3rd Quarter Reflection 4/6/16

     In my opinion, I think that the most difficult part of 3rd quarter for me was just to keep up with all of my schoolwork and turn it in on time. I tried to manage my time wisely in order to overcome this problem. I think that the area that I made the biggest improvement in English Language Arts was my writing. I feel that I improved in this because we have wrote a lot in class and it got better with practice as I went.

     Out of all the books that I have read this quarter; my favorite book was called A Child Callet It by Dave Pelzer. It was my favorite because it was very interesting to read and it was a book that was able to sent the message of child abuse across to the readers by showing the real life cases that Dave (the author) had to go through as a child. This book was all about the mistreatment and abuse that Dave suffered through for years as a child living in his home in California.

     My research skills have improved greatly since quarter two since we have been doing a lot. One assignment that helped me improve more in my research was the argumentative writing essay. Also, I have learned much about the world while researching and while working on the article of the weeks'. So far, in my 40 book challenge, I have only read three books so far; but I have been reading more over the past few weeks as I have finished a book in only a day. Something that I've been proud of this quarter was turning in most of my work on time and not getting any falcon fouls.

Matched 2 3/10/16

Prompt -  Is the setting described well enough that can put a picture of it in your mind?Why or why not?

     In Matched, the settings in each scene are vivid that you can imagine a picture of what's going on in the certain scene. The author uses descriptive words to create the effect that you imagine you are there. She describes ever single little detail to get the image across to the reader. 

     One of the scenes in the book that stood out with a lot of detail was what I have read recently. Cassia signed up for hiking as her summer leisure activity. When she was hiking up a hill, there was a very descriptive piece about her surroundings while climbing up. On page 95, there was a part that read; "It's not quiet in this forest, crowded with vegetation and thick, muggy morning air wet against my skin. Bugs hum and sing." and "My arm brushes against a leaf and a drop of dew falls onto the paper with a sound like ripe fruit dropping to the ground." This specific part really felt like you were in the forest with Cassia because there was very descriptive words that describes the scenery and sounds. 

     One other scene that was well-described was where it said; "I always enjoy these first few seconds in the theater before a showing, when all is dark and I am waiting." and "I might find myself completely alone. Or wondering if the lights won't come up at all." This part in page 88 made it seem that the reader was feeling what Cassia was a well. This was especially descriptive to put a picture in your mind because it's a realistic scenario.

Matched 3/4/16

Prompt: Draw a picture for what you just read.




     I drew various pictures for the book Matched by Ally Condie. The first picture that I drew was of the main character; Cassia. I drew her wearing the green dress that she picked out to wear to the matching ceremony. In the book, when you turn 17 years old; you can go to the matching ceremony where you get your "match". Every girl gets to pick the dress that she wants and Cassia was the only one to choose the green dress, which she loved.
     The compact mirror that I drew was what Cassia received on her birthday. It was an artifact from her grandfather's mother. According to Society, everyone is only allowed to have one artifact from their ancestors. Her 17th birthday actually seemed to fall on the day of the matching ceremony, so she got to take it to the ceremony.
   
   The silver box is what each person at the matching ceremony gets each year. Each box contains information about their new match. Cassia however, got matched with her childhood friend Xander which was good; but she did not even need to see the card because she basically already knew everything about him.
     I wrote "Xander or Ky?" because on the day this she viewed her box that contained information on Xander, a random face popped up and disappeared. This face happened to be Ky's face; Ky Markham was a kid that moved to Cassia's province when they were little. He was adopted by Aida and Patrick. Although, his father committed an infraction, so Ky was an aberration (he would never be qualified to have a match).

     I drew the world pointing to society because in this book the whole world follows everything that Society says. This is why I drew the three pills that were green, blue, and red. They (society) give everyone the three emergency pills gradually through when thy mature. They have to keep track of their pills so that anytime something bad happens, they will have them. The green one they receive first, and it's for keeping calm. Then, the blue one is in case of an emergency, and the red one is to forget.
     Lastly, I wrote the number 80 because that is the age that Society chooses that you it's a good time to die. They think that this is the best age to die because it's long enough to have a complete life experience, but not so long that they feel useless. Towards the beginning of the book, Cassia decides to tell her grandfather about Ky. This information was supposed to be confidential, but she was allowed to tell him since it was about to be his 80th birthday.

Life Is Beuatiful 3/3/16

  

     
     Based on the Holocaust readings we've done, there have been connections and distinctions between both the movie Life Is Beautiful and the book Night by Elie Wiesel. The movie Life Is Beautiful shows life before the Holocaust and even during (living in) the concentration camps in more of a positive note. As for the book Night shows the more real and negative side to the story. They were both about the same topics though; and that was life during the Holocaust.

     There were more differences in the movie and the book than similarities. Similarly though, they both included a part when the hard labor was described/shown. In the book, Elie had to do such hard work with the others that his foot had become swollen due to continuous hours of work and the extreme weather they had to be in with only a shirt and pants. On page 74, the book reads, "...my right foot began swell because of the cold. I was unable to put it on the ground." This was similar to the hard labor in the movie, but it was shown on a lighter note.

     In the film, Guido, the main character; had to go to work everyday with everyone else. Everyone had to do forced labor and carry very heavy things. He covered the fact that he was forced to do work for his son.  He told him that their whole time in the camp was a game that they were playing for points to win a tank. 

     One other similarity that the movie and book had in common was that there was a father and son as the main characters (aside from Guido's wife Dora in the film). In Night, Elie and his father were both aware of how they were in the concentration camp since Elie was a teen at the time. In Life is Beautiful, Guido's son Giosue was very young, so he didn't know about most of the actual events that were going on as he was in the camp. Then, another thing that both the movie and book had in common was how they both involved being secretive. 

     Being secretive helped both Elie and his father, and Guido and his son survive. In the book, Elie helped his father live when the SS were sorting and selecting  the weak and those who could walk well. Elie and his father got sent to opposite sides, so he ran after his father and the SS went to bring Elie back.  On page 91 of the book, it said; "Several SS rushed to bring me back, creating such confusion that many of the people form the left were able to come back to the right-and among them, my father and myself." This was just one of the times that Elie helped his father or vice versa.

     In the movie, Guido helped his son to survive by telling him to hide in small cabinet outside. This helped Giosue survive because he listed to his father's advice to stay quiet and not come out until everything was quiet. The movie foreshadowed this scene a bit in the beginning because since Giosue didn't want to take a bath, he hid in a small cabinet at home, like the one in the concentration camp. Also, he could've been sent to the gas chamber when everyone we told that they were going to take 'showers'; but he decided to stay back and hide which saved his own life. 

     Both the movie and the book have a lot of differences, one is that the book was focused mostly on Elie and his father. In the movie, it was focused on Guido and his wife Dora mostly in the beginning, until later in the movie it focused on their entire family including Giosue. Also, a huge difference of the both is that the moods/tones are completely different; even though they were both set during the Holocaust, one was more negative while the other was more positive. Night was a very gloomy and depressing book that showed the real hardships that Elie and everyone  in the concentration camps during the Holocaust endured. 

     In Life Is Beautiful, the beginning was cheerful, and even the middle and the end were not that somber for the most part. What helped the movie be more positive was that it had a lot of humor in in such as when Guido thought or pretended that he had powers to do things in his mind (liked when he wanted to detain the guard dogs from barking at the cabinet where Giosue was hiding). They overall had completely different tones with the same topics. 

     As well as humor, the movie had a lot of suspense; one scene that had a lot of suspense was when Guido was trying to hide from a guard, but one found him and took him behind a building. The scene just shows the wall but there are gunshots heard. Some viewers can infer that Guido shot the guard and ran away with the gun since after that scene the  rushed away, and there isn't a clear view of his (the guard's) face. Viewers can believe this because Guido could've switched clothes with the guard, and he had dressed up before to survive. Although, it didn't end up being Guido since he was the one who was shot. 

     Throughout the film, there are certain parts where it is shown that Life is Beautiful. In the middle of the movie, Guido's family are happy and live in good conditions. Then, they are taken to a concentration camp and have to try to survive there. This alone is supposed to show that their life before is something to be appreciated and how life is beautiful. Also, there are just certain instances where Giosue gets to escape when he's probably going to go into the gas chamber or get in trouble.

      One scene (other than how he survived in the cabinets) was when he was sitting in the room having dinner with other kids, but no one was aloud to speak. Giosue accidentally thanked one of the servers when he gave him food. The server went to report what had happened when Guido decided that he could fix the situation. He made all the kids say "thank you" when the server came back with one of the SS women that were in charge. This made it seem that it was everyone, and not just Giosue so he wouldn't get in trouble. 

Night Blog 2/24

     Elie Wiesel's experiences during the Holocaust changed him in many ways as a person; such as his religion. One way that Elie was changed was with his faith in God; towards the beginning of the book, he was very religious. On page 1, it says; "During the day I studied the Talmud, and at night I ran to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple." which showed how he was religious at the start of the book. 

     However, when he spends time in the concentration camps, his point of view for religion changes. On page 34, it said; "I too had become a completely different person. The student of the Talmud, the child that I was, had been consumed in flames, There remained only a shape that looked like me. A dark flame had entered into my soul and devoured it."  This was only one of the many quotes that showed him doubting/believing less in God.

     One thing that also was a huge change because of his experience during the Holocaust was his personality. Something that changed in him was that his only focus was survival. On page 109, it said; "Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. We thought only of that. Not of revenge, not of our families. Nothing but bread." This section showed that they were only thinking about their top priority which was their survival. 

     Especially after his father died, Elie seemed very empty and that is probably why he didn't want to talk about what happened to him for ten years. At the end of the book there is a quote that states; "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me." This quote made an image that Elie was a separate person that the one in the mirror and he was completely separated. 

Night 2/17/16

Prompt: After reading I wonder...

     After reading nearly all of Night by Elie Wiesel, I wonder many things. This book provokes many questions when I remember that this is all real and it all happened. One thing that I wonder about is if Elie knew that his mother and sister died when they got separated, or if he learned that later. I think about this because I imagine it would be an even bigger weight on his back from everything that he was going through (if he knew right away). I wonder if he knew right then and there, or if he found out later.

                                                          

     One other thing that I think about is if Elie ever started to believe in God again. I would assume he would, since he is alive to write this book, but I'm not sure if he ever was religious again. This is making me think about it since when he was young, he used to be extremely religious. Although, all of his time spent in all of the camps slowly made him less and less of a believer. He would stop saying the Kaddish and not fast.

     After reading, I also wonder how exactly did he manage to get out if the camps? How did he feel? Also, how was his life after he recently got out? There are many things that I wonder about what happened after he got out. I also wonder how many people managed to escape with him, and what had happened to the rest of the people who didn't escape. Sometimes, I also wonder about the perspective of the leaders of the camps and what they were thinking. Those are just some if the things that I wonder before finishing the book, so it might answer them later.

Holocaust Aow Impressions 2/12/16

     From today's gallery walk on Holocaust Aow's, I learned a lot of new things that are currently happening involving the Holocuast. Before, I didn't really know about current events about the Holocaust, let alone know that there was currently events on the Holocuast. There was a few articles that I saw repeatedly.

     One article that came up quite a few times was an article about a Jewish Holocaust survivor that wants to help Syrian refugees. It's called "Holocaust survivors demand Israel help refugees" by CNN, published on September 10. This survivor named Avital, born in Romania; thinks we should help with the Syrian refugee crisis because she relates to them. The reason that she can relate because she remembers "being forced form her home by Nazi soldiers and spending years hiding, afraid for her life." as a little girl. This is the reason that she puts herself in their shoes or positions.

     Another article that was quite interesting was about a Jewish survivor/speaker that talks to a school of the importance of being an upstander. This article is called "Holocaust speaker tells students to not repeat history" by nwi.com, updated on February 11, 2016. Tibor Kopfer talks about his experience as a Holocaust survivor and how many of his family members died. He tells his parents' story because he doesn't want anyone to forget, and doesn't want anyone to repeat the tragedy of the Holocaust.
     He says that there still are genocides such as in Syria and Darfur. He teaches the students by saying some memorable words. He says these two things: "The Hoocayst did not begin with gas chambers. It began with words." and "Silence never helps a victim.".