The Kite Runner

Grade Levels

Excerpt

The Kite Runner Test: Page 1

Section One: Identification—names and terms may be used more than once. (2 points each)

• _____________________________ = motif most associated with the Afghan philosophy about winning.
• _____________________________ = motif which illustrates one’s awareness of his surroundings or a person’s guilt
• _____________________________ = motif associated with lawlessness
• _____________________________ = Hosseini’s use of this (these) not only proves that he is a brave writer but also helps make his themes more universal.
• _____________________________ = type of Islam associated with the Taliban
• _____________________________ = Tajik leader of the Afghan resistance movement who predicted 9/11
• _____________________________ = majority ethnic group found in Afghanistan; ruling group
• _____________________________ = the decades of the “Golden Years” in Afghanistan
• _____________________________ = What is more important to the Afghans than rules?
• _____________________________ = character besides Baba who believes that Afghanistan will have a king again and that refugees will be able to return to a “good” Afghanistan

Section Two: Short answer quotes—make sure that you thoroughly answer each question.

Quote 1: “ ‘My father is still adjusting to life in America,’ I said . . . I wanted to tell them that, in Kabul, we snapped a tree branch and used it as a credit card.”

• Who is “them” in the quote above?
• What point is Hosseini trying to make about immigrants through this incident?

Quote 2: “I know that in the end, God will forgive. He will forgive your father, me, and you too. I hope that you can do the same. Forgive your father if you can. Forgive me if you wish. But, most important, forgive yourself.”

• Who said this?
• For what did this person need forgiveness from Amir?

Quote 3: “That Hassan would grow up illiterate like Ali and most Hazaras had been decided the minute he had been born . . . after all, what use did a servant have for the written word?”

How does Amir contribute to this belief?

What point is the author making about literacy through Hassan?

Quote 4: “I thought about the old story of Baba wrestling a black bear in Baluchistan. Baba had wrestled bears his whole life.”

• What are some of the “bears” wrestled by Baba?

Quote 5: “I thanked Wahid for his hospitality . . . His three sons were standing in the doorway watching us. . . . Earlier that morning, when I was certain no one was looking, I did something I had done twenty-six years earlier . . .”

• What action did Amir repeat?
• How else does Amir help Farid (Wahid’s brother)?

The Kite Runner Test, Part 2

Section Three: Answer the following questions in no fewer than three sentences. ( 4 points each)

• Give three examples from the novel that demonstrate Hosseini’s filmic style.
• A pathetic fallacy can be a literary device in which the author juxtaposes the physical world with the inner psychological world of a character. Give two examples from KR where Hosseini employs pathetic fallacy.
• Blood and Lambs/Sacrifices are two other motifs found in KR. Using the same format from our notes, illustrate how Hosseini uses one of these motifs. (claim, data, commentary)

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College Prep Level Test for The Kite Runner