Blog Response #8
Upon completion of reading your novel, what have you learned about a different culture? What shocked you? What seemed strange to you? What couldn't you believe? Take time to give specific examples from your novel that share what you learned about history and a different culture. Share your feelings about what you read.
What i found very interesting was the fact that there was a huge city with lots of buildings and lights but the only thing that some of the people that lived in Sierra Leone knew was small villages with few buildings. One thing I couldn't believe was that the government got overthrown by the bad guys and that everyone in Freetown was put in danger or died. This is also a true story which makes it even more crazy through my eyes. One thing that was cool was that all of the village folk were always in good spirits and had big village meals at the end of each day. It was as if everyone at the village was family.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that it was cool that everybody in the villages acted as one big family. They helped each other out and had fun celebrating with one another.
DeleteDo you prefer a village/everybody knows everybody town? How do you think this book would be different if the village wasn't close-knit?
Deletedo you think the book is more interesting with evryone in the village knowing and helping eachother out or everyone not really knowing eachother and not really helping eachother?
Deletehunter Fosdal my book was very interesting to learn about the different religions and how they contradicted each other.
DeleteI also couldn't believe that Freetown got attacked and all of the prisoners were set free, and the city became lawless. I also thought it was nice that every village welcomed Ishmael even if it took a little bit and they always welcomed him to food and a place to sleep.
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading A Long Way Gone, I learned that as these children grew up around death and being separated from their families was all they knew. These children were separated from their family at a young age, so they had to learn how to do everything on their own to be able to survive. I was shocked at the fact that Ishmael was such a strong kid, and he basically turned his back on his loved ones and became a rebel. This was strange to me because he went most of his life doing everything alone due to the rebels taking his family away. I had a hard time believing Ishmael would take a turn again at the end to take his revenge on the rebels. He joined up with them and then went against them and watched them all suffer like they made him suffer for the first part in his life. At the end of the book, I am glad that Ishmael found a girl that treats him well and he went back to school for an education.
ReplyDeletei read the book night and i can also relate to the kids splitting from there family at a young age and had to fight for their life everyday
DeleteI also couldn't believe that he would join the rebels after what they did to his family and so many others.
Deletei couldnt belive that he switched up and joined the rebels after what happened to his family i think he kind of just stopped caring.
DeleteAfter reading A Long Way Gone, I learned that in some cultures that are surrounded by war, children have to do things that you would never imagine. Also, that everybody in these villages knows everybody and they all treat each other like family. After running away from war, Ishmael realized the only chance he had for survival was to join the army and fight for the government, he was only 13 years old at this time. The thing that shocked me the most was that the government allowed and needed a bunch of young teenagers to be soldiers in the army. I couldn’t imagine being in an army and having to shoot people when I was 13. Something that seemed strange to me was how Ishmael was able to escape the attacks every time. I couldn’t believe the time Ishmael made it to a new village and all the people in the village were celebrating and dancing throughout the city, even though they were surrounded by war.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I couldn't believe was that the army had boys fight who could barely carry their own gun. It also surprised me that Ishmael survived everything like during the first attack when he was standing out in the open, he didn't get shot.
DeleteI agree that everyone in the villages knew everyone is a little weird i could not imagine knowing everyone in multiple towns
DeleteDo you think Rasheed is a good representation of men in the Middle East? Although I know that marrying multiple women is the culture, I hope the abuse from husbands isn't normalized.
ReplyDeletethe book i read was night and the thing that shocked me the most was how they treated the Jews for example when the ss officers would throw the babies up and shoot them. Another example is how they would burn the Jews in the crematory i found these parts disturbing. overall, it was strange to me that they treated them like that just because of their culture and i know if i ever had to be in Elie situation i would not be able to last like he did.
ReplyDeletein my book a lone way gone I can relate how it is disturbing what they did to the families in the villages.
Deletesomething similar was happening in a long way gone, things like burying people alive, holding severed heads, and burning people alive is but a few things that happened to Ishmaels people.
Deletei was also shocked on how they treated the jews.
DeleteI was also very shocked about how the Jews were treated, since they were treated that way do to religon, not something they did.
DeleteI can relate to how in A Long Way Gone, the villages were filled with violence.
DeleteI read the same book as you and overall a very disturbing book. I feel like some parts were too disturbing like the babies being shot part and the crematory. I feel that all of these books have been disturbing in their own way.
Deletei also read night and i found the treatment of the Jews to be horrible. i don't understand how the SS officers were able to do that. if i was a jew, i don't know how much i could take.
DeleteI read Kite Runner and i found it interesting how the culture was always different. They were always focused on loyalty and protecting each other. I was shocked by Amir and Hassan's relationship and how they were able to hide all of these traumatic things from each other with how loyal they have always been to each other. They were also never really that big on family they just focused on themselves a lot throughout the book.
ReplyDeletei was also shocked how Amir and Hasson were towards each other because they grow up together.
Deletei agree i thought they would have acted differently
DeleteIt is crazy to think about how much different the world is today than it was back then, and how different things are just based on the culture of where your from.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad this is not how the world is today, women get to go out into the world and be themselves and their is nothing holding them back.
ReplyDeleteI read I am Malala and I thought it was crazy how women are treated in their culture. They get little to no respect and are treated horribly. They get married off at young ages, aren't really allowed to get an education, have to completely cover up, and aren't allowed to leave their houses unless they are with their husband or a male family member. I just feel like the women in their culture should be treated better.
ReplyDeleteYes i agree those things really shocked me also how they treat woman is awful. They should get respect because of everything they do for the house and the family. I am Malala is different though she was raised how girls should be treated by her dad. Is there anything that seemed strange to you. For me is that how the Taliban acted. Blowing up schools and such.
Deletein my book kite runner something i didnt really expect was amir becoming friends with someone that didnt really care about somethings. something that seemed strange to me was when amir was blamming him for his mothers death after he was born.
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ReplyDeleteHunter Fosdal In the book kite runner Religion is basically the backbone of the book. Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is Hazara and Hassan's religion does not believe in violence. In the book Hassan shows this at a pomegranate tree Amir starts throwing pomegranates at him and yells at Hassan to throw one back at him but only takes one and splits it open above Amir's head. another is when the Taliban came i simply did not fight back. Ali gave me the biggest surprise in the book because he was a leader in the Taliban who killed Hassan.
I was also surprised on how Amir throws pomegranates at Hassan and Hassan wont throw one back.
Deletei was expecting Hassan to do something back so it really shocked me when he didn't.
Deleteafter reading the book a long way gone, I learned that the children had to survive on their own because of being separated from their parents at a young age. it shocked me that Ishmael joined the rebels after what they did to his family and a lot of other families in his village. I couldn't believe that Ishmael was 13 and had to do everything on his own to learn how to survive and the time that he got a new village, and he was dancing and so happy, but he was still surrounded by war.
ReplyDeletein my book night kids also had to survive on their own in the work camps.
DeleteHunter Fosdal in kite runner it really never focused on the side of women in the religion as only characters were male and were the examples of those religions.
ReplyDeleteIn A Long Way Gone, I learned that some children who have to fight in war are forced to do things that no one wants to do. The war changed a lot of the kids and some families refused to take in the kids. I was shocked that the young soldiers got taken out of the war and brought to a rehabilitation center when a few of them were some of the best soldiers. It also shocked me because the war was nowhere near over yet and they were getting rid of soldiers. It seemed strange to me that at the first rehabilitation center, the children from the army and the rebels were put together. They were in a war against each other so I would think it would be obvious that they wouldn't get along. I couldn't believe that Ishmael survived because some parts in the story seem like nobody would survive but Ishmael survived it all. Every chapter, Ishmael had a couple days walk to each village and was met with danger and near-death experiences at every one, but I couldn't believe he kept going.
ReplyDeleteyeah, the fact that Ishmael was a lieutenant and him and his squad got sent is a little weird.
DeleteI was also surprised that the lieutenant chose Ishmael to leave to go to the rehabilitation center. Ishmael was given the position of junior lieutenant, so he was one of the best young soldiers the army had. I guess the lieutenant just wanted Ishmael to be free from fighting and go start a new life.
DeleteYeah i agree that the fact they had boy soliders in war was a big shock through the book
DeleteYeah, i also want to know what the MPS were thinking when they put the rebels and the military boys in the same facility. Because clearly, they would fight or kill each other. The MPs obviously knew nothing about what was happening in the war.
Deletethe thing I couldn't believe in a long way gone was that the moment Ishmael returned from his conferences in America he and his new brothers and adoptive family had their city over run, resulting in them scrounging for food and attempting to flee from the bloodshed and escape to a whole new country. the fact that it completely blindsided them and that there was nothing to be done is kind of terrifying.
ReplyDeleteNothing in the book along way gone shocked me really culturally. The only thing that was shocking is that he was the same age as my sister and he was killing people and I just couldn't imagine seeing her or anyone her age doing those kinds of things.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is crazy to think about someone just a few years younger than us ending many people's lives. That shouldn't happen to those innocent young souls.
DeleteI read the book night the thing that shocked me the most about the book was how they treated the jews just the way the germans treated them and most of them had no reason to treat them this way and they only did it because they were told to do it. An example of how they treated them is when they all got there they were shaved bald and and were drenched in gasoline and then put into prison uniforms then had to have all there gold teeth or any valuables taken from them.
ReplyDeleteI was also very shocked about how they treated the Jews since they treated them like they were their property.
DeleteWhat I couldn't believe in a thousand splendid suns is that women basically had no rights, and their fathers didn't really care about the like when Mariams dad forced her to marry a 45-year-old when she was 15. I'm glad that's not a normal thing that happens anymore. It's crazy to think what some people go through daily living in different countries.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with women having no rights at all, and if women tried to do something they couldn't do they would be thrown in jail.
DeleteThe thing i couldnt believe is how much violence and fighting there was in there village and how they could just leave dead people laying all over the ground and blood everywhere there is nothing like that anywhere around here and i think that when that family took him in it changed his life for the better and he had to get used to people again.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we don't live in a place like that.
DeleteIn A Thousand Splendid Suns their is also a lot of violence, mostly war and domestic violence.
Deletei learned some new stuff about culture in myu book, night. they talked alot about Jewish tradition like how they pray alot. the thing that shocked me the most was that people would follow the orders that Hitler gave and would kill so many innocent people just because they were told. some of the things they did to the jew was completely horrible. they tortured them so much. i was shocked that the jews mostly didnt give up.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I learned about their culture is how different their lives are than ours. These kids have to run away from war their whole lives. And the ones that get captured are trained to kill. Ishmael is as young as my brother in Elementary school, and it shocks me because he would never do anything close to killing.
ReplyDeleteI was also shocked how young the kids were and they made they fight in a war instead of going to school.
DeleteThat is unbelievable, i couldnt imagine running from war as a kid and possibly being captured and trained to murder
DeleteI have learned that life was very different in Afghanistan and Pakistan from the life i live in the book Kite runner. Something that shocked me was when Amir and Hassan got in a little fight. one thing that surprised me was how they did the kite running tournament because i have never heard of something like that.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised how different life was in theses countries.
DeleteIn a long way gone I learned that the kids have to learn how to survive on there own. It shocked me that in this war they are fighting they made a thirteen year old boy a lieutenant. I couldn't imagine fighting a war and your lieutenant is thirteen years old. Then on top of that you think you will have a chance of winning the war.
ReplyDeletethat is crazy to have a bunch of kids fighting a war and not lose hope of winning
DeleteI read the book Night, I was surprised by the ending, after all the babies being thrown in the air and show out of the sky, all the burning of dead bodies, all of the death in the camps and outside the camps. I didn't think that it could get nay worse, until Elie woke up without his dad. Throughout the book there were some unbelievable things happening, like the things above. One thing that I found out about German culture is that they don't give a crap about others and benefit for themselves.
ReplyDeletegermens seem like real mean people
DeleteBut also, crazy the Germans lost lots of their own live for doing the cruel acting's.
DeleteI feel like all of these books were somewhat disturbing in their own ways. I read Night and that was about the Holocausts, a disturbing subject, and your book seemed pretty messed up too.
ReplyDeletethe culture in a thousand splendid suns consists of arranged marriages and multiple wives and the man provides for the family while the women stay home and take care of the house the cooking and the kids it is very different from the normal house hold in our culture
ReplyDeleteHow women are treated in the book is very weird i agree.
DeleteI didn't not like finding this out because I don't like when guys or women have multiple spouses. Is this something you would not like to have in our culture?
Deleteare there any other big pieces of their culture that drew your attention? and why did you find the arranged marriages and multiple wives interesting? was it because it is so drastically different from our culture.
DeleteIn the book Night I learned about how the Germans treated the Jews during the holocaust, it was very cruel. Working many hours of hard labor for very little food, and the threat of being killed for not doing on thing the exaxct way the Germans said. I was very surprised about how the Germans treated the Jews, since the Jews were other humans, they were treated like property.
ReplyDelete"boy solider" most of the civilians became subhuman to the rebels that attacked there villages. They had to face starvation and sometimes depredation people were killed for running and for entertainment on both parties.. it seems we read a similar book with yours having more of a severity than mine.
DeleteIt's just unbelievable that during the war this kind of cruel things that went on.
DeleteThe people were not excepting to be taken and sent to the camps. They just wanted to live a normal life but instead they got taken and some got killed.
DeleteI have read I am Malala. I was surprised that the fact that young girls couldn't go to school or even leave the house by themselves. They had to be with any age of boy. There culture is just very unfair to woman. Also the fact that she got shot on the school bus of all places. I couldn't even imagine it happening to me or someone i knew. I Like how malala added pictures it helped a lot to be able to see it like ur actually in the story. Something that seemed strange to me was that how the tababaion and how they follow and still follow Malala everywhere. Before reading this book i had no idea about this culture but now i'm well aware of it now.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised that women were not allowed to receive an education in the beginning of the book. It is crazy how people in Pakistan cannot feel safe riding the school bus. I to, could not imagine a life like this. I was baffled to hear that it was normal for people to walk out on the streets of Pakistan and see others being beheaded. I also could not believe that it was rare for a day to go by when someone was not shot or killed.
DeleteThat is very surprising that the girls have to be with a guy all the time. I'm also surprised that it can be any age. We really wouldn't be able to do that in today's day. What were some of the pictures that were in the book?
DeleteIn my book the women were also mistreated. They cannot drive and are often abused.
DeleteAfter reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini I learned about their culture that the men are allowed to have multiple wives. The women are only allowed to have 1 husband, but their husband can have many wives. the wives are there to only please the man and to give him kids and if she can't she is worthless. For example, Mariam was unable to have kids, so Rasheed married Laila and then she was able to have kids so then Rasheed treated Mariam like a servant even though she is his wife. I was surprised that the men are able to have multiple wives, but the women can't and are only supposed to have kids only with their husbands. I personally did not like Rasheed at all during the book he was very rude and abusive to Mariam, Laila and her kids.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with not liking Rasheed, he was abusive towards all of his family even if they did nothing wrong.
DeleteRasheed seems very unlikeable, and I never understood why this happens in a lot of cultures. Your book is a more extreme example but for a very long time men have treated women inferiorly and they've had less freedom than men, it's quite frustrating to see.
DeleteWhen reading the book, I am Malala I found out the culture in Pakistan is nothing like the United States. They have many different traditions such as celebrating the birth of male babies and not female. Equality is not a thing in Pakistan. Women are expected to wear their burkas at all times and remain at home. Women are not allowed to live on their own, they must live with a male family member, whether is their father, brother or husband. Often times they would force young girls into marrying a chosen male. The most surprising part to me is that women were expected to be teachers but were not allowed the proper education. Malala's family had a very difficult time trusting the government because they would lie about the Taliban being gone from their country. I could not imagine living in a country where I am constantly controlled, and never given the same rights as the males around me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said before reading this book i had no idea that this culture was even happening. I didn't know anything about it. I was completely shocked how they treated the woman in their culture. It is not fair to all the girls and they treat them so different than how they treat men. They treat men so fair and they let them do anything they want anytime. You explained the summary really well and how it went down. Was very true.
DeleteControl was something i had in the book " a boy solider" In the book the government collapsed making it a lawless land and the only control they had was fear from the rebels moving from village to village killing innocent people
DeleteYes, the treatment of women is very disgraceful and baffling in many foreign countries. It is hard to imagine that women are treated this way and can even be beaten for going out alone. The culture is very similar in "I am Malala", women were also forced to wear their burqas and had very little rights compared to men.
ReplyDeleteI also feel more knowledgeable about the life and culture of the Middle East. I am glad that I got the opportunity to read this book and learn about the culture. What was the biggest culture shock for you?
ReplyDeleteThe amount of plants and different kinds of foods was interesting to read. It was really cool to learn about to get more immersed and at time see the amount of desperation in the war. The large screeches of land between dessert to dessert that took days to go to the next village. And i like how the boys described how the boys described if they were close and if that village was doing well if there was the smell of cookie oil it was little details that made it easer to put your self in his shoes. The description of the government and overall lack there of kind of showed the control of the rebel had over the civilians and over all the lack of support during the whole book.
ReplyDeleteSince you speak about the geography, I think it's interesting to see how the enviroment of each book differs. I imagine that your book would take place somewhere with a bit of forests and water but it's interesting to know that it is actually a desert.
Deletei read the kite runner and what i learned was the different culture that Afghanistan has. i was shocked, when Amir and Hassen got in a fight. the thing that really surprised me was the kite race tournament, because i never hear of that and it was very shocking.
ReplyDeleteThe kite race tournament was also suprising to me. The sport itself seems boring and pointless.
DeleteI agree the sport seems very pointless and dangerous to let kids play.
DeleteI read Kite Runner and the story explains the difference between Afghanistan and the US. Amir is forced to evade his country for his own safety. I was suprised by how cruel the young kids were to hassan. I could not imagine living in a culture where racism and genocide is so accepted.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get why they were that way with Hassan, either they were so violent
DeleteIn the book night, we learn about the Jewish culture and how heavily discriminated they were by the Germans for no reason. Elies whole village was deported and sent to birkenau, where many were killed. I was shocked by how horribly they were treated, from the tiny rations, to harsh beatings, and the gruesome murder without reason. It seemed very strange that nobody knew about what was happening to the jews, because there were millions killed. Even though it is hard to believe i feel like people should have known.
ReplyDeleteI was reading Night and what shocked me the most about the culture is how poorly the Jews got treated, and how the Germans acted and treated everyone. it seems strange that this could be happening for a while, and nobody does anything about it sooner. An example from the book is how they would burn the Jews in the crematory. The book at some points just had me feeling like there's no way this is going on in the world back then.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this. I do not understand how someone can hurt and kill innocent people.
DeleteI agree with you because I cant believe this went on in the world back then also.
DeleteReading A Long Way Gone there were multiple cultural shocks in the book, like the food that they ate and talked about or the fact that they called there shoes Crapes. But the biggest cultural shock is their homes and villages that they lived in and the fact that they walked everywhere and it was normal to walk multiple days to get to another village. another big culture shock is the fact that they had boys that aren't even old enough to drive in war and fighting with guns.
ReplyDeleteIn the book night, we learn about the Jewish culture and how heavily discriminated they were by the Germans for no reason. Elies whole village was deported and sent to birkenau, where many were killed. I was shocked by how horribly they were treated, from the tiny rations to harsh beatings, and the gruesome murder without reason. I do not see how people can kill and hurt innocent people based on where they are from.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and how shocked your were with the way they got treated and the tiny rations
DeleteI was reading the book Night and I learned that the culture in the book is terrible. What shocked me the most would be how bad the Jews got treated by the Germans and how the Jews just had to get used to it and deal with it. An example from the book would be "One day when Idek was venting his fury, I happened to cross his path. He threw himself on me like a wild beast, beating me in the chest, on my head, throwing me to the ground and picking me up again and crushing me." What seemed strange is that this actually happened in this world.
ReplyDeleteReading I am Malala helped me understand a few things about Pakistan and the Islamic religion. Before reading the book, I was uninformed and reading this definitely helped me learn a bit about the traditions and beliefs of Pashtuns. I think something that shocked me about the culture was that women were told to cover up even more than they usually cover up, although I don't see normal head covering as being constrictive because it's more of a culture thing and Malala even said that becoming more modern doesn't mean leaving your culture behind in reference to her taking off her head covering. A lot of cultures have drastic differentiations between men and women's clothing and I think the head coverings are a good example of that. I think some people may believe that it is strict and is a tactic to control women but as long as the women choose to wear it then it doesn't have to be that way.
ReplyDeletebeyond the head covering what else was a big cultural thing for them that you found interesting? for me i found their hospitality to be quite interesting, like how they are more open to helping complete strangers
Deletein i am malala we are taught about many things related to the culture in pakistan. i have learned that pakistani people are very hospitable. i have also learned how important religion is to them. i was shocked by how women were treated and viewed by their culture and society. i found that their family dynamics were strange, like how cousins would often feud with each other.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that Pashtuns are very hospitable surprised me a bit because I had never heard about people being that nice. And I agree, seeing how the women are treated is very appalling and sad at times, I was probably most surpised when people starting covering up female manniquins, that just seemed goofy to me
DeleteI read "The Kite Runner" it was interesting on how the cultures were all different. Religion was a very important aspect of the book. There were some who focused on loyalty and protection and not participating in violence, and others not so much. I couldn't believe Hassan got raped while going to get the kite. I was shocked by Amir and Hassan's relationship. something that seemed strange to me was when Amir blamed him for his mother's death.
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