Book Review of "The Trial" by Franz Kafka

The genre of the novel “The Trial” by Franz Kafka is Philosophical fiction, Absurdist fiction, Dystopian fiction, and Paranoid fiction. Philosophical fiction refers to the class of works of fiction which devote a significant portion of their content to the sort of questions normally addressed in philosophy. Absurdist fiction is a genre of fictional narrative, most often in the form of a novel, play, poem, or film that focuses on the experiences of characters in situations where they cannot find any inherent purpose in life. Dystopian fiction is a genre of fictional writing used to explore social and political structures in dark, nightmare world. Paranoid fiction is a term sometimes used to describe works of literature that explore the subjective nature of reality and how it can be manipulated by force in power. Joseph K. is the main protagonists in the novel, he is a chief clerk in the bank, seeking justice constantly from the corrupt and the lethargic court. K. was arrested for committing a crime that he never knew about, this led him into facing his own faults and weakness.

The main conflict in “The Trial” is man vs. society. Man vs. society is an external conflict that involves a protagonist at odds with a ruling body, social, or cultural norms. In the court, they had their own set of laws so that they would manipulate people into thinking that they did commit something, K. had no other choice but to fight for his justice. What I like about the book was that it went straight to the subject of what the novel is about, I also like how Joseph K. fought for his justice and his freedom during some of the chapters. What I dislike about the book is the translation and the style of the book, I also dislike how the court manipulating the law. What I also didn’t like was how Joseph K. gave up in the ending, I know that he was tired of what the court and the two warders were treating him but he could’ve still fought for his justice. If you a type of person who likes to read mystery books than I recommend you to read “The Trial”, it’s a very good and interesting book but you would get confused while reading only because of the translation.

The Kite Runner Chapter 10-11

Chapter 10

In 1981 of March, it was a war between Afghanistan and Russian, the Russians were trying to split up the society in Afghanistan, people would try to turn each other in for money or for threat, so Amir and Baba and other people went to go to Pakistan so that they can be safe. They were riding with refugees/comrades, that’s what Amir called them. While they were riding in the truck, this Russian asked to have sex with the husbands wife, and Baba stood up for her and the Russian tried to kill Baba but a Russian cop stopped the man from doing it, the husband of the women kissed Baba’s hand from saving her. When they arrived to Jalalabad, where they are to switch trucks, Kamir than gold Baba and the other that the truck they need broke down, Baba than attacks Kamir because of him not telling everyone. Karim have put them in the basement with the others that have been waiting for the truck as well. For a week they stayed in the basement with other refugees. Amir recognizes that Kamal was there and said that he looked sick and depressed, Kamal’s father was also there. Amir overhears Kamal’s father telling Baba what happened to Kamal that made him so weak, four men had raped Kamal. Kamir comes back and tells everyone that he found a fuel truck that will take them to Pakistan the fuel truck index had air that was thick with fumes. It was very hard for people to breath in the truck because of the air inside it. They arrive to Pakistan, but they heard Kamal’s father screaming, Kamal had stopped breathing, Kamal’s father than attacks Karim trying to get his gun. Kamal’s father puts the gun in his mouth and shoot.

Chapter 11

Baba and Amir have been staying in Fremont, California for two years. Baba isn’t used to America yet so it’s very hard for him. Baba now works at a gas station where he change oil, fix cars, and etc... One day Baba and Amir went to a convenient store and Baba sees a went to buy something and the old man asked I’m for an ID but Baba got angry because he shops at the store everyday. In Afghanistan, people trusted them with their money so you can give them a price of branch and just give them your money. Amir graduates high school at the age of 20, Baba is very proud of what he has done, Baba bought him a car for him and told him how glad he was for Amir. Baba than talks about how he misses Hassan and everything that Amir remembered came back because of Baba bring Hassan up. Baba and Amir only moves to the U.S. so that Amir can get a education and go to college. Amir wants to go to college and major in English, Baba didn’t approved because he wanted him to get real work, but Amir made up his mind and told him that he’s going to major in English wether he likes it or not. Amir than takes a his car for a ride and just drive around the rich and poor people area, he describes it as the Pacific Ocean. The summer of 1984, Baba bought a old van, on Saturday mornings, Baba and Amir would load if you with purchases from garage sales and and on Sundays they will go sales their items at a flea market. One day Baba introduce Amir to General Taheri, Baba tells General Taheri that Amir is going to be a great writer, that’s when General Taheri daughter comes over, her name is Soraya, her and Amir makes eye contact. After they left the flea market, Amir ask Baba about Soraya, but the only thing Baba knows is that she has been with a man and that it didn’t turn out well, after that Amir couldn’t go to sleep because he kept thinking about Soraya.

The Kite Runner Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Amir has been looking through his toys, he doesn’t like them because they feel like blood money, even Baba’s gift, so he threw them in the corner of his room. Ali and Hassan gave Amir a gift for his birthday which was a new Shahnamah because of his old one being old, Amir wished that they never bought him a gift so he put it in the corner with the rest of the toys but he kept looking at it so he put it at the bottom of the pile, Amir than realizes that one of them had to go. The next day, Amir waited in Ali and Hassan to go to the grocery store, Amir than went to Ali and Hassan’s hut and put Amir’s birthday money and his new watch in Hassan’s mattress. Amir than went to Baba and lied and said that Hassan stole it, Baba than asked Hassan and Hassan said yes, Amir thought that Baba would dismiss them and find new servants but Baba said that he forgives him. Ali than says that he has made a decision and says that they are moving out, Ali gave Amir a cold look and Amir actually was happy that somebody thinks of him as a coward. Baba begs Ali and Hassan to say but Ali says no, Baba cries to Ali and tells him that he was the brother that he never had but Ali told him that their stuff is already packed, Baba than asked them were are they going to stay and Ali states that they re staying with their cousin in Hazarajat. Baba takes them to the bus station and asked Ali once again do they want to leave but Ali said yes. Amir feels bad about what he did and is sorry about what he did but he feels that he will finally live his life and that his guilt will go away. Amir didn’t do nothing about the situation he just let them leave.

The Kite Runner Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Amir have been ignoring Hassan because of the incident, Amir has been treating Hassan very wrongly and he’s treating him as if Hassan did something wrong to him. Amir couldn’t wait for spring to come so that he can go back to school. Amir and Baba’s relationship has been great, they go every where now and Amir loves it, but Amir gets annoyed every time Baba ask about Hassan. Hassan asked Amir if he wanted to go to the hill and read him a story, Amir didn’t want to at first but he agreed. When they went up the hill, it was nothing but silence and they never spoke about anything so they went back home. Hassan has tried to rekindle things with Amir but Amir states tha every time Hassan is around he gets a headache do he told Hassan to go away and to stop harassing him, Amir wishes Hassan to bust the door and give him a pice if his mind but Hassan did the opposite, Amir than goes to his bed and cry. Amir and Baba were planting tulips when Amir asked Baba did he ever thought about getting new servants, Baba told Amir to never ask him that and Ali has been nothing but family to him and that Ali been his family for forty years, he states that they are his family and that they aren’t going anywhere and that’s how Amir and Baba relationship drifted back to the way they were before. Amir turned thirteen in the summer of 1976 and Baba threw him a party, Amir was having fun until Assef showed up, Baba was embarrassed about how Amir treated Assef, Amir than left and when somewhere quiet so that the night can end until Rahim Khan showed up. Rahim Khan states that he almost got married to a Hazara but his family sent the girl family to Hazarata. Rahim Khan than states that Amir can tell him anything, Amir wanted to so bad but he thought about how Rahim would react to the situation. Rahim Khan gave Amir his birth a present which was a leather book for his stories.

The Kite Runner Chapter 6-7

Chapter 6

Every winter year, Kabul have a kite fighting tournament. Baba takes Amir and Hassan to an old blind man who makes the best kites in the city. Baba buys them three identical kites, Amir would always ask Baba to buy a bigger and better kite, he would but he would also buy Hassan the same kite and Amir wish he could be the favorite one. Hassan is the best kite runner in Kabul and he always know when and where a kite is landing before the kite lands. Amir likes Hassan athleticism and wants to run just like him. Baba thinks that Amir is going to win, but Amir believes that he’s going to win and says that it’s his mission to win so that he doesn’t be the ghost in the house anymore and he would be pardoned for killing his mother.

Chapter 7

The tournaments has been held in Amir’s neighborhood. Amir won the tournament and is very happy about it, Hassan than hugs Amir congratulating him but Amir can see it in Baba’s face that he wanted them to separate. Hassan told Amir that he will go get his kite, Amir went to go look for Hassan because he couldn’t find him, Amir than begins to ask people and they were disgusted from why he was looking for a Hazara and Amir than says that it was his old man servant son, but they told him that he ran south. Assef and his little crew caught Hassan and stated that they would let him go if he gives up the kite. Hassan told them no and states that Amir would be mad if he gave them the kites Assef than says that Amir doesn’t like Hassan and Hassan states that him and Amir are friends. Assef and his crew began to go towards Hassan, Amir was going to say something but he just watched them. One of the boys, Wali, told Assef that what they are about to do to Hassan is sinful but Assef say that he was only a Hazara, Assef had raped Hassan, Amir didn’t know what to do so he ran. Hassan than comes back and gave Amir his kite and they never spoke of what happened.

The Kite Killer(Chapter1,2, and 3)

Chapter 1- The narrator mentions that his past made him the person he is today, he located in San Francisco, something happened in his past, when his childhood friend called and everything from his past had bring back into his mind, I believe that the narrator has probably did something bad in his past.

Chapter 2- The narrator had a flash back from when he was a little boy, he had an childhood friend name Hassan, who was also related to Hazara, Ali was Hassan father and Sanaubar was Hassan mother. Sanaubar and Ali were first cousins, she never cared about Hassan at all, less than a week later after she gave birth, she left him and went to travel with singers and dancers, The narrator(Amir) mother died when she was giving birth to him, Hassan always had Amir back, Hassan always took the blame for Amir.

Chapter 3- Baba(Amir’s father) had build a orphanage for children, people doubted him because they believe that he didn’t have the blood for business, not only does he have the orphanage, he also have a restaurant, houses, and more. Amir feels alone because of Baba not giving him the attention that he wants, every time he would try to talk to him or ask him a question he would either yell or just grunt. Amir told Baba about the mullah teaching him that drinking is a sin and Baba told Amir that they all are liars and that there are only one sin and that is theft and that drinking and other things were the variations of theft. Amir didn’t like how Baba always treated other children nicely, he even wished death on the other children he was building the orphanage for.

“Alone” by Maya Angelou

Today in class, I’ve presented my poem today, which was “Alone” by Maya Angelou. I’ve memorized everything but every time I present I get nervous and stutter and I don’t like that at all. The process of presenting this poem was excellent, I got the grade that I wanted. This was a very fun project to do because the poem was essay to understand not only for anyone but for myself as well because I can relate to this poem. I feel as if I need to put myself out there in society and not be scared of anyone’s judgement. This poem has taught me that I’m not alone, I have family and friends by my side. Even people with money can not survive by being alone, money is not always the way to solve problems. Overall, I had fun doing the project and it was a very essay project to present.

Absent

Absent.

The Myth of Music (for my father)

Today in class, we talked about the AP essay scores rubric. It talks about the things that you have in your essay, which can prevent what you make on the AP Exam. For example, having errors, not answering the prompt, or not completing the essay at all you can make potentially make a 0. We looked at examples of some AP students essays, after that we scored them and explained why we’ve chosen that score. We than scored each other essays, and talked about it in class. What I learned today was what you needed to have on your essay to have the perfect score, you don’t have to try to aim for that 9, you can easily pass the AP Exam if you do good with multiple choice and making at less a 5 or higher on tour free responses.

Incident

Today in class, we talked about words that offended us. A word that offended me was the word “bitch”, this word offends me because of how they use the word and because of the meaning of the word, which means female dog. In class, we talked about the word “nigger” and the different aspect of the word. I’ve learn new things such as that people use “nigger” for a lot of things. Such as nigger rich, nigger work, and etc.. I’ve also learned some other words that can also be offended to black people such as tom, mammy, and etc.. We’ve watched some videos on how “cracker” and “honky” is very offensive to white people but it’s not worse than “nigger”. Some people were interviewed and people were saying that it’s not offensive than the word “nigger” is. I believe this because white people wasn’t going to places that they weren’t allowed to go to unlike black people. They always had signs that were saying “no niggers allowed” or “niggers only”. Us black people had to dealt with racism for a very period of time and we still experience it today. Words can change everything about something for example, in the poem “Incident” by Countee Cullen. A little boy went to Baltimore, and he was very happy to experience the city, and the only thing he remembered from being their was that this boy called him a nigger. Words can be very conceited, and in that situation it was.

The Myth of Music for my father

Today in class, we read a poem by Rachel M. Harper, “My Myth of Music for my father”. It was about how a song the speaker remembers when her and her family were spending time together, and how the song bring back the memory from when her and her family were having family time. The important thing I learned today was that music creates moments that will always be with you. I believe that this is true because everyone has that one song that they would hear and it would bring a memory back from when they were an child. For me, I was at my house with my mom and dad and they use to always play this song called “Sweet Love” by Anita Baker, every time I hear that song it always bring that memory up from when I was a little girl singing that song.

Poetry Explication

This is my poetry explication from “Alone” by Maya Angelou.

Still I Rise

Today in class, we read another poem by Maya Angelou, which was called, “Still I Rise”. It was about a woman who dealt with a lot of problems but she still rise. This poem taught me that happiness is a decision, I believe that this is true because there are people who take problems a different way. Some people either hide their emotions and keep a smile on their face or they just be mad at the world. It’s very important to love yourself and others because it will give you the happiness that you want. When I was younger people would always talk about how I was ugly and big for my age and at some point I believed the words that were coming out of their mouths, I never had confidence in myself and would always talk myself down because that’s what other people did to me. But as I got older I realized that people are going to have their opinions about you and that’s what made me stronger and made me more confident in myself. This poem has made me a better person for myself and it has made me love myself even more.

Life Doesn’t Frighten Me

Today in class, we read another Maya Angelou poem, which was called, “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me”. But before we read the poem the class answered some questions about their fear. While reading and analyzing the poem, it taught me a lot of things. One of the important things that the poem taught me was to never fear anything and that we should get rid of our fear because in the Bible, God says that we shouldn’t fear anything but our parents but what God meant about fear was respect our parents. Another important thing I learned from this poem was that to always have strength with what you are scared of and that IT’S NOT THERE. People she get rid of there fear because it can better themselves and their future as well.

Maya Angelou

Today in class, we read two poems from Maya Angelou, which were, “The Mothering Blackness” and “The Black Family Pledge”. So far Maya Angelou Poems have been my favorite and not only because she is an black writer, her poems teach me that black people should stick together and stop going against each other. With “The Black Family Pledge” she talk about different things that are happening in today’s society for as younger people not respecting their elderly and not appreciating what their ancestors have fought for us people today. They have fought for a lot of things and died for a lot of things so that we can have the freedom that they couldn’t have.

How Being Black Is Important To Me

Being black to me is important because we have different varieties that others don’t have for example, natural hair. Natural hair symbolizes black power, it showed other race that we are very comfortable with our skin and also with our natural hair. With having natural hair, it takes time for black women to do there hair because of all the things they have to do to get it how they want it to look and also they have to put in a lot of products as well. I don’t have natural hair but my sister does and I know how it is for other black women because she have to use a lot of products to do the look that she wants to do. There are other cultures who don’t have natural hair who judge us black people for us having it because they think it’s too big or that it’s too nappy but I believe that our natural hair is what makes us who we are. Another thing that is important to me is slavery. I know that I never experience slavery but i do know that black women and men been through a lot during slavery. No other race can feel how we feel because black people had to lose there family to work for someone who either raped or torture them because they thought it was okay but it really wasn’t. Some different race always tell us black kids that we should stop telling them that they shouldn’t say anything about slavery because we didn’t experience it, but we are as hurt as the people who experienced it because we had great great grandmas and grandpas who experienced it, which is why we always get emotional about what other people say about slavery. As for racism, other race treat us as if we’re trash which is not okay because we are as human as they are. They always come for black peoples because they think that we always doing something negative and that we’re wild animals, they’re always saying slick races slurs, we are just humans who are having the time of there lives. I love being black and I will never change that for nothing in the world.

Cruising with the Beach Boys

Today in class, we read a poem called “Cruising with The Beach Boys” by Dana Gioia. What I learned from this poem was that bringing an past or present memory or memorizes can change your future. I believe this because there are good memorizes and bad memorizes, there are certain things that brings up that memory can change an aspect for your future. It can have an emotional feeling towards the person because the memory can be about an past relationship, sad situation, and even a past loved one.

Cluster

Today in class, we had a sub again so we were assigned to finish our cluster from last week with our group, than we had to write 2 paragraphs about the prompt that was assigned to our group. It was a kind of a hard to start on the essay because we couldn’t really come up with how we were going to start our paragraph. My group eventually figured out what we were going to do. It took us a long time to do the paragraphs, but we managed to still do it.

Critical Reading Questions

Today in class, we had a sub so for today we went into the green book and did critical reading questions. The questions were kind of easy but there were some questions that I didn’t understand. I had t go back to the prologue to figure out what the question was asking.

Multiple Choice Quiz

Today in class, we took an multiple choice quiz, after that we got into groups and did corrections on the quiz. The quiz was hard to m because there were certain words I didn’t know the definition to. I need to work on knowing definitions to words and doing process of elimination when doing a multiple choice test or quiz because it can help me on the AP Exam. When we were in groups, it helped me because my group knew the definition of the words that I didn’t know. This also helped me figured out why my answers were wrong. I need to work on my timing as well because it takes me a long time to understand what the question is asking me, I also should work on reading faster so that I can have more time to answer the questions. I need to make myself put in more effort when I’m taking a quiz or a test because my mind blanks out sometimes and I tend to forget everything that my teacher has taught us in class.

The Pardoner’s Tale Questions

Today in class, we got into groups and answered some questions about “The Pardoner’s Tale”. Each group were assigned to do certain questions, after that we went over the answers from each group. What I learned in class was that I need to reword things when I’m answering a question in class and also when we’re taking a quiz or test. With going over questions every day in class, it helps me with how I should reword my answers when answering a question. I can do that by stating the question or just using words that is similar to the question. This can help me on the AP Exam and also in life because it’s very hard for me to explain myself when I’m answering a question in class or even on a test. I tend to always stutter or even just not answering the question at all. With answering multiple questions and also answering questions on test and quiz, it helps me out with how I should answer and reword my answers.

The Pardoner’s Tale Group Questions

Today in class, we went through the questions that each group made for “The Pardoner’s Tale”. Each group had to answer the question and explain why we chosen the answer. We than used the “best answer” strategy to answer each group question. What I learned today was that money isn’t always about greed, it’s the success that counts. God says that he wants us to have more and overflow. Without having more, you wouldn’t be able to help the people that you want to help. For example, you want to help the homeless, but you can’t because you don’t have the money to help them how you want to help them. Instead of just having the love of money and being greedy, you can help others that really need the help.

The Pardoner’s Tale Quiz

Today in class, we’ve took a quiz about the tale we read yesterday which was “The Pardoner’a Tale”. After taking the quiz, we went through the answers and talked about our mistakes on the quiz. Then, we were assigned to make up a question that weren’t on the quiz. For example, my group had to come up with a question about what an object symbolizes in the tale. I didn’t make the grade that I wanted to make and now that we went through the quiz, I understood what my mistake was which were not doing process of elimination and also not comparison the questions that were on the quiz. I like practicing more with multiple choice because it would give me an better idea of what I should do on the AP exam. What I learned today was a new word which was hedonism which means the pursuit to pleasure. I need to work on knowing definitions to certain words and also I need to work more on process of elimination.

The Pardoners Tale

Today in class, we read “The Pardoner’s Tales”, which was about how a man would go from city’s to city and tell the same story to people that were in church. He told them what they wanted to hear for their money, he didn’t care if they didn’t have enough money to divide for their kids, he would still take their money. What I learned today was was that “Love of money is the root of all evil” and I believe this because their are a lot of people that would do anything to have money. For example, the three rioters were looking for death but instead they had found some money, which made them forget about what they were really looking for. I also learned that there are three and more things that can cause death which are speaking on death, getting involved in dangerous/evil activities, and being careless of your surroundings. Just like the three rioters, getting involved in dangerous activities cause them to die. They all had ideas on what they were going to do to each other and it back fired by all them the rioters dying.

The Wife of Bath Tales

Today in class, we continued to read the rest of “The Wife of Bath Tale”. The knight has found the answer to the queens question from an old lady, but the knight had to give her something in return which was his future. The old lady wanted him to marry her, he didn’t like it at all but he did promise his future so he didn’t have a choice. After reading “The Wife of Bath Tales” we took a quiz on the tale. What I learned from today’s lesson was that men want faithful and loyal women. Some men don’t care about appearance they just want their women to be pay to them and others worry about appearance and not loyalty. For example, the knight didn’t like how the old lady looked, the old lady didn’t or his behavior so she gave him a choice to either have an old faithful lady or an young faithful lady, but he said that it was her choice even though that he wanted the young women. I also learned that it is very important to know the definition of words because it can help you on the AP Exam.

The Wife of Bath Tales

Today in class, we talked more about “The Canterbury Tales” and read the general prologue which talked about the characters and who they were. After learning about the characters, we read "The Wife of Bath Tales".The most important thing that I learned from today’s lesson was that Canterbury is a holy place and people often go there to find or heal themselves. With "The Canterbury Tales" the characters are named by their occupation. I believe that this is important because their are a lot of authors who characters are not named by their occupation but just name by what the author gives them. In "The Wife of Bath Tales", a knight has raped the maiden and the queen wanted to punish him by asking him,"What is the thing that women most desire?". This is very important to me because their are different aspects of what women desire such as wealth, attention, passionate, and so much more in a man, but most women only want to have control of their marriage.

Effort is Everything

Today in class, we watched a video about how effort is everything, being talented and smart is not the key to success. Having effort in what you want to do will succeed you in the future. After that, we talked about “The Canterbury Tales” and the background of Geoffrey Chaucer.

How to finish High School

Today in class, we answered some questions about last semester of what we done and what we remember from the last semester. After that, we watched a video called “How to finish High School”, which was mainly about how seniors want things to go faster that that they can graduate. Seniors should have fun and not pressure themselves into school and to always take a break from working to hard.