Teacher: Samantha Phillips

Unit: Gender - A Thousand Splendid Suns

Lesson: Day 3 - Ch. 1-3

GOALS/ DESIRED RESULTS

Essential Question (Unit)

What are the implications of living in a society with prescribed gender roles?

Summative Assessments (Unit)

Summative Assessments
Students will use stylistic imitation to write a missing chapter of A Thousand Splendid Suns, using elements of
Hosseinis craft, including point of view, imagery, and metaphor.
Students will read an excerpt from A Thousand Splendid Suns and craft an analysis in which they apply gender
theory.

Standards (Lesson)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3: Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations)
develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.6: Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of
literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.

Learning Objectives (Lesson)

Students will be able to use Rules of Notice to analyze a characters perspective, for the purpose of
understanding how Hosseini uses point of view in A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Students will be able to connect a characters point of view to gender expectations in Afghanistan, for the
purpose of understanding how point of view is influenced by gender expectations.

Formative Assessment (Lesson)

Students will craft an Instagram bio for an assigned character, using their Rules of Notice analysis as
inspiration

LEARNING PLAN

Learning Target

I can use Rules of Notice to analyze a characters point of view.

Instructional Resources and Materials

Teacher will need: A computer/projector, the class announcement presentation, Kahoot, access to Google Classroom,
the gender/ Rules of Notice instructions presentation, a document camera, a printed copy of the Rules of Notice
handout, a printed copy of the Rules of Notice Graphic Organizer, a copy of A Thousand Splendid Suns, a writing
utensil, a whiteboard, and markers.
Students will need: A Chromebook, access to Google Classroom, a digital copy of the Gender Expectations handout, a
printed copy of the Rules of Notice handout, a printed copy of the Rules of Notice Graphic Organizer, a copy of A
Thousand Splendid Suns, and a writing utensil.
Instructional Strategies/ Learning Tasks

Routine: Housekeeping/Announcements (5 min.)

Teacher reviews VHHS announcements
Teacher reviews classroom announcements and schedule for the day
Teacher reviews learning target

Bell-Ringer: Subject-Verb Agreement Practice (5 min.)

Students will complete a Kahoot Quiz about Subject-Verb Agreement
To clarify points of confusion, students will share how they got to the right answer
Teacher will provide students with feedback

Lesson

Introduction: Gender Expectations in Afghanistan (15 min.)

Students will open up the Gender Expectations in Afghanistan document in Google Classroom
Students will work with their side-to-side buddies to complete this task, so they will select one buddy to
own and share the document
Students will read a short excerpt about Family, Dating, and Marriage in Afghanistan
As they read, students will work with their side-to-side buddies to identify gender expectations in Afghan culture
and organize their ideas using a chart
One buddy will focus on female expectations, while the other will focus on male expectations
Teacher will check in with students and provide feedback as they complete the chart
Students will share some of the expectations they wrote about with the class

Transition: Now that we have examined gender expectations in Afghanistan, lets start to apply some of these ideas to
the text. As we are reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, not only will we focus on gender, but we will also look at
authors craft. One thing that Hosseini plays with throughout the text is point of view. So, today, we will look at how he
uses point of view in the first few chapters, and how point of view is influenced by gender expectations.

Activity: Rules of Notice Graphic Organizer & Discussion (30 minutes)

Teacher will introduce activity and provide instructions, and students will complete tasks
Teacher will introduce Rules of Notice, and discuss how they are used to examine characters
Teacher will explain how students will complete the Rules of Notice graphic organizer, modeling an
example for the class
Students will work with their quads to complete the graphic organizer, focusing on an assigned
character: Nana or Mariam
Teacher will give a brief overview of what information an Instagram bio typically contains
Students will work with their side-to-side buddies to craft an Instagram bio for their assigned
character, using their graphic organizer as inspiration
Students will share their bios with their quads, and then combine bios or select the best one to
write it on the whiteboard
Teacher will use these bios as a springboard for discussion about the characters
Teacher will lead students in a discussion about Nana and Mariam
Students will share the Rules of Notice they used to examine the character, and how the quotes
worked to reveal the characters point of view
Students will share how they connected these ideas to gender expectations in Afghanistan
Teacher will remind students about best practices during a class discussion, including citing textual
evidence, referring to specific pages, and following along by turning to the appropriate page and
annotating the text
Closure:

Final Thoughts: As you read this text, Ill be asking you to examine gender, point of view, and other elements of authors
craft. I will provide your CRJ hand out tomorrow. As you read Chapters 4 through 8 for Thursday, pay close attention to
how Hosseini uses point of view, how characters points of view shift, and how characters either challenge or accept
gender expectations.

Homework: Read Ch. 4-8 for Thursday

LEARNING MATERIALS

Read through an excerpt about Afghanistan from the CultureGram database. As you read, make note of gender
expectations for men and women in Afghanistan in the chart provided. In other words, what does the information tell
you about how men and women are expected to behave?

Gender Expectations for Women in Afghan Culture: Gender Expectations for Men in Afghan Culture:

Family, Dating, and Marriage in Afghanistan

Source: CultureGram Afghanistan

Family
Structure
Life centers on the extended family, which provides the basis for most social, economic, and political interaction. The
average urban family has five children, but rural families may be much larger. Often several generations live together in
the same, adjoining, or nearby compounds. When young men marry, they move out of their parental home and into an
adjoining home.
Parents and Children
Muslim parents are encouraged by Islam to have many children, especially sons. Children are a parents source of pride.
Children are expected to respect their parents, and they show that respect in part by being willing to assist in the daily
chores. Household tasks are divided by gender, age, and experience. Girls between five and seven years old begin
assisting their mothers with daily chores such as cooking and washing. Young boys may assist their fathers with the
family business after they return from school. Very poor families may have teenage sons work to help support the
family. Adult children continue to pay respect to their parents by spending time with them and seeking their counsel in
life decisions. Even if the children live or study far away from the home, weekly visits are expected.
Gender Roles
Male family members handle most contact with the outside world. Only adult males participate in the jirga (village
council) or other political events, but women are well-informed about local happenings and are influential in shaping
men's opinions. Within family compounds, the senior male (father or grandfather) leads the family. The wife of the
senior male is the most influential female in the family.
Under the Taliban rule, women did not have access to education, and strong traditional customs also prevented women
from working. Women's lives center generally on the household. Although they help in farming, they also do all the
cooking, washing, and cleaning. Few rural women work outside of their home, but if they do, they are generally
employed in the health or education sectors. In urban areas, women commonly work outside of the home as cleaners,
office assistants, and occasionally as managers.

Dating and Marriage

Marriage Arrangement

Dating is nonexistent because boys and girls are segregated at puberty. Marriages normally are arranged, and often
older female family members play a prominent role in arranging a match. Matchmakers (roybar) engage in lengthy
negotiations over the bride-price (paid by the groom's family to the bride's) and dowry (property the bride brings to the
marriage). Among urban or Westernized families, the prospective bride and groom may be permitted to meet or view
each other and approve or reject the union.
Marriage in Society
Islam encourages its adherents to get married. Afghan law does not dictate a minimum marriage age. Young women
generally marry between the ages of 14 and 22, and young men typically marry between 18 and 24. Women are legally
able to choose a spouse, but only urban women are regularly allowed to do so; conservative religious families may not
allow women to choose their husbands. Marriages between cousins are common because they strengthen family ties. A
man may have as many as four wives, but he must care for each equally; this limits most men to one wife. Premarital
and extramarital sex (zinnah) are strictly forbidden for men and women and may be grounds for severe punishment
(including death).
Weddings
Marriage rituals are numerous, varied, and complex. Most wedding celebrations are held at the bride's family home and
some at the groom's home. These traditionally last three days. Most activities occur with the sexes segregated, but all
gather for the contract signing and Quran (Muslim holy book) recitation, which occurs on the first day of the wedding.
Generally held in the presence of only family members, the contract signing ceremony (nikah) binds man and wife
together in marriage. The bride and groom kneel in front of an imam (Muslim religious leader), who asks the bride three
times if she accepts the marriage. The imam recites from the Quran to complete the ceremony.
Divorce
Divorce for men is simple (the man need only publicly announce it three times) but rare. Women find it difficult to
initiate divorces, and few women do. To initiate a divorce, women must petition a court, who will then rule on her case.
The larger problem for women is the social stigma she will face after divorce. Remarriage for women is possible, but if
the woman is widowed early in life, her husband's family may insist that she marry one of his brothers.
 RULES OF NOTICE
(based on the work of Peter Rabinowitz in Before Reading)
GENERAL RULES OF NOTICE
Remember to notice and interpret the
meaning of the following:
Titles
Beginnings
Climaxes/Key Details
Extended Descriptions
Changes, e.g., in Direction, Setting,
Point of View
Repetition
Surprises and Ruptures
Endings
RULES OF NOTICE FOR CHARACTER
Titles: Pay attention to titles! Does this
title tell us who to pay attention to or
something we should know about a
character or what will happen to her?
Names and Nicknames: The names and
particularly the nicknames of charac-
ters are almost always important and
reveal something about the characters.
Introductions: Pay attention when
characters are introduced!
Problems: Pay attention to any problem
the character might have or a chal-
lenge they are facing.
Actions: Typical activities as well as
actions they take and decisions they
make reveal character.
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Physical Description: Physical features
and how they are described.
Clothing: What they wear, styles.
Way they talk/language they use:
Dialects, tone, correctness, language
used.
Typical setting or surroundings:
Where do they hang out, how do they
decorate their room, where do they
feel comfortable or uncomfortable?
Friends or people they hang with:
What company do they choose to
keep?
What others say about them: What do
people who know the character say
about him?
Tastes/likes/dislikes: What particular
tastes, attitudes, feelings, beliefs,
soapbox opinions or antipathies does
the character express?
Character thoughts: What do we learn
about the character from her private
thoughts, fears, desires?
Character changes: Changes in a char-
acter are always important! If a char-
acter changes it is for a reason and the
author wants us to figure out what the
reason is. This will probably have
something to do with the authors
generalization or theme of the story.
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