Word Watcher - Week 3

pg 200 - 300

cohorts pg 200 - a group or company

presumptuous pg 207 - unwarranted or impertinently bold; forward

ramshackle pg 214 - loosely made or held together; shaky

animosity pg 228 - a feeling of strong dislike

rueful pg 230 - causing sorrow or pity; expressing sorrow or pity

dilapidated pg 230 -reduced to or fallen into ruin or decay

charred pg 244 - to burn or reduce to charcoal; to burn slightly

benevolence pg 248 - desire to do good to others; goodwill

succulent pg 265 - full of juice; juicy; rich in desirable qualities

Word Watcher - Week 4

pg 300 - 371

impunity pg 301 - exemption from punishment

insomniac pg 303 - a person who suffers from insomnia

paunchy pg 308 -having a large and protruding belly

obligatory pg 316 - required as a matter of obligation; mandatory

curt pg 330 - rudely brief in speech or abrupt manner

catharsis pg 357 - the purging of emotions or relieving of emotional tensions

DIscussion Director, Week 5

21. What were people watching on the tv ?

22. What happened in the fight between Sohrab and Assef?

23. What were the consequences of Amir getting into the fight?

24. Where does Amir want Sohrab to go?

25. What happens with Sohrab in the end?

Discussion Director, Week 4

17. What did Hassan write about in the letter?

18. Why does Amir go to Kabul?

19. What does Amir over hear?

20. Where was Sohrab located?

Word Watcher - Week 2

pg 100 - 200

bazaar pg104 - market place or shopping quarter in Middle East

sluiced pg 108 - an artificial channel for conducting water, open fitted with a gate (sluice gate) at the upper end for regulating flow

tarpaulin pg 111 - a protective covering of canvas or other material waterproofed with tar, paint, or wax

lucrative pg 111 - profitable

precipitous pg 111 - extremely or impassably steep

encapsulated pg 123 - to place in or as if in a capsule

staccatos pg 123 - shortened or detached when played or sung

permeated pg 132 - to pass into or through every part of

laborious pg 150 - requiring much work, exertion, or perseverance

reticence pg 157 - disposed to be silent or not to speak freely

meticulous pg 186 - taking or showing extreme care about minute details

Discussion Director, Week 3

10. What happens with Kamul and how does it relate to Hassan ?

11. What happens in 1983?

12 What is Baba diagnosed with ?

13. Amir tries doing what ?

14. Rahim Khan knows what about Hassan?

15. Who won the Taliban v. Russian conflict?

16. What did Amir find out about Hassan?

Discussion Director, Week 2

10. Why did Amir and Baba Flee?

While reading chapter ten today, I was completely shocked at how the they just grabbed a couple of personal items to flee Kabul. They way the Russian soldiers tried to get a chance to speak to the young woman. The only way they are able to head to Pakistan to start a new life is if she speaks to them for a half hour. Baba disagreed with the actions that the Russian soldier wanted and is then held up with the gun. The Russian soldier will not back down though. I could imagine everything going on it. The only reason they have been transported was for money and will have to wait for a truck along with thirty others.

Summarizer Week 3

OK... this time i'm on time :D



Rahim Khan found Hassan and he was married and expecting a child. Rahim Khan finds out that Ali had been killed by a land mine. Hassan wanted to know everything about Amir and Baba. He wants Rahim to read a letter from Amir to him and when he finds out that Baba had died, he was very miserable. Hassan and his wife decides to move in with Rahim Khan but live as a servant so he doesn't offens Amir. Hassan's new born daughter is born stillborn. And suprisingly, Hassan's mother returns to see him, after she was attacked with a knife. They put ther back to health. Hassan's wife gives birth to a son named Sohrab. Hassan's mother dies four years later. Hassan teaches his son how to kite running. But Taliban banned kite fighting shortly after taking over and killing Hazaras in Mazar-i-Shaif.



Amir asks Rahim Khan where Hassan can be found. Rahim Khan hands Amir a letter and a picture. That letter explained how Hassan and his family is living under Taliban rules and his family's life. An the letter also implies that Hassan wants to see his friend Amir. A month after Rahim Khan had left for Pakistan, Hassan and his wife was shot dead due to them not wanting to leave the house. Rahim Khan finds out and asks Amir to go back to Kabul and bring back Sohrab back to him.



Amir enters Afghanistan with the help of Farid. At first Farid dislikes Amir and thinks he wants to sell his land. But when Amir is invited for dinner and tells them that he is here to save his half brother's son. Farid wants to give food to Amir when he doesn't have enough for his family. Farid also thinks better of him when he learns that he is going to Kabul.

Amir enters kabul and realizes the destruction and the begging children which leaves him shock. Amir and Farid locate the orphange Sohrab has been staying in. But they find out that Sohrab was sold to a Talib Official. But the man knows where Sohrab is so they go look for him.

Amir and Farid go visit Amir's childhood home. They find out the neighborhood is filled with rich Talibans. The next day they go to the Ghazi Stadium to find out who bought Sohrab. In the stadium, there was a man and a woman getting stoned to death during half time by a man wearing John Lennon sunglasses, a Taliban official. Amir gets an appointment with the man at 8.

Amir goes to see the official alone at his palatial home. Amir gets verbally abused and threathed by the official. Then he told some guards to go get Sohrab, and Amir notices that Sohrab looks like Hassan. He was dressed up and had to dance to any song whenever he was told. The official asks where Ali. And when the official removes is glasses, Amir realize that the official is Assef.

Assef tells Amir that he can have Sohrab after they finish something that they have started. Assef starts beating Amir up and Amir starts laughing. Amir thought that it was comforting to get beaten up finally. But laughing makes Assef more angry. Sohrab gets Amir out and Farid drives them away.

Amir faints and when he wakes up he has to run away because the Taliban is looking for him. Sohrab and Amir gets close and when he woke up one night, Sohrab was gone. Sohrab tells Amir that he is starting to forget how his parent look like. The Amir offers Sohrab to go to America and live with him. Amir calls his wife and sya that he wants to adopt Sohrab. But they find out that adopting him might be really hard. They are introduced to a immigration lawyer who is willing to help. Sohrab doesn't want to go to an orphange, but he rather die then going there again so he tries to commit suicide. But thankfully, he didn't die and he tells Amir that he wished he had died. Then he doesn't speak for the next year. Then When they returned to America, they had a party. And they competed in a Kite Running contest and won. Amir helped Sohrab like Hassan helped Amir win the competetion, they won.

summarizer Week 2

Sorry this is late but I will do the last one on time this time... PROMISE!!! :D

Amir and Baba flee to Pakistan with few items because spies for Russian soldiers are everywhere in Kabul. When they get to the border, they are stopped by a young soldier and won;t let them pass. when Baba portests, the young soldier oulls a gun on Baba and another officer let them pass. While they are trying to change trucks like planned, they find out the truck has been broken for weeks. When they are at the basement waiting, they meet Kamal ans his father waiting also. Kamal was also raped like Hassan, and this makes Amir upset. Kamal doesn't talk anymore. On the way there, Kamal dies due to gas fumes and his father kills himself due to his lost of value in his life.

Amir and Baba gets to Fremont, California and settles there. Amir says, "For me, America was a place to bury my memmories. For Baba, a place to mourn his." Baba doesn't really like it there in California working in a gas station.

Amir graduates High school at the age of 20. Baba wants Amir to go to college but when Amir hears that he is upset.

Soraya is a girl that Amir is flirting with and also is courting. He reads her his stories. But when he finds him talking to her father she stops courting her. Then Baba is diagnosed with lung cancer and it can't be fixed (since he refuses to take medicines). He collapses with a seizure at the flea market. Soraya and her family visit and soon arranges Amir's engagemnet to Soraya. But what Soraya is worried about her past, when she ran away with a man and lived with him for a month. But Amir is proud that she let him know about it. Amir and Soraya gets married and Soraya moves in with Amir and Baba since Baba is sick. She reads Amir's stories to him everyday. Baba dies the next month in his sleep.

Amir's first novel finishes in 1988. The book is released the following year. Then Amir rememebers Hassan belief of his writing abilities. But when the couple tries to get a child for a year, and they try in-vitro fertilization but that unsuccessful. When they consider an adoption, General Tahei, Soraya's father, disapproves. So they decide not to adopt.

Amir gets a call from Rahim Khan, who is in Pakistan, that he is very sick and that he should visit him. So after lots of thinking, he decides to go visit him. When he returns to Pakistan, he sees Rahim Khan, who is always talking about the unbearable life under Taliban rule. Rahim Khan tells him that Hassan is his half brother and that he should go visit him. This was a secret that was sealed from Hassan and Amir. Rahim Khan also tells him that Hassan lived there with him and that he has left. so that he should go visit him.

I promise that I will post the next one on Monday. :D

Summarizer Week 1

It was quite hard to concentrate on the book I tried relly hard... I will post up the next one tomorrow promise. :D

Amir is the main character and also the narrator. He is thinking back to the day in the winter of 1975. That day changed his life forever. In the beginning he only explains that he was hiding behind crumbling mud wall and peering down an alley. It's not in details but this memory haunts him until now. He speaks of doing many horrible things like suicide. Hassan, his best childhood friend, has cleft lip but other then that he is descirbed to be very gorgous.

Hassan has been always loyal to Amir and tries to please him all the time. Hassan's father, Ali, works for Amri's father and lives in a mud shack. Hassan's mother left him when he was born to live with the traveling dancers, which is known to be very shameful. Ali's lower face is paralyzed which is hard for him to show emotions or tell if he has any. He also has a twisted right leg and he is a Hazara and a Shi’a Muslim. Though Hassan and Ali is just servants at Amir's house, they are close to each other.

Amir calls his dad Baba throughout the story and he is very successful. He has his own estate in the nothern Kabul. Baba has many friends and Rahim Khan is one of them. Amir's mother died when he was born. Amir and Baba is Pashtun and Sunni Muslim.

Hassan ans Amir grew up together. Amir's first word was Baba while Hassan's first word was Amir. Baba has always thought that Hassan was better at things and when Amir doesn't stand up for himself Hassan has to. Amir overhears this conversation, Amir gets jealous of Hassan.

Amir goes to school but Hassan doesn't. Amir always read to Hassan and once in awhile he would just make up his own. Hassan will tell him that it's the best he has ever heard. Since he found out that he has some kind of talent, he writes a story that night and offers Baba to read the story but he isn't that interested. Amir shows it to Rahim Khan and he tells Amir that he has God-given talent. Then he has a sudden rage and wants Rahim Khan to be his father.

Amir and Hassan was roaming the streets and talking when he was interupted by the neighborhood bully, Assef. He is known to be very cruel to Hassa since he is Hazara. Assef says things like Hitler was a great leader, and he should he the president and get rid of Hazaras. Hassan pulls a slingshot at Assef which gets Assef made and wants to get back at him. For Hassan's 12th birthday, he gets his cleft lip fixed and his scar is not noticeable.

Duwinf icy winter monthss, schools are closed in Kabul. Flying Kites are very popular, and it's something he shares in common with Baba. When Kabul holds a kite fighting contest, Baba bring Hassan and Amir to Saifo who is known to be a shoe repairman and the city's famous kite maker. The winner is the last kite to be cut. Hassan is the winner, the greastest kite runner. Amir wins an annual kite fight that Baba watches. Amir wonders if Baba is proud of him and he wants to give him the kite as the throphy. Then he sees Hassan cornered by Assef and his friends. They want to beat Hassan up and take his kite. But Asseft tells Hassan that Amir is not a friend but his owner. Assef and his friend sstarts beating up Hassan and Amir just watchs, not being able to stand up for Hassan. Hassan always stands up for Amir but he couldn't do it. Assef rapes Hassan but Amir doesn't stop them, but runs away. Later her meets Hassan and pretends that he doesn't know what is going on. Hassan gives the kite to Amir and Amir gives the kite to his father, who is proud of Amir.

Hassan avoids Amir and spends his time in his bed. Ali asks Amir if he knows what happened but he lies and says no. Amir wants to have fun but he can not live with this guilt. He becomes insomniac due to the guilt. When Hassan tries being nice to Amir again, Amir pushes him away. Amir tries to persuade his father to get new servants but he says that their relationship is to be unbroken. Amir tries to start a pomegranate fight with Hassan, but he doesn't fight back. Showing loyaly to Amir, he doesn't hit Amir but he just rubs it on his head. When Baba throws a huge party for Amir, Assef is invited and gifts him a biography of Hitler.

Summarizer- Week 1

Hey You guys....
Umm... Well I can't do this weeks post because I'm behind the book. I'm not close to 100, I think it's because the book left me very disappointed. I don't like the book as much as I thought I would. So I was wondering if I can post everything on 1 day after I'm catching up... Thanks :)

Word Watcher - Week 1

pg. 1 - 100

page 7.

• barracks- a building or group of buildings for lodging soldiers. Any large, plain building in which many people are lodged.

page 8.

• unscrupulous- corrupt, dishonest

page 19.

• aloofness- state of being lost in thought, lack of interest, uncaring attitude, detachment

page 20.

• patronized- condescend, indulge, accommodate

page 21.

• jostled- bump, shake

page 43.

• trepidation- anxiety, worry

page 61.

• shirked- avoid, get out of responsibility

• austere- severe in manner

• morose- depressed, pessimistic

Discussion Director, Week 1

1. What does the main character, Amir remember about a winter in 1975?
2. Where does Amir and Ali's fathers live?
3. What happened to Amirs mother and who does he want to be close with?
4. What do you learn about Baba?
5. Who is Assef a fan of ?
6. What are the kites coated with?
7. What happens to Assef?
8. What shows Amir that Assef is loyal to him?
9. What does Amir realize he no longer can do?

Schedule and Roles

Welcome to our blog. Our reading schedule is to read 100 pages a week, so we will be able to finish the book by November 6th, 2009. We each will read a minimum of 20-30 pages a night to be able to complete our 100 pages. We divided our literature circle roles into:

Discussion Director: Jessye Pragen

Word Watcher: Sophia Chronopoulos

Summarizer / Illuminator: Opal Lim

Connector / Illustrator: Michael Edwards