Module 3: Short Prose and Novel Study: The Kite Runner

Module Introduction

Khaled Hosseini has his own website with podcasts and videos of him speaking about the conditions in Afghanistan, the process of writing, and his work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Afghanistan.
http://www.khaledhosseini.com/index.htm

Penguin.ca: Interview with Khaled Hosseini
Extensive interview with Khaled Hosseini about The Kite Runner.
http://www.penguin.ca/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000060668,00.html?sym=QUE

Section 2: Afghanistan

Lesson A: Lay of the Land

Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook
The CIA World Factbook includes political, social and geographic information on Afghanistan.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/AF.html

Afghanistan (National Geographic)
Facts and photographs of Afghanistan from the National Geographic.
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_afghanistan.html

Lesson C: Cultural Diversity

Hazaras: Afghanistan's Outsiders (National Geographic)
"Set apart by geography and beliefs, oppressed by the Taliban, the Hazara people could be Afghanistan's best hope."
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/02/afghanistan-hazara/phil-zabriskie-text.html

Lesson D: Afghan Women

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
The website for the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), an organization of Afghan women fighting for human rights and for social justice in Afghanistan.
http://www.rawa.org/index.php

Section 2 Assignment Part 2: Human Rights in Afghanistan

Option 1: Sayed Parvez Kambaksh

Questioning Afghan Justice
The video found on this website provides context for the freedom of speech movement in Afghanistan under post-Taliban rule. It focuses specifically on the case of Sayed Parvez Kambaksh, who has been given the death sentence for downloading a document suggesting that women ought to have equal rights to men.
http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2008/02/021008_2.html#comments

"Journalism Is Not a Capital Crime" by Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini, author of the novel The Kite Runner, comments on Sayed Parvez Kambaksh's sentence (see above).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120182626320733755.html

Parliament of Canada
Find the member of Parliament for your riding.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Common/index.asp?Language=E

Section 3: Fiction Up Close

Lesson B: Character and Characterization

Dialogue with Khaled Hosseini
Interview between Hosseini and Farhad Azad, June 2004.
http://afghanmagazine.com/2004_06/profile/khosseini.shtml

Section 3 Assignment Part 5: Writing in Nasruddin's Style

The Mullah Nasrudin
Numerous Mullah stories are provided on this website.
http://www.spiritual-teachers.com/stories/mullah.htm

A Tribute to the Wisdom of Mullah Nasrudin
Numerous Mullah stories are provided on this website.
http://www.geocities.com/photo_photo3030/nasrudin-stories.html

Mullah Nasruddin
"The name that every Afghan remembers hearing about in childhood. Here are a few of the thousands of humorous and thoughtful stories about him. His identity is being claimed by three countries: Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey."
http://www.afghan-network.net/Funny/1.html