Summer Reading Assignment/The Kite Runner (High School)

[Christine]

My daughter needs some help completing her summer reading assignment. I'm usually good at this stuff but am at a loss on one of the questions.

Here is the task:

Determine your favorite character within The Kite Runner and choose a song that reminds you of that character. Include the lyrics and explain the connection between the song and the character.

Well she is just stumped. She didn't overly enjoy the book like I did so it is making it more difficult. I've tried to tell her who my favorite character is (Hassan) but, for the life of me, I can't think of a song that reminds me of him. I've tried it with all the characters and am coming up blank.

Does anyone have any ideas? Maybe we just aren't thinking this through properly.

 

[KAMLEM]

I would suggest she go back through the book to come up with something on her own, it's not going to help her if someone here gives her the answers. This is the type of thing they have to do more and more in high school so it's not going to get any easier, especially if she doesn't do it on her own. Sorry.

 

[shortbun]

That is a bizarre assignment. Talk about having to sell something. I've read it and I doubt I'd do much of a job on that assignment. Good luck. Maybe try some old pop songs.

 

[Christine]

I would suggest she go back through the book to come up with something on her own, it's not going to help her if someone here gives her the answers. This is the type of thing they have to do more and more in high school so it's not going to get any easier, especially if she doesn't do it on her own. Sorry.

I don't want the answers, just some food for thought. She has worked it on her own, come up very short, and then I've tried brainstorming, but I'm not doing well either. I just thought that if someone had some ideas and could show how they could relate a song to a character, it might shed some light on her own. Obviously, the songs that *I* pick or that someone of the age group of this board is going to pick won't be relevant to her. She's just not able to try to marry the two together based on the songs she knows and the type of story this is.

If it were a love story, it would probably be much easier.

 

[RitaE]

tell her to just suck it up and pick a character. She doesn't have to like the character enough to marry him, she just has to answer a question.

Then write down a few adjectives which describe the character, then start brainstorming for a song. She could even Google those adjectives + song and see if anything pops up.

Really, summer reading assignments are seldom little more than checks to make sure you read the book and understood it. As long as she demonstrates that she read the book and understood it, it is an easy A.

 

[Christine]

Then write down a few adjectives which describe the character, then start brainstorming for a song. She could even Google those adjectives + song and see if anything pops up.

Thanks, I don't think she tried that one. She's done okay with the other part of the assignment which is to pick three quotes that reflect the importance of the setting to the meaning of the story.

She also has to do this for Pride and Prejudice but I believe she's done okay on that one.

 

[loco4dis]

I don't want the answers, just some food for thought. She has worked it on her own, come up very short, and then I've tried brainstorming, but I'm not doing well either. I just thought that if someone had some ideas and could show how they could relate a song to a character, it might shed some light on her own. Obviously, the songs that *I* pick or that someone of the age group of this board is going to pick won't be relevant to her. She's just not able to try to marry the two together based on the songs she knows and the type of story this is.

If it were a love story, it would probably be much easier.

This is actually a really common high school lit assignment these days. The teacher is trying to tie the literature to something the kids like: music. Your daughter needs to find a song and find a couple of lines in the song, and a couple of passages from the book that have some parallels. First, she should decide on the character she'll write about, and then try to state the "theme" of that character in a word or two, and then find a song that addresses those same theme areas. I think Amir would be easier to write about, because his is clearly a story about shame and redemption. Hassan's story is more about love and sacrifice. Two Sarah McLachlan songs come to mind, "I Will Remember You" and "Angel." Does your daughter have an iTunes Library? If so, tell her to go through those songs and find ones that are about the themes she's identified for her character. Good luck!

 

[MushyMushy]

I like the previous poster's answer. And you can think of the story as a love story -- not a romantic love, but love all the same. Think of how loyal and giving Hassan was his whole life, but then Amir just threw it all away, and all the shame and regret he felt as a result.

Pull any country song title out of a hat and you'll have a good chance of finding a song that fits that theme.

If I were doing the assignment, I'd pick Amir as my character and the song "Fire and Rain." (but I'm an old fart who knows the song Fire & Rain) Did the teacher give an example like that?

 

[Christine]

Think of how loyal and giving Hassan was his whole life, but then Amir just threw it all away, and all the shame and regret he felt as a result.

This is exactly how I felt about Hassan. I tried to think of some songs, and I *can* come up with songs that are relevant to my time, but they aren't songs my daughter knows and I want it to be something from her repertoire, if you know what I mean.

Pull any country song title out of a hat and you'll have a good chance of finding a song that fits that theme. {/quote]

Oh if only we listened to country!

If I were doing the assignment, I'd pick Amir as my character and the song "Fire and Rain." (but I'm an old fart who knows the song Fire & Rain) Did the teacher give an example like that?

Oh man, that is a GOOD one. I just sat here singing that to myself and it fits so well. Now, if she could find the "teen" equivalent. I'm not sure Lil Wayne has anything that fits.