Blog Response #8
Upon completion of reading your novel, what have you learned about a different culture? What shocked you? What seemed strange to you? What couldn't you believe? Take time to give specific examples from your novel that share what you learned about history and a different culture. Share your feelings about what you read.
What stood out to me is the way they do things around there such as having a kite flying tournament and they way they flirt with each other is kind of unordinary. Also even when their explaining how the towns or city's there. Like they don't pick up there own trash they don't have as much community's or fulfilled businesses.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on what country you are talking about. Those things don't sound that odd to me.
DeleteI wish in America we had a flying kite tournament they would be fun I think.
DeleteThe kite tournament also stood out to me while reading because they find it so interesting and special, but I can not fully understand why they would. I think it is because it is a time for the friends and family to connect and spend time together. It allows them to build relationships that will last a lifetime.
Deletethe kite tournament stood out to me cool because it is a cool piece of culture because it brings the community together. It also is a memory that will always stick with them even if they do move away like Amir.
DeleteOverall the culture of flying kites is very unique and is alot better than getting beat in Afghanistan.
DeleteWhat stood out to me in the book kite runner is that they had a whole tournament that basically all the town kids took part in, another thing that shocked me was the way that everyone in the town was interested in the tournament weather they took part in it or simply spectated.
DeleteUpon finishing my book I was shocked that he became a boy soldier. it seemed strange they eventually came back after war was over. i just think about the book saying gunmen walked the streets. I thought this was a grusome book in some parts but it was also good.
ReplyDeleteI was also a little shocked when Ishmael became a boy soldier but then it made sense because of how he was angry and wanted to kill the rebels for the fact that the rebels killed Ishmaels family.
DeleteI think it’s brave he came back after the war because not many people would normally go back to something that could have traumatized him.
DeleteI think that he had to come back after everything was over because he is not a citizen in the United States and was only living on a Visa which only allows a certain amount of time spent in a foreign country depending on the type of visa.
Deletei was also very shocked when he became a soldier because he just doesnt seem like the type of person that would be able to kill many people.
DeleteI think the most surprising thing towards the end of Night was how little detail and time he spent of the death of his father. though it makes a bit of sense since death was such a prevalent thing during the holocausts i still expected him to give a bit more of his thoughts and feelings about losing his last family member.
ReplyDeleteIn my book it also left me hanging a little bit at the end and it didn't really say if the boy Ishmael had made it to his new home in New York.
DeleteIn my book the ending just left me hanging and I was like no way that can end like that.
Deletei read Night too, and that really shocked me too. if i watched my dad die, i would have way more feelings. i understand it put him out of that nightmare but he only talked about his dads death for like a paragraph.
DeleteI think him loosing his dad so close to the American occupation of the camp was the one of the saddest moments in Night.
DeleteUpon finishing my book a long way gone what shocked me was how Ishmael survived. The way Ishmael would walk for days and survived off of very little food and water I thought he would have gave up or died after the first couple days but he never did and he kept fighting. When Ishmael became a boy soldier I was surprised at first because I didn't imagine him being the kind of person that would be strong enough to shoot people but when the book mentioned they were going to war with the rebels it made sense that Ishmael was strong enough to shoot the rebels for the fact that they killed Ishmaels family.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s very brave that he kept fighting and didn’t give up on what he wanted and kept walking to get what he was fighting for.
DeleteHe is definitely a lucky guy to say the least. He faced so much adversity but somehow was able to overcome all of it.
DeleteIshmael seems to have a very strong character. I can't say that there are many people who could go thought what he did.
Deletei think that it is unbelievable that ishmael had to fight through some much and never gave up. i also think that only a few people at his age would be able to survive.
Deletevery brave the way he kept fighting and didn't give up
DeleteWhen I finished the book Night, I am shocked by how much it took to survive the Holocaust and trying to understand that this happened to so many Jews it is crazy to think that it could happen again and to anyone. Something that I couldn't believe in the book was the things people would even to their own families just so that they would survive. One kid sacrificed his own father just so that he would have another day to live. I know that I could never do that if I were in his shoes. In the book there were some strange parts such as when the older lady was screaming that there was a fire on the train but in reality, there wasn't anything she was just hallucinating. And people would hit her just to try and make her be quiet. Having gone to the holocaust museum and seeing all the history about what happened and then reading this book it really opens your eyes and can bring up different emotions you probably didn't think about.
ReplyDeleteI also cant believe how much Ishmael did to stay alive like you would think one time he would get shot and killed one time..
DeleteThis book sounds like it does not just cover the Holocaust, but it sounds like it truly goes into depth of the real horror that occurred. Just reading your blog here made me think about what else could happen in the book if this is only a small part of it.
DeleteI do not think that he would have made it without his father and a large amount of luck.
DeleteWhat I learned about malalas culture is that they worship the boys and they hide the girls. They think that girls are a bad thing so when a girl is born they don’t do anything to celebrate the birth of a new baby. But in Malalas family they couldn’t afford to celebrate any of there baby’s and if they could have they would have also celebrated malalas because her dad knew she was special. What shocked me the most was how people where willing to kill themself to also kill other people because Normally you don’t mill yourself to harm other people also so I thought that was weird of them.
ReplyDeleteThat is a bit odd that they are ashamed of the women. Were all the people willing to sacrifice themselves or is that just a certain group?
DeleteI also found it strange that only wanted to celebrate a boy's birth and no a girls'.
DeleteThat's how it was also in a long way gone they seemed to never really talk about the women it was mostly about what the me did.
Deletei agree completely. I also talked about the inequality between the men and women in the book.
DeleteI agree that the suicide bombers were shocking and it was hard for me to fathom. The Taliban were targeting multiple people, and the people that supported their cause chose to die for what they believed to be the greater good. The suicide bombers who risked their lives believed that they would be reborn into a better life if they followed through with their task.
DeleteHonestly not much was surprising other than the lack of knowledge about other countries. For example, the main character in my book had never heard of snow or the type of food we have around here. I wasn't surprised about how they lived, it seemed somewhat normal. It was kind of odd that he had cassettes and liked rap music from growing up where he did. It was also surprising how many languages he knew, but the food he had and the things they did to pass time or rituals they had weren't very surprising to me.
ReplyDeleteWhat country were these guys from? I don't think I've ever heard of someone that doesn't know what snow is. Was the book hard to relate to because they were so different? my book was.
DeleteIn my book, The Kite Runner, Amir also does not know very much about American culture when he moves there. At first he finds the place very gross and rancid smelling. Just because back home smelt different and "cleaner".
DeleteIt is insane to think that rap music was unheard of for them. Ishmael was definitely the coolest kid ever because of his new found rap music.
DeleteIn A Long Way Gone I learned how in the main charcter had never heard or seen snow and that there are different types of food in America.I was shocked how he took on the lead role of the army as a 14 year old.I couldn't believe they just took the bullet out of his foot.
ReplyDeleteyour book sounds very interesting. why did he have a bullet in his foot? why hasnt the main character ever seen snow?
DeleteDid the main character survive with a bullet in his foot? that would be pretty painful. What made him think that he needed to join the army at age 14? I don't think that i would be able to join at 14.
Deletei agree that your book sounds very interesting. I have heard great things about this one and it would probably be my second choice.
DeleteIn A Long Way Gone, I learned that Africa is more developed than I thought but it is also stained with blood and war. It must be terrifying never knowing when your village may possibly be attacked for no reason other than power. One thing that I thought was very shocking is the amount of miles they need to walk and how many different biomes there are in Africa. I couldn’t imagine walking those distances nonstop just to live. Especially when they walked through the hot sand with no shoes. That pain is still unimaginable to me and I would wish that on nobody.
ReplyDeleteIn The Kite Runner it is set in Afghanistan and in the beginning before the Taliban took over the city was well developed and looked half way decent. Once the Taliban began attacking the city fell apart. Now stained with blood and war like your story, it leaves an impact on who lives there. Afghanistan did not develop after the attacks, but it left a story behind allowing others to learn from what happened.
DeleteIn my book it starts off in Afghanistan which I learned a little bit about its culture. There are many different religions and beliefs there that set people into groups, but that does not stop them from associating with others. The one thing that the Afghan culture does is a kite competition. It consists of flying kites and making others kites fall before yours. It is also important to run after the second place kite because it shows that you are a winner. I think this is very interesting because here in America we do not have anything like this, some people just fly kites for fun never to compete against one another. In the end the kite competition did occur in America where Amir lived to give respect to the Afghans there. I thought this was special because it allowed a part of Amir's culture to come to his new life in America.
ReplyDeleteI read A Thousand Splendid Suns, and there actually were references to how the "skies were ruled by kites." It's fun to see little connections between the two books, considering that they're similar in many ways, other than that it's more female oriented compared to Kite Runner's males.
DeleteI agree I thought that the kite flying was interesting because nothing like that happens here in America. Also Amir bringing his culture to America just shows how much he enjoyed it.
DeleteIn a Thousand Splendid Suns, the book is based around life in Afghanistan and how it drastically changed with the takeover of the Taliban. firstly you see not a lot of differences at the start of the book but as it goes more in depth into the book you realize that their culture depends on the male and reproduction through younger women. You also see that woman are abused and have a more strict set of religious laws. Especially when the Taliban takes over, they make it so that women cant leave their own homes or work outside of home. They are also restricted of traveling out of district. that was a main problem for Mariam and Laila in the book, for they were trying to escape their retched life with their husband Rasheed who had abused them and lied to them.
ReplyDeleteI had a very similar answer to the blog, it's kind of hard to write about anything else. It really makes you think, and can make you very grateful that we aren't in the position that the main characters were in. I could not fathom that.
Deletefor the book a thousand splendid suns drew you hit pretty much all the points about how women are treated. but you cant forget that not all men are mean and beat there wives. for example Tariq is sweet and nice to Laila when they are together.
Deletemy book differs because all the rebels and fighters killing people are men and they are killing any living thing, kids moms, dads grandpas, grndmas, aunts, uncles. whatvever.
DeleteI completely agree with you drew the Taliban took over and made it so that women could not be anything the one thing they thought they were made for was making children and staying home and cleaning the house.
DeleteA very easy choice for what's really shocked me in A Thousand Splendid Suns is the treatment of women. The story takes place from the 1970s to about 2003, and through this time we saw different Afghan regimes rise and fall, with their varied treatments on women. By far the most tolerable was the Soviets, with which women could be educators and lawyers. But with the Taliban, they couldn't even so much as make eye contact with, or be seen without, a man without getting jumped.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you feel like woman were treated this way? I believe it was because the men in that culture believe that woman are to grow up fast, marry (rarely for romance), and birth children, while maintaining the household with cooking, cleaning, and other domestic duties.
Deletethrough out the book different characters thought the groups where different. like some people thought the Soviets where bad at the beginning of the book but then some thought they where good. then when the Taliban took over most did not like them but then there where people like Resheed who praised the Taliban.
Deleteit makes me wonder if it was in the talabans religion, or do they just hate women
DeleteOne thing that surprised me about their culture is how the women weren't allowed to get an education under Taliban control. Even though they said women could go to school, as long as it was for religion, which, after that they were allowed to teach other girls about the religion. Although they said that, they would still bomb schools that allowed women in it. I was also surprised how willing they were to kill people who did things that were considered "haram", or prohibited in Islam.
ReplyDeleteI think part of the fact that the Taliban did not think women should receive an education was because they were not expected to work, they were expected to tend to their families. Another thing is, the Taliban did take a lot of things too far, but it explains in the book that they misinterpreted the Quaram, or book of Islam, as many people did not know how to truly interpret it the correct way.
Deletei read Night and i was really moved by some of the things he had to go through. the thing that shocked me the most was how a human could possibly do some of these things to another human. how could someone just go around and shoot an old man because they couldnt work, or how could someone just throw so many kids into a fire for them to burn alive just because they couldnt work. ive always been very interested in history, especially stories about the holocaust, but to read a book from a survivor was just very interesting to me. another thing that surprised me was how some of these people in the concentration lasted for a whole year, i wouldnt be able to do it, but apparently Elie and a few other were strong enough to witness all of the horror and screaming. overall i loved the book and am very glad that it is history and not something still happening here.
ReplyDeletei read the book by Elie Wiesel, the book really gave me a different view point on the holocaust and how the Jewish community was treated compared to how everyone else describes it. looking back on how Elie described there time there it does not sound as bad as i originally though. most books on the holocaust shares the worst of there experience but when Elie explained it he made it sound like they were at least treated with some remorse, besides the weak and old. I still can not understand how another human could ever treat another human like the Nazi's treated the Jews. I am glad that I choose this book to have a better understanding and a new view point from someone that survived the abuse.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this book really gave you a different view of the Holocaust. What made you feel that it gives you a different point of view? I think because of the way he wrote the story and the amount of detail he put into bigger scenes.
Deleteit was really interesting reading and learning about this side of ww2 and what they were forced to do.
Deleteupon completion of my book a long way gone what shocked me was how ishmael fought through it all and never gave up. if i was in his shoes i would eventually give up and die but he didn't. what also shocked me was him surviving long periods of time alone with little food and water. when he was in the forest alone he had to find away to survive.
ReplyDeletein the bad times that ishamul was in i almost would have wanted to die rather than watch the horrible things happening and people dieing and blood gushing. alos nopt knowing when the war will end and whats will after
Deletethis was one of my most shocking parts that i picked and i agree. i think that i wouldve given up a long time ago after reading about some of the things that he had to go through.
DeleteI have learned so much about Malalas culture throughout this story. Mainly in the beginning of the book, the first 60+ pages was about her background and culture. The biggest thing i found interesting was how much men were treated different than women. Women needed to cover their skin up and are treated horribly. While Malalas culture is a little messed up in my opinion, The inequality between the men and women is horrid.
ReplyDeleteI read night and i was really shocked by what Elie had to go through. I was really shocked that some of the Germans were completely unfazed by the stuff they were doing. They shot older men because they were to old to work and threw kids into a ditch of fire and burned them alive, but seemed completely unfazed. The way Elie wrote the book was perfect to me, he wrote it the way the Jews saw it in the camp. An example of this is that Elie didn't write about how close the Germans were to defeat, because he didn't know anything about the outside world. I knew about the things that the German's did to the Jews, but Elie put all of the details into it, such as when he explained the ditch full of fire that the Germans were throwing kids into. He wrote about how the sky was completely black from the smoke of the fire. Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend to anyone who likes history of WWII.
ReplyDeleteThe burning of the children and the smell of flesh is what got to me the most. Also how women were treated. How care their lives any less than ours. God created us all as equals. We should be treated as that.
Deletei couldn't even imagine the hardships they had to over come and all the horrific things they saw.
Deletewhat gets to me about this book is how care free the guards are to the Jewish, they are all human beings and should be treated as such. how another man could do that to someone is so disturbing.
DeleteAfter reading the book I realized that I am very lucky to live in the united states because I don't have to worry about trying to survive. What shocked me was that he was hunted and he didn't have any family to help him survive so he had to do it with a couple friends and himself. Another thing that was crazy i felt like he got really lucky a lot to survive all those things he went through to survive.
ReplyDeleteI agree fully. there is no way I could have ever done the things he had done for that long. How would you rate the book from a scale of 1-10?
DeleteIt was pretty crazy to learn about the things they had to go through in the war and I'm glad I live in the united states as well.
DeleteThroughout my book, The Kite Runner, I learned a lot about the culture of Afghanistan. The most prominent feature of the culture their was their religion. They young Hassan followed his religion very heavily along with almost every other character as well. He never missed a prayer and always prayed at home. This is something that some Americans do with Christianity but not as heavily as they did in the book. One time in the book Amir stated that Hassan never missed a prayer and later on in the book it is found out that neither did Hassan's child. This surprised me because Sorab, Hassan's son, was very young when his parents were killed and yet he still prays every night, even at his young age.
ReplyDeleteupon finishing my book, i have learned many things. the culture that ishamul lives in comparison to mine is uncomparable. ishamul is fighting for food, im wondering whats for supper and preparing it the day before. it shocked me that ishmaul is still living after the book, i thought forsure he was gonna die. it was strange how there are so many kids without there parents. out on there own. my parents would keep me stuck like glue to them. like i said it supried me that he made it out alive. specific examples of what i learned are how all the fighters/killaz took drugs when fighting and before. it really can mess a guy up.
ReplyDeletereading this book really makes me realize how good we have it in America and how some people dont get that luxury
Deletein the book "Night" a few things that really surprised me the most where all the people that were killed and viscously beaten for doing something the guards didn't like or for not following orders. another thing that shook me was all the running they had to do at the end. forced to run non stop for 20 kilometers and many people didn't make it dying of exhaustion or being shot for not keeping up the pace.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I bet that if the guards had to run in the same conditions that the Jews faced they too would have died.
Deletei feel like these conditions in todays world would have killed everyone, i still can not comprehend how the ones that survived did with that amount of torture.
DeleteI was also shocked by the jews will to live and to fight for there survival and that many jews did not give up from the cruelty and tourment
DeleteI read the book Night and what got to me the most was the lack of respect for human life. The way that the Nazis treated the Jews was barbaric to say the least. Where do they think that they can be the hand of God and choose another persons fate? I realize that Hitler played a role in this. The German police made the Jews act like town rats. making them vacate their homes, get rid of all their belongings, separate the women from the men and eventually watch the people around them die in the most horrific ways. I was glad that Elie was able to remain with his father through most of the book but I wish that he had a better passing then to be beaten to death. This really saddened me as I too am close to my father. Elie has found super spiritual inner strength during his journey to be able to survive the Holocaust.
ReplyDeleteThis Kite Runner took place in Afghanistan and I learned a lot about the different religions and cultures, but this did not stop the children from still being friends with each other despite their difference. One thing I thought was interesting was that they do a kite flying contest in Afghanistan, I thought this was interesting because nothing like that happens here in America and it just shows the difference in cultures than we have here.
ReplyDeleteDid you like the book? and why did you like it or not like it? What would you change if you could've had the power to?
Deleteour book took place in the same culture and i feel that anyone gender beside adult men are allowed to do anything in this culture.
DeleteWhile reading A Long Way Gone, I have learned a lot about the African culture and how bad it is to be walking up to 20 miles per day just to get enough food to get through the day. The thing that seemed strange to me was why they never really told why the rebels were at a civil war. Ishmael's culture was a lot of heat and not any snow or jackets needed so when he came to new york, he had no clue what that even was or why it was so cold.
ReplyDeleteI also think it was cool how when he went to New York he was really cold and had no idea what snow was he only heard of it he never really knew what snow was, i thought that was cool.
DeleteThroughout the book a thousand splendid suns the culture of Muslims the women are treated as if they are a baby making machine. For example, Mariam married Rasheed got pregnant and had a miscarriage's after the first one Rasheed would beat her all the time causing her to have even more miscarriage's. Then Laila came into the picture and she had sexual relations out of wedlock and married Rasheed to cover up her takes. And the one time Mariam and Laila tried running away Rasheed caught them and locked then up in a shed for days. I can't believe that people actually treat other people like this.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that shocked me in the book is how Ishmael ended up caring so much for someone like Ester. He went from being a crazy boy who had PTSD from the awful war he was in. To a complete better kid with Esters help. She honestly did so much for him and it seems like he understood that she helped him out a lot. Ishmael went from a kid who had so many problems with his mentality to that getting better all because of Esters help and him getting away from the war and I'm honestly happy for him.
ReplyDeleteA Long Way Gone is a book that i wouldve never thought about reading. but after reading it you really get a different understanding of what goes on in other countries. i think that its crazy that such a young kid has to experience these wild things ant such a young age and has to now live with this for the rest of his life. one specific part that really suprised me is when he was stucck in the woods and had to hunt for food and sleep in the trees. personally, i think thats pretty impressive for a 12 year old kid
ReplyDeleteIt is even crazier to know that things like this are still happening and lots of children are currently going through what Ishmael did but, we don't even know it.
DeleteIn A Long Way Gone the biggest shock to me was probably the idea that Rap music was this crazy, unheard-of genre of music. Because of the variety of different people in America, I guess it has been daily life in which we learn new things but stuff like genres of music that are wildly popular here never being heard in other places in mind-blowing. For example, whenever Ishmael got captured his rap cassette tape saved his because of the Village chief's curiosity.
ReplyDeleteUpon finishing the book Night be Elie Wiesel I have learnt a few things about the German/Jewish culture during world war 2. It shocked me that the Germans would go out of their way to kill Jewish people, and the conditions these people were forced to live in were not very pleasant. I think an event that shows some cruelty from the German side would be when they took a child and two men to the gallows to be hanged.
ReplyDeletei had no idea that middle eastern men could basically choose a young girl sometimess 10 years old! and marry her and have a chiuld with her. then the taliban just came in and said women cannot leave the house at all. not even for food.
ReplyDeleteWhat was your reaction or initial thought when u found out about this? When I read the book i was shocked to see how poorly woman were treated.
DeleteWhat shocked me about The kite runner how it started to get into 911 at the end. Also how Amir adopted Hassans kid at the end when we nobody thought he would the courage handle all of that.
ReplyDeleteI learned that women are treated terribly in Afghanistan. Their husbands beat them and get away with it. Women can not go out by themselves.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of strange and shocking things that happened in the book night. Something i found shocking was that they were willing to kill each other over a loaf of bread. It also shocked me that the Nazi's were so willing to be cruel to another human being without even questioning it.
ReplyDeleteThroughout I am Malala, I learned a lot about the Pakistani culture, but mainly pertaining to women. Women were expected to stay at home and tend to the family, while the men supported the family. Women were not allowed to leave the home and be in public without a male relative accompanying them, or without having a hijab covering their face. Once a girl reached the age of sixteen, she was supposed to have a hijab covering her head and face, only showing her eyes. I feel like there are various reasons for these cultural rules, but I feel like it lessens women's freedom and their humanity. Not being allowed to leave the house without a man is restricting and takes away a woman's freedom. Making women hide their faces restricts them from communicating with others and being their true selves. I could not imagine living in Pakistan and following all of these rules.
ReplyDeleteI liked how the kite runner would eventually get into 911 and even before that Amir has to find his inner self witch ended him Adopting Sohrab. After that he had enough courage to stand up to the general.
ReplyDelete