A thousand Splendid Suns--comparative Literary Essay Assignnment

A Thousand Splendid Suns--Comparative Literary Essay Assignment
Background

“[Literature] teaches us a great deal about who we are…lets us see ourselves, even the parts that we’d rather not see.”

Actor Henry Czerny, Interview on CBC radio, Feb. 7, 2008
“Literature has many purposes and opens doors to unique worlds, which are never wholly removed from our own, and characters, who almost always have much in common with us and the challenges we face in the modern world. Through literature we rediscover ourselves and our world time and again.”

“Rediscovering Literature,” Middletown Thrall Library, http://www.thrall.org/redislit.htm.

Characters’ dialogue and actions serve to reveal themes in literary works. What characters learn from their experiences, we, as readers, learn vicariously. What is learned is a wide variety of themes. By examining specific actions and speeches of characters throughout A Thousand Splendid Suns, you should be able to discern distinct themes that develop.
Instructions

Write a five-paragraph essay (minimum 750 words) comparing one of the following pairs of characters:

1. 
   Mariam and Laila; OR d) Babi and Jalil; OR
   
2. 
   Jalil and Rasheed; OR e) Babi and Rasheed
   
3. 
   Nana and Mami; OR
   

Discuss three of the characters’ traits and what the reader learns from the characters’ experiences (i.e. a theme). Your comparative essay will be an integrated analysis of both character and theme.

Sample thesis statements integrating both character traits and theme:

1) _______________, ________________, and _______________ give a person the strength to endure the most troublesome of times. (Fill in the 3 traits.)

2) Sometimes the most horrible treatment brings out some of the best traits in the victims, such as ______________, __________________, and _____________________. (Fill in the 3 traits.)

3) Putting others before oneself can be a difficult sacrifice, but it builds strength of character.

____________ and ____________ demonstrate such selflessness, as well as ____________, and _________________. (Fill in the characters’ names and 2 traits, in addition to selflessness.)

4) What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. This axiom is reflected in the experiences of _________________ and ________________ which demonstrate their common traits of ____________________ , ___________________, and ____________________________. (Fill in the characters’ names and 3 traits.)

5) The ____________________, ______________________, and ____________________ of _____________________________ and ______________________ in the face of injustice serve as a reminder that we must fight against the oppression of human rights. (Fill in the 3 traits and the characters’ names.)

6) ______________________ and _____________________’s experiences reveal their ____________________, _______________________, and __________________________ reflecting the theme(s) that ____________________________________________________

-some people will mistreat others rather than causing themselves shame

-it is easy to victimize the vulnerable

-lies have the power to destroy lives

-humankind has an excessive capacity to commit brutality against our own (Fill in characters’ names, 3 traits, and a theme.)

7) Fictional characters provide us with examples of parental behaviour to either follow or reject. Through __________________________and ______________________’s relationships with their children, we learn what we should or shouldn’t do. From their ______________________, ________________________, and __________________________ , we learn _______________________________________________________________________________________________________. (Fill in characters’ names, 3 traits, and a theme.)
To aid your brainstorming, use the chart below to compare your characters: