Part 2: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Reading Response Journal
While reading the novel, you will write a four-part journal about the key ideas, themes, characters, and plot from the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns. I encourage you to use the following questions to engage in thinking about the characters, the plot, and what it means to us as readers--you are not expected to answer them, but they are useful for directing your thinking about the key ideas from the story, and for use in your reader response. Reader response prompts are open-ended, asking you to articulate your reactions to a scene or development in the plot. Discussion questions generally build on your literal recall of the plot to build up inferences about what these events mean and what they tell the reader about the overall meaning of the narrative. You may go back to the text to identify and analyze key passages as you build meaning and understanding of the story. Use the quotes or choose your own quotes as you read, explaining the meaning of the quote and its significance in your reading journals.
Part 2 Reading Questions: Chapters 16-26
1. In this section we are introduced to nine-year-old Laila and her family. What were Laila’s parents like when they were young? How have they changed?
What is undermining their relationship? How does their relationship affect Laila?
2. Why does Laila feel such a strong attachment to her father?
3. Why does Laila’s father believe in the importance of education for women?
4. What is wrong with Laila's mother?
5. Laila's friend, Tariq, lost his leg in a landmine explosion when he was five. How does Tariq deal with his disability? What does his behaviour suggest about his character?
6. Laila enjoys spending time with Tariq’s family. How does her family differ from Tariq’s and why?
7. How is Laila’s family affected by the deaths of their two sons? How do you understand Laila’s reaction?
8. What is the role of religion in the novel? Does it give consolation to the people?
9. Why were Laila’s brothers fighting? What are the motives for the rebels fighting against the communists?
10. Why does Laila’s father take her to see the two Buddhas at Bamiyan? Later these statues are destroyed by the Taliban. Why?
11. Why does Laila’s father stay with his wife? How are the mother’s and father’s dreams different and why?
12. On their outing Laila’s father relaxes, re-reading Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea. Why does the novel resonate with the father?
13. In what ways is Laila like her mother, and in what ways is she like her father?
14. How does the relationship of Laila and Tariq change?
15. What is the impact of the Soviet withdrawal on the citizens of Kabul?
16. What finally convinces Laila’s mother to leave Kabul?
17. How do Laila’s feelings about leaving Kabul contrast with her parents' feelings?
What is undermining their relationship? How does their relationship affect Laila?
2. Why does Laila feel such a strong attachment to her father?
3. Why does Laila’s father believe in the importance of education for women?
4. What is wrong with Laila's mother?
5. Laila's friend, Tariq, lost his leg in a landmine explosion when he was five. How does Tariq deal with his disability? What does his behaviour suggest about his character?
6. Laila enjoys spending time with Tariq’s family. How does her family differ from Tariq’s and why?
7. How is Laila’s family affected by the deaths of their two sons? How do you understand Laila’s reaction?
8. What is the role of religion in the novel? Does it give consolation to the people?
9. Why were Laila’s brothers fighting? What are the motives for the rebels fighting against the communists?
10. Why does Laila’s father take her to see the two Buddhas at Bamiyan? Later these statues are destroyed by the Taliban. Why?
11. Why does Laila’s father stay with his wife? How are the mother’s and father’s dreams different and why?
12. On their outing Laila’s father relaxes, re-reading Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea. Why does the novel resonate with the father?
13. In what ways is Laila like her mother, and in what ways is she like her father?
14. How does the relationship of Laila and Tariq change?
15. What is the impact of the Soviet withdrawal on the citizens of Kabul?
16. What finally convinces Laila’s mother to leave Kabul?
17. How do Laila’s feelings about leaving Kabul contrast with her parents' feelings?
Part 2: Reader Response Quotes
“Babi had made it clear to Laila from a young age that the most important thing in his life, after her safety, was her schooling.” (p. 114)
“People…shouldn’t be allowed to have new children if they’d already given away all their love to their old ones. It wasn’t fair.” (p. 119)
“To me, it’s nonsense—and very dangerous nonsense at that--all this talk of I’m Tajik and you’re Pashtun and he’s Hazara and she’s Uzbek. We’re all Afghans, and that’s all that should matter.” (p. 130)
“Women have always had it hard in this country, Laila, but they’re probably more free now, under the communists, and have more rights than they’ve ever had before….” (p. 135)
“But Laila knew that her future was no match for her brothers’ past.” (p. 142)
“Laila knew that the days of innocent, unhindered frolicking in the streets with Tariq had passed. For some time now, Laila had begun to sense a new strangeness when the two of them were out in public." (p. 163)
“The Mujahideen, armed to the teeth but now lacking a common enemy, had found the enemy in each other. Kabul’s day of reckoning had come at last.” (p. 172)
“People…shouldn’t be allowed to have new children if they’d already given away all their love to their old ones. It wasn’t fair.” (p. 119)
“To me, it’s nonsense—and very dangerous nonsense at that--all this talk of I’m Tajik and you’re Pashtun and he’s Hazara and she’s Uzbek. We’re all Afghans, and that’s all that should matter.” (p. 130)
“Women have always had it hard in this country, Laila, but they’re probably more free now, under the communists, and have more rights than they’ve ever had before….” (p. 135)
“But Laila knew that her future was no match for her brothers’ past.” (p. 142)
“Laila knew that the days of innocent, unhindered frolicking in the streets with Tariq had passed. For some time now, Laila had begun to sense a new strangeness when the two of them were out in public." (p. 163)
“The Mujahideen, armed to the teeth but now lacking a common enemy, had found the enemy in each other. Kabul’s day of reckoning had come at last.” (p. 172)
Image source 1: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NE-72ZXux-g/TIcpOrsJv5I/AAAAAAAAPFQ/EaC2CO54vLE/s1600/schoolgirls+in+Kabul+1960s.jpg
Image source 2: http://prafulla.net/wp-content/sharenreadfiles/2012/08/298049/s_a01_0MG75412-800x532.jpg
Image source 2: http://prafulla.net/wp-content/sharenreadfiles/2012/08/298049/s_a01_0MG75412-800x532.jpg