A Thousand Splendid Suns Chapter 30 Vocabulary wince: give a slight involuntary grimace recoil: suddenly spring back or flinch or flinch due to pain or distress in fear, horror, or disgust prickly: covered in or resembling retch: make the sound and movement prickles of vomiting turmoil: a state of great disturbance, sprout: start to grow or develop confusion, or uncertainty jeopardize: put at risk of loss, harm, disingenuous: not sincere, especially in or failure pretending that one knows less about something than one really does. Questions 1. Why does Laila agree to marry Rasheed, a sixty-year-old man, even when she considered the act dishonorable? 2. What sacrifice is Laila making? Why? 3. Why does Laila puncture her finger with a knife? Activity: While Rasheed is the overwhelming male presence in the novel, there are other male characters (Babi, Tariq, Jalil, Mullah Faizullah). Ask students to go back through the novel to identify the personality traits of other men in the novel. Write these lists on chart paper for easy comparisons. What qualities do they have in common? How do they compare to Rasheed? How can you explain Rasheed’s behavior?
A Thousand Splendid Suns Chapter 30 Vocabulary wince: give a slight involuntary grimace or flinch due to pain or distress recoil: suddenly spring back or flinch in fear, horror, or disgust prickly: covered in or resembling prickles retch: make the sound and movement of vomiting turmoil: a state of great disturbance, confusion, or uncertainty sprout: start to grow or develop jeopardize: put at risk of loss, harm, or failure disingenuous: not sincere, especially in pretending that one knows less about something than one really does. Questions 1. Why does Laila agree to marry Rasheed, a sixty-year-old man, even when she considered the act dishonorable? 2. What sacrifice is Laila making? Why? 3. Why does Laila puncture her finger with a knife? Activity: While Rasheed is the overwhelming male presence in the novel, there are other male characters (Babi, Tariq, Jalil, Mullah Faizullah). Ask students to go back through the novel to identify the personality traits of other men in the novel. Write these lists on chart paper for easy comparisons. What qualities do they have in common? How do they compare to Rasheed? How can you explain Rasheed’s behavior?