Theory of Knowledge

2006-09-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

The Kite Runner...
In the last chapter, Amir almost loses Sohrab as the little boy attempted suicide and almost succeeded. He lost a large amount of blood but was revived just in time. When all hope to put Sohrab in a children's home failed, Amir decided to take Sohrab back with him to America. Sohrab was not so fond of this idea anymore. But, nevertheless, Amir's nephew returned to the US with Amir. However, this trip silenced the little boy. He spent his days in America in silence, not speaking to anyone including his new parents. One day, Amir took his nephew to an Afghan festival where there was going to be a competition of kite flying. Here is where the book takes another unexpected turn as in the end, Amir ends up being the kite runner, while Sohrab slashes the other kites.

I loved the ending...It was a good way to end a novel, by flipping the order of things around. When Amir and Hassan were young, Amir was the one slashing kites, while Hassan ran the kites for him. It was interesting to see how at the end, this flipped, as Amir now chased the kites when Hassan's little son slashed them.

PERCEPTION: In this last chapter, perception is altered in almost every character. We see how Amir is worried sick about his nephew, rushing him to the hospital when he cuts himself. Beforehand, he was unwilling to even rescue the boy from the harsh Afghanistan life. His mission at first had been to bring the boy to Pakistan and put him in a children's home where he would be safe. However, as time progressed, Amir grew attached to the little boy and his perception changed. He no longer wanted to give the boy to a children's home. He wanted to bring him home to America with him.
When Amir first proposed the idea of moving to America with him to Sohrab, Sohrab was open and welcoming. Amir promised Sohrab that he would not return to a children's home. But because circumstances with adoption were trivial in the Middle East, Amir told Sohrab that he might need to stay at a children's home in Pakistan. Upon hearing this, Sohrab's perception of Amir changed forever. He no longer had the trust in him. He know longer saw Amir as a trustworthy adult for breaking his problem. It would take him years to trust Amir again.

EMOTION:
A mix of emotions are aroused within the characters in this book. First and most important is the emotional attachment of Amir to his nephew. From not wanting the boy at all, Amir soon found himself wanting to adopt him. His emotions led him to understanding and sympathizing with this poor boy's life. Amir finally understood that the boy was an orphan without a home, who was desperately searching for a place to live. Amir's fondness for the boy grew stronger each day and eventually he began to love him as his own son. His emotion led him to realize the gift that God brought upon him. Since he and his wife could not have children themselves, God brought another gift to them, Sohrab.

REASONING:
Reasoning in the last chapter plays a key role to understanding the novel as a whole. It took Amir a lot of reasoning with himself to finally realize that Sohrab was his nephew and in need of a new home since his own parents were murdered back in Afghanistan. His emotional attachment to Sohrab led to this clearminded thinking, which in turn led to a happier ending of the book. After living through horrors in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan, with the murders of thousands of people as well as his own mere death and Sohrab's as well, Amir was able to think more clearly as he finally made the decision that no matter what it took he would return to America if and only if Sohrab would come alongside him.

LANGUAGE:
Once in America, body language was the only form of communication between Sohrab and his new parents, Amir and Soraya. Silenced by the events that took place in his life, Sohrab expressed himself through his facial expressions. Amir and Soraya eventually learned to tell when he was sad, angry, or happy. They hoped that maybe someday he would speak to them once again. But, until that day they read Sohrab's needs through his body language. Facial expressions as I just mentioned also played a key role and Soraya new what Sohrab needed through his facial expressions. Therefore, it was not necessarily verbal language that allowed for communication to take place but rather body language in which Soraya and Amir could interpret the needs of their new son.

In general, this book taught me a lot about Afghanistan and the horrors that people lived through there. What was even more interesting to me was how I was able to connect every chapter of the book to the TOK diagram. Each of the four ways of knowing was equally important in communicating with one another. I loved reading this book and I was glad I picked it for my summer reading.

2006-08-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

The Kite Runner...
In the next 100 pages (up to 344) and these pages were about Amir's rescue of Sohrab. Just as Rahim Khan had asked him to do so, Amir returned to Afghanistan to retrieve his nephew. But a few obstacles came in his way. He encountered an old enemy of his, Assef. Assef had previously raped Hassan and now were doing the same things to his son. He managed to rescue little Sohrab and took him back to Pakistan with him. When the orphanage he was supposed to go to turned out to be unreal, Amir asked whether Sohrab would return to America with him.

Perception: His perception of people in these pages did not change much. He still loathed Assef, maybe even more than he did before. However, the way he viewed Sohrab changed. His intention was just to rescue the little boy and bring him over to Pakistan. But Amir grew attached to this little boy. So his perception on adoption changed significantly. He was willing to do anything to give his nephew a good home.

Emotion: His anger toward his father and his childhood filled with lies died down and his hatred for Assef and the Taliban grew. He witnessed a woman being stoned to death in the middle of a public place and realized how wrong such a deed was. This hatred of the government in his home country lead him to realize the more important things in life.

Reasoning: As his anger died down, he was able to reason better. He realized that this was his nephew and that he was, in some way, responsible for him. He became more clearheaded and focused on the positive things in life realizing that giving a home to this boy as well as sharing love with him is what he needs most when he just lost his parents.

Language: Language as always may create barriers. Sohrab, unable to speak English, would not be able to communicate his needs and concerns if Amir did not speak in his tongue. You can also see in these few chapters how language plays a key role in communication, whether it be through words, body expressions, or facial expressions. Amir was able to tell what Sohrab needed through just paying attention to his body language and his facial expressions.

2006-08-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

The Kite Runner...
The next hundred and fifty pages or so are based on Amir's life in America. "Baba always loved the idea of America," and with all the events unwinding in Afghanistan he thought this would be the perfect time to pursue that thought. So, Baba and Amir moved to America. However, this life was completely different then the one they were used to living in in Kabul. Baba, a prominent figure in Afghanistan no longer had that same recognition. He was working at an Afghan gas station pumping gas to make ends meet. However, he knew Amir had a bright future and therefore had faith that his son would soon lead a comfortable life. But before Baba had the chance to see his son graduate college, he got very sick and was diagnosed with lung cancer from all his smoking. Before Baba died, he attended his son's wedding with Soraya, a daughter of a well-known family back in Afghanistan. Soon after he passed away. Amir graduated from college and soon began writing his novels. His first was was a success and many others were to follow afterwards. But Soraya and Amir had one problem. As much as both wanted to have a child, Soraya could not become pregnant. As soon as they gave up hope, another solution uprose. Rahim Khan, a friend of Amir's family, sent Amir a letter stating urgent business that had to be dealt with in Pakistan. Amir arrived in Pakistan to find out that Hassan, his childhood playmate, was killed by the Taliban. Hassan's wife was murdered too. Their child, Sohrab, was put to an orphanage. Rahim Khan's dying wish was for Amir to rescue the little boy from the terrors in Afghanistan and bring him to an orphanage in Pakistan, where they would treat him well. At first Amir was hesitant but agreed to do it, as it was Rahim Khan's dying wish. (THATS ALL I READ TO).

Perception: As Amir grew his perception on life changed a bit. He was no longer an immature child/teenager, but a mature adult who's life's path was wide open ahead of him. He got married to a respected woman, and was living comfortably in a house they bought together. However, Amir also forgot about the terrible life in Afghanistan, full of fear for one's life. He was grateful that his father brought him to America. The way he perceived his father also changed. When he flew to Pakistan to visit Rahim Khan, he found out that his father was not really the man he thought he was. His father was also Hassan's father. Ali, Hassan's alleged father was sterile. "How could he have lied to me al those years? To Hassan? He had sat me on his lap when I was little, looked me straight in the eyes, and said, There is only one sin. And that is theft...When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. Hadn't he said those words to me? And now, fifteen years after I'd burried him, I was learning that Baba has been a thief. And a theif of the worst kind, because the things he'd stolen had been sacred: from the the right to know I had a brother, from Hassan his identity, and from Ali his honor. His nang. His namoos.
The questions kept coming at me: How had Baba brought himself to look Ali in the eye? How had Ali lived in that house, day in and day out, knowing he had been dishonored by his master in the single worst way an Afghan man can be dishonored? And how was I going to reconcile this new image of Baba with the one that hadbeen imprinted in my mind for so long, that of him in his old brown suit, hobbling up the Taheris' driveway to ask for Soraya's hand?"

Emotion: Emotion plays a major role especially towards the end of the section I read. Anger was the biggest emotion in Amir that played a key part in his decision making. He was angry at his father Baba for not telling him that Hassan was his brother, for hiding it from his all these years, for lying to him straight in his eyes, for lying to Hassan who had the right to know his true identity, for robbing Ali of his honor. Because of this anger, Amir was missing the major decision he had to make. His anger affected his decision making ability. He didn't know what was right anymore. He didn't want to go back to Afghanistan to retrieve his nephew because of the danger as well as the memories the little boy would bring back to him. However, deep down he had an unknown love for this boy he never met. He knew that it would be the key that would unlock his shame that he held deep inside of him from when he was a little boy. He knew that retrieving Sohrab from Afghanistan was the right thing to do. So once his anger settled down he agreed to do it, as Rahim Khan's dying wish.

Reasoning: Emotion and Reasoning are sort of intertwined. Emotion affects the way a person reasons. Just as mentioned above, Amir's anger affected his reasoning ability. Because he was angry at his father, at Rahim Khan, and at the world, he was not able to reason through this big decision he had to make: whether or not to retrieve his nephew from Afghanistan. He was angry that the truth was hidden from him and Hassan for years and that affected his ability to reason through the dangers and the benefits of entering into Afghanistan to save Sohrab. "...what Rahim Khan revealed to me changed things. Made me se how my entire life, long be fore the winter of 1975, dating back to when that singing Hazara woman was nursing me, had been a cycle of lies, betrayals, and secrets.
There is a way to be good again, he'd said. A way to end the cycle. With a little boy. An orphan. Hassan's son. Somewhere in Kabul."

Language: Language is constantly being used as it creates a way for communication between one another. However, not only does vocal language play an important role for communication, body language does as well. As Soraya and Amir constantly tried having a child and failed, Amir could tell by Soraya's body language that she had given up hope. He saw the sadness in her face as everytime they tried, they had no luck. "Soraya kept looking down at her hands. She was tired, I knew, tired of it all."

2006-07-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

The Kite Runner...
All I have to say is...read the book! It's an amazing story.

Okay now in the next 50 pages up to pg 124, Hassan gets raped by Assef (a German-Afghan that bullies people in Amir's school and that hates Hazaras). Amir witnesses all of this, and sees that Hassan does not even attempt to fight back and try to stop them. He merely lays there, pants down, and Assef behind him with his penis out. That moment changed Amir's and Hassan's relationship FOREVER. Never again do they have the same close bond. After this incident, the two boys ignore each other for quite a while until Amir drives them away from Baba's home. He purposely made it seem as though Hassan stole from him, even though he would never do such a thing. Hassan and his father Ali, at that point, decide that it is time for them to leave. Because the situation in Afghanistan becomes worse and worse with each day, Baba and Amir leave for Pakistan in fear of their safety. However, along the way they meet death a handful of times.

PERCEPTION: Each individual perceives events in different lights. One person with a certain opinion will perceive things one way and another person with an opposing opinion will perceive things in a completely opposite light. I noticed this especially throughout reading the first 100 pages of the book or so. For example, Hassan is always quiet, reserved, and obeying, while on the other hand Amir is very loud and controlling. Because of this, Amir and Hassan do not always agree on every detail. Hassan will always remain loyal to Amir and risk his life to save Amir's. HOwever, Amir is not always willing to do the same for him. Assef (the bully) goes to Hassan "You're a lucky Hazara...Because today it's only going to cost youthat blue kite..." and Hassan responds "Amir agha won the tournament and I ran this kite for him. I ran it fairly. This is his kite." Assef responds "A loyal Hazara. Loyal as a dog." Amir just watched then as Assef raped Hassan for not giving him the kite.

Emotion affects the way a person responds to a situation as well as affects their decision making ability. For example, because Amir was embarrassed for not rescuing Hassan when he was raped, Amir hid some of his things under Hassan's bed, making it seem like Hassan stole them from him. As a result Hassan and his father Ali moved out.

Language is used to communicate between each other in order to convey feelings, expressions, sayings etc. It comes in different forms- body langauge, speech, facial expressions. They are all some sort of language because they allow for communication to take place.

Reasoning is used in decision making. However, smart reasoning may be affected by outside factors such as emotions, for example, Amir's embarrassment on account that he did not help his friend when Hassan was being raped by Assef. Then his ability to make smartchoices is altered. He then thinks it would be best if Hassan and Ali moved out and as a result devises different methods of making surethey did just so.

2006-07-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

The Kite Runner
First off, this book is COMPLETELY different then I imagined it to be. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing. From the first 70 pages or so that I read, I figured out that this book addresses the issues in Afghanistan in the passed half a century. The protagonist of the novel is named Amir. He grows up in a wealthy family and has all the luxuries he can ask for. However, this boy unlike many children of his age is different in one way - he doesn't care for these materialistic possessions. He loses his closest friend because of his cowardess and all he cares for is gaining that friend back. This friend, Hassan, however, is not of the elite class. He is merely a servant for the household. Nevertheless he is respected by Baba, Amir's father, because Baba grew up with his father. A brotherhood forms between the elite class and the servants that seems unbreakable.

However, at that time in Afghanistan you were disgraced and frowned upon if you were a Hazara. Unfortunately, Hassan and his father, Ali, belonged to this group of people. But that didn't stop Baba from treating them like all others. Baba wanted to end the hatred for this class of people. Baba followed one rule, "there is only one sin...and that is theft."

This book touches on every aspect of the ways of knowing, perception, emotion, reasoning, and language.

Let's start with perception. Amir's perception is heightened as the book moves along. He gains better understanding of events and situations around him as he learns from experience and grows from it. Hassan, although illiterate, seems to be the better friend. He understands things that are hard for Amir to grasp. Even though he is a year younger than Amir and uneducated he perceives the world in a different light. He knows his position in Afghanistan - that of a servant. His perception differs therefore, because of this understanding of class structure. Hassan never argues with Amir because he knows his place and what is so called "right and wrong" for a servant to do. Baba, although of the wealthier class, believes in justice for all. His perception is heightened through his experiences as well. However, because of the many situations that he has had to encounter, Baba is a well rounded person that sees the difference between right and wrong. However, his tender personality is sometimes obscured and hidden in desperate times.

Next in line is emotion. Emotions play a role in all decisions made as well as come as a result of the decision made. Because the story is told in first-person in the eyes of Amir, we know of all of Amir's emotions. However, what's harder to distinguish from this viewpoint is his servant's/friend's Hassan's emotions. The only time when we find out how he is truly feeling is when Hassan cries or when he is overwhelmed with happiness from the gifts he receives. Generally speaking, emotions affect the decisions rendered by the characters in the book.

In the end, reasoning allows a person to make his/her decisions. Before coming to a decision, a person reasons through the possible consequences that may come from the decision made. However, reasoning differs at each social class. Hassan has to take in consideration is position in society when reasoning through the consequences of certain actions he makes. Amir on the other hand, is well positioned in society and often times will use this higher position in the decisions he makes.

Language is used throughout this book. Although I only read the first 70 or so pages, there has not been a page where an Afghan word has not been used. When Baba and Amir have to flee the country because of the invasion from Russia, they come across Russian soldiers and language once again becomes a barrier.

In all, I like this book so far. Hopefully it'll just get better.

2006-03-09T23:55:00.000-08:00

Geometry Innate
In the study performed on the Mundurukú villagers, many of the villagers showed some knowledge of geometry. However, none of these villagers, both children and adults, have been taught geometry. Therefore, it leads to this question: Is geometry innate?

I believe that to some extent it is. The basics of geometry everyone is born with. Take a baby for example. A baby knows what is round and will roll, and what won't.

When the study was done on the Mundurukú villagers, the same idea was proven. Without any previous knowledge of geometry the Mundurukú villagers received 43 sets of six images where they had to identify the 'odd' one out. The article states that they did as well on the tests as a group of 26 U.S. children. This clearly indicates that basics of geometry is innate.

The test done on these villagers tested their reasoning skills. Reason is one of the four ways of knowing on the TOK diagram. In this study, the Mundurukú villagers had to reason out which one of the illustrations in the set of six did not belong. Perception was addressed as well. The Mundurukú villagers had to decipher which picture was the odd one out. Their perception was theirfore tested as well. The study wanted to see if the Mundurukú villagers perceived these pictures differently in order to conclude whether or not geometry was innate. They had to perceive which picture did not belong in the set.

2006-03-05T11:49:00.000-08:00

BEACH PAiNTiNG
I must admit that the picture was very confusing to me at first. I think it took me a good 15 minutes to figure out what was illustrated in it. But I finally got it!!

When I first looked at the picture, I saw a wall, a black ball on the ground, the beach, and wooden shelves. It made no sense. BUT, after staring at it for a while i figured out that the curve in the wall was actually an open door showing the view of the beach and the ocean. In trying to decipher what the picture illustrated, I asked myself, why does the view of the beach extend further into the wall? Why isn't it just viewed out of the door? Then I realized what the wooden shelves are there for. They aren't wooden shelves at all. What they create is an eisel with a canvas painting of the beach on it. However, I couldn't figure out what the ball represented in the picture.

I also examined the painting more carefully. What I realized was that it wasn't a painting of the exact view seen out of the doorway. It was a continuation of the view of the beach seen outside of the door.

What's interesting to note is how this painting affects one of the ways of knowing, perception. A person's ability to interpret a painting results from his/her perception of it. I saw the eisel as wooden shelves. Another person may have viewed it as a chair or a bookshelf. I saw the canvas painting as a hole in the wall. I told my cousin to take a look at it and I asked her what she saw in the painting. She said that the canvas painting was either a mirror reflection or a window (2 things that I haven't even considered). This painting addresses this issue of perception. The way you interpret the painting may not be the same as the way another person does, as in the case of my cousin and me.