A completed revision booklet for The Kite Runner.
Specification: AQA English Literature B A - Level Social and Political Protest paper.
Includes revision focused on each Assessment Objective of the specification:
AO1: Concepts and terminology
AO2: Analysed quotes
AO3: Context
AO4: Interpretat...
, AO1 essentially requires informed and relevant responses which are accurately written and use appropriate
concepts and terminology.
Key Aspects of Social Protest:
1. Dominance 19. Ethnic hierarchy
2. Rebellion 20. Subservient
3. Powerlessness/Power 21. Redemption
4. Subjugation 22. Societal stigma
5. Conflict 23. Rape/ Sexual abuse
6. Oppression 24. Devoid of expression
7. Resistance 25. Evokes/ Conjures/ Induces
8. Religion 26. Androcentric society
9. Bildungsroman novel 27. Internalised subjugation
10. Propaganda
28. Sexual slavery
11. Censorship
29. Cultural desensitisation
12. Environmental degradation
13. Tyrant 30. Stereotypical behaviours
14. Futile 31. Ownership of children
15. Omnipotent (un-stoppable) 32. Overarching political
16. Omniscient problems
17. Disenfranchised 33. Authority figures
18. Antipathy (opposition)
19. Political nuances (tones/shades)
Vocabulary: Sentence Starters:
The novel contains emotional archaeology…
Characters are presented at points of crisis… - Hosseini places great emphasis on the
In a world of jostling theocracies… Mazar-I-Sharif massacre which showcased
Diminished civil liberties in both east and west… the brutality of the Pashtuns in the form of
Hosseini gives us a dissident (rebellious) account… the Taliban.
Public and private worlds of the dystopian… - Hierarchy in Amir ad Hassan’s relationship is
Rhetorical virtuosity… (linguistic ability) mirrored in the divide caused by the
Moral indignation… Sunni/Shi’a divide politically in Afghanistan.
Amused detachment… - Hosseini reflects the authority divide
Retrospective narrative between Amir and Hassan in the everyday
Institutional linguistic practices serving to promote ideology… torment experienced by the Hazara minority.
Textually fixed, historical truth is questioned … - Hosseini highlights the political inequality
Textual reductionism… between the Pashtun majority and the
Accepted orthodoxy… Hazara minority through mirroring it with
Nazis symbolism… Amir and Hassan’s personal relationship.
Incarceration and surveillance…
Essay Sentence Starter Examples:
Question 1: ‘How is the personal linked to the political in The Kite runner?’
1. Paragraph One: Hosseini begins by reflecting the authority divide between Amir and Hassan in the everyday torment
experienced by the Hazara minority group.
2. Paragraph Two: Furthermore, the hierarchy in Amir and Hassan’s personal relationship is reflected by Hosseini through the
ethnic and religious divide in Afghanistan.
3. Paragraph Three: Moreover, Hosseini contrasts Amir’s elevated position in society with his personal feelings of inadequacy.
Question 2: ‘Hosseini presents a world in which ethnic differences always lead to violence.’
4. Paragraph One: Hosseini reinforces this view through the Pashtuns violent treatment of the Hazara, expressed through
Hassan and Sohrabs exploitation and abuse.
5. Paragraph Two: Furthermore, the terrible purges by the Pashtun Taliban extremist group that occurs in the backstory of the
novel conveys the casual violence that Hosseini clearly condemns.
6. Paragraph Three: However, others may disagree that both ethnic groups contribute to the violence as reflected through the
non-violent actions from Hazara characters.
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