The Kite Runner

Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and themes.

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. What is the relationship between Hassan and Amir?

2. Baba tells Amir that every other sin is a variation of what?  

3. Why do the village boys make fun of Ali?

4. Who is Rahim Khan?

Multiple Choice

1. What happened to Hassan’s mother, Sanaubar?

A) Her father disapproved of her marriage and brought her home.

B) She died in childbirth, so Hassan never met her.

C) She ran off with a clan of traveling singers and dancers.

D) She got a job in America and sends money home for Ali’s medical treatment.

2. In Chapter 1, what does watching the boys fly their kites remind Amir of?

A) his “first and most beloved present”

B) his “past of unatoned sins”

C) the “true brother of his inheritance”

D) the “father of soul and body”

3. What does Rahim Khan say to Amir on the phone?

A) “There is a way to be good again.”

B) “Your father loved you even if he couldn’t say it.”

C) “Hassan will always be your brother.”

D) “The past can never be forgotten.”

4. Why is Baba displeased with Amir?

A) He does not show bravery by fighting back against the other boys.

B) He picks on Hassan when he is bothered.

C) He is not interested in school and becoming an avid reader.

D) He has no respect for Baba’s authority.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is the conflict between the Pashtuns and Hazaras?

2. In Chapter 1, Amir says: “And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His was Amir. My name. Looking back on it now, I think the foundation for what happened in the winter of 1975—and all that followed—was already laid in those first words.” What does this quote foreshadow about Amir and Hassan’s relationship?

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. How did Ali become a resident in Baba’s home?

2. According to Rahim Khan, what literary element makes Amir’s story well-written?

3. What does Baba get Hassan for his birthday?

4. What sport do Hassan and Amir learn?

Multiple Choice

1. What does Hassan realize is wrong with Amir’s story?

A) The characters aren’t relatable.

B) There is a plot hole.

C) It is plagiarized.

D) It is not realistic.

2. Amir remembers 1975 as the winter that Hassan did what?

A) learned how to read

B) finally became an adult

C) stopped smiling

D) stopped asking to play with Amir

3. What kind of movie do Amir and Hassan enjoy the most?

A) traditional Afghani films

B) animated short films

C) World War II movies

D) American Westerns

4. What political event happens during 1973?

A) There is a violent revolt of the Hazaras against the Pashtuns.

B) There is a bloodless coup overturning the monarchy.

C) Women are given the right to vote in Afghanistan.

D) The Taliban take over Afghanistan for the first time.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Assef bully Hassan and Amir?

2. Who is more loyal, Hassan or Amir, and why?

Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. What does Hassan tell Amir before running to catch the winning kite of the tournament?

2. What does Amir realize about Hassan’s dream the morning of the Kite Tournament?

3. What does Assef give Amir for his 13th birthday?

4. Who takes the blame for the stolen watch and money?

Multiple Choice

1. Why doesn’t Amir run to protect Hassan from Assef?

A) Rahim Khan asked him to stay out of trouble.

B) He is cowardly and doesn’t want to get hurt.

C) Hassan is the price he will pay for Baba’s affection.

D) He is angry at Baba for always saying that he is weak.

2. What does Amir tell Hassan to do?

A) “Please stop making me feel guilty—I said I was sorry.”

B) “Go away and never return.”

C) “Just be my friend again, and I will be happy.”

D) “Just stop harassing me.”

3. Why does Amir hide a watch and money under Ali’s mattress?

A) He wants Ali and Hassan to be forced to leave.

B) He doesn’t want to lose them.

C) He can’t keep something so valuable when he has betrayed Hassan.

D) He wants to punish Baba by not using his gifts anymore.

4. What theme does the watch and stolen money best support?

A) betrayal and irony

B) redemption and return

C) spiritual awakening

D) fathers and sons

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Amir start hitting Hassan with pomegranates? How does Hassan respond?

2. As Amir is watching Hassan be beaten and raped, he has several memories flash through his mind. What does this show about his mental state?

Chapters 10-13

Reading Check

1. How do Amir and Baba escape to Peshawar?

2. Who stops the Russian soldier from assaulting the woman as payment for their passage?

3. What is Baba’s reaction when he is diagnosed with cancer?

4. What does Soroya feel unfairly treated about?

Multiple Choice

1. What theme does the following quote from Chapter 11 best fit? “America was different. America was a river, roaring along, unmindful of the past. I could wade in this river, let my sins drown to the bottom, let the waters carry me someplace far. Someplace with no ghosts, no memories, and no sins. If for nothing else, for that, I embraced America.”

A) betrayal and irony

B) redemption and return

C) spiritual awakening

D) fathers and sons

2. Why is Baba offended that Mr. Nguyen asks to see his I.D. for paying with a check?

A) He is embarrassed that he and Amir have so little money.

B) It shows how impersonal life in America is.

C) The money from the food stamps has just run out.

D) He doesn’t like the picture on his I.D. card.

3. How does Amir respond when Soroya tells him her secret?

A) He tells her that this changes his mind about their engagement.

B) He cries, knowing that they have both lost their mothers.

C) He finally tells her about what happened to Hassan.

D) He wants to tell her about Hassan but can’t bring himself to.

4. What does the response to Baba’s illness say about the immigrant community?

A) They help each other even though they are not wealthy.

B) Religious persecution will follow Baba wherever he goes.

C) Women are more active in the United States than in Afghanistan.

D) In America, immigrant groups don’t feel as much pressure to care for each other.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1.     Has Amir moved on from what happened to Hassan? Explain your answer.

2.     How does Baba’s terminal illness force Amir to change?

Chapters 14-17

Reading Check

1. Why does Rahim Khan want Amir to return to Pakistan?

2. Who unexpectedly came back into Hassan’s life? 

3. How did Rahim Khan convince Hassan to return to Kabul?

4. What happens to Hassan and his wife when the Taliban discover where they are living?

Multiple Choice

1. What convinces Amir to return to Afghanistan?

A) He wants to bring back the book of stories that Ali and Hassan gave him on his birthday.

B) He wants to restore his childhood home in Baba’s memory.

C) He remembers Hassan’s loyalty and wants to redeem himself. 

D) He feels remorse and wants to attend Hassan’s funeral in person.

2. Which of the following is not true of the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan?

A) Hazaras are massacred.

B) Orphanages are bombed.  

C) The embassies are reinstated.

D) People are beaten for cheering too loudly at soccer games.

3. What does Hassan say in his letter to Amir?

A) “For you, a thousand times over.”

B) “You will find an old faithful friend waiting for you.”

C) “There is a chance to be good again.”

D) “I know now you are not just my friend but my brother.”

4. What theme does the following quote from Chapter 17 best fit? “You know,” Rahim Khan said, “one time, when you weren’t around, your father and I were talking. And you know how he always worried about you in those days. I remember he said to me, ‘Rahim, a boy who won’t stand up for himself becomes a man who can’t stand up to anything.’ I wonder, is that what you’ve become?”

A) betrayal and irony

B) redemption and return

C) spiritual awakening

D) fathers and sons

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does learning about Hassan’s parentage change Amir’s relationship with him?

2. Do Hassan’s actions show that he forgave Amir? How/how not?

Chapters 18-19

Reading Check

1. What does Amir agree to do with Sohrab if he finds him?

2. Why does Amir wear a fake beard? 

3. What does Wahid tell Amir that he should write about?

Multiple Choice

1. What sin does Amir think that Baba has committed?

A) abandonment

B) child endangerment

C) manslaughter

D) theft

2. Why does Amir leave for Kabul as soon as possible?

A) He can’t stand to see Rahim Khan again, knowing that he was lied to for years.

B) He is afraid that he will change his mind.

C) He is desperate to find Sohrab as soon as possible.

D) He learns that the Taliban are planning another attack on the Hazaras.

3. What makes the taxi driver, Farid, change his mind about Amir?

A) He thinks that saving Sohrab is honorable.

B) He realizes that Amir is not one of the Taliban.

C) Amir leaves money after staying with Farid’s brother.

D) Amir tells him that his father was Baba, who built the orphanage.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Farid (the driver) says that Amir was always a tourist in Afghanistan. What does he mean by that?

Chapters 20-23

Reading Check

1. What do the streets of Kabul smell like now? What did they used to smell like?

2. What had Amir’s mother told the old beggar?

3. Where do Amir and Farid find the Talib with John Lennon glasses?

4. How does Amir manage to escape with Sohrab?

Multiple Choice

1. What does the orphanage owner tell Amir about Sohrab?

A) He looks just like his father, Hassan.

B) He’s the best kite runner around.

C) He is probably dead.

D) He’s great with a slingshot.

2. In Chapter 21, Amir says, “I don’t want to forget anymore.” What theme does this best represent?

A)  betrayal and irony

B) redemption and return

C) spiritual awakening

D) fathers and sons

3. Why does Amir laugh as Assef beats him?

A) He realizes that life is futile and he came to Kabul for nothing.

B) He knows that Sohrab is escaping at that very minute.

C) He was avoiding pain for so long but now he cannot even feel it.

D) He finally feels at peace.

4.Which of the following is an example of irony?

A) Amir cuts his upper lip in two and needs surgery.

B) Amir cannot remember most of the escape to Peshawar.

C) Rahim Khan disappears as soon as Amir returns to Peshawar.

D) The Caldwells never existed.

Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Rahim Khan see that Baba and Amir are similar?

2. Amir has a dream that Assef tells him, “We’re the same, you and I […] You nursed with him, but you’re my twin.” (Chapter 23) What does this fear tell us about Amir’s character?

Chapters 24-25

Reading Check

1. What happens to Sohrab when Amir falls asleep at their hotel?

2. Why is Sohrab glad that his parents and Rahim Khan aren’t there anymore?

3. What promise to Sohrab does Amir break?

4. Why does the hotel owner ask for Amir to leave?

Multiple Choice

1. Sohrab asks if Baba was ashamed of Hassan. How does Amir answer him?

A) “I think he was ashamed of himself.”

B) “The prejudice against the Hazaras was strong—even for someone as stubborn as Baba.”

C) “I think that he blamed his wife’s death on his infidelity.”

D) “I think he wanted Ali to think that Hassan was his son.”

2. What do the adoption agents tell Amir when he wants to adopt Sohrab?

A) They think what he is doing is admirable.

B) He should give up because it is so difficult.

C) It seems to have turned out for the best that he doesn’t have children of his own.

D) He will need to move to Peshawar permanently to adopt Sohrab.

3. Which quote best fits the theme of return and redemption?

A) “Your father was a man torn between two halves. […] I had been the entitled half, the society-approved, legitimate half, the unwitting embodiment of Baba’s guilt.” (Chapter 25)

B) “It was only a smile, nothing more. It didn’t make everything all right. It didn’t make anything all right.” (Chapter 25)

C) “What heritage?” I said. “The Taliban have destroyed what heritage Afghans had. You saw what they did to the giant Buddhas in Bamiyan.” (Chapter 24)

D) “I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.” (Chapter 25)

4. What does Amir tell General Sahib never to do in his presence again?

A) call Sohrab ‘Hazara Boy’

B) tell Soraya that she isn’t really Sohrab’s mother

C) mention Baba’s infidelity

D) say that Sohrab is “unclean” because he was raped

Short Answer

1. Amir remembers hearing someone say, “There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood” (Chapter 24). How is this true of Sohrab’s life?

2. The novel ends with Amir kite running for Sohrab. How does this show change for both of them?