A Diary of Survival

The diary above embedded through SlideSnack, is the diary of the protagonist, Amir, in the novel, Kite Runners by Khaled Hosseini. In the rising action of the novel, Afghanistan is invaded by Russian Forces attempting to gain control of Afghanistan.  Throughout these four diary entries the conflict of person vs. person is always present, however, person vs. self is a conflict that has arose in the rising action. Ever since Amir friend and servant, Hassan has left, he as felt an empty feeling inside himself. As war rages on, Amir and his father flee to Pakistan, and eventually America. However, even though they have gotten out war-torn Afghanistan, memories of the past haunt Amir, and leave him to a choice that nobody can expect.

Featured image found at this site

The Definition of a Friend

Friend. Everyone has their own definition for it. The Merriam Dictionary defines it as “A person who you like and enjoy being with or a person who helps or supports someone or something,”. Some may say words like, loyal and trustworthy, while others would say determined and kind. In the novel, The Kite Runners by Khaled Hosseini, two boys, Amir (The protagonists) and Hassan, born and raised to together in the countryside of Afghanistan, live the final peaceful days before war, and redefine the word, friend.

In the exposition of the novel, Amir and Hassan could be look upon as brothers. “We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His was Amir. My name,” (11). However, in the mist of the setting, Amir and Hassan were not brothers. Hassan and his father, Ali, were the Hazara or servants of Amir and his father. Though Amir and Hassan shared that bond of friendship like their fathers, they never thought of each like friends. “Never mind that we taught each other to ride a bicycle with no hands, or to build a fully functional homemade camera out of a cardboard box. Never mind that we spent entire winters flying kites, running kites,” (25). However these things were not enough to overcome the path of history and religion. “I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara ,” (25). In the end, “We were kids who had learned to crawl together, and no history, ethnicity, society, or religion was going to change that either,” (25).

Amir and Hassan bond and ‘Friendship’ is something that I believe that I could relate to.  “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 mirror,” (3).  When I was younger, my friend and I were always up to mischievous things. From going into our younger sisters rooms and poking their dolls eyes until it   dangling from its head, to hiding evidence of our ‘crimes’ around our houses. One story though, I remember very clearly as if it had happened yesterday. On a sunny afternoon, in my friends driveway we were skateboarding, attempting to do tricks and stunts that we knew we couldn’t do. I had been begging for a new skateboard from my parents for over three months and then my friend and I came up with the perfect ‘accident’ that would break my skateboard. From there on forward, we continued our plan. We put my skateboard on a ledge and jump on it, which broke it into two halves. I then later told my parents that day that we were skateboarding and that all of a sudden my skateboard ‘Broke’ while I was attempting a trick. I felt that I had convinced them, however, my crime didn’t play out. After a bit of integration, my parents found out that I was not telling the truth, and in the end I never got a new skateboard. Thinking back, I should have just kept the old skateboard because I never got a new one after that.

Amir and Hassan childhood friendship was unbreakable, and nothing could have stopped then from being friends. The question still remains, what is your definition of a friend?

Featured Image found at this site

An Encounter With Success

Have you ever been playing basketball, football or soccer and noticed that the (e.g Basketball) ball is very dirty? Do you want something more than just the ordinary soap and water? Well wait no more! The Ultra- Play Cleaner is the product meant for you!

A Change of Plans

Today was a day of new discoveries for our team. We started with the idea of creating a shoe cleaner, a substance that could clean shoes multiple times, without having to be thrown away. Over the course of that class, it proved to be to difficult to create a prototype. So we decided to build off that idea, and that was how we came to our final product the Sports ball cleaner.

Creating our Own Polymer

After completing the slime lab, we formed new groups in which we will create our own polymer. Today, we brainstormed for ideas on what our polymer could be. We had ideas like a grip supporter, shoe cleaner, bouncy ball etc.  Our group has not yet decided what we are going to make for this two week project, however, we hope that by next class we will have an idea of what polymer we want to make and also a timeline to when we are going to make the polymer and put all of our data together onto a Keynote/ Power- Point.

And the Slime Countinues…

Today in class, we continued on with our slime experiment lab. We used the same process as I explained in the last journal entire. We made many types of slime with different characteristics. Though our group had slight disagreements when creating the different slimes, we were able to complete what needed to be done.  We were able to create three out of the four slimes, however, goobers was a challenge for all the groups. Though we weren’t able to complete the slime, because of a mistake in the directions (My fault).

Presentations, and More Disgusting Slime

Today in class, our polymer group presented our mini project on our understandings of a  polymer. I learned a lot about polymers throughout that half- and hour of presentations and I think have gained a better understanding of what a polymer is. Besides the mini presentation, we formed into our groups were today we created slime. The process had many instructions and if you add a bit too much one thing the slime would not end up how you wanted. However, our group was able to make the slime without any mistakes. Today was a day of teamwork and cooperation with fellow classmates.  I hope that the following labs will end up like how it did today.

Designing the Ideal Phone

 

Have you ever wanted an ideal phone that was designed just for you? This is a question that I believe that I and many people would answer as a “Without a doubt YES”. However, would it really be worth the time of creating the ‘ideal phone’? You answer that.

The Truth about a Polymer

                      

Did you know that polymers are used in everyday life? From plastics to credit cards, polymers are found in daily life, even when you something don’t know.

The Mysterious Oobleck

Dr. Seuss was by far one of my favorite authors when I was younger. It looks like now that he has resurfaced in our science class this Tuesday! What could be better than spending a class creating oobleck? You tell me.