Metacognition: Kite Runner Essay

When previewing the sample idea starters Mr.Allen proposed for us, I immediately found out that my mind and opinions were all over the place as the norm. The thesis I could most collect and develop my thoughts about was revolved around the past, so I decided to hover on that topic. I felt that it wasn't just the past that Amir was shaping his life over, but the single, solitary issue that manipulated fate in a cruel direction. I tried to concentrate on how Amir can't escape what happened that one December night to prove that our pasts not only have influence over future actions, but that they are reoccurring and unavoidable themselves. I found as I viewed it in this way, it really brought different aspects of the book together; the downside was the most insightful passages on the subject occurred after the night and thus, towards the second have of the fictional memoir. I think this thought brought in moments from my life and points outside the memoir which could give it character and a direction unique to my voice, which I am excited for. I just find it a difficult balancing act to bring specific instances while grasping onto a larger concept and ideal.

Best of Week: Short Sentences (9:15-19/08)

For the week of September 15th -19th, we went over TED presentations, Jane Eyre vocabulary, the Kite Runner, and Artful Sentences. I contemplated writing about the new secret I learned or the philosophies of Freud and Lacan, but in the end decided the concept of short sentences are more applicable to my life.

Previously, we have gone over short sentences, but I couldn't appreciate their value until Thursday's conversation. They were boring. I thought of teaching my 6 year old cousin how to write about the baseball game he went to: "I saw the cubs. I ate a hot dog. The cubs won. I had fun." When we were going over their purpose and seeing how they could be applied in Artful Sentences, it was then that I saw how their use in moderation amongst longer sentences in a paragraph is useful. It gives the reader a break. I believe the writer should keep an audience to tell their story to in mind; by providing a break it's almost as if the writer is taking care of them as well.

While reading the Kite Runner that night, I started noticing Hosseini's own use of short sentences. It not only broke up the paragraph into more legible sections, it added emphasis to points that needed to be comprehended. The power behind the writing became more of a voice, and grew its connection with the reader.

As I grow my own voice as a writer, I would like to try to incorporate this style and in a sense, artform. I imagine that it would add something different to my stories and as Mr. Allen stated, it could really enable me to add something different to my college essays down the road. I'll be unusual. Not a cut and paste student. From now on, I will try to incorporate this variety and make my papers more interesting.

Carry It Forward: The Kite Runner

" 'Let me take you home with me. I can find you a good doctor. They're coming up with new treatments all the time. There are new drugs and experimental treatments, we could enroll you in one...' I was rambling and I knew it. But it was better than crying, which I was probably going to do anyway.
He let out a chuff of laughter, revealed missing lower incisors. It was the most tired laughter I'd ever heard. 'I see America has infused you with the optimism that has made her so great. That's very good. We're a melancholic people, we Afghans, aren't we? Often, we wallow too much in ghamkhori and self-pity. We give in to loss, to suffering, accept it as a fact of life, even see it as necessary. Zendagi migzara, we say, life goes on. But I am not surrendering to fate here, I am being pragmatic. I have seen several good doctors here and they have given the same answer. I trust them and believe them. There is such a thing as God's will.' "
-The Kite Runner, 201


This passage from the Kite Runner touches a level of acceptance. Religious or not, God's will/life itself, will win in the end. It is up to each individual to understand when to 'give in' or to be 'pragmatic.'
I want to apply this concept to my life in not only health related instances, but in the way I view life at all times. I don't always have to put up a fight. Amir was desperate to figure out a way to heal Rahim Khan leaving him frazzled and distraught; Rahim Khan has faced his fate and may continue the rest of his life in relative peace as he ties up lose ends. When I can't overcome an issue in my life, I will re-evaluate it in a framework of will this be for the best?
If I don't do well at a debate tournament, the way I would mull over it would be to ask how I can make this work out for me in the future? It's too late to do well at this tournament, but maybe, I can use the oppurtunity of not debating to watch some of the top debaters in the country. Maybe I can learn. Maybe the reason I didn't do well lies in something I won't be able to fix until I trust the judges in their decision and recognize my loss. The joy from a debate tournament in Iowa, where I do well, will be short lived compared to a tournament in Michigan, where I was horrible, but understand and accept why I did poorly... Moments in time fade and are restricted to that moment, getting through the harder times is when you make the good times great in the future.


THERE IS A PART OF LIFE THAT IS INEVITABLE;

"The cry of birth, the rise of sun, the waning of the moon,
the pass of breath, the still of death, will come to all too soon,
but life imparts a strength of force, which we cannot explain,
but in the order of this chaos, some things will never change "

-Shawn Phillips

TRUST & ACCEPTANCE CAN BE THE GREATEST PALLIATIVES - KNOWING THE RIGHT THING TO OCCUR, WILL IN THE END.