A Kinder Reader When one thinks of stories that improve us as human beings, Aesop’s Fables comes to mind, not the dark, dank, heroin‑laced world of Mohsin Hamid’s Moth Smoke. But, reading is like fashion, and one man’s cherished plaid pants are another man’s horror. Not all fiction can directly dole out moral advice, such as Jane Austen’s warnings about the dangers of hasty judgment in Pride and Prejudice, but almost all fiction can proffer tales that at the very least expand our range of vision. Moth Smoke brings us, its intended American audience, into the foreign world of modern day Pakistan. The protagonist, Daru, is recently unemployed, in love with his best friend’s wife and cultivating a small heroin addiction. Hamid …show more content…
Moth Smoke is an excellent example of the type of transformative literature Eagleton’s liberal humanists campaign for—this novel attempts to widen the circle of empathy of the reader.
Hamid forces his readers to play an active role in the book, a role they may even be hesitant to play, by making them the judges of Daru’s fate. From an early age we are told to “judge not, lest ye be judged,” yet in Moth Smoke we must come to a conclusion about Daru’s guilt. Hamid does this to force the reader to think; instead of just observing this foreign world of Pakistan, the reader participates in the judgment of Daru. “I don’t know” is an easy answer, a socially palatable one we often hide behind, but it is one that Hamid will not allow. In his attempt to widen the readers’ range of vision, Hamid must force them to process the information they have received and to form conclusions, right or wrong. Not only does Hamid attempt to raise the level of empathy of his readers, but he also tests it. By forcing the reader to play the role of courtroom judge, he is putting their newfound areas of vision to the test. A judge must make very black and white decisions: guilty or not guilty. But empathy is all about understanding the gray areas—being able to sympathize with the situation of another and understand why they would act in such a manner. Moth Smoke presents itself in such a manner
Relationships between families may not perpetually consist of happiness and fulfilment but always have an undeniable bond of unconditional and everlasting love. The concept of relationships particularly that of a father and son is a resonant theme in both the novel ‘’The Kite Runner’’ written by Khaled Hosseini and in the play ‘’A Death of a Salesman’’ by Arthur Miller. Hosseini explores complex father and son relationships through the character Amir- the narrator and protagonist of the novel and his interactions with his father Baba, family friend Rahim Khan and adopted son Sohrab. Set during the violent rise and reign of the Taliban in Afghanistan and ending after the attack of the world trade centre in 2001 triggering the fall of the Taliban. Juxtaposed to Miller who presents father and son relationships in a more positive era of the post-war boom of 1948, where the American Dream appeared to be more realistic. Through the character of Willy- an ambitious salesman who not only strives in achieving the dream for himself but also his children Biff and Happy.
As before, the story contains such a vivid description of life that the reader’ s sensibilities are shocked to read about Saeed’s parents’ intimate life, very much as we were shocked when the same was done for the parents of ‘you’ in How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia. Why does Hamid do that, I wonder? Perhaps because in the typical Eastern context we cannot imagine such things happening, perhaps he is trying to make us realize that people who are parents are also very human. Indeed he is trying to break us out of our protective little shells. Another classic ingredient is the voice of the narrator, so present in Hamid’s stories and present with such life in Exit West that it, as the narrator of its predecessor, leaves the reader aching to know who this entity is speaking with such clarity, such wisdom and such poignancy. Yet another ingredient which made its debut, if I am not wrong, in Discontent and its Civilizations, was Mohsin Hamid’s regard towards other writers, some alive, some gone to their eternal rest, whom he called his friends. In Exit West, he pays tribute to a number of old friends and quite sweetly, his own works. And so we meet Conrad, Woolf and Hemingway and find a light reference to Moth Smoke and Rising Asia albeit in the characterisation of the ‘brave man, the old man’ which reminds one of ‘the pretty girls’. Writers love their babies, their works. It
The 1800s brought about a change in reading instruction. Noah Webster published his blue-back spellers. These books "focused on the right pronunciation, on patriotic and historical selections, proverbs, moral stories, fables, as well as an expressive oral reading" (Robinson, 1997, p. 46). The first set of readers was also introduced, the McGuffey’s Readers. It has been estimated that least 120 million copies of McGuffey's Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its
What do you consider the most important reason that attempting to teach infants to read is not a good practice? Explain your response.
From the past to the present day of my life, I have made a lot of great decisions. I have forgiven my best friend for what she has done before. I have joined the spelling bee contest way back in grade 3 holding the trophy of a champion after. I have given my mother a present during her birthday when she buys me a new smartphone in return. However, none of these decisions became the best that I have ever decided. Skipping Kinder 2 during my early childhood was the best decision I have ever made because it gave me happiness, opportunity and satisfaction.
Wah! Wah! Sitting in a dark, dimly lit area with six other crying babies, my head started to ache from the incessant noise. As my head throbbed and my wailing voice cried out over the other kid’s wails, I heard my mother’s voice, loud and clear.
When faced with the decision of accepting or rejecting this pernicious philosophy, one is shocked to find oneself in the role of Vonnegut’s protagonist Billy. Stumbling along a life in which he takes no active part, Billy conceives what he believes to be the truth of war, and life in general: “Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt”(Vonnegut 156). Of course, this kernel of wisdom is shared not in words, but in a child’s drawing, furthermore drawing attention to the willfully childish ignorance that Billy and Vonnegut have chosen for the world. By superimposing the image of an ideal of harmful naivete on his readers, Vonnegut tactfully stirs the morals of his readers in a way that no coolly composed and calculating rhetoric could ever aspire to.
Provide details on two separate interactions where teachers supported a child’s literacy development. Select two different children or groups of children for this observation.
My topic for the ISP assignment will be how Khaled Hosseini uses social barriers to shape and form the way characters Amir and Baba view friendships, mindset and their adaptation to change. Friendships in this novel is dominantly portrayed with Amir and Hassan who is a lower class citizen in the society, Amir ultimately chooses traditional beliefs of lower class citizens or Hazara than real true friendship. Throughout the entire novel Baba’s character is portrayed as this superior Afghan man that settles for nothing under his standards and this mindset does not even change when he and his son Amir move to America. Baba also never learned to adapt
Quality literature is important to society’s functionality. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 society’s right to have quality literature is taken away. In Joe Fassler’s “How Literature Inspires Empathy” spoken by Alaa Al Aswany, the positive impact of quality literature is displayed. Literature, or the lack thereof, has the ability to drastically change the way a reader views the world.
Why poor children are more likely to become poor readers: the early years by Jennifer Buckingham*, Robyn Beaman and Kevin Wheldall. In this literature, they discuss low socio-economic disadvantage and poor early literacy. “Children from disadvantaged families are less likely to have experiences that encourage the development of fundamental skills for reading acquisition, specifically phonological awareness, vocabulary and oral language.” “The relationship between socio-economic disadvantage and poor reading ability is one of the most enduring problems in education. Socio-economic disadvantage is a relative concept referring to low socio-economic status, which is usually defined by income, occupation, education, or any combination of these. (Beaman, Buckingham, and Wheldall 428). This analytical proves and evaluates elements in this journal such as its claim, empirical data and its mention of opposing sides to state its effectiveness in relaying the message.
Kids learn to read at different rates. Precocious children can identify dozens of sight words in kindergarten, while slower kids generally have some command of reading by third grade. Eventually, of course, nearly everyone reads at some level, with the US literacy rate at 99 percent, among the best in the world (though the fact that one out of a hundred people in America still can't read is, admittedly, somewhat depressing.)
My first memories of literacy start when I was in kindergarten. My parents wanted me in a private school and that private school had many requirements. You had to be a gifted child or you had to wait a year and I had to wait a year. When I was admitted into the school you had to choose a dominant hand to write with and when I say choose you had to be right handed. I refused to pick a hand, because I would write with both. I was ambidextrous and the school did not believe in or allow children to be ambidextrous. They tried to force me to choose my right hand as my dominant hand and I wanted to choose my left. After they finally allowed me to choose my dominant hand I was able to proceeded into the program. This school system believed that children
Throughout my life, I have been at odds with the literary world. I could never find it in myself to sit down and enjoy poetry or short stories, penned by the literary visionaries of yore. However, even I must begrudgingly admit that there is great value in these works of literature through the lessons and messages they communicate, as is evidenced by the myriad of societal changes which have been forged by the pen of a novelist. Literature has done a lot for me, such as giving me new perspective on politics and propaganda, entertaining me, and offering the ability to view the world through the philosophical perspective of the author. Though I may not derive much amusement from the perusal of books, there is no questioning the immense value
Language can be both seen and heard, it can be written or spoken. Signs, body language, gestures and facial emotions are all visual forms of communication. Whilst, songs, groans and sighs are verbal forms. For many children, Jeanee Chall believes that they “will spend their first three years of school learning to read, and then they will start using reading to learn”. On Chall’s condition, this would signify that visual language has a great importance in a child’s life as it strengthens their ability to learn information beyond basic language and communication. In addition to Chall’s statement, authors behind the ‘Literacy and its Impact on Child’ article expressed the following, “Early education is the time in which young children develop