Khaled Hosseini

Afghan-American writer Khaled Hosseini is famous for his two best-selling novels
about Afghanistan, The Kite Runner (2003) and A Thousand Splendid Suns
(2007). The novels depict events in the recent history of Afghanistan and have
drawn the interest of American readers wanting to know more about the country
invaded by the United States in 2001.

Khaled Hosseini was born March 4, 1965, in Kabul, the capital city of
Afghanistan. He is the oldest of five children. Hosseinis mother was a literature
and history teacher at a high school in Kabul. She taught Hosseini to love classical
Persian poetry. His father worked for the foreign ministry, and in the 1970s, the
family lived for a time in Tehran, Iran and in Paris.

Hosseini was fifteen when his family arrived in the United States, and he spoke
almost no English. His family had lost everything they had, and his father found
work as a driving instructor. Although Hosseini enjoyed literature in school, he
decided to pursue a career as a doctor, knowing that this was an honorable
profession that would help him support his family. He graduated from medical
school at the University of California in San Diego, then completed his residency
at UCLA before setting up medical practice in Pasadena.

osseini wrote A Thousand Splendid Suns to focus on the lives of Afghan women,
who were particularly oppressed under the brutal theocratic Taliban government.
The book was published in 2007 and, like his first novel, it has become an
international best-seller.

In 2006, Hosseini was named a U.S. special envoy for the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, and travels around the world to help refugees of war.
He returned to Afghanistan for a second time in 2007 and was saddened that the
country had become far less safe as terrorist activity was increasing.

Hosseini lives in northern California with his wife Roya and their two children. As
of 2009, he has begun working on a new novel about Afghanistan.
A Thousand Splendid Suns Summary
Mariam lives in the small village of Gul Daman with her mother. She is the
illegitimate daughter of Jalil, a wealthy businessman who lives in the nearby city
of Herat. After her mother's suicide, she is sent to live with Jalil. Jalil and his wives
quickly marry Mariam off to a shoemaker named Rasheed, and the newlyweds
move to Kabul, where Mariam becomes pregnant. Sadly, Mariam miscarries.
Rasheed is furious and becomes abusive.
Across Kabul (and in a galaxy far, far away) a girl named Laila is born on the
same night that the Soviets take control of Afghanistan. Her best friend (and love
interest) is Tariq, a neighborhood boy who lost a leg when he was a child. With the
war worsening, Tariq's family decides to leave for Pakistan, and he and Laila
consummate their relationship the night before he leaves. Laila's family decides to
leave soon after, but her parents are killed by a stray rocket as they're packing up
the car.
Rasheed and Mariam care for Laila as she recovers. A man comes by and tells
Laila that he saw Tariq die in a hospital. Rasheed, being the dirt ball that he is, uses
this as an opportunity to ask Laila to marry him. Surprisingly, she says yes. It turns
out that she's pregnant with Tariq's child. Her plan is to convince Rasheed that the
child is his, and then escape to Pakistan after she's saved enough money.
Mariam resents Laila at first, but she eventually becomes close to Laila and her
new daughter, Aziza. Laila tells Mariam about her plan to escape, and Mariam
decides to join them. They eventually go through with the plan, but they're arrested
before they can leave and are sent home with Rasheed. He is so furious that he
almost kills them.
Laila and Rasheed have a son named Zalmai. After Rasheed's shop burns to the
ground and the family goes broke, he forces Laila to send Aziza to a nearby
orphanage. One day, after visiting Aziza, Laila returns home to find a very
surprising guest: it's Tariq. It turns out the man who had come by all those years
ago was hired by Rasheed to trick Laila. Laila tells Tariq about Aziza, and he
promises that he will meet her the following day.
Rasheed starts to beat Laila that night when he finds out about Tariq. Mariam ends
up killing Rasheed to protect Laila. Mariam remains in Kabul to take the blame
and is executed by the Taliban. Laila, Tariq, and the kids move to Tariq's home in
Murree, where life is comfortable. After the U.S. invasion, however, Laila decides
to return to Kabul.
Before returning home, Laila stops in Herat, Mariam's hometown. She visits
Mariam's childhood home, and receives a box for the local Mullah's son that was
meant for Mariam. It's from her father Jalil. It contains a long letter, as well as her
share of his inheritance. Laila uses the money to renovate the orphanage in Kabul,
and we learn at the close of the book that she is pregnant with a new child.

Submitted by:
Raphael Palanas
Christian Olivar
Vergel Ifurong
G11-Avocado
Portfolio
In 21 st

Literature
Submitted by:
Christian Olivar Grade-11 Avocado
Irog Ng Isang Ama Na Hindi Ko Nadama

Akoy lubusang lumaki

Sa piling ng isang Ina
Ni hindi ko man lang nadama
Ang irog ng isang Ama

Akoy ngayoy kung ituring

Batang walang kinikilalang Ama
Minsan ko nga ring tinanong
Kung bakit nga ba?

Mas magiging masaya sana

Kung nagging kompleto ang Pamilya
At sa hapagkainan
Mayroong Padre de Pamilya
 Hindi ko man naranasan ang magkaroon
ng Kompletong pamilya
Masaya naman ako sa piling at pagsisikat ni Ina
Pinilit kong tiniis
Ang naturang hinagpis

Tahanay di kumpleto
Kung ang haligiy naglaho
Irog ng Isang ama
Sanay aking nadama
Contemporary
Authors Of
NCR
REGION
Second Grading
(Assignments,Activities
and Quizzes)
 First Grading
(Activitivities, Assignments, and
Quizzes)
Written Report
st
In 21 Literature
Group 10

(A Thousand Splendid
Suns)