1. How Did The Roshan Fellowship Make A Difference In Your Life

Since beginning of times, humans need to make choices on a daily basis. Sometimes it goes for the best, however, it goes also for the worst. In the short story “The Persian Carpet”, the author Hanan al-Shaykh suggests that by making selfish choices, one’s relationship with important people in its life can be seriously damaged. In the short story, the narrator, which is the protagonist, suffers from self doubt as she gains a new perspective on her mother, the antagonist, as she finds out the latter has been lying to her for several months about the

Women’s rights in Iran or the Middle East has always been an arguable issue. Although there rights have been changed throughout the centuries they were never really compared equal to men or noone really accepted them. Specially for women in Iran, they barely had any rights in culture, marriage or other aspects of their lives. In the following essay you will read about the everday lives of Middle Eastern women.

In his novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini depicts his homeland Afghanistan as a host to many different cultures and classes, such as Pashtun and Hazara, Sunni and Shiite, with this dichotomy of beliefs and attributes being powerful enough to shape diverse, sometimes negative relationships amongst the characters of the novel and their behavior to each other, as well as establish that individual’s identity. Each person interprets the impact of the role of belief and social status differently, while all living in the same setting, adding to their complexity and depth as a character in the novel with many different figures tied together by the same geographical and cultural conditions.

Completely by different circumstances are the members of the middle generation shaped – Amir, Hassan and Assef. Their childhood covers the transitional part of Afghanistan’s 20-th century history. Of course, the boys are really different in nature, but Soviet occupation is what caused such different roads to be chosen by the three characters. And that huge change in their lives determined who they are going to grow into as adults.

Throughout the Iranian Revolution, many events and changes took place that largely affected the views of Iranians by other nations. The graphic novel, The Complete Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi (Satrapi, 2003), conveys many of these events and changes through the eyes of a child growing up in the 1980s in Iran. Satrapi’s main purpose for this book is to describe how the Iranian government was corrupt, causing foreign nations to have a tainted view of all Iranian citizens. The Complete Persepolis does so by presenting major events and changes in a manner that is directed towards audiences that are willing to have an open mind about ethnicity and false stereotypes, and an audience that is young and can relate to the “coming of age” aspect of this novel. By exhibiting a credible first hand account of how Satrapi and many others were affected by the events that took place during the Iranian Revolution, The Complete Persepolis can effectively persuade a reader to eliminate the “Islamic extremist” stereotype that the corrupt Islamic Republic gave all Iranian citizens.

This type of suffering also occurred in 1722 with the Afghan tribesmen and yet again during the late eighteenth century and lasted until 1925. The Qajars, a Turkic tribe that was established near the Caspian Sea, conquered Iran this time. The kings who ruled under the Qajar Empire also were mainly responsible for the country’s poverty and resistance to modernity. The only difference between the Qajars and the Arabs is that now the people of Iran were not going to sit back and let these kings give foreigner powers the right to their country. The Qajars had “lost their right to rule, their farr. Armed with Shiite principle that endows the ordinary citizen with inherent power to overthrow despotism…Iranians rebelled in a way their forefathers never had” (28).

The Rugmaker of Mazar-E-Sharif Conflict by Najaf Mazari and Robert Tillman is a novel about Najaf's memoir of having to live with conflict and of enduring its in-depth consequences. Melbourne-based fiction writer and biographer Robert Hillman helps Najaf tell his story and also the representation of the author in the novel. Hillman's collaboration with Najaf on The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif continues Zar-e-Sharif his literary preoccupation with the hardships and triumphs of ordinary people caught up in war and political unrest. The background of the book depicts Najaf's homeland that has a long history of violent and bitter armed conflict that spans centuries. This is partly due to the region's geography. As Najaf says, 'just look at the location of Afghanistan on a map of Asia and the Middle East, with neighbors' and near-neighbors' like Russia, Pakistan and Iran' (p.34). The area has enormous geographical and strategic significance. Foreign powers, from the ancient Macedonians through to the colonial British and communist Russians, have striven to secure territory or allies there, with little regard for the desires of the local people. This essay will give us an analysis of The Rugmaker of Mazar-E-Sharif's characters Najaf Mazari, and Gorg Aliant plus the plot of the book. The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif traces an Afghani refugee's extraordinary journey from his early life as a shepherd boy in the mountains of Northern

Iran’s conflict between modernism and fundamentalism can be seen in the novel’s focus on the political prisoners. Marji encounters various men that were incarcerated for holding extreme leftist views, including her uncle, and the consequences they faced. In the chapter “The Heroes” Marji is exposed to the various torture methods induced to make the prisoners betray others who shared their discontent. This can be seen when Marji’s father asks about Ahmadi and Siamk, the newly freed prisoner, tells them, “… Ahmadi was assassinated. As a member of the guerrillas, he suffered hell” (54). In making this comment, Ahmadi shows the intensity with which fierce opponents were persecuted. Additionally, the never ending arrests and deaths of these political opponents show the

Throughout Farewell to Manzanar, the reader is exposed to the cruelties of human nature that stem from prejudice. The novel provides a story from the perspective

Amir’s misadventures begin as a boy living in an affluent Afghanistan world. On the day of his birth, his mother hemorrhages to death. Robbed of any feminine influence or comfort, he goes to his overshadowing Baba for love and acceptance. His father denies his only son the tenderness he desires, leading Amir to believe his father despises him. After all, Amir’s

Social conditions are what shape a country. Over the years, people, not only in Afghanistan, but around the world create norms that define people’s roles in life, their future, and how they should be treated based on their gender and beliefs. Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite Runner, comments on the social conditions of Afghanistan through telling a story about the lives of two Muslim boys; a privileged Sunni Pashtun, Amir, and his long-time friend and servant, Hassan, a loyal but disadvantaged Shia Hazara. Hosseini expresses Amir’s uncertain feelings toward Hassan which form the decisions he makes throughout the book. These choices result in Amir destroying his relationship with Hassan. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is a commentary on the social conditions in Afghanistan as shown through the roles of women and men in society and the ideals of Afghan culture. Unfortunately, these problems are still active in most of Afghanistan.

In any novel or story, it is essential that the audience understand the characters to be able to develop a connection and relate to them. In the novel Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh, the author uses many literary devices to distinguish between two cousins, Usama and Adil during the 1960s when Israel occupied Palestine. The cousins, “experience two different versions of occupation and they have chosen to respond to the complexities of their situations through different means” (“Representations of Identity in Three Modern Arabic Novels”, 2011). The author characterizes the characters through their actions, speeches, thoughts and finally what other people think of them. Usama is a man of action, while Adil is a man of thought. They both have many differences and rarely any similarities, but one thing their actions differentiate mostly is their belief of, “What exactly is a man.” They have both been through different things, and they possess different characteristics, but they both end up in the same path due to kinship and place of origin. Khalifeh uses euphemism, foreshadowing, and situational irony to contrast the characters Usama and Adil through different aspects such as actions, thoughts, and speeches.

The world stereotypes different types of culture, but real identity can be only defined by a person who has experienced the specific way of life. In Persepolis The Story of a Childhood, by Marjane Satrapi, the author creates a graphic memoir representing her childhood growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Satrapi evokes perfectly regarding her childhood, her reaction towards the Islamic Revolution. She is rebellious to the Islamic revolution’s new regulations and enforcement and decides to take a secular approach to defend her rights. In Persepolis, the narrator illustrates the opposition against the Islamic Revolution and Shah’s reign and as well as her pursuit in a secular culture. Her opposition and desire allow the readers to reconsider on past stereotypes about the Middle Eastern culture.

Throughout Mosin Hamid’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” there is a continual undercurrent of tension, with the main point of focus centred on Changez’s shifting identity. This being said, Changez is not the sole focus of the framed novel, with a mix of character’s actions and emotions building up the rise in tension. As the novel is told to us through the words of Changez, he is obviously considered to be the protagonist; the source of a large part of the angst which resonates from the text. Another prominent character in the novel, Erika, pulls away from the complete focus on Changez, adding in on another of the main sources of

Persepolis was written by Marjane Satrapi and was published in 2004. Marjane wrote this book to tell the life that she was living and the difficulties she faced. Persepolis takes place at the same time as the Islamic Revolution. The Islamic Revolution is seen to be one of the most important events to take place in Iranian history. This is significant to know while reading the book because it shows how the revolution affected the people of Iran. The girls were forced to wear veils to school; boys and girls were separated from their schools, which caused the people of Iran to begin protesting against the Shah. They wanted a democracy and to overthrow the king. The protest became more dangerous everyday; people were being killed for standing up for what they believed in. One day while Marjane’s mother was protesting, her picture was taken and published in the newspaper. She was terrified, so she dyed her hair and wore dark sunglasses. She felt as if someone recognized her then they would try to kill her for being a demonstrator. The story is told from the eyes of a young, determined Satrapi. At first she believed that the Shah was a great leader because her teacher told her that he was chosen by God. However, her father informs her that he wasn’t chosen by God. She also learns that her grandfather was a prince and a prime minister who was imprisoned for behaving as a communist. At