This novel should be considered an AP level book because it can be made into one. You are able to read this book just for the plot and to be pulled in to a book, but you can also read this book and analyze it. Once you start analyzing the book then it becomes AP worthy. One aspect of the novel that can be analyzed is the style in which Hosseini writes. I stated this in the previous blog post but Hosseini writes in a modernist writing style, where the chapters are broken up into many different scenes so the reader does not lose interest. This helps those readers that just read for the plot enjoy the book more, as it does the AP students that read the book, but once the AP students realize that the author has done this then they have begun to read this book at an AP level.
Another way this book can be analyzed and seen as an AP level book is by analyzing the characters. Some of the characters in this novel are complex. For example, in the beginning hundred pages of the book it can be analyzed that Baba and Rahim Khan are foils. Baba is very macho and does not like Amir very much when he is a boy, while Rahim Khan is more sensitive and appreciates Amir's writing abilities, and even gets him a notebook to write in. AP students would pick up on this because foils are something they have learned about, and by doing so this book gets lofted up to AP quality. Also, the characterization of Amir can be analyzed in this novel by seeing how he grows up and matures. As a boy he does not like Baba because he feels as if he has disappointed him. However, as he becomes an adult he starts to appreciate Baba more and more, and this is especially seen as Baba is in his last days of life. This shows that Amir matures as the book goes on and this is one of the aspects of the novel AP students would see and by doing this the author has made the book AP worthy.
In conclusion, this novel can be read as an AP book and as a non-AP book. It just depends on how much analyzing you do.
Jamison, I totally agree and my book is very similar. At first thought, I did not think my book was AP worthy, but I was overlooking the analysis. My book, similar to yours, may seem unworthy if solely focusing on the plot, but as you look further you realize there is AP merit. My novel includes many swears and inappropriate references which I think the author uses to grab the readers' attention but also has a deeper meaning than seen in the plot.
ReplyDeleteWhat changes happen to Baba that you think might help change Amir's view of his father?
ReplyDeleteFor me, Kite Runner is a tough call for AP worthy, as I think its thematic ideas are pretty straightforward. It is an incredibly powerful novel, but for me it doesn't stand up to multiple readings. Perhaps that doesn't matter though, since I'm the only one that will be re-reading it.
I think the most significant change that happens to Baba is he becomes weak. He is weak both in his health and in his place of power in the American society. This weakness shows Amir that his father is human too so he can see him on a more man-to-man level.
DeleteMy book, As I Lay Dying, is also from the Modernist era and therefore includes many unusual and daring techniques in its writing, such as incomplete sentences, lack of punctuation and implementing a picture as a part of a sentence. Does your book also use such techniques or is it more straightforward and conventional?
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