As seen in:
Mrs. Guenther
English 12
guentherl@binghamtonschools.org
A
Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, is a novel about two women
brought together by war, cultural mores, and marriage to the same abusive man.
It is a story of love and domestic survival set against the increasing dilapidation
of a nation, as
Prior
to reading the novel, you will need to become more knowledgeable in the Afghani
culture and the social problems that exist in their society today. Some of the examples are:
·
Roles
of gender in society
·
Roles
of genders in Religion
·
Religion
·
Muslim
Religion
·
Diverse population
·
Ethnic
diversity
·
Cultural
diversity
·
Taliban
(history, rise of power, rules imposed on Afghani people)
·
Political
systems (Russian/Communism, Islamic Republic, Taliban)
- How
does each impact the people of
- Timeline
of each political system 
·
Soviet
War in
-
Background
-
Occupation and consequences
·
Historical
happenings in the 1960’s,1980’s and 1990’s
·
Soviet
War in
·
Geography
of region
-
Locate various regions on a map of
-
Determine how geography impacts the politics
·
Students
will choose one of the listed Social problems in
You
will work independently on researching your social problem in
For
the purposes of the assignment you will follow these steps:
·
Gather Evidence of
the Problem
·
Identify some
Causes of the Problem
·
Develop Three
Policy Solutions
·
Select your Best
Solution bases on Effectiveness and Feasibility Matrix
Students
will share their final product with the class, so that we can all learn about
the social problems in
In order to complete this Web Quest, the following steps must
be completed.
·
Read
for information from the Internet using the resource sites listed in this Web Quest.
·
Read
the Public Policy Analyst and complete the worksheets.
·
Design
a 7-10 Slide PowerPoint Presentation using the information from the PPA
worksheet.
·
Each
slide will reflect the information from each of the PPA steps. Use the
completed worksheets to help you design each slide.
·
The
final slide will be a bibliography using the M.L.A. style guidelines.
·
Print
a hard copy of all your completed slides.
·
Give an Oral Presentation of your PowerPoint presentation to your fellow
classmates at your appointed time.
Ø Recent News
"Photographer's
Journal: Kabul in Transition" New York Times
An audio slide show by Tyler Hicks
"Displaced
in Kabul" New
York Times
"War
and Drought Threaten Afghan Food Supply" New
York Times
Ø Background on
In
Depth Coverage of Afghanistan from the Online NewsHour (PBS)
A comprehensive website that includes a timeline, an interactive map of ethnic
groups, information on the Soviet Occupation, lesson plans, and voices of
students.
Afghanistan--Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette
from Kwintessential Cross Cultural Solutions, a British Cultural Awareness
Training Organization
Ø
Women
"A
Life Revealed." National Geographic April
2002.
In 2002, the authors identify the girl in the 1985 photo and
tell her story. It share much in common with characters' stories in A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Click on the link above to see pictures of her.
"Afghanistan."
National Geographic Nov. 2003. Photos
and Maps
Ø
For Maps, see
especially:
The interactive
map of ethnic groups from the Online
Newshour from PBS
Steve
McCurry's National Geographic Photos
(from 2003)
“Bamian
Buddhas” photo
Map
from National Geographic
Ø
The
Author, Khaled Hosseini
NPR interview with Hosseini September 2007
Click on the "listen" button to hear Hosseini discuss his recent
return to
Khaled
Hosseini's website
Includes podcasts in which the author discusses his books and reads excerpts.
"Afghanistan."
National Geographic Nov. 2003.
Scroll to the "Did you Know?" section at the bottom of this site. It
discusses the difficulties still faced by Afghani women and lists the
Declaration of the Essential Rights of Afghan Women.
“Change
Slow for Afghan Women.”National Geographic 12
March 2002
Burqa:
Prison or Protection?
from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Muslim
Veils Illustrations
PowerPoint
Presentation Rubric
|
Quality |
A (5) |
B (4) |
C (3) |
D (2) |
F (1) |
|
Meaning
& Development |
-Excellent
use of facts, quotes, and statistics from websites. -Fully
developed PowerPoint slides that follow task. |
-Very
good demonstration of quotes and statistics from the web. -Well-developed
PowerPoint slides that follow task. |
-Average
use of quotes and statistics from websites. -Average
development PowerPoint slides that follow task. |
-Poor
or incorrect use of quotes and statistics from websites. -Poor
development PowerPoint slides that follow task. |
-No
use of quotes and statistics or plagiarized from websites. -No
development -Less
than 6 slides |
|
Organization |
-Excellent
focus. -PowerPoint
organization perfectly follows task. |
-Very
strong focus. -PowerPoint
organization appropriately follows task. |
-Average
focus. -Average
organization of PowerPoint -Some
awareness of task. |
-Lacks
focus. -PowerPoint
lacks organization and awareness of task. |
-No
focus. -No
organization. -No
awareness of task. |
|
Language
&
Conventions |
-Excellent
vocabulary. -Varies
sentence structure and length. |
-Strong
vocabulary. -Good
variety of sentences. . |
-Average
vocabulary. -Average
variety of sentences. |
-Poor
vocabulary. -Poor
variety of sentences. |
-No
attention to vocabulary usage. -No
variety in sentence structure. |
|
Format |
6-step
Public Policy Analyst (PPA) format followed perfectly. |
PPA
format mostly followed. |
PPA
format followed Inconsistently. |
Little
or confused understanding of PPA format. |
No
use of PPA format. |
**GRADE KEY: A=18-20 B=15-17
C=12-14 D=8-11 F=4-7
Congratulations! Upon your successful completion of this Web Quest,
you have researched and analyzed a social problem of
Hopefully,
this knowledge will help you better understand the ways of the Afghani people
presented in the novel A Thousand
Splendid Suns.
English Language Arts
Standard
1: Language for Information and Understanding
Students
will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As
listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover
relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from
oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they
will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the
English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.
Standard
2: Language for Literary Response and Expression
Students
will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and
performances from American and world literature; relate texts and performances
to their own lives; and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical,
and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and
writers, students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted
conventions of the English language for self-expression and artistic creation.
Standard
3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Students
will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As
listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information,
and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As
speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the
accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of
perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information
and issues.
Standard
4: Language for Social Interaction
Students
will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use
oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English
language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As
readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to
enrich their understanding of people and their views.
Social Studies
Standard 5:
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental systems of the