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Character Argument Essay
The Kite Runner
The characters in a novel, fiction or nonfiction, are dealt a certain hand in life and must contend with a multitude of issues that life offers. Some hands are good, others are not. How characters play out their hands determines their fate. It is the experience of that fate, as strongly as we can feel it, that we follow as we read. The writing assignments for this class have asked you to go beyond the simple response of “I liked it" or "I didn't like it." You have been asked to offer interpretations of the text. In other words, you have been asked to present a claim (your argument, your thesis statement) as to what it all might mean and what we as readers might get out of the text.  
For this assignment, you are asked to choose one of the characters in The Kite Runner and create an argument about an issue that surrounds that character, and as you go about building your argument around your character and the issue(s) surrounding your character, you will essentially be analyzing this character. For example, if you choose Hassan as your character and wish to argue that Hassan’s loyalty was not because he valued Amir as a friend, but rather Hassan knew his place as part of the long-persecuted Hazara minority, then your research would perhaps take you in the direction of Afghanistan’s caste system. Another argument might be that Assef is a sociopath; therefore, your research would perhaps take you in the direction of that mental disorder.
In addition to the piece of literature you are working with, which is your primary source, you are required to use 3-4 secondary sources (no run-of-the-mill, substandard internet sites or Wikipedia). You must be sure to cite all of your sources following MLA standards of documentation.  We will workshop these drafts in class; however, I urge you to also visit the A.C.E. Lab or get a tutor for additional assistance.  This essay is worth 200 points!