(due as a comment to this post on syllabus date; worth 2 quiz grades; 0-+ holistic scale)
Part A: Click here to visit the CIA's World Fact Book. Peruse the site and respond to the following questions:
1. What are the top eight agricultural products? What product is #1?
2. What is the life expectancy rate? What is the infant mortality rate? What deeper issues are typically reflected in these statistics?
3. How many kilometers of coastline does Afghanistan possess? How might this number have contributed to the country's history?
4. Identify the transnational issues that Afghanistan faces.
5. Construct a thesis statement that encapsulates the essence of the Afghan nation (both its assets and its challenges).
Part B: Click her to visit The Boston Globe's "The Big Picture: Afghanistan". View each photograph (use your judgement for the objectionable pieces) and read the corresponding footnotes. Choose the most powerful image to prompt a piece of short fiction. Write a descriptive passage that embodies the "show vs. tell" technique.
Part C: Article: "Hazaras: Afghanistan's Outsiders" (9 pages). Produce a thesis statement that encapsulates the author's message and illuminates the deeper meaning of the text.
Part D: Click here to view the Frontline Program: "The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan". Take notes and prepare to participate in a Discussion Facilitation that will include this topic.
Extra Credit: A quiz grade of 100 will be awarded for comprehensive notes for the Frontline Program: "The War Briefing".
Extra Credit: A quiz grade of 100 will be awarded for comprehensive notes for the Frontline Program: "The War Briefing".
83 comments:
PART A:
1. Opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number 1 is Opium.
2. The life expectancy rate is around 45 years old. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths and1,000 live births. This is because they have poor medical care, bad health conditions, and no access to birth control.
3. They have 0 km of coastline. They rely on other nations for their resources.
4. They have boundrie issues with other countries. They also expeirence drought.
5. With Afghanistan being a poor country, the people there face sevre issues that lower their life expectancy age, infant mortality rate, and their education.
PART B:
Image Seven:
My name is Maliha Ahmadzia and I'm a 25 year old who lives in Afghanistan. I have read all of the things that Americans write about Afghanistan people. Though they might be right about some families, they are completely wrong about mine. People think that all Afghanistan women are looked down upon and are treated badly. That is wrong with my family because my father loves and supports me very much and my grandfather as well. I'm even a student studying law and political science. I wish all women of Afghanistan had the same choices I did.
PART C:
Shifting from struggle to hope in "The Outsiders", Phil Zabriskie
utilizes horrific imagery, peaceful symbolism, and extreame diction in order to show people all over the world the changes the Hazara people are now going through after Afghanistan's horrible rough patches.
-Kendyl Cutler
Chris Robinson
Period A
Part A
1. Opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins are the top eight agricultural products of Afghanistan.
2. The life expectancy rate for both male and female is roughly 45 years of age. The infant mortality rate averaged out is 149.2 deaths/ 1000 live births. The deeper issues that reflect these issues are based on the lack of health care, sanitation, disease, clean water, and food.
3. Afghanistan possesses no coastline. Since it was landlocked, Afghanistan served as buffer, and a country to be invaded because it was between warring countries.
4. Afghanistan faces international disputes, refugees and internally displaced persons, trafficking in persons, and illicit drugs.
5. Though weak in most areas, Afghanistan citizens continue to fight for survival through their agricultural products, government, and labor force.
Part B
Picture 22 is a powerful picture.
Jose is being lowered into the ground, in the last thing he will ever be placed in. His death wasn’t a pleasant one, which is the only thing I know. Nobody ever spoke of it, and nobody knows how he died. That’s the only problem. Was it cyanide? Was he shot? Stabbed, or what? I don’t know, and it makes me mad. However, I do remember the night before all this happened.
It was a dark night, and the stars were brilliantly shining. Sitting under them was quite the sight. The moon was quite visible, even though it was a bit cloudy. The sky gave an odd atmosphere, as if something wasn’t right. I was sitting outside, cleaning my weapon, when Jose broke the silence “Hey, let’s go.” He had said. So, we got up and continued to move forward through the night. Little did we know what was going to happen. Clouds began to cover the sky as we were walking. Slowly, but surely, a light, cool rain fell from the once brightly lit sky, dampening the ground and the air. Jose turned to me and said “I’ll be right back.” And then he took off into the woods. I didn’t know that would be the last time I would speak to him.
Part C
Although they are the from another land, and make up about 1/5 of the population, the author displays graphic imagery, a dark atmosphere, and blunt characterization to explain how the Hazaras have “been branded outsiders” in the country of Afghanistan.
Part A:
1.) The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number one product is opium.
2.) The life expectancy rate for the total population in Afghanistan is 45.02 years. For males it is 44.79 years and for females it is 45.25 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 per 1,000 births. These statistics reflect the lack of medical competence this country has. People don’t have access to medical necessities such as clean water, proper tools, and educated doctors.
3.) Afghanistan has 0 km of coastline, it is a landlocked country. This country is vulnerable to attack. They are also more dependent on their neighboring countries. Ultimately, it is a geographic disadvantage in having a lack of water.
4.) Transnational issues that Afghanistan faces include refugees and internationally displaced persons, trafficking in persons, and illicit drugs.
5.) Despite the abundance of agricultural products such as opium, wheat, and fruits, Afghanistan is a landlocked country faced with one of the highest infant mortality rates, exemplifying the strife of third world countries.
Part B:
The bombs were going off, one by one, but the only sound I could hear was that of a small, muffled wail. I ran into the dusty abode, almost stumbling over the starved boy. I called for a medic, the boy gripping at his father’s coat. Blood dripped from his mouth as I tried to provide some comfort to this little boy. I cried myself to sleep that night, another innocent human being taken from this world by my country, my hands.
Part C:
Through the underlying story of the life of Musa Shafaq in “Hazaras: Afghanistan’s Outsiders,” Phil Zabriskie employs personal examples, destitute imagery, and political information to explain the role of today’s Hazara and depict Hazarajat as “a model of what’s possible” for the people of Afghanistan.
Part A:
1. What are the top eight agricultural products? What product is #1? The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskin. The number one product is opium.
2. What is the life expectancy rate? What is the infant mortality rate? What deeper issues are typically reflected in these statistics? The life expectancy rate is about 45 years old. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths/1,000 live births. They may not have as developed hospitals or medicines that they can use. They have a lot of wars and violence so many people die for that reason.
Allie Zelinski
English- D
3. How many kilometers of coastline does Afghanistan possess? How might this number have contributed to the country's history? Afghanistan has no coastline at all because it is a landlocked country. They have a harder time trying to get and send different resources because they don’t have easy access to water transportation. They cannot make money for selling their resources because it is harder to send it out to other countries.
Allie Zelinski
English- D
4. Identify the transnational issues that Afghanistan faces. Afghanistan and Iran’s military get together and discuss the land’s boundaries. Afghanistan is a big transit and source for human trafficking of men, women, and children. The country has minimum efforts to help stop or control the human trafficking situation. Since their largest resource is opium there is a large drug problem there as well.
5. Construct a thesis statement that encapsulates the essence of the Afghan nation (both its assets and its challenges). Transitioning from a British buffer country to trying to gain and maintain government stability, Afghanistan has become a country with rise and fall of different government rulers, many dedicated Muslim followers, and the constant battle to live life with pride for their country in order to have a successful country that has both assets and challenges.
Part B:
Picture Number 14:
The smiles I see on everyone’s faces as I look around makes me feel great joy. Seeing the balloons all released in the air and everyone smiling and cheering is so overwhelming. We all are standing around jumping happily. There are boys running around everywhere. This day comes once a year and it is always a day that makes the whole country seem nicer and happier. September 21, 2010 was a special one for me though. The only thing that would this day better is if my big brother was there to celebrate with us. After a rough year living in Kabul with my family it feels great to celebrate with many others who are like me. I know it is not his fault since he just wants his son to follow in his footsteps like many other fathers for their sons but he has been so stern and strict lately. With my school and my sports, he never really says much to me about it ever since my older brother died. All he does is silently wish that I will be more like him. I know I am not really near what he was like but I try to make my father happy and proud but it is harder than it seems. Back when I was younger and my brother was around life was so different.
“Ready, Kaihan?” Farzad said to me after our morning prayers. We quickly got ready and raced our way out the door to school. I was always the first one there but I was almost convinced that he would let me win. As he pat me on the head and said good bye we went into school. At lunch time we would always meet up and we would talk about fun things that we learned in class. This day was different.
“Hey Kaihan, I was talking to some of my friends today and they are thinking about joining the army. I think it sounds like something I would want to do.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. My own brother was going into the army and I may never see him again. I ran away, doing my best not to cry.
That year my brother enlisted into the army and we had to say good-bye. He was so excited though and I was happy that he found something he liked to do. I was also really sad because of all the violence I knew about in the army. My father really took it hard and made me do a lot in place of Farzad. It’s been tough, but today is a day that I can remember Farzad in the day of in celebration with all these other boys is a day that I really feel like my big brother is with me and smiling at me for doing what he would want me to do. I try my best.
Part C:
Transitioning from an “empty space” to a country that was shaped to create Afghanistan, the country, as a whole, was filled with destroying statues in defiance, being “branded” as either the “outsiders” or not and constantly struggling to gain control of the government in order to uphold a country that is accredited as a real country.
Part A.
1. The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruit, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number one agricultural product is opium.
2. The life expectancy rate of the total population is approximately 45.02 years of age. The infant mortality rate is approximately 149.2 deaths for every 1,000 births. From these statistics, the issues of lack of medical care are prevalent.
3. Afghanistan has 0km of coastline making it a land-locked country. Due to the lack of a coastline, Afghanistan is at a geographic disadvantage forcing it to be more dependent on neighboring countries.
4. Transnational issues that Afghanistan faces include: international disputes, refugees and internationally displaced persons, trafficking in persons, and illicit drugs.
5. Although possessing many important agricultural products, Afghanistan is a troubled, deprived country that is encapsulated by many problems.
Part B.
1. As the haze lifted from the earth and the clouds rolled in, a silence fell from the tops of the trees. From that silence, a single ray of light shone through from far off in the distance growing brighter and brighter. Meek yet bold footsteps traveled off into the abyss uncertain of their direction.
Part C.
1. Constructing a tone of discontent in “Hazaras: Afghanistan’s Outsiders,” Phil Zabriske employs shifting perspectives and twisted irony in order to acknowledge the hardship faced by those “back in the Hazara heartland.”
Part A
1.) 1.Opium, 2.wheat, 3.fruits, 4.nuts; 5.wool, 6.mutton, 7.sheepskins, 8.lambskins
2.) Life expectancy-male: 44.79 years female: 45.25 years, Infant Mortality Rate - total: 149.2 deaths/1,000 live births. This shows that it is a poor and violent country.
3.) 0 km. Water is a major resource and they don’t have too much to support a country.
4.) Afghanistan has many different ethnic groups. Because the Pashtuns are the dominant race they oppress the lower ethnic groups such as Hazara and Turkmen.
5.) Due to the lack of any coast or bodies of water, Afghanistan has a low life-expectancy rate, a high infant mortality rate and is held in a very violent state being left very “dry”.
Part B
I decided that Image #1 is the most powerful image. It is a picture of an Afghan boy pointing a toy gun at a UN soldier. The picture has a strong theme of Irony because the boy is showing his aggression with the weapons that the soldiers use against his people. The boy is also smiling showing that he is enjoying his gesture while the soldier has a very stern face and is not enjoying his position. The boy is in a prison that the UN member is guarding and ironically the boy is the one smiling in that situation. The barb wire in the picture shows the violent state that Afghanistan is in because the barb wire is the fence that is holding the three young boys in the prison, where they are not as much of a threat as the UN soldier with a gun.
Part C
In the article, the author utilizes non-challant diction, disturbing imagery, and socially diverse metaphors to describe all of the violence behind what the Hazaras dealt with during the fight for “equality and social justice”.
Part A:
1. The top agricultural products of Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruit, nuts, wool, mutton sheepskins, and lambskins. Opium is the top agricultural product of Afghanistan.
2. The life expectancy at birth in Afghanistan is 45.02 years. For every 1,000 live births there are 149.2 infant deaths. Issues reflected by the information include poor medical resources and deaths attributed to things other than old age.
3. Afghanistan is landlocked, which may contribute to the inability to regulate the economy and incorporate other (water-based) industries. Additionally, invasion is easily accomplished because of Afghanistan’s geological location.
4. Transnational issues faced by Afghanistan are trafficking persons for labor and sex, as well as poppy smuggling for the making of opium and boundary disputed to prevent/resolve drought.
5. Shifting from independence to a fall of government, Afghanistan struggles to balance high death rates, poor medical care and foreign trade in order to resurrect a weak economy brought on by “decades of conflict”.
Part B:
I could see the man. He was a soldier of the United States of America. A place I had only heard of, and of those things, only heard fabrications. I still didn’t know if those soldiers were here to save or to destroy. I don’t know if anyone knew.
I was a ghost, hidden behind the veil of fog—the kind that came from the ground instead of the sky. I weaved between the pomegranate trees. The trees of my peoples’ hopes. I made no sound. I floated above the ground, never crunching the leaves below me, never disturbing the dust of the past or the ashes of the present.
The man walked slowly, I saw from a few trees away. He stepped into the warmth of the sunshine. I could see by his face he was struggling with a decision; should he keep patrolling, do his duty, or should he sit in that small piece of sunshine and enjoy that brief moment? Who would it hurt if he did? The man did not sit; instead, his chest rose heavily and fell back to place. He kept moving, gun in hand, cautious but unsuspecting.
I moved farther toward him. Tentative steps toward a blind future. He moved too; it was his job to. I sat where he had decided not to, in the last rays of sunlight shooting through the trees. I wondered, then. I wondered when he would see me. I wondered what people like him thought about. I wondered if he thought the same things about us. I wondered, too, if he was afraid.
My thoughts kept spinning, until I yawned. The sun was beginning to set, and I would soon find my way home to Jellawar. The man turned suddenly towards me, with his heavy boots and bright eyes. I saw his hands, holding the gun. They looked just like my hands: dirty, cracked, worn but still young. As the sun sank, I saw those hands, so much like my own, kill a boy. Then I began, again, to think. The man saw me, I thought. He was scared, I knew. I thought I saw him thinking the same thoughts as I. I knew saw him cry.
And then, I looked at the pomegranate trees. The trees of my peoples’ hopes. I wondered why they ruined everything beautiful, every last thing we clung to. They were here to save through destruction and I was just a ghost.
Part C:
Shifting from discrimination to reluctant acceptance in “Hazaras: Afghanistan’s Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie relates the harsh struggle faced by the Hazaras, the recent progress made, and the “dark past” in order to elucidate the need for “liberty and democracy”, but above all else, tolerance.
A.)
1.) Opium (Number 1), wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins
2.) The life expectancy rate is roughly 45 years of age. The infant mortality rate is 14.9 % (149 per 1,000). The underlying issue is that the life expectancy is roughly ½ that of the United States and many other 1st world countries, and the infant mortality rate is 25 times higher than the United States, which shows that there are major problems in their healthcare and overall society.
3.) The country has 0km of coastline, as it is landlocked by: China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. This might have contributed to its history because the country has a strong history of drought and misfortune due to their lack of water and resources. This has led to misfortune and neglect of many within the borders of Afghanistan.
4.) Some transnational issues that Afghanistan faces as a nation includes illicit drug trade, human trafficking, refugees and displaced people, and constant military problems with in the nation, including the presence of United States troops stationed within the nation.
B.) (Picture of couple on returning from war)
Brian has spent the past 18 months in Afghanistan after being deployed 6 months after his graduation. He grew up in San Bernadino California, where he played football and baseball and was recruited by several colleges to play division 1 sports, but felt that he should put his country first in life. The U.S military ran out of outfits in Afganistan, so Brian decided that he would volenteer to wear a Scottish uniform but still defend his nation in the process of it all. His girlfriend, Rebecca was hesitant about him leaving to fight in a war, but felt that he should follow his dream, even if that meant risking his life to defend the safety of millions. The day has come that Rebecca marked on her Calendar 17 Months and 30 days ago; the day that Brian finally returns home into his arms in real life.
Brian didn’t sleep the night before; he’s been having trouble due to the stress of being of the battlefront along with missing his family and just as importantly, his high school sweetheart that he’s been with for almost 6 years now. On his plane ride home, he closes his eyes, and all he sees is her; her smile, her eyes, everything about her that made him fall in love with her 6 years ago. He gets off the plane, and rather than taking his time, sprints to her, grabs her, and doesn’t let go. He believed that those 18 months were all so worth it just too see her smile one more time. As he’s holding her, he couldn’t resist the one thing that hes been waiting for more than anything; that one opportunity to kiss the woman he loves again, just like he always used too. He will never again take for granted every single moment that he spends with her, and he understands the meaning of love through leaving for those 18 greuling months.
C.) Shifting from history to the current day problems that Hazara’s must face in society in “The Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie encapsulates the overall idea with the use of cultural imagery and intrinsic diction to portray the overall idea that the Hazara’s are seen as “infidels or animals” in a society that they should be among equals.
Evan DaSilva
English C
A.)
1.) Opium (Number 1), wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins
2.) The life expectancy rate is roughly 45 years of age. The infant mortality rate is 14.9 % (149 per 1,000). The underlying issue is that the life expectancy is roughly ½ that of the United States and many other 1st world countries, and the infant mortality rate is 25 times higher than the United States, which shows that there are major problems in their healthcare and overall society.
3.) The country has 0km of coastline, as it is landlocked by: China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. This might have contributed to its history because the country has a strong history of drought and misfortune due to their lack of water and resources. This has led to misfortune and neglect of many within the borders of Afghanistan.
4.) Some transnational issues that Afghanistan faces as a nation includes illicit drug trade, human trafficking, refugees and displaced people, and constant military problems with in the nation, including the presence of United States troops stationed within the nation.
B.) (picture of couple on returning from war)
Brian has spent the past 18 months in Afghanistan after being deployed 6 months after his graduation. He grew up in San Bernadino California, where he played football and baseball and was recruited by several colleges to play division 1 sports, but felt that he should put his country first in life. The U.S military ran out of outfits in Afganistan, so Brian decided that he would volenteer to wear a Scottish uniform but still defend his nation in the process of it all. His girlfriend, Rebecca was hesitant about him leaving to fight in a war, but felt that he should follow his dream, even if that meant risking his life to defend the safety of millions. The day has come that Rebecca marked on her Calendar 17 Months and 30 days ago; the day that Brian finally returns home into his arms in real life.
Brian didn’t sleep the night before; he’s been having trouble due to the stress of being of the battlefront along with missing his family and just as importantly, his high school sweetheart that he’s been with for almost 6 years now. On his plane ride home, he closes his eyes, and all he sees is her; her smile, her eyes, everything about her that made him fall in love with her 6 years ago. He gets off the plane, and rather than taking his time, sprints to her, grabs her, and doesn’t let go. He believed that those 18 months were all so worth it just too see her smile one more time. As he’s holding her, he couldn’t resist the one thing that hes been waiting for more than anything; that one opportunity to kiss the woman he loves again, just like he always used too. He will never again take for granted every single moment that he spends with her, and he understands the meaning of love through leaving for those 18 greuling months.
C.) Shifting from history to the current day problems that Hazara’s must face in society in “The Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie encapsulates the overall idea with the use of cultural imagery and intrinsic diction to portray the overall idea that the Hazara’s are seen as “infidels or animals” in a society that they should be among equals.
Steve Burrill
2/3/12
Period A
1. The top products from Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. Opium is the number one product of Afghanistan.
2. The life expectancy rate is 45.02 years for the Afghanistan population. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths per 1000 births. This is an evident problem because it shows that people are dying at a younger age, and babies aren’t surviving which means the population may decrease. This is also an alarming number because it shows that the living conditions of Afghanistan are extremely poor and the people are living in extreme poverty and despair. Due to the fact that the women are probably not very healthy they then cannot produce healthy children, a vicious cycle that affects the people of Afghanistan.
3. Afghanistan has 0 amount of coastline, in other words, Afghanistan is landlocked. This could contribute to the city’s history of poverty and death because without a coastline it may be harder to get a hold of goods and foods that could be potentially shipped by sea.
4. The country of Afghanistan experiences many transnational issues, one being the determination of the borders of Afghanistan. In order to clearly state their border, Afghanistan has sent troops to the country’s borders and inserted fences, hoping to keep unwanted peoples out. Afghanistan also experiences problems with sex trafficking, where prostitution and marriage is forced. Illicit drugs are also a major problem, which are only fueled by the number one agricultural product in Afghanistan; opium.
5. Intertwining the massive problems both in society and the economy, Afghanistan has suffered from poor life expectancies, increased sex trafficking and abundant economic tribulations and as a result is suffering through a time of deficiency and desolation.
1. Greg, a soldier with the 101st Airborne Division Alpha Batter 1-320th, is trembling at the sight of the golden horizon as it shimmers in the sweltering, desert heat. Greg continues to load his AT-4 with the long links of golden bullets, preparing for his duty to attack the small city of Jellawar. Before Greg rises off his weak and exhausted knees, an explosion went off to his right, and various limbs of his fellow shoulders flung throughout the hostile air. Amputated limbs, legs, fingers, and even heads were flying about, as if Greg’s trench was being attacked by the severed body parts of his fellow friends and combatants. A deep feeling of rage and angered filled Greg, as if someone killed his dog right in front of him. Greg, who has stumbled during the explosion, got off his feet and proceeded to fire his AT-4 at the city, determined to eliminate anyone in his path. As the bullets quickly leave the gun they clatter into the air creating little fireworks of used ammunition. A plumy cloud of dust and debris surrounds Greg as he valiantly fights for his life and the survival of his country.
2. Combining hope and disappointment in “The Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie utilizes painful imagery, insightful truths, and a complete historical background of the Hazaras to convey that although the Hazaras seem to be gaining ground against the government they are still victim of “inferiority that some accept as truth.”
Part A
1. The top eight agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number one agricultural product is opium.
2. The life expectancy rate for males is 44.79 years and 42.25 years for females. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths per every 1,000 live births. These statistics reflect the issues of health care and poverty within Afghanistan.
3. Afghanistan possesses no coastlines. This number may have contributed to Afghanistan’s history by depriving the nation of trade or a naval military force.
4. Afghanistan faces the transnational issues of human trafficking, illegal drugs, boundary disputes, and refugees.
5. Struggling with international disputes, human trafficking, and the illegal distribution of opium, the nation of Afghanistan exemplifies a nation in need of reform and structure.
Part B
Photo #5:
The streets are filled with the dense, black smoke of the tires burning. I cough, my lungs filled with that harmful menace, and try to weave my way through protesters in order to find a place with clean air. I sit down on a carton and look at the commotion around me: the people yelling, the tires burning, the horns of the cars stuck in traffic honking. America is the cause of our problems. I notice the American flag being burned in a dirty alley, young men standing at its side. Their faces show pleasure, anger, frustration. Nobody should burn our Quran. Nobody. I’ll go to sleep with voices in my head tonight; I’ll hear the anti-American chants, the cries for peace. I’ll dream of the Afghanistan I once knew, I’ll wake up to the violence that surrounds us today- I’ll wake up to the war, to the discrimination, the raids in our houses and the blood on the sidewalk, next to children kicking around the soccer ball. It shouldn’t be this way- those cars on the highway will have to wait until America learns to leave us alone.
Part C
Utilizing the story of Musa Sharaq in “Hazaras: Afghanistan’s Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie evokes an uncertain tone and creates allusions to the “past memories and present frustrations” of Afghanistan in order to convey the ambiguous future of the Hazaras while also exposing the “horror” and “discrimination” felt by them, which reveals the cultural “factions” that are inevitably permanent due to the deep and long history of social divisions in the war-torn nation.
Matt Remick
AP English D
A,
1, The top eight agricultural products of Afghanistan include: opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins; with opium being the number one most popular export.
2, Life expectancy for both men and women is about 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. These statists reflect the lack of trained medical professionals in the country, and the deficiency of the county’s infrastructure (roadways, hospitals, etc.).
3, Afghanistan is a mountainous, landlocked country which would mean that foreign trading (and thus the spreading of ideas) would be quite troublesome.
4, Afghanistan faces many challenges in its transition from both at home and abroad. Both Pakistan and Iran are involved in border disputes with Afghanistan; further the trade of illegal drugs is of worry to Russia. Human trafficking, forced prostitution, and slavery are also large concerns. The profit from the selling of drugs (mostly opium) goes to fund further terrorist activities which undermine the transitional government.
5, A territory with a lasting history of culture and turmoil, the nation of Afghanistan faces a troubling future with a lasting insurgency, dwindling resources, and tribal conflicts which could overcome its prospects of a breath of peace in what has almost been 30-years of perpetual stagnation.
B, The scrap of a latch, the thunder of wood, the clapping of ozone, and one hundred doves wheel into the empty sky in a scattered white mob. On the dipping horizon rests the endless frontier of where these blinded birds head. Save for one, who climbs into the air with the tips of his frilled wings. Too high. From the blue a warped black missile sears towards him. A beautiful black hawk snatches with gem-like talons, and grips the dove by its tarnished wing. The people on the ground laugh and kick the dust at their feet in celebration as festive balloons are cut loose and sail away lazily. An indiscernible, distant cheer erupts as the hawk dips into the craggy mountains with prey in tow, satisfied.
C, Shifting from past images of despair to a hopeful future in “Hazaras: Afghanistan's Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie syndicates nostalgic symbolism, hopeful characterization, and painful imagery in order to encapsulate the bright future of the Hazara people and how they could “bear fruit the whole society c[ould] sample”.
Part A
1) The top eight agriculture-products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. Opium is the number one product.
2) The life expectancy for males is 44.79 years compared to 45.25 years for females. The infant mortality rate is held at 149.2 deaths in 1,000 live births. The low life expectancy of the country exploits the effect that years of war had on the country as poverty and medical failures have worsened.
3) Afghanistan holds 0 kilometers of coastline as it is a landlocked country. Due to its abundance of natural resources and being located in the heart of the Middle East, Afghanistan is subject to the attacks surrounding countries, such as the attempted USSR takeover.
4)Transnational issues in Afghanistan include illicit drugs, trafficking in prisons, refugees and internally displaced persons, boundary alignment issues on ground and on maps, and terrorism.
5) Shifting from a country of prosperity to a country of despair, Afghanistan has been forced to deal with terrorism, poverty, and unreliable medical support that have altered the once picturesque appearance of the country.
Part B
The photographs presented by The Boston Globe all present potent messages in their own way. However, the most potent of them all is the picture of the boy with shrapnel wounds. That picture represents how the war has affect more than just the fighting soldiers, but the innocent society as well. The cliche is that a picture is worth a thousand words, but this picture is worth a thousand stories. It shows the struggles the Afghan people have dealt with; death, poverty, unsanitary conditions, etc.
Part C
Shifting from struggles of Afghanistan ten years ago to the optimistic outlook, Phil Zabriske, in the article “Hazaras: Afghanistans’s Outsiders”, depicts long, difficult history of the Hazara with senescent symbolism, concrete details, and a compelling tone to elucidate that the future of the Hazara people is currently brighter than it has ever been as they climb their way out of the “de facto lower caste.”
1. Top to bottom: 1. Wheat 2. Opium 3. Sheepskins 4. Lambskins 5. Corn 6. Barley 7. Rice 8. cotton
2. 49 years life expectancy. 125 deaths per 1000 births. The health of the populace is reflective of their living conditions and hygiene.
3. 0 kilometers of coastline. The land lock of Afghanistan has forced Afghanistan to deal with all the nations surrounding it causing a much higher chance of conflict and a need to conquer in the case of expansion.
4. Some transnational issues that Afghanistan faces are refugees being repatriated, good neighbor policies with neighboring nations to ensure sovereignty over their land, and efforts in the UN to establish a democratic nation.
5. A nation struggles to recover from war and dictatorship while utilizing a thriving agricultural program to fund expansion of education and health programs for its population.
Part B: image number 38: the dust clears, the blast echoes through the night, the smell of gunpowder fills the air. I quickly spin around and see this mechanical monstrosity looming before me. Barrel still warm, ready for another blast. Gunfire pops in the distance, snaps and cracks of incoming bullets reach my ears. All there is to do is hunker down and do this same routine all over again.
Part C: Struggling to fight inequality and discrimination The Hazara people strive to find their place in society through means of education, social reforms, and hard honest work.
A
1. wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins; opium
2. 45.02; 149.2; lack of proper medical care
3. 0; not having very much access to the outside world
4. forced prostitution, drug trafficking
5. With a geographic location at almost the exact center of the Eastern world, Afghanistan remains one of the most volatile and conflicted nations in the world; this situation is perpetuated by a myriad of deep-rooted social, political, and economic issues.
B.
A white flash and an orange ball. All sound in the world is engulfed in a high-pitched ringing. The wall blasts in, the second floor caves, and a tidal wave of dust washes over me, stinging my eyes. Going through the wooden door hurts almost as much as the searing rain peppering my face and chest. I'm floating in blackness, unaware of which way is up, like a diver lost in the abyss. I finally rise to the surface and roll onto my stomach, take a deep breath and taste the blood in my mouth, open my right eye as I exhale and see the flecks of blood spray onto the floor. More blood trickles into my good eye and I close it again. Back in the ocean. I wonder with mild curiosity if my mother and brother look as bad as me. When I finally make it back to dry land a man is kneeling over me speaking softly in a soothing French baritone and wrapping my head in my tattered flannel shirt. I reach to touch my face, because I am vaguely concerned about all the blood seemingly pouring from it, but he gently takes my hand and puts it back on the floor. He gathers me up in his powerful, gentle arms and I drift out to sea with my head on his shoulder. I wish I could just keep swimming until I reach the bottom, but the tide washes me back to shore and I hear the rotor blades whirring faster and faster. My flannel shirt is soaked through and they carefully remove it and replace it with bandages, but this time they make sure to leave my remaining eye uncovered. I wish he had covered it because all I can see are the concerned looks they keep sending my way when they think I'm not looking. I'm thankful when the black ocean finally swallows me again. Maybe if I'm lucky this time I'll be stronger than the current, and I'll make it to the bottom, and I'll never have to see this country again.
Part A:
1. The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruit, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number one product is opium.
2. The life expectancy at birth for the total population is 45.02 years, for males it is 44.7, and for females it is 45.25 years. The infant mortality rate in total is 149.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, for males it is 152.75 deaths per 1,000 live births, and for females it is 145.47 deaths per 1,000 live births. These statistics reflect the poor living conditions that the people of Afghanistan are faced with each day. They do not have the proper health facilities, making it difficult for infants to come into this world healthy, and also for adults to live a long life with few medical issues.
3. Afghanistan possesses zero kilometers of coastline. This number shows that it was difficult for the people of Afghanistan to leave the country because there was no water near them that they could access and that would make their journey easier.
4. In some portions of the border with Afghanistan, Pakistan built fences, but some areas remain open, allowing for foreign terrorists and other illegal activities. Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium, causing the country to be involving in different trades, etc. There are 132,246 internally displaced persons in Afghanistan.
5. Filling the readers with copious amounts of knowledge about Afghanistan in “The CIA’s World Fact Book”, the authors portray the country’s international and national struggles, the lives of the Afghan people, and general facts about the country to provide the readers with insight on aspects of different culture and the differing traditions and morals in countries around the world.
Part B:
I stand still, not knowing what to do. I can’t move. I can’t speak. All I can think is “I must help this man”. I just witnessed a fellow soldier be hit by a blast, and he is lying on the ground, blood splattered around him. Battle continues to progress, but I was always told to never leave a man behind. I run to this soldier, dodging bullets and trying to keep the sand from getting in my eyes. He is screaming and moaning in pain. He manages to mutter “go on without me”, but I refused. I care about my soldiers more than anything and I was not going to leave him there to die. I pick the 200 pound solider up and sling him over my shoulder. I run from the horrid scene to ensure that this soldier is okay and to care for him.
Part C:
Consistently balancing between the various struggles and difficulties met by Hazaras in Afghanistan in “The Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie employs cultural imagery, literature-based allusions, and international flashbacks to illuminate the Hazara’s “dark history”, the challenges they must continuously face with the Taliban, and their need for “freedom” and superiority in Afghanistan.
Kim Lynch
Block-D
Part A:
1. The top eight agricultural products of Afghanistan are opium, wheat, nuts, fruit, wool, mutton, lambskin and sheepskin. The number one product is wheat.
2. The life expectancy for a male 44.79 and female 45.25. The infant mortality rate for male is 152.75 per 1000 births and female 145.7. The health care reflects in these statistics because it shows how health care is not up to date like how the United States is.
3. There is no coastline for Afghanistan. This affects the country’s history because it doesn’t provide them with many resources.
4. International disputes, illicit drugs, refugees and trafficking people are transnational issues Afghanistan faces.
5. Balancing challenges and assets in Afghanistan, people have to deal with no coastline, life expectancy for citizens and agricultural products which affects how one lives and how other country’s views Afghanistan.
Part B:
1. One night a United States soldier found a vile hurt thirteen year old boy lying in the dirt of Afghanistan and brought him to the medic. The medic saw the inflamed face that’s oozing out red liquid down his cheeks and dropping on his chest. Red marks and peeling of the skin on his shoulders shows how he caught on fire before the soldiers caught him. As he lies on the bed, showing the rib cage poking out of his skin, the medic rushes to stop the blood on his face. The black charcoal hands, grabbing the medic’s shoulder because of the pain, slowly lets go. All of a sudden, the blood stops and so doesn’t his heart.
Part C:
Inflecting from past memories and present frustrations in the article “The Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie emphasizes on challenging situations, horrific actions and difficult choices in order to portray how people and other countries affect what happens in one’s country and affect’s everyone around them; "not just the story of this people. It's the story of the whole country. It's everybody's story."
Christina Domaldo
Part A
1) The top eight agricultural are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheep skin and lamb skin. The number one product is opium.
2) The life expectancy rate for males is 44.79 years and for women it is 45.25.The infant mortality rate for males is 152.75 deaths/ 1,000 births and for females it is 145.47 deaths / 1,000 births. These numbers show that Afghanistan’s health care is not as up to date as our health care is in America.
3) Afghanistan is a land locked country therefore there is no coastline. There being no coastline leads to less resources for the people living in this country, and they have less access to other countries because they cannot travel by water.
4) Afghanistan’s transnational issues include international disputes, refugees and internally displaced people and illicit drugs. Pakistan built fences in some portions of the boarder making some areas not accessible. Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium.
5) Contrasting the nation of Afghanistan with that of the United States both countries have good and bad qualities, such as Afghanistan having a very low life expectancy rate and their lack of resources due to being landlocked, but these factors show how resilient Afghanistan’s people are.
Part B
A
As one views this photo many emotions are evoked, what do you feel when looking at this picture? Do you see an innocent boy being carried away in pain due to the violence that has taken over his world? Or do you see a soldier maybe one from your own country carrying a gun, perhaps the man that caused this innocent little boys injuries. This helpless little boy has fallen victim to the terrible violence that surrounds his whole country. Take a look at the man carrying him; does he look the least bit phased by this child’s injuries? This man has become so use to seeing people bleeding and injured, it is just a daily occurrence in his life.
Part C
Contrasting the cruel realities of Afghanistan’s past with what it is today in “The Outsiders”, the author utilizes graphic details and personal emotion to employ the sad reality of what Afghanistan once was.
Emily Boockoff
Part A:
What are the top eight agricultural products? What product is #1?
The top eight agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins. Product number one is opium.
What is the life expectancy rate? What is the infant mortality rate? What deeper issues are typically reflected in these statistics?
The life expectancy rate is 45 years for the total population. The infant mortality rate is 149 deaths for 1,000 births. This is an incredibly low life expectancy rate so it seems as though there are deeper issues in how the society is being run, possibly how they are living their lives, what they are eating, where they are working.
How many kilometers of coastline does Afghanistan possess? How might this number have contributed to the country's history?
Afghanistan possess zero kilometers of coastline, it is landlocked. It is difficult for a landlocked country to be prosperous on its own because the sea is such a major source. They tend to have very little trade and food without water around them. They have to rely on other countries very much, which could result in their history.
Identify the transnational issues that Afghanistan faces.
Afghanistan has to meet with the surrounding countries routinely in order to discuss their border lines. There are many issues with Iran in terms of protests and military troop lines. Russia is concerned with people smuggling poppy derivates through Afghanistan.
Construct a thesis statement that encapsulates the essence of the Afghan nation (both its assets and its challenges).
Contrasting between both transnational challenges and profitable assets, Afghanistan possesses an abundant supply of goods such as opium, and a fairly strong military force but contrasts these assets with a weak government and constant inability to settle issues resulting in an unstable nation able to be a power, but unable to sufficiently resolve any issue.
Part B:
Picture 26
“It’s okay,” prompted the father “it’ll be fine, this nice man is here to help us”. He kept a calm demeanor attempting to ignore the mess his daughter’s face had become. The soldier sees this every day he thought, struggling to keep smile, he has to know what he is doing, someone has to know what they are doing, my daughter is going to die. He glanced at his daughter’s face, yet again, failing to hide his grimace as he saw the right side of her face. Slaughtered and diminished were the only words that came to mind, this red mess could not be fixed. The slow trickle of the sticky red substance continued to fall off of the previously recognizable face of his daughter and onto his tattered clothing. As they continued to walk through the now war torn land, the flicker of hope began to slowly dim, extinguishing the father’s attitude at the same time. The only hope left as they drudged on was that the quiet, camouflaged men that would heal his daughter had advanced closer into the vicinity.
Part C:
Shifting back and forth between despair and hope in “The Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie utilizes intriguing quote integration, a multiple person point of view and hopeful diction in order to emphasize the adamant attitude of the Hazara people and the hope for “attainable dreams” in the close future.
Kristen MacGray
The Kite Runner Frontloading
Part A.
1. The top eight agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. Opium is the number one product.
2. The life expectancy rate is 45.02 years for the total population. The age is 44.79 years for males and 45.25 years for females. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths/1,000 births. For males, it’s 152.75 deaths/1,000 births and for females it’s 145.47 deaths/1,000 deaths. War and healthcare can both pertain to these statistics.
3. Afghanistan is landlocked so it does not have a coastline. This caused the country to be isolated and forced them to rely on their neighbors.
4. The transnational issues that Afghanistan faces are trafficking in persons and illicit drugs.
5. After suffering from a long and destructive war, Afghanistan is moving towards building a stable central government; however, a continuing provincial instability remains a serious challenge for the country.
Part B.
This is the moment I’ve been dreading for months and now it’s actually here. I’ve just woken up and I can hear my husband downstairs. I get up and head down to see that he is making me breakfast. I immediately break down into tears. Upon seeing this, he comes and gives me a hug. We proceed to eat breakfast together which will be the last time for a while. When we’re finished eating we gather his things together and load the car. My mind is racing with many thoughts. On the way to Penicuik, I can’t seem to think of anything to say. We soon arrive to our destination where we see many other soldiers and their families. We unload his belongings from the car. It is time to say goodbye. We’re holding each other in our arms, neither one of us wanting to let go. We cherish this moment both knowing that it will be the last for six months. He then gives me a kiss goodbye and proceeds to walk away. I scream, “I love you,” just to let him know I’ll still be here when he comes back.
Part C.
Shifting from a description of the past to the present in the article, the author incorporates affective imagery and conscientious attention to detail to explain how one country or nation can be discriminated against but still manage to maintain the pride and determination needed to progress to a better future.
Part A
1. The top eight agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheep skin and lamb skin and the number one product is opium.
2. The life expectancy of males in Afghanistan is 44.79 years and the life expectancy of women in Afghanistan is 45.25 years. The infant mortality rate for males is 152.75 deaths per 1000 births and for females are 145.47 deaths for every 1000 births. The deeper issue reflected is the lack of health care in Afghanistan compared to prosperous countries.
3. Afghanistan does not possess any coastline due to being surrounded by other countries. This could have caused issues in the past because they were not able to easily access transportation to other countries or continents because they cannot use a boat, also they would not have access to important resources that the ocean creates.
4. Some of the transnational issues Afghanistan faces are disputes with other countries, refugees and internally displaced persons, and illicit drugs such as opium.
5. Containing both assets and challenges, Afghanistan is a proud nation with resilient people even when they have some of the toughest living conditions in the world and struggle with wars and illicit drugs.
Part B
Picture 18
They had been sitting in the trenches, waiting patiently for something to happen. Twelve hours had passed since they first crawled from their base, through the dark, cold woods and into the properly assigned trenches. Hiding here consumed most of their time in Afghanistan, just waiting for something to happen. The guns sat on the ledge of the ditch, loaded and ready to fire, right above their heads as they nervously sat their awaiting for the Afghanis to find them and attack. It was 3 a.m. when the soldiers hiding heard a loud bomb go off and they all jumped out of their skin, hands shaking, and hearts pounding. After a moment of shock, they ran to their posts and sat with their guns, ready to fire at the sight of any movement. Thirty minutes had passed when suddenly out of the woods crept dozens of armed soldiers dressed in cameo with weapons out ready to fight. As soon as the opposing soldiers started to fire off the weapons, the American soldiers knew it was time to act. They all jumped out at the time of the command from their leader and bombarded the other men. With this, there was a lot of chaos in the dark woods and though the Americans won the battle, there were some casualties and injuries caused to the brave soldiers. The army medics were running in circles trying to care for all the injured soldiers. There was one man, David, who was losing a lot of blood and they knew they had to get him back to the hospital at the base quickly. A few of the medics gathered around him and worked together to wrap up his wounds to slow down the bleeding, and then one of the brave medics lifted David over his shoulder and carried him all the way back to camp and over to the hospital. The nurses told the medic that David was really lucky to have made it back alive and there is a good chance he will make a full recovery. She told the medic if he had not slowed down the bleeding and carried him to the hospital right away, things may have ended differently.
Part C
Shifting from being treated poorly to being respected, the Hazara’s are becoming a rising ethnicity in Afghanistan due to the events of 9/11, and now the “Hazaras have new access to universities, civil service jobs, and other avenues of advancement long denied them.”
Caisey Calabro
Period D
part a
1. The top eight agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number 1 product is opium.
2. The life expectancy rate females is 42.25 years, and for males it is 45.02 years.The infancy mortality rate is 149.2 out of every 1000 children. The deeper issues associated with these statistics is the risk of diseases and the amount of people who can not afford for thus causing them to die of starvation.
3. Afghanistan has no coastline. It could have contributed to the lands history because of a land and border dispute that happened when trying to decide what actually was considered part of Afghanistan and what was not.
4. Internation disputes, illicit drugs, refugees and internally displaced persons, and trafficking in persons are transnational issues that Afghanistan face.
5. Constantly battling within its own boundaries , Afghanistan is a third world country climbing its way back to safety and prosperity through the use of agricultural goods and new dictatorship based solely on rebuilding Afghanistan.
Caisey Calabro
Period D
part a
1. The top eight agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number 1 product is opium.
2. The life expectancy rate females is 42.25 years, and for males it is 45.02 years.The infancy mortality rate is 149.2 out of every 1000 children. The deeper issues associated with these statistics is the risk of diseases and the amount of people who can not afford for thus causing them to die of starvation.
3. Afghanistan has no coastline. It could have contributed to the lands history because of a land and border dispute that happened when trying to decide what actually was considered part of Afghanistan and what was not.
4. Internation disputes, illicit drugs, refugees and internally displaced persons, and trafficking in persons are transnational issues that Afghanistan face.
5. Constantly battling within its own boundaries , Afghanistan is a third world country climbing its way back to safety and prosperity through the use of agricultural goods and new dictatorship based solely on rebuilding Afghanistan.
Caisey Calabro
Part B:
There is no better hero than that of a man at war. Families struggle everyday as more men and women are shipped off into the unknown battle field of Afghanistan. The soldiers leave behind friends, family, jobs and many other important aspects of their life. Not only do the soldiers have to face tough battles and loses but so do their families. Zachary now has to face one of the toughest battles in his five years of life. The one person he admired and looked up to, the one who taught him how to play baseball, the one who was always there for him will never be able to hold him again. He will never have the chance to grow up and do things that other boys his age will be able to do. He said goodbye to his life long friend when he left on his mission to Afghanistan. Not knowing that indeed would be the last time he and his parents would be saying goodbye to someone they could not imagine life without. He fought to protect his family, his country, and everyone of its citizens. His life was taken in a short instance and although he is no longer with them, his memory will live on forever in their hearts. Every day is a new battle for Zachary, he has to fight back the mourning of a family member. He will have constant reminders each and every day of this horrific event that has happened to his family. He is strong however, because he knows that this is what he would have wanted, his brother would have wanted him to go for his goals and accomplish whatever he set his heart too. His brother is watching over him and protecting him now from heaven rather then from the center of the battle fields.
Caisey Calabro
Part C:
Shifting from hardships to the growing wealth of life for the Hazaras in “ Hazaras: Afghanistan’s Outsiders” Phil Zabriskie utilizes meaningful symbolism, purposeful anecdotes, and a metaphor portrayed by the Buddha statues in order to show the progression of life face by the Hazaras and how they were made to feel unwelcomed in their own home land.
Michelle Carignan
C Block
Blog Assignment: The Kit Runner Front-loading
Part A:
1. The top eight agricultural products of Afghanistan are opium, being number one, and then wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins.
2. The life expectancy rate (at birth) is 45.02 years. While the infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths/1,000 live births. These rates typically indicate the lack of reliable healthcare in Afghanistan.
3. The country of Afghanistan has absolutely no coastline. Since the country is landlocked, this greatly effects today as well as the country’s history. It may have impacted the country through its isolation because it did not have easy access to the sea (navigation and interactions with many other countries is not accessible) and it may have led to a dependence on itself for food and material because it could not easily trade with other countries due to a lack of a port.
4. Transnational issues in Afghanistan include international disputes over countries territory and borders, refugees and internationally displaced persons (mostly due to drought), forced labor and sex trafficking (many victims are brought in from other countries), and illicit drugs – specifically opium.
5. While every nation faces challenges, Afghanistan in specific encounters many difficulties including an impoverished healthcare system, disputed boundary lines, forced labor and sex trafficking, and a profitable illicit drug trade; however, Afghanistan is also a country that recently gained its independence, causing this country to appear to be a step behind many others.
Part B:
(Photo 24)
The heat was blistering hot on our skin. This unforgiving and harsh Afghani sun left our skin reddened and discolored. Our regiment, the Royal Canadian Regiment to be exact, was left feeling drained towards the end of our patrol in Salavat. This heat, in combination with the ominous silence, made us high strung with quick tempers. My good buddy George was in particular feeling rather moody. Up ahead I could see him kick one of the local chickens. And we all laughed because we could see he was taking out his frustration on the innocent chicken. However, as we marched on and chicken’s chirps died down, everyone felt the rising tensions in the air. It was as if we could feel the impending danger coming our way. Everyone’s eyes were darting around; their ears pricked up – trying to sense the danger. Without any words, we all knew what the other was thinking.
But there was no more time to think, because the deafening sounds and almighty tremors of the grenades broke the tensions. And the regiment was decimated.
Part C:
In Phil Zabriskie’s article Hazaras: Afghanistan’s Outsiders, he highlights the history and conflicts the socially inferior hazaras have faced and the unalterable outcomes their oppression has on entire Afghan country.
Kristen Tenglin
Part A.
1. What are the top eight agricultural products? What product is #1?
The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. Opium is the number one agricultural product in Afghanistan.
2. What is the life expectancy rate? What is the infant mortality rate? What deeper issues are typically reflected in these statistics?
The life expectancy rate for females in Afghanistan is 45.25 years and 44.79 years for Afghani males. The life expectancy for the total population is 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate 149.2 deaths out of every 1,000 live births, and this rate is second in the world. Reflected in these statistics is the nature of the Afghani society which lacks in many modern facets of today’s culture including medical capabilities.
3. How many kilometers of coastline does Afghanistan possess? How might this number have contributed to the country's history?
Afghanistan is landlocked so it possesses 0 kilometers of coastline. This may have contributed to the country’s history because it is surrounded by other countries which impact its culture and allow difficult communication with outside countries and transportation of goods. In the same way, land and border disputes have erupted from its landlocked nature which causes war and uneasy feelings between Afghanistan and surrounding nations.
4. Identify the transnational issues that Afghanistan faces.
Transnational issues that Afghanistan faces include international disputes with bordering and other nations, refugees and internally displaced individuals, and illicit drugs. In addition, the Pakistani government has erected walls on some areas of the borders which disallow accessibility to some of these portions. Afghanistan is also the world’s leader in opium production, creating a struggle between this nation and others for control of such a precious resource.
5. Construct a thesis statement that encapsulates the essence of the Afghan nation (both its assets and its challenges).
Continually struggling in a power vacuum for autonomy with numerous nations who are consumed by the desire to control the country, Afghanistan is scarred by its landlocked nature and possession of precious opium which lend to its high demand in the battle for territory among top bidding nations worldwide.
Part B.
Stealthily pacing about the outskirts of the village, Abdul and his father sneak between shelters to avoid the ominous nature of the environment that they have become accustomed to calling home. Abdul quickly glances down, examining the malnourished state that he currently finds himself in due to the lack of food available to him and his family. The war has ravaged the area, leaving the once nurturing Jellawar village a vacant, impoverished area of adversity and chaos. Just as Abdul was beginning to be influenced by the nature of the US occupation, his world was turned upside down. The loud bang shook his eardrums and his future as Abdul was sent spiraling through the air into the location that he once knew to be his home, but now stood as the remnants of what could only be called a house.
Fading in and out of consciousness, Abdul could only discern unfamiliar voices who communicated in a foreign tongue. Abdul’s eyes cracked open as a sea of white faces crowded around him, seemingly in awe of his current state. Rushing around him, the decorated men tended to the wounds that enveloped his being. His eyes struggled to open, blurred by the warm, red fluid that unrelentingly flowed from the scars that would continually remind him of the symbolic end of life as he knew it.
Rapidly throwing his head from side to side in a desperate search for his father, Abdul was subdued by the soldier’s subtle head shake which came to be the universal sign of anguish in Afghanistan. Later, the message of his father’s sudden death would be translated for the Afghan teen, creating an inexpressible mixture of emotions that spread across his face. Abdul cried a mix of tears and blood as he lay in the agony that consumed his being.
The only consolation came from one who was continually referred to as Herrernes from his comrades. Dabbing his face with a wet paper cloth, the medic glared deep into the eyes of the young boy, trying to provide some solace to the Afghan youngster who found himself in a state of utter desperation. Cracking a smile, the US medic who embodied that which had become the enemy of the Afghan people now stood above this hopeless creature that gazed at him as one stares in awe at their guardian angel.
Part C.
Juxtaposing aspects of religious and political toil which are the fruit of “an ugly war” in “The Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie strategically employs polarizing characterization, pervasive imagery, and a reiterative symbol in order to portray Afghanistan as a “hard land with a hard history” and elucidate the valiant struggle of the Afghanis in their attempt to “repair their fractured past” by establishing “a new era” “where corruption is not widespread.”
Quotes: “as the country struggles to rebuild itself after decades of civil war”, “as they try to repair their fractured past”, “signals a new era”, “bitter conflict among ethnic warlords”, “an ugly war”, “hard land with a hard history”, “must address immediate concerns”, “desire for democracy”, “where the population supports the government, where corruption is not widespread, where women play a role in public life, where poppies are not proliferating”
Danielle MacDermott
February 10, 2012
Period C
AP English
TKR Blog
Part A:
1. The top eight agricultural products of Afghanistan are opium, being number one, and then wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins.
2. The life expectancy rate (at birth) is 45.02 years. While the infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths/1,000 live births. These rates typically indicate the lack of reliable healthcare in Afghanistan.
3. The country of Afghanistan has absolutely no coastline. Since the country is landlocked, this greatly effects today as well as the country’s history. It may have impacted the country through its isolation because it did not have easy access to the sea (navigation and interactions with many other countries is not accessible) and it may have led to a dependence on itself for food and material because it could not easily trade with other countries due to a lack of a port.
4. Transnational issues in Afghanistan include international disputes over countries territory and borders, refugees and internationally displaced persons (mostly due to drought), forced labor and sex trafficking (many victims are brought in from other countries), and illicit drugs – specifically opium.
5. Afghanistan is a nation that has both positive and negative aspects, it has much criminal activity including an impoverished healthcare system, disputed boundary lines, forced labor and sex trafficking, and a profitable illicit drug trade but was just successful in gaining its independence.
Part B:
(Image 13)
On a hot, sunny day in Afghanistan at the shrine of Hazrat Ali, I remember looking towards the sky. This day was special to me because it was the last day I got to spend with my father before he died. I remember being a young boy looking up at him. The sun was at high noon, making his face look like a black shadow, only the whites of his teeth could be seen as he flashed his loving smile at me. The deep blue sky was suddenly dotted with the pigeons that flew right over his heads. This momentary happiness masked out my constant hunger. Our family, too poor to even afford a decent meal, was close to starvation. However, on the way back from the shrine, my father found a spare coin on dirty street corner. To my surprise, he bought me a treat. But whenever I think of that sweet treat, it makes my stomach sick. If my father had saved that coin for food for himself, he might have lived. His malnutrition caused him get sick and he never got better, he died a few weeks later. And the thought of those pigeons flying over our heads on the sunny day, will forever remind me of my last happy memory will my father.
Part C:
In Hazaras: Afghanistan’s Outsiders by Phil Zabriskie, he traces the history and conflicts faced by Hazaras and how they affect the country since they are seen as “outsiders”.
Part A:
1. The top eight agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins
2. The life expectancy rate is 45.02 years. For males it’s 44.79 years and for females it’s 45.25 years. The infant mortality rate is total: 149.2 deaths/1,000 live births. For males it’s 152.75 deaths/1,000 live births. For females it’s 145.47 deaths/1,000 live births. The deeper issues reflected in these statistics is the tragic fact that these people have less medical attention and fewer medicines to help cure their health.
3. Afghanistan posses 0 km of coastline. This number has contributed to the country’s history by giving them limited access to trading and war, and difficulty getting resources.
4. The transnational issues that Afghanistan faces are international disputes, illicit drugs, refugees and trafficking people are transnational issues Afghanistan faces.
5. Contrasting between the challenges and assets in Afghanistan, the influenced individuals are given harsh obstacles which affect one’s life and highlights how other countries view them.
Part B:
The streets of Afghanistan, the only country I truly knew were slightly cluttered more than usual; only the majority was not our kind. A few hours previous I was lying in bed, still feeling tired due to my usual interrupted sleep. One body part at a time I pushed my body to sit upright in the stiff bed, forcing my bare, stone feet into the dry clay surface that held the weight of my family. The absence of my father’s singing was the first thought that crawled up into my mind. His soothing yet scratchy voice was always present during the morning hours; it’s what helps him get by every day. I made my round searching the place, which took about a total of two minutes, since our house was on the smaller size. The empty feeling of my father being gone encompassed my whole body. He never leaves without me.
As I open the door the wind grazes my skin, relieving some heat of the sun. I make my way down the street, receiving blank looks as I go. Naturally, the first place I think of to search for my missing father is his work place. With every step I take I feel more and more uneasy. Every glance I take, soldiers absorb my view. To my right, a rock has stricken my view. The tumbling effect of it was not inflicted by a being but something else was frightening it. Whatever that was, was beginning to frighten me as well. As I go to pick up the rock to settle it, something instead decides to settle me.
Terrified, and the most torturous pain was not enough to describe. I have lost my father and was now about to lose myself. A shimmering light from a flashlight was being pointed into my eyes. As if they that would help them see the root of my problems. I was unresponsive. I did not care about myself or my health, the one thought running through my head was, my father. Would he find me, if he’s still out there? Will I make it through to go back home with him? My face was on fire, I could taste the richness of my blood filling my mouth. Coming back to reality was a process. The explosion that stopped me from steadying that warning of a rock, had thrown me off my feet into a wall. The rescue individuals spoke some nonsense about I was lucky to have made it through alive, but I wasn’t listening to them. I had my own thoughts to listen to.
The thing about my country is the bombs and explosives that kill my own aren’t planted to kill us as our target. The explosion that wounded me was meant to kill the Marines, not me. . My downfall was in honor of my father, in which he will honor my bravery and loyalty toward him. Somehow it always ends up being our kind who takes the downfall for us all. But these are the streets of Afghanistan, the only country I truly knew.
Part C:
Discriminating between past memories and present frustrations in the artice “The Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie highlights the changes and affects of the torched war, corruption, equal public roles, and government in order to illustrate that perhaps a new generation will finally lead people beyond the will to grow, and the tension between the country’s will settle because Afghanistan is “not just the story of [these] people. It’s the story of the whole country. It’s everybody’s story.”
Emily Christy
A.
1. The agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins. The number one is Opium.
2. The life expectancy rate is for a male is 44.79 years and for females is it, 45.25 years. The infant mortality rate is for males 152.75 deaths out of 1,000 live births and for females it is 145.47 deaths out of 1,000 live births. There are minimal physicians for people in Afghanistan so once they get sick it will be harder for them to get better and the attention needed.
3. The coast line is zero. It’s a landlocked country, making it harder for it to trade and to adapt to other countries that rely on water. They are also surrounded by mountains but also since there is not a lot of fresh water. Deforestation is going on causing the people to revert to producing oil and given the history of Afghanistan this makes sense.
4. The transnational issues that Afghanistan faces are illicit drugs like Opium, human trafficking, refugees, and boundary disputes.
5. Breaking free from an oppressive hold, Afghanistan has flourished on its ranging agriculture, class assortment, and new policies to help the country develop new ways to increase production, change the standing of the people and form a new government to allow them to move on from the crimes and belittling they have repressed.
B.
1.
Families say their goodbyes to soldiers from the Royal High Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland as they leave for a six month tour in Afghanistan on September 27, 2010 in Penicuik in Scotland. Around 450 soldiers from the battalion are being deployed to Helmand Province for a variety of roles , including training and mentoring the Afghan security forces. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) #
They had only been married for a few months. She was 2 months pregnant and hoping that he would be home in time to see the birth. He was a soldier fighting in a war that was lasting forever. He had signed up before he met her, having a quick romance. Soon they were married and expecting and he was being deployed to fight for his country. Saying goodbye would be the hardest thing she would ever have to do. So he told her it wasn’t goodbye, it was only a see you soon. He would be back and ready to take care of a wonderful baby. As they embraced each other for what could possibly be the last time she couldn’t help but cry. He returned and got to see the birth of his baby girl.
C.
1. Shifting from Pashtun to Hazaras in “Hazaras: Afghanistan’s outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie uses harsh imagery, historic allusions, and scornful tone to express that the growing of the Hazaras is a great thing but based on the “government” and the “ruling to the Taliban” they may never stand a chance at having equal “freedom” to those of the Pashtuns.
Marc Daitch First Half
Part A
1) The top eight agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruit, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number one product is opium.
2) The life expectancy is 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths per 1000 births. The healthcare is usually reflected in the birth and mortality rates, because with better healthcare more people will live longer.
3) Afghanistan contains 0 kilometers of coastline. Having no coastline has contributed to the country’s history because it have helped create the dessert that the country is. There is less water without any oceans, and this leads to less rainfall annually.
4) One transnational issue that Afghanistan faces is disputes. Afghanistan meets with other bordering countries to discuss their borders every year. Another issue is refugees. There are 132,246 IDP’s in Afghanistan. There is also a lot of forced trafficking throughout the country. The biggest problem is still drugs though. Afghanistan is the world’s leading producer of Afghanistan.
5) Although Afghanistan has assets unique to their nation, there a large drug problem, an extreme amount of refugees, and no coast lines, which leads to a negative environment in the dry country.
Part B
1) Picture 40.
Anthony Patris was in a hummer driving through Afghanistan. He is a vehicle commander and is on his way back to his base. While he id driving through the street, he is forced to take an unexpected detour off the main road when he sees a building collapsed on the road up ahead. He is hesitant to do so, because he is aware of how dangerous the side roads and alley ways can be during hostile times in Afghanistan. He no choice, so he takes a left down a road into an open field. He is following only his navigation system, having never gone through part of the city before. While he driving, he notices a group of young afghani children playing with each other all through the field. While he is watching them play, the vehicle begins to drive over rougher ground, and eventually the road disappears and they are driving through land that does not appear to have been driven through recently. While driving the open dirt field, Patris notices a particularly large group of children playing soccer only about 100 feet away from him. While he is watching them play, he hears a loud explosion and his armored vehicle is flipped on its side and barrel rolls about 50 feet. It stops upside down in a cloud that is a combination of smoke and dust. Because the hummer was so large and armored, no one inside was hurt, they are able to climb out through the broken windows. Once the get out of the vehicle, they ready their weapons and take cover behind the car. After a couple of minutes of no one moving, they decide to come
Marc Daitch Second Half
out into the open and analysis what had just happened. After him and his team examined the scene, they realize they had driven over a land mine. They understand how lucky they were; had it been any larger of an explosive they would have most likely died. After they decide it was left there from the field was more often passed through, the check to make sure no civilians were hurt. No one was hurt, but the group of young children playing soccer were traumatized. They had just scene a mine go off, and, and were not sure had happened. Many of them were crying, and they few older ones were too scared to speak. Patris did speak any Afghanistan, but fortunately had decided to bring his translator with him and his team on the trip. He told the translator, Nasrullah Sadat, what to tell the children. After a long time of telling the children it would be alright, they call in for a helicopter to come pick them up. Patris decided is was too dangerous to continue on land; they did not know how many mines were left.
Part c
Shifting from a somber to hopeful mood for the hazaras, Phil Zabriskie utilizes potent imagery and motivational metaphors to convey how although once life was very hard for the Hazaras, it is becoming much better and the life for the race as a whole, and the inspiring stories of hazaras turning their lives around is not only for them, it is the story of the whole country. It's everybody's story."
Sara Pishdadian
THE KITE RUNNER
Part A:
1. What are the top eight agricultural products? What product is #1?
The top eight agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number one product is opium.
2. What is the life expectancy rate? What is the infant mortality rate? What deeper issues are typically reflected in these statistics?
The life expectancy at birth 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths for every 1,000 live births. This is the second highest in the entire world. Deeper issues that are reflected in these statistics is that there is insufficient health care for the country and the technology present in comparison to other countries’ is low, indicating a country that is poor with a population that suffers greatly.
3. How many kilometers of coastline does Afghanistan possess? How might this number have contributed to the country's history?
Afghanistan is a landlocked country with no kilometers of coastline present. Without the ability to establish a port for trading and the need to rely on other countries for water and other essential sources, Afghanistan’s history is littered with a lack of domestic independence and being picked on by countries with better resources.
4. Identify the transnational issues that Afghanistan faces.
Afghanistan faces many transnational issues with many border disputes with Pakistan and Iran, as well as other countries, such as Russia, being concerned with the smuggling of poppy derivatives. Afghanistan’s relationship with trafficking is a severe one with many young women and men being subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking and the country is on the Tier 2 Watch List. In relation to drugs, Afghanistan is the largest producer of opium in the world and as a result there are many issues surrounding this. Many anti-government groups, such as the Taliban, in Afghanistan profit from the opiate trade and most of the heroin consumed in Europe and Eurasia is derived from Afghan opium. The country has many issues dealing with widespread corruption and instability relating to the drug trade.
5. Construct a thesis statement that encapsulates the essence of the Afghan nation (both its assets and its challenges).
The Afghan nation is a country filled with a determined people with strong beliefs and nationalistic pride that has unfortunately been plagued by illegal drug trade and strong international pressure that has led to various conflicts and has resulted in a society that suffers from a low life expectancy and poor education standards, yet remains rich with multiple different cultures, languages and traditions present throughout the population.
Part B:
Onlookers are skeptical, curious and most noticeably, attached to their past. The simplicity of the photograph enhances the complexity present, it juxtaposes the superficial issue of change from the deeper, underlying, conflict of tradition versus innovation. The color contrast of a dark, gold background to the bright (which is partially due to camera flash) and vivid figure at the center shows the clear difference between the people in the background and the person staring at the camera, at the audience with confidence. The confidence, the certainty, the clear purpose of the individual is not only shown by the potent facial expression where a clever smile is hidden but by the body language where the person’s shoulders are back, and their hands are calmly placed at the center of their torso; their ability, their essence is being captured in the photograph as they pose. This person is noteworthy, and hey have no reluctance to show it to the photographer, to the world, and ultimately to them self.
Part C:
In Phil Zabriskie’s article “Hazaras: Afghanistan's Outsiders”, Afghanistan’s complex history involving discrimination against the ethnically different, Sunni Muslim Hazaras is explored by a detailed rendition of the history and current state of the Hazaras, who experience a cultural segregation to this day despite being a determined, educated, and innovative people, a truthful assertion which ultimately leads the reader to infer that the “pluralism” which many Hazaras are fighting for, with great passion and ferocity, partially due to their accounting for one fifth of the Afghan population, is not only a worthwhile cause with a great deal of promise but one case that the Afghan people must continually focus on in order to move forward unified as a people from the same nation, and together as Afghanistan in the world.
Part B1)
I need this to feed my family thought Arash as the solider confiscated his groceries. Arash was a hardworking carpentar, and by most people’s standards very lucky. He had a craft, which meant that he was able to earn an income. Whether this income was sufficient to feed his four children, mother and wife, was a completely irrelevant. Realistically, he was lucky to not be traveling to Shiraz and loading bags of concrete. Lucky, as many people in Afghanistan knew, was a relative thing.
This robbery, which in all honesty could be regarded as a rather unimportant event, ended up changing the lives of many people. Because, unbeknown to Arash, his eight year old daughter Maliha heard him tell his wife what had happened while buying groceries that day, and his criticism of the government. His word choice seemed insignificant at the moment, but in retrospect those words were probably the most impact words he ever spoke, “Our government will always leave the poor to get poorer, and steal from its citizens because they are all just a bunch of rich, corrupt men”. Before he would die from heart disease, Arash would see his child, his daughter, become one of those “rich, corrupt” people.
At twenty-five Maliha Ahmadzia has a life that most Afghan women would consider odd, and some may even extend their words to ‘complete failure’. She has no children and no husband, but rather is attending school. Now, the modern, Western-Afghan woman is expected to do this, but Maliha does not simply meet these expectations, but exceeds them. If she were a Biology major, that would be honorable as doctors are regarded very highly in Kabul. A math major would be ambitious while a literature major (classics with a focus on Persian philosophers) would be suitable and admired. Her actual major of law and political science, well, that is absolutely ridiculous. What could a woman, a good Muslim woman, believe she could do in politics? What man will ever listen to woman? And most perplexing, particularly to the men, was that she honestly believed she was capable.
That night was so long ago, yet Maliha remembers it vividly. At the age of eight she had not understood what corrupt meant, or how the poor could get poorer (wasn’t there just poor and rich?), but she did comprehend that there was a distaste, a disgusting snarl to her father’s voice. Her wonderful, loving father disliked their government. No good Afghan would do this, but then again, what good Afghan would steal from her Baba?
In a strange turn of events, similar to the awkward, and ironic situations that pop culture loves to mock, Maliha fell in love with a Swedish-Afghan man whose life goal was to run for parliament and rebuild their beloved Afghanistan. His love of Maliha’s ambitions as well as desire for excitement and change was sweet and part of the reason she respected him so. But at twenty-three, in love, and without many prospects in the field of academia, she began to consider marrying the attractive man, Abdul, with a great future and having few lovely children and forgetting those ambitions.
PartB2)
It was a Friday afternoon. Warm, dry and dull. The only particularly interesting part of that day was Maliha’s clear need for chocolate, and as most people know: cravings are a women’s weakness. Maliha loved her chocolate cereal (the combination of dessert and breakfast pleased her more than the taste) and so after her lecture on how corrupt Europe was, she went to the convenience store. While paying at the cash, and trying not to slap the cashier who was smirking at her and clearly pressing every button way too slowly, she turned to walk out. In front of her, a man dressed in green, a solider, took the box out of her hands, winked with pursed lips (that were horribly chapped) and left.
The cashier was silent : as attractive as this unknown female was, he did not want to be punished. In that same second, Maliha remembered her father’s words. She had never understood how absolutely correct, in every sense, they were. She ran out of the store, and went to meet Abdul. While she was running her thoughts were scattered but clear : she was not going to let this clarity fade, she knew that she know understood a wrong that was crucial. No government official should steal, and no one should take it. When she finally found him, he was in the library with a book called “Parliamentary History and Procedure: 1950-present”. Maliha had wanted to tell Abdul about her epiphany immediately, about how she wanted to punish all the corrupt people who made such behavior acceptable in her country, but when she saw him sitting there reading, she took the book out of his hands, closed it, and smiled.
Had it not been for the soldiers, her father, her education, her addiction to chocolate, her attractive looks that made the cashier take longer to finish the transaction as well as her politics-obsessed boyfriend, Maliha would have been in a different world today. These seemingly insignificant events and circumstances are what led to Maliha running for parliament. And of course, we all know she won a spot.
Abdul, while supportive at first, could not handle the pressures of a girlfriend in politics, and both amiably agreed they wanted different things: her a meaningful career, and him an intellectual wife who would not mind supporting him (ironic at its best, chauvinistic at its worst) . Maliha’s father remained a comfortable distance where he chose not to be resistant her choice but not support it. He was an old man, and did not want to be bothered. Her friends never formed a real hypothesis on what inspired her actions, but accepted them passively after they saw her persistence. Their support was, sadly, limited. At the end of that long transaction at the cash register, where the reward was only empty hands, her strength ended up coming from the last place even she expected: within
PART A
1. The top eight agricultural products of Afghanistan are: opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. Of these, opium is the number one product.
2. The life expectancy rate in Afghanistan is about 45 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths out of every 1,000 live births. This suggests that something is definitely wrong with the health and quality of living of the Afghan people.
3. Afghanistan possesses zero kilometers of coastline; it is landlocked. This greatly affects Afghanistan and its history because this does not allow for overseas trade with other countries.
4. Afghanistan and Pakistan meet up to “clarify the alignment of the boundary on the ground and on maps.” Pakistan frequently sends troops over the border, which sparks illegal activity and terrorism.
5. Afghanistan, while maintaining many agricultural assets, it unfortunately is the home to a low life expectancy rate, high infant mortality rate, and is and has been the site of intense warfare for many years.
PART C
Transitioning through the years in Afghanistan with little to no hope for acceptance, Phil Zabriskie tells the history of the Harazaras with harsh and realistic, yet hopeful message that Hazaras have always and currently are belittled by the majorities of Afghanistan, but can someday escape that role if the nation succumbs to change.
Erin Chancey-
A.
1. Top 8: Opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskin, and lambskins. Opium is the number 1 agriculture product.
2. Life expectancy: Males- 44.79 years, Females- 45.25 years. Infant mortality rate: total- 149.2 deaths/ 1,000 live births, Male- 152.75 deaths/1,000 live births, Females- 145.47 deaths/1,000 live births. There are way too many infant mortalities per live birth, and the life expectancy is not that old (only about 45 years).
3. Kilometers of coastline: 0km. Afghanistan is landlocked. This could be why Afghanistan's history is what it is. Because being near the ocean would provide more resources, being landlocked would explain why the products produced are what they are. Afghanistan is not in the right location for a lot of valuable resources.
4. Transnational issues Afghanistan has:
1. International disputes.
2. Refugees & internally displaced persons.
3. Trafficking in persons.
4. Illicit drugs.
Thesis:
Afghanistan is forced to overcome many difficulties including low life expectancies, high infant mortality rates, as well as being landlocked and having transnational issues, yet they continue producing agricultural products and attempting to survive in high spirits.
B.(Picture 36):
We had been in the car for over an hour and I couldn't help thinking this would be the last time I would ever see Jeff. We got to the airport and when I saw all the other families saying goodbye that's when it really hit me that he was leaving again. Afghanistan wasn't a happy vacation spot I already knew. I knew Jeff would be in horrible conditions and risking his life everyday he was there dispute his constant reassurance that he would be fine. Sure. Fine, with bombs going off everywhere and in lines of gun fire in the middle of a full on war. I looked around and saw all the other couples just like Jeff and myself saying their goodbyes. I started crying then, and gave him one last kiss before he boarded the plane for the last time. I didn't know it would be the last time I ever saw Jeff. Another victim to the violence in Afghanistan.
Part A:
1. What are the top eight agricultural products? What product is #1?
The top eight agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number one product is opium.
2. What is the life expectancy rate? What is the infant mortality rate? What deeper issues are typically reflected in these statistics?
The life expectancy rate is about 45 years for both males and females. The infant mortality rate is 149 to 1,000. For males it is 153 to 1,000 and for females it is 145 to 1,000. The health of the people of Afghanistan could be a deeper issue found from these statistics. Lack of proper health care and medicine could be a factor of these facts.
3. How many kilometers of coastline does Afghanistan possess? How might this number have contributed to the country's history?
Afghanistan is completely landlocked. There are no kilometers of coastline. A lack of coastline may have prevented the country from easier access to trade, war, and planning attacks.
4. Identify the transnational issues that Afghanistan faces.
Afghanistan has boundary issues with Coalition and Pakistan military and Iranian commissioners. There are 132,246 refugees and internationally displaced persons. Many men, women, and children are forced into jobs such as prostitution, carpet-making, drug smuggling, and begging. Women are forced into many marriages despite their wishes. Many people from Afghanistan profit from trading opium.
5. Construct a thesis statement that encapsulates the essence of the Afghan nation (both its assets and its challenges).
Afghanistan transitioned from a time of a peace to a time of war due to disagreements between governments and the people of Afghanistan.
Part B: (Picture 47) As I patrol the pomegranate I think about what it represents. What it means to everyone. This is a “beacon of hope”. As much as I truly love being in this place I hope I won’t have to patrol this place much longer. I hope I won’t have to patrol anywhere much longer. I wish this could all just be over but I know that is a very far-fetched wish. It won’t happen anytime soon. I kick a pomegranate in front of me off to the side. This place almost seems abandoned. I bet people haven’t been in here a while. Probably because there’s always someone here patrolling it. If only this could all be over and done with.
Part C: Comparing the past and the present in “The Outsiders”, Phil Zabroskie displays how the challenges that are brought upon countries by the government, the citizens, and other countries can affect the outcome of the country as a whole.
-Samantha Gaglio
Stacie Linfield
2/10/12
Part A (The website link posted would not load for me so I searched and found what I could on google)
1. Wheat, opium, sheepskins, lambskins, corn, barley, rice, cotton, and fruit.
2. Life expectancy is 49 years for both men and women. It also has the highest mortality rate in the world, with one in every five children dying before the age of five, and one out of every eight women dying during childbirth. The main reasons for these problems are because of distant hospital location, poor local healthcare, domestic violence, and expensive vaccinations.
3. ***********
4. Women are in a constant struggle for equal rights, such as right to vote and education. There is also the struggle between the Muslims and many other races and religions in the area because of misunderstanding one another.
5. Through the seemingly ever-present conflict for women and religion, the Afghani people remain a nation of agricultural assets and social struggle, which reflects an unfortunate inability to see eye to eye and accept the things they do not understand.
Part B
The warm summer breeze drifted through Fahima’s window, rousing her from sleep. Squinting her eyes against the harsh morning sun, she climbed out of bed and made her way into the kitchen for breakfast. There was already a fresh piece of naan on the table with a thick layer of her father’s famous pomegranate marmalade, and a glass of sweet orange juice. She commonly found herself alone in the mornings, for her parents worked early hours on their pomegranate orchard, and like most mornings she went for a walk through the open valley outside her home. This was the routine she went by every day since she could remember, but she didn’t expect today to be the last.
Changing into her dark blue capris and top, she whisked her way out the door and began her walk into the dawning lands. She knew every rock and crumbling mound of earth she passed, and she knew the exact path she’d follow as she always had. She rounded a patch of overgrown ragweed with a spritely skip, and hopped over the spiney hedges that grew wildly this time of year. All was as usual on her 11th year of life in the hot Kabul summer, until this one, fateful morning.
As she reached the far end of the valley she prepared to walk back the way she came, when she was suddenly overcome by an overpowering force. The blast of the explosion knocked her ten feet from where she stood, rolling her through the sharp cobblestones and grainy sand. After she lost momentum, the realization of what had happened set in. She felt the sting of her skinned arms and legs, and the pressure of the swelling that began to encompass her body. Too shocked by the suddenness of what occurred, she lay there in a forming pool of her blood.
She heard the boom echo off the mountains in the distance, and the rustling of wings from birds taking panicked flight. The dust settled enough for her to see a tree swaying gently overheard. It stood unaffected by the unforeseen blast, except for a jagged piece of metal that was crudely embedded into the coarse bark. Through further inspection she saw a light spatter of what had to be her blood. After what felt to Fahima to be hours, she heard the pounding of fast approaching feet.
“I thought you said there were no civilians in the area!” one voice was shouting. “I would never have launched that RPG!”
The frantic and panicked voices scared her, and before she knew what was happening she was swept up into strong arms. Although scared for what might become of her, she could feel the soft embrace of acceptance for whatever was to come. She lay limply against the strange man and was directed toward the brilliant light ahead. Was it the light of the late morning Afghani sun, or the light of an awaiting eternal dusk? She closed her eyes and knew…
Stacie Linfield (continued)
Part C
Contrasting the practices of religion between Pashtuns and Hazaras in “Hazaras: Afghanistan’s Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie utilizes concrete fact and anecdotes of the afflicted to concisely communicate the oppression of the Hazara people who are “set apart by geography and beliefs”.
Susan Meyer A block
PART A
1.) The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are: opium; wheat; fruits; wool; mutton; sheepskin; and lambskin. Opium is produced most frequently in Afghanistan.
2.) The life expectancy rate for males in Afghanistan is 44.79 years old and the female life expectancy rate is 45.25 years old. Afghanistan has the second lowest life expectancy rate in the world. The infant mortality rate for males is 152.75 deaths/ 1,000 live births. The infant mortality rate for females is 145.47 deaths/ 1,000 live births. Over population could become a problem in Afghanistan because of the vast numbers of births every year.
3.) Afghanistan possesses 0km of coastline. This may have made the trading difficult in the country’s history.
4.) Afghanistan faces issues with illicit drugs, trafficking in person’s refugees and internationally displaced persons, and international disputes.
5.) Afghanistan struggles with an overgrowth of population, a mass production of the drug opium, and many transnational issues which affect the county’s citizens in a negative way.
PART B
“U.S. Marines help as a young girl is carried by her father to a Medevac helicopter September 18, 2010 near Marja, Afghanistan. The girl suffered wounds to her face and legs after being struck by shrapnel from an RPG that was fired at Marines patrolling in her village. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #”
Afraid and intruded, this young innocent child has been driven out of her home by the corruption in her homeland. After sitting in her kitchen talking with her family, the house was invaded and under attack. These children cannot fend for themselves. Her two other siblings and her mother lost their lives in the invasion. The young girl’s father does all he can to keep his last family member alive. Families in Afghanistan have been denied by their homeland and stripped of their freedoms. Not only will this young child have to face her injuries, but also the three deaths that she has encountered. The country of Afghanistan is no longer protecting the rights or lives of its citizens. The citizens of Afghanistan are being left to fend for themselves. The citizens must look to another country because their own country has betrayed them.
PART C
Afghanistan faces many challenges as a country, the unconcerned government, unstable society, and needy community leads to uncontrolled and chaotic problems across the country, leaving the citizens of Afghanistan alone and unprotected in regard to their government.
Susan Meyer A block
PART A
1.) The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are: opium; wheat; fruits; wool; mutton; sheepskin; and lambskin. Opium is produced most frequently in Afghanistan.
2.) The life expectancy rate for males in Afghanistan is 44.79 years old and the female life expectancy rate is 45.25 years old. Afghanistan has the second lowest life expectancy rate in the world. The infant mortality rate for males is 152.75 deaths/ 1,000 live births. The infant mortality rate for females is 145.47 deaths/ 1,000 live births. Over population could become a problem in Afghanistan because of the vast numbers of births every year.
3.) Afghanistan possesses 0km of coastline. This may have made the trading difficult in the country’s history.
4.) Afghanistan faces issues with illicit drugs, trafficking in person’s refugees and internationally displaced persons, and international disputes.
5.) Afghanistan struggles with an overgrowth of population, a mass production of the drug opium, and many transnational issues which affect the county’s citizens in a negative way.
PART B
“U.S. Marines help as a young girl is carried by her father to a Medevac helicopter September 18, 2010 near Marja, Afghanistan. The girl suffered wounds to her face and legs after being struck by shrapnel from an RPG that was fired at Marines patrolling in her village. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #”
Afraid and intruded, this young innocent child has been driven out of her home by the corruption in her homeland. After sitting in her kitchen talking with her family, the house was invaded and under attack. These children cannot fend for themselves. Her two other siblings and her mother lost their lives in the invasion. The young girl’s father does all he can to keep his last family member alive. Families in Afghanistan have been denied by their homeland and stripped of their freedoms. Not only will this young child have to face her injuries, but also the three deaths that she has encountered. The country of Afghanistan is no longer protecting the rights or lives of its citizens. The citizens of Afghanistan are being left to fend for themselves. The citizens must look to another country because their own country has betrayed them.
PART C
Afghanistan faces many challenges as a country, the unconcerned government, unstable society, and needy community leads to uncontrolled and chaotic problems across the country, leaving the citizens of Afghanistan alone and unprotected in regard to their government.
Susan Meyer A block
PART A
1.) The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are: opium; wheat; fruits; wool; mutton; sheepskin; and lambskin. Opium is produced most frequently in Afghanistan.
2.) The life expectancy rate for males in Afghanistan is 44.79 years old and the female life expectancy rate is 45.25 years old. Afghanistan has the second lowest life expectancy rate in the world. The infant mortality rate for males is 152.75 deaths/ 1,000 live births. The infant mortality rate for females is 145.47 deaths/ 1,000 live births. Over population could become a problem in Afghanistan because of the vast numbers of births every year.
3.) Afghanistan possesses 0km of coastline. This may have made the trading difficult in the country’s history.
4.) Afghanistan faces issues with illicit drugs, trafficking in person’s refugees and internationally displaced persons, and international disputes.
5.) Afghanistan struggles with an overgrowth of population, a mass production of the drug opium, and many transnational issues which affect the county’s citizens in a negative way.
PART B
“U.S. Marines help as a young girl is carried by her father to a Medevac helicopter September 18, 2010 near Marja, Afghanistan. The girl suffered wounds to her face and legs after being struck by shrapnel from an RPG that was fired at Marines patrolling in her village. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #”
Afraid and intruded, this young innocent child has been driven out of her home by the corruption in her homeland. After sitting in her kitchen talking with her family, the house was invaded and under attack. These children cannot fend for themselves. Her two other siblings and her mother lost their lives in the invasion. The young girl’s father does all he can to keep his last family member alive. Families in Afghanistan have been denied by their homeland and stripped of their freedoms. Not only will this young child have to face her injuries, but also the three deaths that she has encountered. The country of Afghanistan is no longer protecting the rights or lives of its citizens. The citizens of Afghanistan are being left to fend for themselves. The citizens must look to another country because their own country has betrayed them.
PART C
Afghanistan faces many challenges as a country, the unconcerned government, unstable society, and needy community leads to uncontrolled and chaotic problems across the country, leaving the citizens of Afghanistan alone and unprotected in regard to their government.
Susan Meyer A block
PART A
1.) The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are: opium; wheat; fruits; wool; mutton; sheepskin; and lambskin. Opium is produced most frequently in Afghanistan.
2.) The life expectancy rate for males in Afghanistan is 44.79 years old and the female life expectancy rate is 45.25 years old. Afghanistan has the second lowest life expectancy rate in the world. The infant mortality rate for males is 152.75 deaths/ 1,000 live births. The infant mortality rate for females is 145.47 deaths/ 1,000 live births. Over population could become a problem in Afghanistan because of the vast numbers of births every year.
3.) Afghanistan possesses 0km of coastline. This may have made the trading difficult in the country’s history.
4.) Afghanistan faces issues with illicit drugs, trafficking in person’s refugees and internationally displaced persons, and international disputes.
5.) Afghanistan struggles with an overgrowth of population, a mass production of the drug opium, and many transnational issues which affect the county’s citizens in a negative way.
PART B
“U.S. Marines help as a young girl is carried by her father to a Medevac helicopter September 18, 2010 near Marja, Afghanistan. The girl suffered wounds to her face and legs after being struck by shrapnel from an RPG that was fired at Marines patrolling in her village. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #”
Afraid and intruded, this young innocent child has been driven out of her home by the corruption in her homeland. After sitting in her kitchen talking with her family, the house was invaded and under attack. These children cannot fend for themselves. Her two other siblings and her mother lost their lives in the invasion. The young girl’s father does all he can to keep his last family member alive. Families in Afghanistan have been denied by their homeland and stripped of their freedoms. Not only will this young child have to face her injuries, but also the three deaths that she has encountered. The country of Afghanistan is no longer protecting the rights or lives of its citizens. The citizens of Afghanistan are being left to fend for themselves. The citizens must look to another country because their own country has betrayed them.
PART C
Afghanistan faces many challenges as a country, the unconcerned government, unstable society, and needy community leads to uncontrolled and chaotic problems across the country, leaving the citizens of Afghanistan alone and unprotected in regard to their government.
Part A
1. The agricultural products from greatest to least are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins.
2. Life expectancy rate is 44.79 years for males, and 45.25 years for females. The infant mortality rate for males is 152.75 deaths per 1,000 deaths, and 145.47 deaths per 1,000 deaths or females. A deeper issue involving these statistics is that people might tend to have more children because of the higher mortality rate, possibly resulting in more children than grown adults.
3. Afghanistan has no coastline. This might have contributed to the country’s history because all their traditions and custom will be based on land rather than water, like kite flying.
4. Some transnational issue faced in Afghanistan includes border disputes between surrounding countries, refugees, human trafficking and opium production. The opium is then sold to places like Europe and Eurasia. In addition, victims of sex trafficking are punished rather than the traffickers themselves.
5. Infused with both traditional and modern aspects, Afghanistan is a country that is struggling to come out of a hole of low life expectancy rates, high mortality rates, and prevalent amounts of drug trade and human trafficking.
Part B
“The Big Picture’s” technique of show vs. tell is an extremely effective form of telling a story rather than a written piece through its accurate depiction of the faces and the land of Afghanistan. This is in contrast to a written passage that can only describe someone so much. The face of the old man’s face illuminated by the fading sunlight is seen as just an old Afghan man, but that face can be seen as the fading face of Afghanistan, the face that is dying out along with the fading sun, and ushering in a younger generation, and a new era. One cannot see the same picture if the same man was described In words.
Fictional Piece
A young man was walking the streets of Kabul, breathing in the fresh air. He was the son of a wealthy businessman, and life was perfect. He attended university and became a doctor and got a job across the city. A few years later, he fell in love with a young woman, and the two got married and had a child, a boy. The three of them were all happy, living together in Kabul, their city, their home.
But one day, the Russians rolled in with their tanks and their machine guns and soon fighting broke out in the streets. The man lost his home and him and family became homeless. The years went by, their son grew older, the man aged and his wife, an old woman. They watched the city die in front of their eyes as they sat in their makeshift home, dirty and poor. One day, the old man died and his wife passed away, leaving their son. He packed his things, and moved on.
Part C
Transitioning between the discrimination and social equality of the Hazaras, the author describes the “scars” that are in the “highlands of the Hazara homeland” and comparing them to the place it is today, “one of the safest in Afghanistan” to give some hope because the Hazara’s story is “everybody’s story.”
A: 1. The top eight agricultural products produced in Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The top product, opium, leads to a lot of the nation’s transnational issues.
2. The life expectancy of an Afghan is a mere 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.02 deaths per every 1,000 live births. Both of these numbers rank in at 2nd in the world, with only the African nation Angola having more frequent deaths. This relates to a number of things, from a lack of jobs and income to the limitations of fresh water in the country. This country is at a very high risk for major infectious disease and most people are not educated or wealthy enough to receive medical treatment.
3. Afghanistan has 0 km of coastline, as it is a landlocked nation. This severely limits transcontinental trade and communications. This might have allowed Afghanistan to maintain outdated traditions beyond most of the world and causes it to be largely influenced only by neighboring countries. For these reasons, the current influences from the rest of the world are likely much more drastic.
4. Afghanistan, like most nations of the world, has disputes with its neighboring countries concerning where the border lies , smuggling, and military presence. More problematic is Afghanistan’s status as a “source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking”. Boys and girls are forced into prostitution, textile industries, domestic service, begging, drug smuggling, and marriage. They also have a prominent issue with illicit drugs, as Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of Opium. Farmers across the nation gain their meager income from poppy farms and the opiate trade is a key source of revenue for the Taliban. This has led to wide spread corruption and instability and causes problems throughout the world as these drugs a distributed.
5. Afghanistan, a small landlocked nation dominated by unstable politics and devoted Muslims, is a country where the living standards are “among the lowest in the world”, but where the economical, educational, and prejudicial standards have recently been “recovering”.
C: Shifting between future possibilities and the disconsolate reality of “The Outsiders”, Zabriskie uses brutally factual irony, artful representations, and pathos-laden anecdotes to examine the corruption present in a country that suppresses the “earnest, motivated, and intelligent” people who, with their persistent anticipation of a better future, could easily be the ones to bring needed change, “not just for Hazaras but for all Afghans”.
B:
It’s so easy to forget just how lucky we are. Only nine years ago, none of us would have been allowed here. We would all be home, cooking naan and making sure our hair is tucked perfectly into our scarves for when our husbands return home. My mother never left her house from the day she married my father until the day she was taken to the hospital at age 37. How glad she would be, if she could see how free we are to enjoy and express ourselves these days. Now, the young girl next door, whose mother was never able to write her own name, attends the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, and learns not only to read and write, but to read music with elegance and grace.
The woman next to me grabs my hand, shaking me out of my reverie. She is overflowing with emotion and I can’t help but catch some of it. I have never seen her face before, but right now, she could be my sister. We’re all the same on this day. He unites us. Isn’t that strange, how one man has such an effect on all of us women? But we are all filled with the same feeling from the moment he opens his mouth- hope. Hope for the future, hope for each other, hope for our country.
I’m certainly not the loudest or proudest one in the group, but I sing along. Ba Kabul jaan, ba Kabul jaan Salaam, Afghanistan salaam. Several younger girls lurch towards the front of the crowd, hoping to brush his hand. One girl loses her head scarf, but doesn’t even look back. It truly is a new era.
I can’t tell who started it or when, but suddenly I realize I am swaying with the crowd. We sway to the beat, a new beat. This one up tempo, gaining speed. Our country may still be spiraling out of control, but there is still sanity to be found. The music is bliss. The music is joy. Sweet, sweet music. Sweet, sweet freedom. It is ours, for today, it is finally ours.
Hannah Chisholm
PART A:
1. The top eight agricultural products of Afghanistan are opium,wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins. Opium is number one.
2. The life expectancy of the total population is 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths for every 1000 births. This really shows the difficulty of life in Afghanistan. lmost one out of every 10 babies die and even then they only live to be about half the age of the rest of the world.
3. Afghanistan is a landlocked country. This may have contributed to their history because they are therefor unable to trade using boats and were, until air travel, only really able to trade to neighboring countries.
4. Afghanistan, Coalition, and Pakistan frequently have border disputes. Iran protests their restricting water flow of the Helmand River with a dam because of drought season. Fences along remote tribal areas serve as bases to foreign terrorists. They also have an enormous problem with human trafficking. One of their biggest issues is that they lead the world in opium production.
5. Afghanistan is currently facing a plethora of domestic and international problems that they re having difficulty getting past on their own.
PART B:
Picture 34
Music gives me life. As I sit with my cello, bow in hand, I can forget the rest of the world. I can forget the torment of my war torn country. The death and destruction I see in the news every morning. As soon as I begin a new piece, it’s all I can focus on. All I want to focus on. It is such a relief to hear soothing music as opposed to the never ending symphony of bombs. As one of twenty-seven girls in the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, I must do everything I can to stand out. I must excel rather than just get by and that is something that I haven’t had any trouble with so far. Music is my passion.
PART C:
With hopeful undertones in “The Outsiders”, the author using moving interviews, important allusions, and intelligent diction to show that even in the most dismal of times changee “will emerge” as long as there is the will and faith of the people who need it most.
Hannah Chisholm
PART A:
1. The top eight agricultural products of Afghanistan are opium,wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins. Opium is number one.
2. The life expectancy of the total population is 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths for every 1000 births. This really shows the difficulty of life in Afghanistan. lmost one out of every 10 babies die and even then they only live to be about half the age of the rest of the world.
3. Afghanistan is a landlocked country. This may have contributed to their history because they are therefor unable to trade using boats and were, until air travel, only really able to trade to neighboring countries.
4. Afghanistan, Coalition, and Pakistan frequently have border disputes. Iran protests their restricting water flow of the Helmand River with a dam because of drought season. Fences along remote tribal areas serve as bases to foreign terrorists. They also have an enormous problem with human trafficking. One of their biggest issues is that they lead the world in opium production.
5. Afghanistan is currently facing a plethora of domestic and international problems that they re having difficulty getting past on their own.
PART B:
Picture 34
Music gives me life. As I sit with my cello, bow in hand, I can forget the rest of the world. I can forget the torment of my war torn country. The death and destruction I see in the news every morning. As soon as I begin a new piece, it’s all I can focus on. All I want to focus on. It is such a relief to hear soothing music as opposed to the never ending symphony of bombs. As one of twenty-seven girls in the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, I must do everything I can to stand out. I must excel rather than just get by and that is something that I haven’t had any trouble with so far. Music is my passion.
PART C:
With hopeful undertones in “The Outsiders”, the author using moving interviews, important allusions, and intelligent diction to show that even in the most dismal of times changee “will emerge” as long as there is the will and faith of the people who need it most.
PART A
1. The top 8 agricultural products of Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. Number one being opium.
2. Life expectancy for males and females is about 45 years old. Infant mortality rate for boys was about 153 out of 1000 and about 145 out of 1000 for girls. Nourishment is key in growing up healthy and in a society such as Afghanistan, there may not always be proper forms of nourishment available. Stress also plays a factor; being constantly under war may increase stress and therefore increase coronary heart illnesses. There is also a high degrees of risk for infectious diseases in Afghanistan.
3. Afghanistan is landlocked, therefore they have 0 kilometers of coastline. It would have affected their agriculture life, meaning there are certain crops they could not grow without water. It would have also affected their war tactics and strategies.
4. Afghanistan is struggling with Iran over certain boundaries. Women and young boys and girls are commonly forced into prostitution. Being the world's largest producer of opium, drug trafficking is also a problem.
5. Advancing in agriculture but still struggling with a high risk of infectious diseases and unstable society, Afghanistan is aiming to eventually become a more united and successful country.
PART B
(Picture 39) I watched as my friend Zachary hugged his dad. He has been my best friend for as long as I can remember, but I have never hated him as much as I hated him at that moment. Voices slurred all around me. Pats on my back which were meant to comfort me made me angry. My numbed body wanted to be anywhere but in this room full of black. My world was over. Everyone once in awhile an unfamiliar face would bend over so that we were eye to eye and began to mumble meaningless condolences to me. I didn't process a single word. I know everyone had good intentions but i was mad. I wanted to run across the room and shout in Zachary's face. What right did he have to cry? His dad was standing right in front of him. Mine was in a casket- lifeless, dead, cold. I yearned for one last hug. One last game of catch. One last ice cream cone together on a warm summer night. I held so much resentment inside me for a long time after that day. As I grew into the man I am today, I began to understand that my dad's life was not wasted. He sacrificed his life so that many other's could live theirs peacefully. I still miss him everyday; wish he was still here to see his beautiful granddaughter. But one day we will be reunited and I want him to be proud of me. So I live my life, resentment free, for him.
PART C
Utilizing touching imagery, informative tone, and omniscient diction in his article "Hazaras: Afghanistan's Outsiders", Phil Zabriskie illuminates the struggles and perseverance of the Hazaras, unwelcome in their own homeland, "as they try to repair their fractured past."
1. opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins
2. The life expectancy in Afghanistan is 45.02, and the infant mortality rate is 149.2 for every thousand. This indicates that the country probably has bad medical care.
3. Afghanistan has 0 miles of coastline so it proabably has little contact with other countries.
4. Two problems in Afghanistan are the fighting with Pakistan and the large amount of refugees.
5. The constant fighting in Afghanistan has created enormous problems in economic, social, and political areas.
Shots rang out in the town. My friend dropped to the ground with bullets in his leg. The unit mobilized and defended my wounded comrade as we dragged him to safety. We radioed in a helicopter and set up a perimeter around him to keep him safe. When I finally saw it hovering over the town, I picked up my fellow soldier and carried him to be Medivaced. I watched as the helicopter took off and flew away. I just don’t understand this war.
- Brian Loud
1. opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins
2. The life expectancy in Afghanistan is 45.02, and the infant mortality rate is 149.2 for every thousand. This indicates that the country probably has bad medical care.
3. Afghanistan has 0 miles of coastline so it proabably has little contact with other countries.
4. Two problems in Afghanistan are the fighting with Pakistan and the large amount of refugees.
5. The constant fighting in Afghanistan has created enormous problems in economic, social, and political areas.
Shots rang out in the town. My friend dropped to the ground with bullets in his leg. The unit mobilized and defended my wounded comrade as we dragged him to safety. We radioed in a helicopter and set up a perimeter around him to keep him safe. When I finally saw it hovering over the town, I picked up my fellow soldier and carried him to be Medivaced. I watched as the helicopter took off and flew away. I just don’t understand this war.
- Brian Loud
1. opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins
2. The life expectancy in Afghanistan is 45.02, and the infant mortality rate is 149.2 for every thousand. This indicates that the country probably has bad medical care.
3. Afghanistan has 0 miles of coastline so it proabably has little contact with other countries.
4. Two problems in Afghanistan are the fighting with Pakistan and the large amount of refugees.
5. The constant fighting in Afghanistan has created enormous problems in economic, social, and political areas.
Shots rang out in the town. My friend dropped to the ground with bullets in his leg. The unit mobilized and defended my wounded comrade as we dragged him to safety. We radioed in a helicopter and set up a perimeter around him to keep him safe. When I finally saw it hovering over the town, I picked up my fellow soldier and carried him to be Medivaced. I watched as the helicopter took off and flew away. I just don’t understand this war.
- Brian Loud
Brittany Harnedy
Part A:
1. The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. Opium is the number one product.
2. The life expectancy rate of the people of Afghanistan is 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate of Afghanistan is 149.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. These statistics show that in Afghanistan poverty, war, and other elements have a negative affect on people’s lives.
3. Afghanistan does not possess any kilometers of coastline. This shows how easily war was started in the country because they were surrounded by others and did not have a means of escaping.
4. Afghanistan faces many transnational issues including international boundaries, illicit drugs, refugees and internally displaced persons, and human trafficking.
5. Transitioning from war to the aftermath in “The World Factbook”, the Central Intelligence Agency incorporates accurate statistics, the appeal of pathos, and confidential facts in order to encapsulate the essence of both the assets and the challenges of the Afghan nation.
Part B:
1. Picture 26: As explosives go off around them, her father still manages to smile. His smile is what holds him together, just like the bandages that are keeping the little girl in his arms in one piece. Despite all of the pain and suffering he has faced, he is thankful to have made it this far. He is proud to say he will one day see Kabul at peace again, something most of people in this country will never have the opportunity to see. Soon enough he will experience the life he used to live, the one he shared with his family. Now his daughter is all he has left. His neighbors and family were all killed by the RPG that was fired in his village; however, his daughter remains strong, the youngest one in the village. Her heart still beats as loudly as it does on any other day and her skin is as warm as the sun blazing down on them. Her wounds and bandages only affect the outside. Her exposed flesh and blood hide the truth, that she’s still strong and happy. One might assume from the bags under her eyes that fear has kept her up all night but it was her father’s stories that kept her wide awake. Together they made each other forget about their surroundings. Now, even as reality literally hits them, they are still happy. They don’t need the soldiers around them, trying to protect them. All they need is each other.
2. Transitioning from past to present in “The Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie incorporates religious personification, statuesque metaphors, and a shocking history in his article in order to emphasize the need for a new Afghan leader who will “lead people beyond the mindset of war and warlords and jihad”.
The Kite Runner Frontloading
A.
1. The top eight agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins. The number one product is opium.
2. The life expectancy at birth for males is 44.79 years, for a female is 45.25 years, and total population is 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate for males is 152.75 deaths/1,000 live births, for a female is 145.47 deaths/1,000 live births, and total population is 149.2 deaths/1,000 live births. The deeper issue is that way more births than there are deaths, leading to an imminent overpopulation of the country.
3. Afghanistan possesses 0 km of coastline because it is landlocked. In response to the country’s history, this number would have contributed to the greater focus on oil, natural resources, and agricultural products from within the country as it lacks the resources that many countries are able to receive from the seas.
4. The transnational issues that Afghanistan faces are international disputes pertaining to boundary alignment on the ground and on maps, refugees and internally displaced persons (132, 246 people), trafficking such as forced child labor and sex trafficking, and illicit drugs; being that Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium, the Taliban and other antigovernment groups participate in and profit from the opiate trade.
5. Juxtaposing the domestic successes and concurrent domestic disputes, Afghanistan provides a flourishing agricultural industry, yet unmistakably falters with maintaining a successful housing industry, criminality sector, and government which further leads to the consequential need for international help and a slow recovery since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
B.
The first picture almost works to depict Afghanistan as lost and out of touch as the viewer of the picture quickly notices the child in the background holding was looks to be a real gun, but in actuality is a toy gun. Nevertheless, the proximity of the children to the Italian soldier portrays a sense of recklessness in the boy as he is near danger and Herat’s prison when in fact, as a child, should be far away from such a critical location. It is shown that they are blissfully unaware of the events occurring, judging by their smiles, and the children seem that they will never acquire enough sense that will warn them that such an area and time of war is nothing to be laughed about. It is also disappointing that the Italian soldier probably never alerted the children to leave the area, which probably adds to why innocent children are caught in the Afghani crossfires of the war.
C.
Coalescing a somewhat hopeful tone and fateful tone in the article, Phil Zabriskie acknowledges the many struggles and alienation of the Hazaras of Afghanistan and serves to prove that although innocent Hazaras like “Musa Shafaq is back in the Hazara heartland”, the Hazarajat people’s “optimism is [still] tempered by past memories and present frustrations”.
Part A:
1. The top eight agricultural products of Afghanistan consist of opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number one product of their economy is opium.
2. Afghanistan’s life expectancy rate is typically 45.02 years for the total population. The male rate is said to be 44.79 years and 45.25 years for females. The infant mortality rate of the total is 149.2 deaths/1,000 live births. The male consists of 152.75 deaths/1,000 live births and the female rate is 145.47 deaths/1,000 live births. The deeper issues that are typically reflected in the statistics may be the Afghanistan society itself with the help of healthcare and economic status’ of the individuals.
3. Afghanistan isn’t able to possess any measure of coastline, for the land is landlocked by several other countries. Having no access to the water physically, they directly depend on their neighbors for protection and supplies. The country of Afghanistan is typically isolated because the country isn’t on the coastline.
4. The transnational issues that Afghanistan faces are international disputes, refugees and internally displaced persons, trafficking in persons, and illicit drugs.
5. Although the gains toward building a stable central government, the Afghan nation faces the severe challenges of low revenue collection, anemic job creation, high levels of corruption, weak government capacity, and poor public infrastructure, but have significantly improved the economy since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 due to international assistance, the recovery of the agricultural sector, and service sector growth.
Part B:
Picture 39; No one is capable to understand the complex meaning of death, for it takes the lives of individuals serving to aid our country. Five-year-old, Zachary Powell, has the rush of tears falling down his face and arms wrapped around his condoling father, David Powell, as he is attending the dreadful funeral of his loyal older brother, Staff Sargent Joshua D. Powell. Being a son, older brother, and fighting soldier at the young age of twenty-five, his precious life was taken from him on September 21, 2010 in a devastating helicopter crash during combat operations in Zabul province, Afghanistan. Serving for his country, Joshua ended up leaving his younger brother and family behind in tears and grief of remorse. With a picture of his brother in uniform and a United States’ flag in the background, all Zachary can do is cry, hoping his brother will come back to him. David Powell is not only grieving at his lost of his eldest, fighting son, but has to come upon helping his youngest son understand where his older brother disappeared to.
Part C: Even though the country tends to have a struggle to rebuild itself after decades of civil war and many affirm that Hazarajat could be a model of what’s possible not just for Hazara but for all Afghans, some witnesses conclude the discrimination Hazaras deal with in Kabul could be nourishing a “long-elusive sense of unity--and a desire for democracy” and possibly a new generation of Afghan leaders will arise to completely advance people past the “mindset of war and warlords and jihad.”
Sarah Nordstrom
Part A
1. The top eight agricultural exports are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheep skin, lamb skin. The top export is opium.
2. The life expectancy rate for the entire population is 45.02 years, for males it is 44.79 years, and for females it is 45.25 years. The infant mortality rate for the entire population is 149.2 deaths per 1000 live births. For males it is 152.75 deaths per 1000 live births, for females it is 145.47 deaths per 1000 live births. These statistics reflect the lack of medical care in Afghanistan, in a country with proper medical care the infant mortality rate is low, in Afghanistan the mortality rate is high reflecting poor medical care. The low life expectancy rate also reflects the lack of medical care; the people aren’t able to treat problems that drastically shorten life.
3. Afghanistan has 0 km of land that is coastal, it is landlocked. Afghanistan served as a buffer between Russian and British empires. Being a buffer between the two meant that Afghanistan was in the middle of conflict going on between the two and was conquered by both Britain and Russia.
4. Iran and Afghanistan have disputes concerning Afghanistan restricting the flow of the Helmand River into Iran during drought. Russia is also concerned with smuggling poppy derivatives from Afghanistan to Central Asian countries. There are also 132,246 displaced persons due to drought and instability. Afghanistan is a major source of sex trafficking, young boys and girls are forced into prostitution and forced to work in carpet factories. Afghanistan is the largest producer of opium, the Taliban and other groups profit from the opiate trade.
5. Although Afghanistan struggles with boundary issues, displaced people, and sex trafficking, it has brought itself out of Russian and British control and has strong influence in many exports that are a crucial necessity for life around the world.
Part B
1. I am choosing photo 22 to write about
“We bury our dead today; seven of my friends are dead”. As the short line of mourners nears the site where their loved ones will spend eternity, they carry with them seven crudely build caskets that these dead will forever call home. At ten years old, his head hardly reaching his father’s shoulders, he is considered tall for his age. Being born into a war torn country, Aashna has seen so much in his short life and it all seems to end with this scene, burying more of his friends, however this time around he is burying his best friend. “We have done everything together Baba, does this mean that I will lie in a hole too?” Aashna has witnessed so many die that this is normal for him, “No, Aashna, I will not let this happen to my boy”. Aashna’s father was not a man of wealth but he always managed to get his son what he needed; he is a strongly built man of forty and looks as if he would never expire. With these everyday back and forth trips to the makeshift cemeteries he hopes to steer his young son away from the guns and soldiers that fill his village, he wants a better life for his boy.
2. Despite a bleak past filed with hate and Hazara as slaves, with their love for education and peaceful ways the of the Hazara they are on the way to building the new peaceful and educated fate of Afghanistan
A
The top eight agricultural products of Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins.
For women, the life expectancy rate is up to 45 years. For men it is 44 years. The infant mortality rate is 149 deaths per 1000 births. Lack of government support due to an ailing economy and sub par infrastructure influences these relatively low life expectancies and high infant mortality.
Afghanistan is a landlocked country and has no maritime claims. As such, it is more dependent on foreign aid and economic assistance. The isolation has created a very rich and dense culture with little influence from countries beyond its borders, especially Western Europe until the 1800 and 1900.
The transnational issues that Afghanistan faces presently are numerous in nature; however, the root of these concerns are centered chiefly around the instability and diminished power of the Afghan government. Afghanistan and Pakistan have had boarder disputes over the years. Iran has protested the damming of the Helmand River tributaries during drought. Human trafficking stands as one of the gravest issues. This is true for all age groups and genders, although which demographic experiences the greatest amount of trafficking remains to be seen. Children are forced into prostitution, labor, and begging. Girls and women are forced to marry. Boys are forced into drug trafficking in Iran and Pakistan. Although Afghanistan has made efforts to stop human trafficking in previous years, there has been little to no follow through with the legislation; prosecution and conviction of human traffickers is rare while many times the victims are punished for crimes of adultery or prostitution. Afghanistan is also the world’s leading supplier of opium, which many anti-government and terrorist groups profit from.
Although violent transitions between opposing governments have left the country weakened in many aspects, Afghanistan, a country known for the strength and stubbornness of its people, continues to heal and grow despite its many shortcomings.
B
See later post.
C
Shifting between the fears and struggles of the oppression and the hopes of a more liberal future, the Hazaras of Afghanistan face racial stereotyping, job discrimination, and ethnic hostility, yet still feel that the future generations of Afghanistan will bring about a greater sense of unity within that country.
D
Video was not available.
Part A
1. Opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins are the eight agricultural products. Opium is number one.
2. The life expectancy rate is 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths/1,000 live births. Infants have more deaths.
3. Afghanistan has no coastline. This number contributed to the country’s history because it might be harder for people there to get water.
4. The country has Disputes, trafficking people and drugs.
Part B
Picture #16
The soldiers in this picture are charged with murder of three Afghan civilians. Assaulting a soldier and wrongfully photographing and possessing visual images of human casualties. They are based in Washington and are charged in the case from their deployment in Afghanistan's Kandahar province. No one expected these soldiers to do this but their pictures will be around Afghanistan in order to warn the other innocent civilians.
Part C
In “The Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie uses real life facts, significant symbolism and local color in order to catch the reader’s attention and convince people that the “new generation of Afghan leaders will emerge to finally lead people beyond the mindset of war and warlords and jihad”.
-Shayna Rahwan
English C
Emily Burgess
Part B1:
1. I have never known a quiet world. Every night I go to sleep to the sounds of guns in the distance, helicopter blades, and children crying. I wake up to children crying, people shouting, and the rushing of feet back and forth outside of my home. There are some nights that my sisters and I can’t sleep, we all lie awake, our eyes shining like glass orbs in our dark room. Our mother sings to us sometimes, but ever since father left her singing has been less and less. Sometimes, after my sisters have fallen asleep, I see my mom sitting by the orange glow of the embers, her head is bent over her knees, and her hands are clutched in her lap in prayer. Some nights, on the quieter nights, I can hear her sobbing softly. I want to comfort her; I know I should comfort her, that’s what my father said before he left. “You are the man of the house now. My duties are yours. Take care of your mother and sisters, make sure nothing bad ever happens to them.” I have failed, I know this now. What would my father say if he were here?
It was a bright day, a relatively quiet day, a day of peace. Like every day, my mother sent me and my sisters to the well with buckets. We filled them with the brown well water and returned home so she and the other wives could do the washing. As I was hanging them on the lines to dry, a solider came out from underneath them. He said something, with a funny accent and in words I didn’t know, I ran over to my mother. Protectively, she put a hand on my shoulder and summoned for Mehri, she was a teacher who spoke a little English. I watched as she conversed with him and the troop that had formed behind him. She spoke; her eyes averted down, towards the ground, and often made gestures with her hands. I could tell the solider was getting angry, his voice got rough and his face red. Mehri returned and explained that she did not quite understand what they were saying; it was something about the well water though. I watched as the soldiers meandered about questioning everyone. They did a lot of yelling and pointing to the well. I broke free and ran toward the well, my mother tried to grab hold of me yelling “Fariad, no!” I scooped a pale off the ground and filled it to the brim with water. Trudging back to the soldiers I put it at their feet and pointed. They seemed to like that because they scooped some up in little glass tubes the size of my fingers and pocketed it. Giving my hair a ruffle, they raised their hands in thanks and walked away. That night at dinner, all of the wives who gathered talked about the soldiers. They thought it was very odd that they didn’t have anyone who spoke our language with them like they normally did. They thought it was even stranger that they wanted our dirty, impure water when they had canteens of their own clean water. That night I fell asleep to the hushed murmurs of the wives, and the constant stream of gunfire.
Emily Burgess
Part B2:
I woke up to the smell of smoke thick in the air. Running quickly into the living room, I saw I was alone. I ran onto the street and into chaos. “Mama!” I screamed “Mama, where are you?” People thronged the streets, some screaming for help, others just screaming. I ran past Mehri and the small shack that we had used as a school and tripped over something. Bile rose in my mouth. On the ground in front of me was a pile of people, all dead. I kept going, pushing through the throngs, trying to weave through the crowd, calling for my mom, my sisters. Tears ran down my face, and I clutched the front of my shirt to my nose to block the acrid smell. All at once someone screamed “get down”! And I barely had enough time to tuck my head to my chest before I felt the whiz of bullets over head.
The soldiers stood high on a pile of rubble, firing at everything that moved. I made my way over to a small pile, and sat with my back to the chaos. I don’t know how long I sat there, but it was enough time for me to witness many of my neighbors fall. I don’t know why they had chosen our town, we were good, never participating in any of the radical demonstrations the other towns did. I then decided it had to have had something to do with the well water. Something do to with the mysterious soldiers who showed up yesterday without a translator. Something do to with me. I prayed then to all the gods I knew that this would stop, that they would forgive, for I had not only betrayed my town, but I had let down my father. I prayed longer and harder than I ever had in my life, and after I was done, so was the firing. Everything came to a standstill; the world halted and took a breath. The dust was blown away, moved by an invisible source, and the realization set in among me. I stood up and looked grimly around at the few who were remaining. The soldiers made their way through the town barking orders. After everything was said and done, the soldiers asked me to stand still so they could take a picture.
Marco Orlando
Part A
1) Afghanistan’s major agricultural products are Opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins; Opium being number 1.
2) The average life expectancy from birth is 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths out of 1000 live births. These statistics present healthcare issues as well as environmental/ diet adversity.
3) Afghanistan has no coastal line; it is landlocked. This would suggest the type of housing and clothing they obtain, as well as why they appear to be far behind many of the world’s developed nations; no coast equals less trade. Also lack water contributes to poor health.
4) Afghanistan’s foreign affairs with other nations are due to boundary possession, moral/religious extremity, opium distribution, human trafficking and refugee displacement.
5) Despite the many geographical and societal extremities of Afghanistan’s living conditions, their culture as well as their spiritual beliefs not only support a unique approach to rural dependency, but provide many beautiful and potential attributes in which may one day form a bold and promised future.
Part B
#9) Ever since Rahul could remember, he was forced to live a life of strict ethnic loyalty and develop a hate for foreign troops. After the Twin Tower tragedy, Rahul along with his ‘wanted’ father, fled to the nearest city to lay low; Hamuel, Rahul’s father, was a known illegal firearm distributor for the many various radical groups in a time of societal chaos. Three days on the run however, local U.S. troops captured Hamuel and Rahul in a wheat field locked together, shivering on the ground. The two were fed, washed up, and given clothes before any questioning was presented. The morning after, Rahul was forced to wait outside the office in the recreation lot of the facility. As he paced around, he spotted a toy gun on the ground. He ran over to it, in hopes that it was real, but was disappointed to find that it was nothing but plastic. He was always taught to hate these bastards; to kill these monsters. Rahul aimed the gun, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger; nothing significant followed.
Part C
In order to further suggest the idea that Hazaras do not obtain a complete and modest role within Afghanistan, Phil Zabriskie emphasizes demented imagery, rugged diction and stern mood while providing crucial information and suggestive ideals with the intent to explain how the Hazaras have “been branded as outsiders” in the Afghani community.
Cameron Hale
A)
1. Opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins/lambskins. Opium.
2. Life expectancy rate approximates around 45 years old. The infant mortality rate is about 149 deaths per 1000 births. No health care, poor air quality, water quality, disease control and birth control contribute to these.
3. There is no coastline. The nation is at a disadvantage with their landlocked-ness and as result rely on the aid of other countries for resources.
4. Afghanistan has international boundary disputes with other nations. They have some allies and some enemies within the middle east.
5. Transitioning from a stable nation to one wrought with war and terrorism, Afghanistan has succeeded in maintaining its fundamental religious and societal morals along with a core of determination and hopefulness towards the future despite encountering resistance from other nations and harmful groups.
Cameron Hale
Part B:
Dust is kicked up into my eye directly after the blast. Within seconds I'm back down behind the handcrafted dirt barrier made hours before encountering a squad of 20 or so Afghan rebels, ignoring the shoulder pain after firing the JAW antitank launcher. More dust. The incessant ringing after firing that damn rocket takes days to leave, swallowing up the sound around me as four bullets strike the barrier to the left of me. Ringing. Ringing. More impact thumps. My hand removes the red-tan dust from under my left eyelid, I look at it for a couple seconds, then pick up the heavy metal-cased round and load it right-side up into the JAW.
Cameron Hale
Part C:
Transitioning from a somber tone of dispair and hardships to one of hope and possibility in "The Outskirts", Phil Zabriskie incorporates foreign perspective and native imagery in order to contrast the struggles of Afghani hazaras in the past with the positive-appearing future for the recessive population.
Part A:
1. The top 8 agricultural products are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. The number 1 product is opium.
2. The life expectancy rate is about 45 years. The infant mortality rate is 149 deaths per 1000 births, which is the second highest in the world. This is due to the awful conditions that many kids grow up in and the lack of medical technology that has been in Afghanistan.
3. Afghanistan has 0 km of coastline because it is landlocked. This affects their history because they don’t have many industries like shipping, trade by ship, or fishing. They’ve learned to find other industries such as oil and other things. This also makes getting imports limited since they cannot get anything in from the ocean or sea.
4. Numerous Afghan refugees have gone to surrounding countries such as Iran and Pakistan while the Afghani government and UN have been trying to stop such actions. Afghanistan is world's largest producer of opium which can be used to make heroin. Despite eradication. There is still a potential opium production of 1,278 metric tons and sources of hashish. There are many narcotics-processing labs throughout the country and drug trade remains high.
5. Decaying from a somewhat prosperous to struggling nation within the past thirty years, the Middle Eastern country of Afghanistan is facing a lessening life expectancy, attempting to stop the numerous refugees fleeing the country, and battling drug trade in order to, hopefully, become the rich country with important traditions and lively conditions it was at one time.
Part B: Jake O’Connor shivered in the dry, darkening dessert not only because of the falling temperature, but at the thought of what had happened just hours ago. Thinking back on the sweltering afternoon and how his infantry troop was ordered to move into the city, the whole gruesome scene of what happened next drains his mind. It is one thing to lose a hardworking and loyal friend from your squad but to lose three, as Jake did, does something else to your mind and body. The enduring fire fight in the close quarters of the town just five miles south of their current location had been his first true hostile combat situation where, first hand, Jake had seen the kind of war veterans don’t want to talk about. Yes, you could say it was a victory in the sense that they had eliminated the enemy, but no one ever felt okay about losing their own men. The images played in Jake’s head as fast-moving, dashing images of light that were almost unable to be comprehended. Now, the midnight sky with a perfect view of the stars laid overhead and it was once again time to go into a danger zone. Exasperated and mildly distraught, Jake climbed up into the dust covered Humvee and told himself that nothing must stop in order to defend the country he loved. He, men from his unit earlier in the day, and a few new men climbed into the four wheeled vehicle and set off to once again fearlessly do their duty, no matter the time of day.
Part C: Improving from a time of mass murder and destruction to growing opportunity, yet continually facing adversity and discrimination in “Afghanistan’s Outsiders,” Phil Zabriskie incorporates gruesome imagery, hateful characterization, and ethnical foil in order to illuminate the immense struggle the Hazara people faced long ago, the partial relief they have felt, and the animosity still felt by many Pashtun Afghanis towards the “outsiders” in their country, as the Hazara people attempt to “finally lead people beyond the mindset of war and warlords and jihad.”
Amanda Murphy
Part A:
1. The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. Opium is the number one agricultural product.
2. The life expectancy rate is 45.02 years for the entire population. For males, it is 44.79 years and for women it is 45.25 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths/1,000 births. For males, it is 152.75 deaths/1,000 births and for females it is 145.47 deaths/1,000 births. The country’s healthcare, economic status and political status can all contribute to these rates.
3. Afghanistan is landlocked, containing no measure of distance of coastline. The lack of coastline ultimately isolates the country. This leads them to rely heavily on the neighboring countries.
4. The transnational issues Afghanistan faces are trafficking in persons and illicit drugs.
5. Serving as a buffer between the British and Russian Empires when first founded, Afghanistan won its independence after a long destructive war, seeing Kabul fall to the Taliban, and a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement.
Part B:
Image 18
My name is Josh and I as watch David being carried by the medic, I can’t believe what I’ve gotten myself into. I’ve trained for months, been stationed around the states for years, but nothing compares to this place. It’s my first week in Afghanistan and already, I’ve seen three American soliders die infront of me, please don’t let David die. David and I sat next to each other on the flight over, he has a brand new wife who’s expecting. He doesn’t deserve to die. None of us do. Everyday I see soldiers contemplate suicide and the longer I stay here, I can see why.
Part C:
Illustrating the story of Musa Sharaq in “Hazaras: Afghanistan’s Outsiders”, Phil Zabriskie employs concrete details, pervasive imagery and inspiring stories to show irony in how the most neglected citizens, Hazaras, “could be a model of what’s possible…for all Afghans.”
Kaitlyn Durst
February 7, 2012
AP English A Block
Part A:
1.The top eight agriculture products of Afghanistan include opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins. Opium is considered the top product of Afghanistan as the opium poppy production and opium trade continue to have significant monetary share of the country’s agricultural economy.
2. The life expectancy rate for Afghanistan does appear to be around 40 to 45 years old. Found in 2010, the infant mortality rate was 103 out of 1000 births. The infant mortality rate had dropped over the past 50 years, and can be caused mainly from pneumonia, as well as malnutrition, malaria, and other severe infections.
3. It’s actually show that Afghanistan does not have a coastline. There probably wasn’t much fishing and sailing involved; however, there are rivers scattered around Afghanistan.
4. Transnational issues include disputes, when thousands of Afghan refugees continue to reside in Iran and Pakistan. Pakistan had sent their troops to control the border, stem organized terrorists and other illegal cross-border activities. They also have illicit drugs, especially with Afghanistan being the world’s largest producer of opium. There is a cultivation of opium poppy, which is used to create heroin.
5. Due to general statistics, distinct culture, and the difficult lifestyle of the citizens in Afghanistan, the country is presented as one of the most cautious developing countries in the world, based on population rates and wanted resources.
Part B:
26. Soldiers and heroes fight everyday to save their countries. Our country remains in war with Iran and Afghanistan to make sure that they no longer terrorize our nation after 9/11. One day, during the heinous war that took place, an American soldier finds what seems to be a little girl laying in the soil and dirt upon the village, seeing as if she was in serious harm. He, along with a Afghan man who lives on the village, goes to help the little girl. The helpless girl was in chronic pain, with the evidence of blood, cuts, and bruises found all over her body. There were actually grenades thrown by an American soldier that had cause the girl to get hurt. The girl must have wanted to play outside, and became too close in contact with one. The soldier and Afghan citizen needed to act fast, and brought the girl to get help as soon as possible to hopefully save her life. Having our loved ones in war affects all of us emotionally and internally, especially those with loving families fighting for our country. But do we realize how the people in Afghanistan are affected when the war is taking place in their country? Is war really worth harming our soldiers, as well as the women with families and children being affected? The point of war is to save lives, not to destroy more innocent lives.
Part C:
Transitioning from the difficult and critical chapters of his life, Shafaq from “The Outsiders”, proceeds through his complicated and social challenges as part of a Hazara in Kabul to achieve his lifelong future accomplishments, as “they really want equality and social justice” involved within the discriminating community.
Part D:
“ The Front Line” was based on Afghan boys who were discriminated as they were all being and trained as slaves to perform at all male parties.
Section B (1/2)
Laila remembered the first time she had heard the sound of a cello. She was eight at the time. Her father had decided to take her along to pick up her brother at tutoring. They had arrived early, something against protocol with her father who was usually late by thirty minutes or more. He had lost sleep last night, so he found a chair.
“Don’t wander off Laila.” And he took a nap.
Laila sat next to him for a couple minutes, but eventually got bored, as most people do when they have to stare at a wall for longer than a minute. The posters on the walls had pretty pictures on them, but they were high up and hard to read. Eventually, her neck started to hurt from looking up so much. So she took a glance down the hall. It wasn’t wandering if she could still see Baba.
The halls were quiet; Laila could just barely hear the sound of traffic outside. When she got far enough down the hall, all of that had dissipated. The smell of the building was unique, a mix of musk and wood. Laila decided to look in the rooms. She looked back at Baba first to see if he was still asleep. His head was hung low to his chest.
The first room was bland, with only a few chairs, a chalkboard, and a desk near the front. Laila walked over to the chalkboard and started drawing animals. Eventually she grew tired of that. The next room was the same. The fourth room had a globe in it, which Laila spun and stopped with a finger, trying to hit the compass rose as it passed.
It took her a while to notice it at first, but gradually she realized that she could hear muffled music in the distance, somewhere. She stopped spinning the globe. She couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Was it outside? Laila walked briskly down the hallway back to Baba but as she got closer to him, the music dwindled. Laila headed in the opposite direction. There was a stairwell at the end of the hallway. It was dimly lit and went three more stories in both directions. Laila looked at her father, still asleep. The stairwell resonated the music beautifully. Baba snorted and shifted in his seat. She took a deep breath and started to climb.
The music grew louder and louder and Laila climbed the steps faster. It wasn’t music like she’d ever heard before. It was mellow, low, and smooth, with a couple of voices, but she couldn’t tell how many. She wondered what sort of instrument made such sounds. Suddenly, the tunes split, each voice playing a different part yet complementing each other like a key to a lock. Laila’s heart broke and she climbed faster, hoping to reach her destination before the musicians stopped.
When she reached the top of the stairwell, there was another hallway, this one longer. The windows on the left side streamed in sunbeams, catching the dust and painting golden squares of butter on the floor. Laila ran down the hall, looking through the doors. They were all empty. The last door at the end was closed but she knew that the music was there. They were still playing; their crescendo palpable and flowing, and Laila could understand the love and pain of the music, even though she had never heard it before because it was so breathtaking. Laila placed her hand on the cool brass door knob, felt the sun on her back, smelled the funny smell of musk and wood of the building, a scent she would grow to love, almost squinting because the white door reflected the sunlight and made everything so bright, felt the rustle of her scarf and softness of the carpet through her shoes and opened the door.
The door was locked. In her dreams, the door was locked and she was dragged back down the stairs past street level and into the basement. Shadows wrapped around her arms and muted her ears so that the music was no longer playing, only the frantic pumping of her heart and her own screams in her head.
Section B. (2/2)
An explosion blew her backwards and suddenly she was sailing through the air, flying, the music in her ears still ringing that final fermata. She didn’t hurt, not yet anyways but she could see the city streets, see people cringing and chucks of flying, flaming things racing through the air, going past her, and her flight stopped short because she hit a wall on the opposite side of the street.
Baba looked down on her.
“You see Laila jan? You spend eight years looking for something and loose it all because you’re a witch with missing fingers. If you had not wandered off that day, none of this would have happened.”
Section B (3/2)
The outstanding contrast between showing and telling someone something is the openness of interpretation. In telling someone something, the narrator is forcing his or her ideas onto the audience and restricts the point of view to their own. Showing an audience something will allow them to come up with their own stories or opinions about ideas that are ambiguously presented. Details can be extrapolated or fabricated in the exercise that was done in Part B, something that was not an option if a structured prompt was given.
Colleen Burke
Period A
Part A:
1.) The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts; wool, mutton, sheepskins, lambskins. The number one product is opium.
2.) The life expectancy of males in Afghanistan is 44.79 years and the life expectancy of females in Afghanistan is 45.25 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths for 1,000 live births that take place. The deeper issues presented in these statistics is that the people within this county do not have a very high life expectancy unlike here in the United States where the average human usually lives to be at least 75 years old, this also shows that many more babies are dying at birth that is recorded for other countries.
3.) Afghanistan posses 0 km of coastline, this number may contribute to the country’s history because they are what they call “landlocked” which cuts them off from importing and exporting goods from ports on the coastline, making it harder for their country to obtain resources that are not available within their boundaries.
4.) The transnational issues found in Afghanistan include disputes that involve Iran protesting Afghanistan's restricting flow of dammed Helmand River tributaries during drought, the number of internally displaced persons is 132,246 (which is made up mostly of Pashtuns and Kuchis displaced in south and west due to drought and instability), trafficking is also a huge issue within this country, Afghan boys and girls are trafficked within the country, in forced prostitution, in forced labor in carpet-making factories, and in forced domestic service; forced begging is a growing problem in Afghanistan; Afghan boys are subjected to forced prostitution and forced labor in the drug smuggling industry in Pakistan and Iran; Afghan women and girls are subjected to forced prostitution and forced marriages; women and girls from Iran, Tajikistan, and possibly Uganda and China are reportedly forced into prostitution in Afghanistan and also illicit drugs are another issue faced with in Afghanistan.
5.) Struggling between the hardships of being landlocked and the number of people displaced from its country, the people of Afghanistan strain to maintain a stable government by utilizing unique resources, diminishing life expectancy and isolating geography to attempt to keep their country from falling.
Part B:
Tommy, a 7 year old boy, whose father has just died in the war against Afghanistan by an exploding bomb that he, was unfortunately, unaware of. He is struck with this terrible news after one of his best days in the second grade. Within this photo, Tommy is being comforted by his Uncle Billy, his father’s brother, after his funeral had ended. Obviously, by the photo, Tommy is beyond devastated about the situation he is currently in, his father had always told him that he would be home after Christmas, but that clearly didn’t happen, which was a huge disappointment to Tommy because he hadn’t seen his father for a year before his passing. With a parent in the military this heartbreak impacts their spouses and their children but the fact that their children have to grow up now without that father figure, makes life ten times more difficult for the surviving family members to pick up the pieces.
When Tommy returned to school a week after his father’s funeral, his classmates had made him a sympathy card to try and boost his mood a little bit, even though that was a very hard task at this point in his life. Tommy knew that his father was fighting for his country and he was doing Americans a lot of good by doing what he was doing, but he is so mad at the world right now, that none of that matters to him because he is now, without a Dad. Tommy’s mother also feels that Tommy is now going to rebel against everything in life because he feels as though he has no need to be a part of this life if he doesn’t have someone to look up to, but she is praying to God that his Uncle Billy will pick up the slack of what she cannot do for a young boy as a mother like a father can for his son.
Colleen Burke
Period A
Part C:
Overall Afghanistan faces many different battles as a country, the lack of natural resources and harbors, chaotic society and disturbing living conditions leaving the citizens of Afghanistan rather lonely and unprotected in when it comes to their government and what it provides them with.
art A:
1. The top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan are opium, wheat, fruits, nuts wool, mutton, sheepskins, and lambskins.
2. The life expectancy rate in Afghanistan is 45.02 years. The infant mortality rate is 149.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. Deeper issues that are reflected in these statistics are that there are many deaths, whether from disease or war, and many people die at a very young age compared to other countries.
3. Afghanistan has 0 km of coastline which may have contributed to the country’s history because without much water around them they may have suffered from severe drought.
4. Some transnational issues that Afghanistan faces are international disputes such as the issues with territory between Afghan, Coalition, and Pakistan military. Refugees and internationally displaced persons are also a severe Afghan issue. Also, trafficking in persons, such as forced labor/sex trafficking, force begging and forced prostitution/marriage.
5. Although having fighting for their freedom and also having many natural resources throughout their land, Afghanistan is still suffering with an extremely low per capita income and a relatively high unemployment rate.
Part B:
Picture 26
My name is Muhammad and September 18, 2010 was a horrible and terrifying day for me after my 7 year old daughter was badly wounded by a rocket-powered grenade in our home village. One of the worst feelings is the feeling of being hopeless in keeping your only child, who you love and care about more than anything, safe from these disastrous times. Luckily, some very helpful U.S Marines came to rescue her and they agreed on bringing her to the Medevac helicopter, where she could get proper bandaging for her face and leg wounds. If they didn’t come and help, I think she may have bled to death. I am so grateful they helped my beloved daughter.
A:
1) Opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskin, and lambskin are the top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan, with opium being the number one product.
2) The life expectancy rate in Afghanistan is about 45 years old. Around 44 years of age for males and about 45 years of age for females. The infant mortality rate is about 149 per 1,000 births. The deeper issue reflected in these statistics is the lack of proper health care, sanitation, doctors, and clean water.
3) Afghanistan is a landlocked country which leaves it with no coastline. Afghanistan is at a disadvantage, geographically which makes it rely more on it's neighboring countries. It is also open more to invasion, and water is a failing resource to them.
4) The transnational issues that Afghanistan faces are trafficking in persons and illicit drugs, and international disputes.
5) Although Afghanistan has downfalls due to where it is geographically, and their lack of a healthy environment, they still fight for their country and stick by what they believe in, to survive.
B:
Zachary had been writing back and forth to his brother, Joshua for months now as he was fighting in Zabul province, Afghanistan for his country. Zachary was excited for his brother to come home so he could help him practice for baseball and help him with his school work. He always looked up to his big brother, he loved him so much. He couldn't wait for the day for Joshua to come home, and then he did, and it was the worst day of Zachary's entire life. His big brother, and role model, Joshua, came home in a coffin, he was assigned to the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division and died in a helicopter crash during cam bat operations. It crushes Zachary but he did his best to stay strong. At Joshua's funeral service Zachary lost it and jumped into his father's arms and cried at the loss of his beloved big brother, that never got to help him practice for baseball.
C:
Transitioning from an "empty space" to Musa Shafaq's place of great education, Phil Zabriskie of "The Outsiders" utilizes detailed imagery, surprising irony, and fact based truths to portray that the Hazaras should not be seen as the rest of Afghanistan but as what we hope all of Afghanistan soon becomes.
A:
1) Opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton, sheepskin, and lambskin are the top eight agricultural products in Afghanistan, with opium being the number one product.
2) The life expectancy rate in Afghanistan is about 45 years old. Around 44 years of age for males and about 45 years of age for females. The infant mortality rate is about 149 per 1,000 births. The deeper issue reflected in these statistics is the lack of proper health care, sanitation, doctors, and clean water.
3) Afghanistan is a landlocked country which leaves it with no coastline. Afghanistan is at a disadvantage, geographically which makes it rely more on it's neighboring countries. It is also open more to invasion, and water is a failing resource to them.
4) The transnational issues that Afghanistan faces are trafficking in persons and illicit drugs, and international disputes.
5) Although Afghanistan has downfalls due to where it is geographically, and their lack of a healthy environment, they still fight for their country and stick by what they believe in, to survive.
B:
Zachary had been writing back and forth to his brother, Joshua for months now as he was fighting in Zabul province, Afghanistan for his country. Zachary was excited for his brother to come home so he could help him practice for baseball and help him with his school work. He always looked up to his big brother, he loved him so much. He couldn't wait for the day for Joshua to come home, and then he did, and it was the worst day of Zachary's entire life. His big brother, and role model, Joshua, came home in a coffin, he was assigned to the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division and died in a helicopter crash during cam bat operations. It crushes Zachary but he did his best to stay strong. At Joshua's funeral service Zachary lost it and jumped into his father's arms and cried at the loss of his beloved big brother, that never got to help him practice for baseball.
C:
Transitioning from an "empty space" to Musa Shafaq's place of great education, Phil Zabriskie of "The Outsiders" utilizes detailed imagery, surprising irony, and fact based truths to portray that the Hazaras should not be seen as the rest of Afghanistan but as what we hope all of Afghanistan soon becomes.
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