If you missed class on Monday or Tuesday...

We prepared for reading The Swallows of Kabul. You are to read this novel independently. On Wednesday, April 7, or Thursday, April 8, you will have a quiz that will consist of three questions. Two of these questions will address literary elements in The Swallows of Kabul; for the third question, you will be asked for your literary opinion of the novel. I will require you to write five to ten sentences for each question.

On April 13 and 14, you will have due a three to four page essay on The Swallows of Kabul.

In class today, students worked in groups to learn about the social and historical context of the novel. You would do well to look up the following terms:

swallows

Kabul (look in Encyclopedia Britannica; also look at images)

Taliban (Wikipedia)

Soviet-Afghan War (Encyclopedia Britannica)

burka (sometimes spelled burqa; also look at images)

mullah

mufti

muezzin

Sharia

Qur'an

women in Afghanistan

relief organizations in Afghanistan

For homework, you need to read the two poems linked below and respond to the following question: What is poetry?

Billy Collins, "Introduction to Poetry"

Stephen Crane, "War Is Kind"