discussion questions for One Survivor Remembers Blog

1. The images that were most powerful for me was towards the end of the movie when they showed the images of the few women who were living and the brutally horrible health that they were in. It showed how poorly treated the women were throughout the death march. What really bothered me is how not one Nazi felt the slightest bid bad about how they were treating the Jews. 
2. The Nazi's dehumanized the Jews in many ways. They would strip them of their clothing, tattoo a number on their skin to represent that they were Jews, and separate families. The thing that really helped Gerda Weissmann overcome the dehumanization from the Nazis was when she would take her mind off it by thinking about which dress looked better, the blue or red one.
3. If everything was taken from me, I would try to fantasize about funny moments that has happened in my past because it is a topic that I could think about for a long period of time. Some ordinary things that I take for granted are electronics, family, education, and safety. 
4. The main persecution I see in todays world is in Darfur. The mass genocide has forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes and settle in refugee camps. I think this mass genocide can stop if more countries became involved in helping the cause. 
5. The heroes of the film were the Americans that came to liberate the concentration camps. Another specific hero of the film were the parents of Gerda Weissmann and Kurt Klein because each set of parents knew what was to come and went out of their way to protect and save their children. To make the world a better place, I can help spread awareness of any mass genocide that is happening around the world today.

The Boy Who Dared Blog #5

Right now, in the book The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, the main character, Helmuth, just joined the Hitler Youth. According to the official website of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "founded in 1926, the original purpose of the Hitler Youth was to train boys to enter the SA (Storm Troopers), a Nazi Party paramilitary formation. After 1933, however, youth 
leaders sought to integrate boys into the Nazi national community and to prepare them for service as soldiers in the armed forces or, later, in the SS." Although Helmuth is not a big fan of Hitler, he does enjoy the Hitler Youth. Helmuth's mother's boyfriend, Hugo, a Nazi, is very fond of Helmuth joining the Hitler Youth. He believes  that Helmuth will grow up to do very well by serving his duties for his country. 

The Boy Who Dared Blog #4

              Helmuth, the main character in the book The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti is a very brave kid. With everything turning against the Jews, Helmuth knows this is wrong. The first day of middle school Helmuth even stood up and questioned the teacher. I can compare Helmuth's bravery to, Misha, the main character in Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. Misha is a very brave boy who has to go out at night just to steal food for him to survive. Misha, being a gypsy, understands that if here was to be caught by the Nazis, he would be shot and killed.
              Another trait Helmuth and Misha have in common is that they both believe in god. Helmuth has believed in god ever since he was a little boy. Helmuth is influenced by his brother, who helps Helmuth understand god and his powers. Even when Helmuth is in prison, he still believes that god is with him. Misha believes more in angels. He always anticipates seeing an angel and wonders what they look like. He thinks that when you die, the angels take you away. Although Helmuth and Misha seem to be different, they have many similarities.

The Boy Who Dared Blog #3

               So far, in the book The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, the main character, Helmuth, is in a prison in Germany.  Helmuth, 17, begins his day in prison as any other Tuesday, hoping he will continue to live to see another day because the executioner works on Tuesday. The author describes Helmuth as, "a boy of seventeen, lies awake. Shivering. Trembling." Helmuth is also having flashbacks from his early childhood. He has flashbacks to the ages of three, seven, and eight years old. All of the flashbacks have one thing in common. They all involve Hitler and the German soldiers.
              The setting in the flashbacks is a lively country of Germany who is excited to see how Hitler can rebuild the nation. I can infer the Helmuth's desire for Hitler has come from the closest person in his life, his mother. Helmuth's mother was a big believer that Hitler would make a change for the better for Germany.

milkweed blog #2

The book Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli is a book that makes you think a lot. You don't really no anything about the background of the characters or the setting of the book. The farther along you read, the more you begin to learn about the main character, Misha, and what exactly is going on in the small town of Warsaw, Poland. This makes the reader ask lots of questions.

Throughout the book, Misha mentions the Jackboot soldiers. The reader knows as much as Misha knows about the Jackboots. They hate Jews and they control the town of Warsaw. That is all the reader knows about the Jackboots halfway through the book. A question I have about the book is: Will the Jackboots effect the outcome  of the story, and if so, how?

Another question I have comes at about halfway through the book. Uri, the character who is looking after and fighting for survival with Misha, has been gone more and more since the Jackboots have put the Jews in the Ghetto. Where could Uri possibly have gone? I predict that Uri will leave one day and never return to the Ghetto, but in the end of the book, he will have an effect on the outcome.

milkweed blog #1

                In the beginning of the book Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli, the main character, Misha Pilsudski, is a gypsy who is fighting for survival. He has no family, and has been taken under the wing by a Jewish boy named Uri. Since Uri has red hair, unlike any other Jews, he is not recognized as a Jew, so he is able to roam the streets without getting harassed by the Jackboot soldiers. He teaches Misha about want to do, and what not to do. For Misha and Uri to survive, they steal. They steel food, objects, and about anything they can get their hands on.

                Misha is a character who is smarter mentally than he appears. When he talks to Uri, he is very oblivious about what is going on around him with the whole war. When Misha tends to be disobedient with Uri, Uri has one word to describe it. Stupid.  Also, Misha is perfect for stealing from other civilians. He is small and hard to catch. But the most gifted physical attribute Misha has is his speed. Once he gets his hands on a loaf of bread, no one is catching him. 

                The story takes place in the town of Warsaw, Poland. Misha defines the town as a town with "large, fine houses," which are perfect for stealing from. Warsaw is a town right in the middle of the war. The Jackboot soldiers are constantly abusing Jews.

                The biggest problem in the book so far has been Misha and Uri's fight for survival. I do not expect that problem to change throughout the book because in a town of mischief and dictation, what person would accept a gypsy boy into their life and raise and care for him? 

Flower Garden

The short story, Flower Garden by Shirley Jackson, is about a woman named Mrs. Winning. When new people finally move into the cottage that Mrs. Winning always dreamed of living in, Mrs. Winning becomes great friends with the new neighbors, Mrs. MacLane. But when Mrs. MacLane hires an African American to do work in her garden, everyone begins to turn on Mrs. MacLane. It eventually diminishes the friendship between Mrs. MacLane and Mrs. Winning.

A big topic in this short story was stereotypes. I found it crazy how the whole community turned their backs on Mrs. MacLane just because she hired a African American to do garden work. It's not like she was having an affair with him. 

I also think that Shirley Jackson is great at incorporating a variety of literary elements in her writing. She uses literary elements to help the story flow.  

Simplicity

Simplicity is a very broad topic. When most people think of simplicity, they think of living life with only needs. This is true, but simplicity is much more complicated then that. Simplicity can even be defined by just holding the door for someone.

When I first read the simplicity packet, one of the writings (William Zinnser's "Simplicity") really interested me. It talked about how people speak way to complex and use bigger words to make to make themselves sound more sophisticated. I thought that was a very interesting view on simplicity. It also made me think about how the president would feel about this topic of simplicity. Americans usually are going to vote for a confident, sophisticated, well spoken man for president. Zinnser made another great point. He stated, "People say things that even they barely understand themselves." Is that the case with presidents? No one will really ever know.

What was so great about Zinner's piece of writing was how it made me really dive deep and think about simplicity. It showed that simplicity has no exact definition, and it never should. What one person thinks simplicity is, is probably what no one else thinks. That is the beauty of simplicity.

HW assignment 9/22

HW for English:

Read the simplicity packet. Choose an idea from the packet and write about it. Be sure to quote the article or passage you are referring to and make sure you cite your source. Three paragraphs minimum. Have correct grammar and mechanics.

This I Believe................................................

I believe weathermen have the easiest job in the world. When you really think about it, it’s the one job in whole world where you can mess up every day and still keep your job. I mean, how hard is it to become a weatherman. They get paid for a thirty second segment of false information. And when they are actually right about the forecast, it’s pretty obvious to tell on your own. Of course it’s going to be sunny if there are on clouds in the sky. If there are really dark clouds covering the sky, I’m almost positive that people can figure out it is going to rain. I just don’t understand how certain people have a preference about what channel they need to watch to see today’s weather. Just tell me the reason why there is a weather channel. Does the weather channel go around bragging to other stations that they have the forecast 24/7? I sure hope not. There could be plenty of other channels instead of the weather channel. One more question to think about. If people who say the world is going to end are considered crazy, why aren’t weathermen?