Literary devices Flashcards
(15 cards)
1.Action
Action: The main action of the novel comprises Amir’s migration to California with Baba and then return to Kabul through Peshawar to take Sohrab, Hassan’s son with him.
The rising action occurs when Amir sees that Hassan becoming the victim of bullying, yet he does not come to help him.
The falling action occurs when Baba and Amir leave Kabul for the United States.
- Anaphora
For example,
i. I looked up at those twin kites. I thought about Hassan. Thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul. I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along
and changed everything.
The sentence shows the repetitious use of “I thought.”
3.Antagonist
Assef, Russian soldiers, and the Kabul elite as the main antagonists on account of their bad behavior toward Baba, Hassan, and the ethnic Hazra community.
- Allusion
i. After I hung up, I went for a walk along Spreckels Lake on the northern edge of Golden Gate Park. (One)
ii. … can still see Hassan up on that tree, sunlight flickering through the leaves
on his almost perfectly round face, a face like a Chinese doll chiseled from hardwood: his flat, broad nose and slanting, narrow eyes like bamboo leaves, eyes that looked, depending on the light, gold, green, even sapphire. (Two)
iii. Gold-stitched tapestries, which Baba had bought in Calcutta, lined the walls; a crystal chandelier hung from the vaulted ceiling. (Two)
iv. I remember the day before the orphanage opened, Baba took me to Ghargha Lake, a few miles north of Kabul. (Three)
v. He told us one day that Islam considered drinking a terrible sin; those who drank would answer for their sin on the day of Qiyamat, Judgment Day. (Three)
vi. We saw Rio Bravo three times, but we saw our favorite Western, The Magnificent Seven, thirteen times. With each viewing, we cried at the end when the Mexican kids buried Charles Bronson—who, as it turned out, wasn’t Iranian either. (Three)
The first two allusions are related to geographical points, while the third and fourth are related to Indian and Afghan landmarks and the last one is related to the theological concept of Islam. However, the last one shows cross-cultural allusions; American, Mexican, and Iranians.
- Conflict
The are two types of conflicts in the novel.
1.The first one is the external conflict that is going on between the local Afghan elite society and the foreign conspirators.
- Another conflict is in the mind of Amir about his position as a boy, his gentlemanly learning, and his behavior toward Hassan, his half-brother.
- Characters
The Kite Runner presents both static as well as dynamic characters.
The young man, Amir, is a dynamic character as he faces a huge transformation during his growth and migration from Afghanistan to the United States.
However, the rest of the characters do not see any change in their behavior, as they are static characters like Ali, Rahim Khan, Baba, and even Hassan.
- Foreshadowing
i. I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. (One)
ii. When we were children, Hassan and I used to climb the poplar trees in the driveway of my father’s house and annoy our neighbors by reflecting sunlight into their homes with a shard of mirror. (Two)
iii. It was Rahim Khan who first referred to him as what eventually became Baba’s famous nickname, Toophan agha, or “Mr. Hurricane.”. (Three)
These quotes from The Kite Runner foreshadow the coming events.
- Hyperbole
i. At parties, when all six-foot-five of him thundered into the room, attention shifted to him like sunflowers turning to the sun. (Three)
ii. The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born. (Five)
These sentences are hyperboles. The first one shows how Baba’s figure has been exaggerated by comparing him with the sun, while the second shows exaggeration about the Afghan nation.
- Imagery
used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example,
i. Sitting cross-legged, sunlight and shadows of pomegranate leaves dancing on his face, Hassan absently plucked blades of grass from the ground as I read him stories he couldn’t read for himself. (Three).
ii. Something roared like thunder. The earth shook a little and we heard the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire. “Father!” Hassan cried. We sprung to our feet and raced out of the living room. We found Ali hobbling frantically across the foyer. (Four)
iii. The streets glistened with fresh snow and the sky was a blameless blue. Snow blanketed every rooftop and weighed on the branches of the stunted mulberry trees that lined our street. Overnight, snow had nudged its way into every crack and gutter.(Seven)
The imagery shows the use of images of sound, color, and nature.
- Metaphor
i. My father was a force of nature, a towering Pashtun specimen with a thick beard, a wayward crop of curly brown hair as unruly as the man himself. (Three)
ii. Just before sunrise, Baba’s car peeled into the driveway. (Five)
iii. Outside the walls of that house, there was a war raging. (Sixteen)
The first example shows the father compared to a model, the second sun to a knife, and the third war to a furious person or bull.
- Mood
The novel shows various moods in the beginning; nostalgic, neutral, and indifferent, but it turns out tragic and at times darkly humorous when the tragic tale of Farzana, Hassan, and Sanauber are told, and when Rahim calls Amir to save Sohrab from abuse.
- Motifs
Most important motifs of the novel are pomegranate, kite, kite contestants, migration, and seasons.
- Rhetorical Questions
i. She had a large purple bruise on her leg for days but what could I do except stand and watch my wife get beaten? If I fought, that dog would have surely put a bullet in me, and gladly! Then what would happen to my Sohrab? (Seventeen)
ii. How could I have been so blind? The signs had been there for me to see all along; they came flying back at me now: (Eighteen)
iii. In his rearview mirror, I saw something flash in his eyes. “You want to know?” he sneered. “Let me imagine, Agha sahib. You probably lived in a big two- or three-story house with a nice backyard that your gardener filled with flowers and fruit trees. (Nineteen)
This example shows the use of rhetorical questions posed but different characters not to elicit answers but to stress upon the underlined idea.
- Setting
The setting of the novel spread over three countries; Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States.
- Similie
i. So I read him unchallenging things, like the misadventures of the bumbling Mullah Nasruddin and his donkey. (Four)
ii. Something roared like thunder. (Five)
iii. Flanked by his obeying friends, he walked the neighborhood like a Khan strolling through his land with his eager-to-please entourage. (Six).
These are similes as the use of the word “like” shows the comparison between different things.
