The Last

For this entry, kindly answer the following:  What did you think of the ending?  Before you answer, think hard about what you wanted to happen, about what made the most sense in the context of the story, about how you felt when you put the book down, about how you would have felt about a different ending, about how you feel about endings of books in general, about the difference between the endings of novels vs. the endings of movies.  After you've thought about all that, tell us what you think.

ghost scene

For this entry I would like you to suggest a scene that could be added to Kapitoil that would add interest, intrigue, or clarification.  In your post, do two things:

1)  Explain what would happen in the scene.  Who would be in it; what would happen; what conversations would take place; where it would be set.

2) Explain/analyze how the inclusion of your added scene would contribute to one of the conflicts, ideas, or themes that you see emerging in the novel.

In terms of what kind of scene to add, that is entirely up to you.  Be creative.  Think broadly.  You might consider a flashback scene.  There are a few in the book already, but not too many.  Would an additional flashback scene clear up some confusion you have about Karim?  Or Zahira?  Or Karim's mom?  Dad?  Any of the other characters?   

Or you could add a scene to the real time of the book, perhaps something that would further bring out Karim's dilemma... or perhaps something that would help us understand Rebecca ... or Dan ... or Jefferson ... or Mr. Schrub.  It's up to you!  Let's confine our scenes to things that would occur up to the end of the assigned reading (192), just so those who have read further don't spoil it for those who haven't.

Kapitoil

Hi everyone.  Let's keep this simple here in the beginning.  For this post I would like you to write about whatever intrigues you about this book.  I could write about any number of things here -- I find a lot of it very intriguing -- but I'll start by talking about the overlaps with The Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby.  As we discussed in class today, Karim has a Holden-like moral code that keeps him "safe."  His reasons for not sleeping with an out-of-town woman in Doha sound very much like Holden's reasons for not sleeping with Sunny the Prostitute.  Like Holden, Karim prefers to talk.   I thought what Tony A. pointed out was interesting:  both Holden and Karim have their own languages, and in some ways these language separate them from others.  With respect to Gatsby, I like how Karim and Nick Carraway are both perched between worlds, one foot in and one foot back ("it don't pay to live like that" -- The Avett Brothers), simultaneously "enchanted and repelled" (I'm quoting Fitzgerald).   Perhaps they are perched between different worlds, but one still gets the feeling that they are being pulled in different directions.  I thought it was suspiciously interesting that Karim was given the "green light" to go ahead with his project.  Hmmm.  English Teacher Symbolism?

Remember the rules:  1.  Write freely but don't swear; 2. Answer the question; 3. Refer to at least one other person's post.

New York City by Piet Mondrian

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