for Daisy, Gatsby uses any means-legal or otherwise- to gain fame and money. Throughout the book, Gatsby
is drawn to a green light-which happens to be at the end of Daisy’s dock. Reaching for this light, literally, is the first time Nick sees Gatsby.
Throughout the book, many references are made to this light including this one from Nick after Gatsby has told Daisy about being able to
see the green light on her dock: “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of the light had now vanished forever…Now it
was again a green light on a dock” (98). Once Gatsby seemingly has all he has been working for, the green light loses its symbolism for him.
Final slides- Three visual representations of Nick’s transformation in the book would be an invitation to represent his introduction to
Gatsby, a glass to represent his changing morals/values, and two little girls telling secrets to represent Nick’s secret keeping abilities; Nick is
keeping Tom’s affair a secret, Daisy’s affair a secret, Daisy’s identity as the driver who killed Myrtle a secret, Tom and Daisy’s reconciliation
from Gatsby, and the truth that Gatsby was innocent of all he was accused a secret from the public.