Assef's Interaction With Baba at Amir's Thirteenth Birthday Party

We believe that this picture best represents Assef, specifically his interaction with Baba at Amir's thirteenth birthday party. We see that although water is something that someone can easily drown in, in this photo it is covered, symbolizing how Assef easily covers his true personality with a facade that deceives Baba. Yet, Amir is not fooled by how Assef "was the embodiment of every parent's dream, a strong, tall, well-dressed and well-mannered boy... But to me, his eyes betrayed him. When I looked into them, the facade faltered, revealed a glimpse of the madness hiding behind them" (96-97). Here, Assef's eyes are symbolized by the strips of water that we can see, since the pool covers don't completely cover them. Baba only sees the pool covers, but Amir sees the terrifying depths of the water underneath them, and so he is correctly justified in his fear of Assef. One last thing that this picture has is flags above the pool pointing down. Very clearly, there are no red flags at all, similar to how to Baba and many other Afghan parents, Assef is a flawless child who everyone should aspire to be.

Act 5, Scene 3; War of Life and Death

Prompt A:

One of the most important parts of this scene is where Romeo gives his soliloquy before his suicide, in which he addresses death and how he is looking forward to it.  He is completely ready to kill himself because his love for Juliet is so great that if she is dead, then he will gladly join death with her. However, Romeo doesn't realize that Juliet isn't actually dead, but he kills himself, which in turn leads to Juliet killing herself when she wakes up and finds Romeo dead. This part of the scene reminds me of Germany starting World War II by invading Poland. Just as how throughout the book Romeo has been talking about how he might commit suicide, Germany, and its leaders, had been thinking about invading Poland for a long time. Right before he commits suicide, Romeo is completely calm, and he is even looking forward to death, although he knows that his suicide will have pretty big impacts on other people, like his family. However, he chooses to go through with the act, just as Germany decides to go through with invading Poland even though she knows that it could have devastating impacts on the world.

Act 3, Scene 5; Lord Capulet's Ultimatum

Prompt E:

In the beginning of the book, Lord Capulet was a gentle and understanding father. However, when Juliet refuses to marry Paris, he becomes enraged and starts to harshly chastise her. Juliet begs her father in vain to not marry Paris, but Lord Capulet has none of it and decides to lay down the law. Although we rarely see any interactions between Juliet and her father, the one time earlier in the book that we did, Lord Capulet told Paris that he would rather let Juliet decide whether she wanted to marry Paris or not, showing a lot more understanding and compassion. Lord Capulet's rage is most likely let out because after all of this time he has spent trying to find Juliet a suitor, she refuses to wed because she claims that she is too young.

"To have her matched. And having now provided
A gentleman of noble parentage,
Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly trained,
Stuffed, as they say, with honorable parts,
Proportioned as one’s thought would wish a man—
And then to have a wretched puling fool,
A whining mammet, in her fortune’s tender,
To answer “I’ll not wed,” “I cannot love,”
“I am too young,” “I pray you, pardon me.”—
But, an you will not wed, I’ll pardon you.
Graze where you will, you shall not house with me."

Lord Capulet effectively tells his daughter that Paris is a great man, who's good-looking, educated, young, and full of good qualities. He then threatens her and tells her that if she doesn't wed Paris, he will disown her and abandon her on the streets of Verona.

Act 3, Scene 1; Sweet Vengeance

Prompt D:

The infinite chain of revenge represents the scene well by depicting what happens once Mercutio dies. When Tybalt kills him, Romeo then kills Tybalt, which causes him to be exiled from Verona. Now the Capulets want revenge on Romeo, but if they kill Romeo, then the rest of the Montagues will want revenge, and so on. This infinite chain of revenge will only be stopped if someone decides to not take revenge, which would be very unlikely given the blood feud between the two families. 

Act 2, Scene 4; A Showdown of Wits

Prompt B:

Mercutio - Do you really think that Tybalt is extremely skilled in sword fighting? Why are you always so witty?
Romeo - How does it feel to have won a battle of wits against Mercutio?
Nurse - How do you feel about Romeo and Juliet getting married?
Peter- Is the Nurse a good master?

Act 2, Scene 2; A Rose by Any Other Word

Prompt C:

In this scene, Juliet says the famous line,"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet." This short but powerful line explains to readers how Juliet feels about Romeo being a Montague; she believes that it doesn't matter what his name, he is simply perfect. The names of things do not really affect what they are intrinsically; what really matters is what an object is, not what it is called. In the story, what matters is that Romeo is a great guy, even if he is identified by the name "Montague." Juliet's line reveals the intensity and power of her feelings of affection for Romeo, and also seem to foreshadow of a darker ending, for she notes that Romeo has the label of being a "Montague," while she is a "Capulet." Although she states that these two words are not body parts of them or facts and are only names, it still seems that there will be problems.

Act 1, Scene 5: Tybalt's Temper Tantrum

Prompt F:

I can't believe that filthy piece of scum had the nerve to show up at our grand feast.
The next time I catch him I'll skew him well with my trusty rapier!
And to believe that my old uncle told me to not do anything about that!
He might have gotten the better hand this time, but he better watch his back.
In fact, all of the Montagues should watch themselves, or they'll find they have something in their body.
I wonder how fair Juliet fares with that County Paris?
Hopefully she'll marry soon, to a bright and virtuous boy, that not of the likes of Romeo!

The Knife

The Knife

Where to put the knife?

So many places to put it.

The throat — a quick and efficient death.

Or the wrists, the green veins filled with plentiful blood.

But no, that would only reveal his intentions,

and would not be enough.

Or all of those juicy organs,

tender with blood and saliva.

Each containing a rich cavity of life,

waiting for the darkness.

All it would take was one quick stab for eternal rest.

Yes, that’s all it would —

“Robert! We’re leaving for school in five minutes!”

He stared at the butter knife, dull and blunt.

Curls of smoke trailed from the toaster, still warm.

The toast on his plate was charred and a little blackened.

He bit into the crunchy texture;

it needed some butter.

Walking to the fridge, he grabbed the butter.

He battered the bread with butter.

He crammed the makeshift breakfast into his mouth,

The butter knife was sticky, coated with a layer of butter,

and the sink was crammed of dirty and greasy plates.

Where to put the knife?