Night Blog 2/24/16

Prompt: How do Elie's experiences during the Holocaust change him as a person?
Pages read: 65- 115 (end) 

           An effect the Holocaust had on Elie was the way he sees God and his humanity. In the beginning, Elie was very pious. Then throughout the book you can see Elie's transition as he starts to rebel against God and comes to the point where he no longer thinks God exists. The Holocaust also much affect on Elie's humanity. In the beginning he seems very joyful and happy but then throughout the book you can see his humanity change drastically. 

           In the beginning of the book Elie is very pious. He was very religious and devoted to God. In the book it says,"And Moishe the Beadle, the poorest of the poorest of Sighet, spoke to me for hours on end about Kabbalah's revelations and its mysteries. Thus began my initiation. Together we would read, over and over again, the same page of the Zohar. Not to learn it by heart but to discover within the very essence of divinity.(P.5 New Edition)" This quote really shows how he was so devoted to God. He would read the same page of the Zohar over and over just so that he could see its divinity. His father even told him he was still too young to start studying his religion so much. His father even tried to take that idea from his mind. 

          Later on when he entered the concentration camps he began to change. He begins to question God and his existence. Then he comes to the point where he loses all faith in him. In the book it says,"For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for? (P.33)" He began to doubt God. He saw all these terrible things happening to people around him. He saw babies get burnt alive, people get shot, people get hanged, people starve to death, and yet God did nothing about it. He saw so many things and he doubted God because God did nothing to help them. He only watched. Then came the point where he lost all faith in him.

          Another effect that the Holocaust had on Elie was that it took his humanity away. In the beginning of the book, Elie demonstrated to be very happy and religious. Though, as he entered he camps he lost his humanity. In the book, it says,"And he began beating him with an iron bar. At first, my father simply doubled over under the blows, but then he seemed to break in two like an old tree struck by lightning. I had watched it all happening without moving. I kept silent. (P.54)" Elie's humanity was taken from him. He saw his dad get beaten right in front of his eyes and did nothing about it. Instead of helping his dad up or get beaten in the place of his father, he just stood there and watched. He was practically paralyzed. Every time someone was shot or hanged, for him it was just the typical. 

Night Blog 2/18/16

Prompt: Prompt: Do any of the characters feeling change as you’ve read? Explain why or why not.

Pages: 0-65

          Elie's feelings change a lot from what I've read so far. In the beginning of the story Elie is very religious and optimistic. When he lived in Poland (before the concentration camps) he very optimistic. He loved to study and learn about his religion even though people told him he was too young for that. He hanged out with Moishe the Beadle so he could learn more about his religion and the ways of life. His life seemed full of happiness and freedom until he entered the concentration camps. From there on, things went downfall.

          Elie's faith in God changes a lot from what I've read so far. In the beginning, he would pray everyday to thank him for everything he's done. He was so devoted to his religion. In the book it says,"And Moishe the Beadle, the poorest of the poor of Sighet, spoke to me for hours on end about the Kabbalah's revelations and its mysteries. Thus began my initiation. Together we would read, over and over again, the same page of the Zohar. Not to learn it by heart but to discover within the very essence of divinity." (P.5 New Edition) This quote demonstrates how devoted Elie was to his religion in the beginning of the book. Afterwards, Elie gets put into a concentration camp and that makes him lose most of his faith. He begins to question God's existence. In the book he says,"For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?" (P.33 New Edition) This demonstrates how in the beginning Elie was very pious and then when he enters the concentration camps he slowly loses faith.

          Not only does Elie begin to lose faith in his religion but he also becomes more melancholy like his attitude toward some events are different. For example, in the beginning of the book how happy he was to be studying his religion, etc. Though, later on he begins to change. He let his father be beaten up and slapped right in front of his face. He did not do anything to stop it. When Idek beat up his father, he wasn't mad at Idek for harming his father instead he was mad at his father for catching Idek's attention. Also it caught my attention how he reacted before the second hanging mentioned in the book. In the book it says,"The SS surrounding us, machine guns aimed at us: the usual ritual." It really shocked me how he mentioned that it was usual for them to be aimed at by guns. He says it like it's literally nothing just something usual.

AoW Impressions Blog 2/12/16

Prompt: Today you were educated by your peers as to different topics focusing on the Holocaust. Now take a moment to reflect upon your impressions of what you have learned from the array of articles in at least two well written paragraphs, using evidence from your graphic organizer.

          Throughout this AoW gallery walk, I learned a lot about the Holocaust. There was many facts and stories of survivors that I had never heard of! The articles that mostly stood out to me was Diana's and Justin's. These two articles focus on two  different points of view on the Holocaust. Diana's article is about a survivor of the Holocaust. Justin's article is about Holocaust survivors demanding that refugees should be let in. I found these two articles the most interesting.

          Diana's article about a Holocaust survivor was really interesting, it caught my attention. Her article was about a Holocaust survivor who survived by playing the piano for the Nazi's. She played the piano for the Nazi's and one day her father rescued her. I don't remember what happened to her father but after she was rescued, she reunited with her sister. Though, when she was rescued the only thing she took with her was a sheet of music paper. After she was rescued her and her sister changed basically everything about them. For example, their names, passports, etc. Then one day when she decided to play the sheet of music she saved a Nazi heard her play. She ended up playing the piano in German shows. No one ever discovered she was a Jew though. I found this article very interesting due to the fact that she could have been discovered but wasn't. She was basically playing with fire.

          Justin's article is about how Holocaust survivors demand that refugees should be let in. I found this very interesting because they most of all understand refugees pain and suffering. They understand how horrible it is to be discriminated against. Justin described how survivors saw photos of refugees and they were inspired to help them out. He also said how in order to help out the refugees it takes a group effort not only Jewish help. I agree with this because in order for all the refugees to have a home and food, it will take a lot of effort from many people. The Jewish can't just help by themselves, we have to put in our part too.

"I Never Saw Another Butterfly" Project

I commented on Rebecca, Nicolas, Omar, and James

Berlin Memorial Blog 2/4/16

Prompt: 

1- What did you learn?
2- Why do you think this monument was built?
3- What did you notice about the number of laws passed in certain years?
4- Which restrictions do you think you would have the most trouble dealing with and why?

           One of the many things I learn is how the Germans changed the whole lifestyle of the Jewish. The Germans made their lives almost impossible to live. They took away their entertainment, education, rights, jobs, etc. Basically it was almost impossible for them to live, they weren't able to do anything. Also, in some years they passed way more laws then in other years. In other years they passed a little bit of laws or in some years they didn't pass any laws at all. Throughout this activity I learned a lot about the Nuremberg Laws and how the Jewish lived back then. 

          I learned a lot about how difficult it was for the Jewish people to live back then. It was almost impossible since they really couldn't do anything for themselves. The Germans had literally restricted them from everything. They couldn't even work anymore, meaning they couldn't earn any money. Without any money  they couldn't buy food, clothes, etc. Many Jewish people died because they weren't able to obtain their basic needs. These laws killed many Jewish. I learned all of the pain and suffering the Jewish had to through. I knew the Jewish went through much pain but I had no idea that they had suffered this much with the Nuremberg Laws. 

          I think that this monument was built because since in 1945 they destroyed all evidence of the Nuremberg laws they wanted to keep some evidence alive. They probably wanted to show some respect for all the misery the Jewish people had to go through. That's why they kept some evidence of the Nuremberg laws by putting them up on lampposts. Like a remembrance to all pain the Jewish people had to go through. The Germans probably felt bad for all they made them go through and they realized that all of Germany's problems weren't because of them. Since they had never done anything to Germany, I think this monument was built to remember all of the pain the Germans put the Jewish through.

          I noticed that throughout the years there was some particular years in which there was many laws made. In some years there was barely or no laws made. There's an odd pattern throughout the years on the number of laws made.  Though, I think that during the years that the most laws were made, there was some sort of uprising. I think this because why would they make so many laws in only one year? I think the Jewish were trying to make an uprising but the Nazis stopped them by making more laws which made it more complicated for them to make some sort of uprising.

         I think that the restrictions I would have the most trouble with would be being expelled from sport clubs (1933) and that Aryan and non-Aryan kids wouldn't be able to play together (1938). I would have trouble with not being able to play in sport because I'm athletic. My favorite sport is soccer and for me it would be difficult not being able to play that anymore just because of my religion. The law itself doesn't even make sense. Also, I would have trouble not being able to play with other kids because honestly I can talk to anyone no matter what religion they are. I'm not a very social person but to me religion doesn't matter as long as you're nice to me, I'll treat you nicely too. 

2nd Quarter Reflection 1/22/16

Prompt: 
- In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts?
- What strategies have benefited you?
- What have you learned about the world?
- How have your research skills improved?

          Throughout this quarter I have improved on many of my skills and learned a lot. I have mostly improved on my annotating and my writing skills in general. I've improved a lot since August. In August, my writing wasn't as good as it is now due to the fact that over the summer I didn't write much. Now, I've polished my skills again. I've also polished the skill of research. Before, when I did research I just had one question and then looked for the answer. Then found more information along the way. Now when I do research I ask myself a couple of questions and from there I start my research. Also, with the articles of the week I have learned a lot about what's been happening around the world. Over the summer I wasn't as updated as I am now. 

           I think that my annotating skills and my writing skills are one of the biggest things I've improved on so far this year. In the beginning of the year my annotating skills weren't as good. Most of my annotations were very basic and just pointing out important information. Though, thanks to annotating the whole book of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee my annotating skills have increased by a lot more. Now when I annotate I can actually fill up the whole margin of the article with questions, comments, connections, etc. Also, much of my writing has improved. In the beginning of the year my writing was really sloppy because I didn't do it as much over the summer. Now that we've written a lot of pieces over the course of the year, my writing has improved a lot. Those refreshers on how to write a thesis, topic sentence, etc. helped me a lot too. 

           Throughout the course of the year I've also learned many strategies that have helped me in my writing and I've also learned much about the world. For example, the TIQA format has helped me a lot. It has made writing easier for me because now I know in what order to put things. This format helped me a lot in my To Kill a Mockingbird essay. It made things flow a lot smoother. Though, during this quarter I've also learned a lot about the world. For example, that animal abuse has now become a more serious crime. I also had no idea that animal abuse could possibly have a link with household abuse. The articles of week helped me get updated on everything that's been happening around the world that I didn't know about.

To Kill a Mockingbird Comparative Blog 1/22/16

Prompt:
1.  What do you think is the most important difference between the written and filmed version? Provide evidence with specific details.

2. How would you prove or disprove that one version of To Kill A Mockingbird is more affective in delivering its message than the other? Be sure to provide specific pieces of evidence to support your opinion.

          There are many differences between the movie To Kill a Mockingbird and the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, but from my point of view the main difference was that there was less interactions with Boo Radley in the movie. Honestly, I think the book had more significance towards Boo much more than the movie. In the book, Boo demonstrated that he had more of an impact on the kids, and wasn't just a kind neighbor like they showed him in the move. The movie mostly showed him as a minor character that Jem and Scout never met until the end of the movie.

          The few interactions with Boo Radley did really affect the movie. In the book, they first showed him as a scary and creepy character. In the book it said,"There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time". Then throughout the book we learned that in reality he's a gentile and loving character. In the book it said,"Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough". In the movie though, they showed him as a minor character who only was spoken of in the beginning and in the end. They barely even mentioned him. Those few interactions with Boo did really change the movie though. For example, something that was missing in the movie was when Scout heard that laugh when she bumped into the Radley's house while in the tire. I thought this was important because it's when Scout was sure there was someone is the Radley's house watching them. In that moment the readers got the idea that Boo was in that house, and he was interested in the kids. In the book, the children were more focused on Boo in the beginning then the actual trial, that was a big effect on the movie.

          The book was more affective to deliver it's message than the movie. The book was able to go into much more detail about Boo, the Finch family, events happening around Maycomb, things that happened after the trail, etc.  For example when Scout is upset with her teacher talking bad about Hitler. It never mentioned anything about that in the movie. In the book it said,"Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an' then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home". On the other hand, the movie seemed to only be focused on the Tom Robinson trial. The book showed Boo trying to interact with the kids by giving them gifts and yet the movie it barely showed that. In the book it goes more into depth about Boo and the gifts but the movie doesn't deliver that message. For example, the gifts were an important part of the book, because Boo was being kind and trying interact with Jem and Scout to show them he wanted to be their friend. The movie barely mentioned the gifts and what they actually signified. These kind of things showed the readers that Boo was misunderstood for who he really was, and it was very touching to see his real character as a friendly, brave, shy, and caring person. The movie failed to show that message, people are sometimes misunderstood for who they really are.