Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Night: Week of 3-23-15
Title: Night
Author: Elie Wiesel
Pages Read:0-43
Prompt: How do the characters change throughout the events in the book?
I am really enjoying Night because it is my first read that gives a detailed description of real events that occurred to a person just a few years older than me. The events and dialogue in the book shake me up that they actually witnessed this and that these things were actually said. At first you see the religious affect and the affect hope has on the community in which Wiesel lives in. You can tell that religion plays a large affect because they prey and are tied together because of their religion. Especially since Wiesel talks about it so much at the beginning of the book. When there begins to be suspicion of Germany coming the entire community doubts against it because they don't want to believe that their lives could possibly be in danger. This hope and doubt may have driven them all to be put into captivity and most likely death for most of them. So Wiesel has this same mindset as the community. Then all of a sudden the Germans show up and at first Wiesel believes the rumor that it will all be over soon.
Once they realize they are being deported the mood takes a sudden swing. All of a sudden you see panic begin to creep in, yet they always stay hopeful. There is a cycle where they are a bit frightened then they settle down, like they did when they are sent to the smaller ghetto near them. Yet once they settle they are being deported, except this time they wouldn't settle down and establish the same hope anymore. You see once they are taking the train to Birkenau it no longer is much of a community, but instead every man for themselves. You see the mindset of everyone change to thinking of themselves and not worrying about much of anyone else, except their family. Then you really see how Wiesel changes mentally once you arrive at the first camp, Birkenau. The largest event that changes Wiesel is seeing the furnaces and all the people that have been killed. He is extremely shaken and begins to have this "me" type of mindset and he grows farther from his father and forgets a bit about his mother and sister. The first event where you see his change is when his father is hit to the ground by an officer at the camp. He does absolutely nothing about it and thinks to himself why he had not reacted and that just a few days ago he would have attacked that officer, wondering how much his recent experiences had changed him. I believe it shows how far and how much fear can influence and change a person. The fear of dying and fear of what he had seen had driven him to change his morals in the time span of just a day or few.
To me one of the largest changes is the way Wiesel looks at religion and god. At first he asks questions but preys and believes everything he is told. Yet after these events he responds the same way I believe I would. I would have also questioned that god has completely good and all love because after such inhumane and terrible scenes, how could god have approved or allowed this to happen. In fact Wiesel does not prey and he begins to grow angry in a way. For me I am very interested in seeing what other characters that Wiesel will come into contact with. I have a feeling that Wiesel and his father are bound to be separated soon and that everything will change at that moment. I really want to keep reading because I think from here things will only get worse and more crazy so I want to see how Wiesel handles the adversity that is coming and how he manages to survive everything he is about to experience.
Author: Elie Wiesel
Pages Read:0-43
Prompt: How do the characters change throughout the events in the book?
I am really enjoying Night because it is my first read that gives a detailed description of real events that occurred to a person just a few years older than me. The events and dialogue in the book shake me up that they actually witnessed this and that these things were actually said. At first you see the religious affect and the affect hope has on the community in which Wiesel lives in. You can tell that religion plays a large affect because they prey and are tied together because of their religion. Especially since Wiesel talks about it so much at the beginning of the book. When there begins to be suspicion of Germany coming the entire community doubts against it because they don't want to believe that their lives could possibly be in danger. This hope and doubt may have driven them all to be put into captivity and most likely death for most of them. So Wiesel has this same mindset as the community. Then all of a sudden the Germans show up and at first Wiesel believes the rumor that it will all be over soon.
Once they realize they are being deported the mood takes a sudden swing. All of a sudden you see panic begin to creep in, yet they always stay hopeful. There is a cycle where they are a bit frightened then they settle down, like they did when they are sent to the smaller ghetto near them. Yet once they settle they are being deported, except this time they wouldn't settle down and establish the same hope anymore. You see once they are taking the train to Birkenau it no longer is much of a community, but instead every man for themselves. You see the mindset of everyone change to thinking of themselves and not worrying about much of anyone else, except their family. Then you really see how Wiesel changes mentally once you arrive at the first camp, Birkenau. The largest event that changes Wiesel is seeing the furnaces and all the people that have been killed. He is extremely shaken and begins to have this "me" type of mindset and he grows farther from his father and forgets a bit about his mother and sister. The first event where you see his change is when his father is hit to the ground by an officer at the camp. He does absolutely nothing about it and thinks to himself why he had not reacted and that just a few days ago he would have attacked that officer, wondering how much his recent experiences had changed him. I believe it shows how far and how much fear can influence and change a person. The fear of dying and fear of what he had seen had driven him to change his morals in the time span of just a day or few.
To me one of the largest changes is the way Wiesel looks at religion and god. At first he asks questions but preys and believes everything he is told. Yet after these events he responds the same way I believe I would. I would have also questioned that god has completely good and all love because after such inhumane and terrible scenes, how could god have approved or allowed this to happen. In fact Wiesel does not prey and he begins to grow angry in a way. For me I am very interested in seeing what other characters that Wiesel will come into contact with. I have a feeling that Wiesel and his father are bound to be separated soon and that everything will change at that moment. I really want to keep reading because I think from here things will only get worse and more crazy so I want to see how Wiesel handles the adversity that is coming and how he manages to survive everything he is about to experience.
Monday, March 23, 2015
Holocaust AoW's Reflection Blog
Today we learned about different experiences and new things learned about the concentration camps. I learned a few really, horrific, insane facts. One was from Bella, about Joseph Mengle, who killed 400,000 people including babies. Not only that be he kept the eyes of those who he killed, which I found extremely disgusting. Another crazy fact was in Jenna's article where she spoke about the findings of new ghettos and camps. In the article it said that researchers found over 42, 500 camps and ghettos in which 15 to 20 million people died in. This affected the death toll that had already been counted and I was astonished at such large numbers of camps and people. Gabe had a fact that I never had really thought, or heard about. Survivors would die after liberation because their stomachs were too weak to digest any food. It must have been so tragic to be or see someone be free, just to die a little later. Finally Abdiel had a story of a survivor and when he told me how many relatives they had lost, I couldn't believe it. One person had lost 49 relatives, thats more than I have in my entire family, and this person had to live with the fact that 49 of his family members perished in such a terrible event.
The largest topic this week was definitely survivor stories, their experiences at the camps, and what has resulted from it. There were many similar story lines, terrible experiences at the camps, lasting effects, and/or the telling of their stories to teach and so that others can learn. Amelia, Jesus, and Abdiel all I think had similar articles. They all had people whose experiences were so traumatizing, they would not speak to anyone about it for up to 60 years. Now in Leanna's article the person who survived had a different way of going about it after they were liberated. This woman had cheated death, since she had escaped a gas chamber and survived three concentration camps. She instead spends time telling her stories for "those who can't" and uses it as a message to love one another and to prevent bullying of other races or religions. Speaking of lasting affects, both Autumn and and Stanley had a very interesting article about how descendants of Holocaust survivors have altered stress hormones. That it causes anxiety and stress plus does not allow you to bounce back from something tragic. I found this so intriguing and I wonder how many generations this can go for. I wonder if any other events have affected like the genetics passed on from one generation to another. This week I feel like was essential to learning more about the Holocaust and I learned some things I wouldn't have.
The largest topic this week was definitely survivor stories, their experiences at the camps, and what has resulted from it. There were many similar story lines, terrible experiences at the camps, lasting effects, and/or the telling of their stories to teach and so that others can learn. Amelia, Jesus, and Abdiel all I think had similar articles. They all had people whose experiences were so traumatizing, they would not speak to anyone about it for up to 60 years. Now in Leanna's article the person who survived had a different way of going about it after they were liberated. This woman had cheated death, since she had escaped a gas chamber and survived three concentration camps. She instead spends time telling her stories for "those who can't" and uses it as a message to love one another and to prevent bullying of other races or religions. Speaking of lasting affects, both Autumn and and Stanley had a very interesting article about how descendants of Holocaust survivors have altered stress hormones. That it causes anxiety and stress plus does not allow you to bounce back from something tragic. I found this so intriguing and I wonder how many generations this can go for. I wonder if any other events have affected like the genetics passed on from one generation to another. This week I feel like was essential to learning more about the Holocaust and I learned some things I wouldn't have.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Berlin Memorial Activity
1- What did you learn?
I learned about rules made to humiliate and make the Jewish people loose their will.
I learned how much Jews were hated and how miserable that the Nazi's made them feel. At first it began with things that were livable without, and things that were unfair but not as terrible. For example some things like segregation and no mixing in marriages has been seen in many countries over history. Then after a lot of new restrictions all of a sudden there was a slow-down because the Nazi's were trying to calm down suspicion and worry from other countries. Especially during the Olympics where Jews were not allowed to participate, yet they tore down Jewish hate signs so that other countries would not see Germany as this evil giant. After this big public event, it all came in a burst, with worse restrictions than had been seen yet. They took away simple necessities such as the right to maintaining your hygiene. Thats right they did not allow Jews to buy new clothes or to clean themselves. Then they began sending more and more people to concentration camps. Then all of a sudden there were no new laws, because they were all gone, either dead or in concentration camps. Then you see them try to burn the evidence of the camps or the laws because the end of the war is coming and they are being invaded.
2- Why do you think this monument was built?
First off the monument is built as a remembrance so that no one ever forgets what happened so that it is never repeated. It is built to remember those who were lost and to remind people everyday to be thankful for what they have. I think the main message though has more to do with art and sources of entertainment we have. Something as simple as listening to music and expressing yourself was taken away from millions of people. It is meant to remind everyone to appreciate all kinds of art and music because many people had been deprived of the simple sources of entertainment, we take for advantage.
3- What did you notice about the number of laws passed in certain years?At first there was a burst of new laws and legislation that were removing certain people like teachers and lawyers from their jobs. Basically they were removing people with the power to change laws that were unfair, and those who could teach that what was happening was wrong. When the olympics and all the publicity came all of a sudden there were less laws, and less public hate, to avoid suspicion. After the olympics cleared out everything broke out, and they went 100% against the Jews. They made more legislations than had been thought possible. After all the Jews were in the concentration camps they could no longer make any more legislations against them. Once invasion came they tried to cover it all up by getting rid of all the documents.
4- Which restrictions do you think you would have the most trouble dealing with and why?
I think it would be a series of restrictions that would give me the most trouble. Taking away things like sports, music, and other forms of entertainment would drive me crazy. Me personally, I am always trying to do something, I can't just sit around and do nothing for a day, I have to listen to music or go outside. Without some of those things I would probably go crazy from boredom. Another thing would be not being allowed to be with certain friends because of the color of our skin or the religions we practice. Me personally, I know people of many races and religions, and in a situation like that would no longer have access to much of them. Finally being blocked out from the world and knowing things were only going to get worse would be very scary for me. Not knowing is a fear that everyone has, but knowing you could die soon is even worse and with no access to the outside world, you have no idea what could happen.
I learned about rules made to humiliate and make the Jewish people loose their will.
I learned how much Jews were hated and how miserable that the Nazi's made them feel. At first it began with things that were livable without, and things that were unfair but not as terrible. For example some things like segregation and no mixing in marriages has been seen in many countries over history. Then after a lot of new restrictions all of a sudden there was a slow-down because the Nazi's were trying to calm down suspicion and worry from other countries. Especially during the Olympics where Jews were not allowed to participate, yet they tore down Jewish hate signs so that other countries would not see Germany as this evil giant. After this big public event, it all came in a burst, with worse restrictions than had been seen yet. They took away simple necessities such as the right to maintaining your hygiene. Thats right they did not allow Jews to buy new clothes or to clean themselves. Then they began sending more and more people to concentration camps. Then all of a sudden there were no new laws, because they were all gone, either dead or in concentration camps. Then you see them try to burn the evidence of the camps or the laws because the end of the war is coming and they are being invaded.
2- Why do you think this monument was built?
First off the monument is built as a remembrance so that no one ever forgets what happened so that it is never repeated. It is built to remember those who were lost and to remind people everyday to be thankful for what they have. I think the main message though has more to do with art and sources of entertainment we have. Something as simple as listening to music and expressing yourself was taken away from millions of people. It is meant to remind everyone to appreciate all kinds of art and music because many people had been deprived of the simple sources of entertainment, we take for advantage.
3- What did you notice about the number of laws passed in certain years?At first there was a burst of new laws and legislation that were removing certain people like teachers and lawyers from their jobs. Basically they were removing people with the power to change laws that were unfair, and those who could teach that what was happening was wrong. When the olympics and all the publicity came all of a sudden there were less laws, and less public hate, to avoid suspicion. After the olympics cleared out everything broke out, and they went 100% against the Jews. They made more legislations than had been thought possible. After all the Jews were in the concentration camps they could no longer make any more legislations against them. Once invasion came they tried to cover it all up by getting rid of all the documents.
4- Which restrictions do you think you would have the most trouble dealing with and why?
I think it would be a series of restrictions that would give me the most trouble. Taking away things like sports, music, and other forms of entertainment would drive me crazy. Me personally, I am always trying to do something, I can't just sit around and do nothing for a day, I have to listen to music or go outside. Without some of those things I would probably go crazy from boredom. Another thing would be not being allowed to be with certain friends because of the color of our skin or the religions we practice. Me personally, I know people of many races and religions, and in a situation like that would no longer have access to much of them. Finally being blocked out from the world and knowing things were only going to get worse would be very scary for me. Not knowing is a fear that everyone has, but knowing you could die soon is even worse and with no access to the outside world, you have no idea what could happen.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
3rd Quarter Reflection Blog
Of the books this quarter my favorite had to be the Maze Runner. It was a very interesting book because it is a completely different world with many unique characters. My favorite thing from the book was learning about each characters personality and mind type. For example Minho, possibly my favorite character is a tough kid, but his toughness leads him to be out of control and not think at times.
In English Language Arts my biggest improvement was in my AoW's. This quarter except for one AoW I did a very good job, I feel at keeping up and submitting though out work. I also feel that after slacking at annotating for a while, I really picked up on it and used the annotations to my advantage. Before I wrote annotations because they were necessary and wrote very few. Now I write plenty and use them to make my write up easier. For example in my last write up, I went back and looked to my annotations in order to answer some of the questions.
Since the new year I have been really proud of my better time management. At the beginning of the quarter or even year I thought I would slack off and get B's because its my last year and we now have AoW's for Social Studies as well. But thanks to wanting to improve my time management I have been able to get my work done earlier in the week and not save it all for Thursday. Because of my time management I have sustained A's in both classes and felt a little less stressed about the work given out each week.
In my 40 book challenge I think I am around 15-20 books. I've started to pick up my reading as of late but throughout the year I haven't read enough to the point where I think I'll reach the 40 mark. I'll have to double check how many books I have read because I haven't kept very great track.
The most challenging part of the 3rd quarter had to be keeping up with all my work and making time for it all. The biggest area in which I think you have seen this is through some of my vocabulary tests. I know I have gotten A's on most of them but on a few you can see I got some wrong because of spelling errors. The reason I have these spelling errors is because on Thursday I don't find enough time then and throughout the week to study. That also has to do with my time management skills but I'm hoping to pick things up during 4th quarter.
My blogs have gotten a bit lengthier since August and I think over time I have used a higher level of vocabulary. Our vocabulary tests and other readings we have had, contributed to my increase in vocabulary. Also I have used the thesaurus to learn similar words that are of higher level. What I want to better though, is that I have done too much summarizing and I want to stick to my prompts better.
The main strategy that has worked is progressing through my AoW's throughout the week. I try to finish reading and annotating on Monday or Tuesday and then Wednesday and Thursday I finish the write up. What I have found out about myself is that I focus better at school and found that my AoW's are much better written up when I am focused in. So during homeroom when we have time to work on homework I will work on my AoW's so I can get them done. Since we have AoW's for Social Studies too I get that one done early in the week so I don't have to worry about it Thursday.
I have learned so much about ISIS and the rest of the world than I would have without the AoW's and AoW gallery walks. I think it was a great experience for the whole class to learn about week to week topics that concern the whole world. I mean I learned about ISIS's growth over the course of the last few months. It is incredible when I think of all the things I have learned. Also you learn about amazing stories from around the world and have gotten to write our responses to them.
Both our class and our Social Studies have had a standard where we must support all of our answers with evidence. I think both classes have really prepared me for any essays I will have to write in the future that involve finding evidence. Now I know what is relevant but that isn't the biggest area I think I have improved. I think when it comes to analyzing my textual evidence I have improved and understand better why analyzing it is so essential to a good essay. I want to become better and better at incorporating evidence into my essays.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Bio-Poem for a Literary Character: Week of 3/9/15
Thomas
Brave, Insightful, Quick Witted, and Curious
A Character in WICKED's story
Lover of running, friendship, fighting for another day, and the survival of the human race
Who notices who his true friends are, what he was done in the past is not right, the need to survive, and the need to keep going
Who feels sorrow over the loss of close friends, anger towards WICKED, enjoyment once its all over, and frustration towards himself for once being part of the whole plan
Who learns from those with more experience, previous experiences, and memories that have come back over time
Who says “I don't think there is a right or wrong anymore. Only horrible and not-quite-so-horrible.”
Who has to think about his own well being but no knows every action he takes has to be for the group
Major character in The Maze Runner Series
A book that leaves you at the edge of your seat and leaves you begging to keep going
Brave, Insightful, Quick Witted, and Curious
A Character in WICKED's story
Lover of running, friendship, fighting for another day, and the survival of the human race
Who notices who his true friends are, what he was done in the past is not right, the need to survive, and the need to keep going
Who feels sorrow over the loss of close friends, anger towards WICKED, enjoyment once its all over, and frustration towards himself for once being part of the whole plan
Who learns from those with more experience, previous experiences, and memories that have come back over time
Who says “I don't think there is a right or wrong anymore. Only horrible and not-quite-so-horrible.”
Who has to think about his own well being but no knows every action he takes has to be for the group
Major character in The Maze Runner Series
A book that leaves you at the edge of your seat and leaves you begging to keep going
Sunday, March 8, 2015
AoW Impressions 3-6-15
Once again ISIS is the biggest story of the week. This week though there were no stories of killings or terrible attacks. Instead it was about ISIS destroying property and recruiting young girls. First in an article from Steven he talked about how they were destroying archaeological artifacts. Now whats the point of this, well ISIS wants to rewrite or write a new history following whatever they want. In my mind I'm scared of what ISIS would want history to be like, considering how evil we have seen them be publicly. Now considering how nasty and villain like this group is, there are some who abandon their home, travel across the country, just to join them. Yes thats the other story that made headlines, girls from the UK running away to join ISIS. Both Citlalli and Abdiel had articles on this instance. Citlalli's article was more focused on the recruitment part of the whole situation. There is a girl named Aqsa Mahmood, who posts things for ISIS through twitter. That is how they recruit girls to join, by contacting through twitter and persuading them to join. My question is, has twitter done anything about this and how far are they allowed to intervene in an instance like this. In Abdiel's article it focused more on the whole running away aspect and what is being done. According to his article the girls who escaped were last seen in Turkey. Also that their parents publicly begged them to come back home. When I heard that they ran away to join ISIS I was stunned, I had no idea how someone, especially in the UK could ever want to do that.
There was one article that seemed to get the attention of the whole class, having to do with the social media crazed dress. Both Julia and Nick had articles explaining the science of the whole thing. To me I found the dress craze completely dumb and a waste of publicity. But anyway both of them said it had to do with your genetic makeup, and the way you comprehend color by different textures or screens. For me I though with certain pictures of the dress they just adjusted the lighting to make it seem light or dark, changing the color. Another article I found interesting to learn about was Gustavo's about a US ambassador being stabbed. It was a murder attempt by Kim Ki Jong in a message to the US. This whole thing is sparked by North Korea still wanting to reunite into one Korea. We learned in Social Studies about the Korean War and North Korea's need and want to reunite. I think its ridiculous especially considering South Korea is doing way better economically. Finally a article that actually positively impacts the world was Gabe's article about a lagoon power plant. Gabe says the lagoon stretches two miles into the sea. The reason the lagoon makes a contribution to society is because it shows that the world is starting to find and use new reusable resources.
There was one article that seemed to get the attention of the whole class, having to do with the social media crazed dress. Both Julia and Nick had articles explaining the science of the whole thing. To me I found the dress craze completely dumb and a waste of publicity. But anyway both of them said it had to do with your genetic makeup, and the way you comprehend color by different textures or screens. For me I though with certain pictures of the dress they just adjusted the lighting to make it seem light or dark, changing the color. Another article I found interesting to learn about was Gustavo's about a US ambassador being stabbed. It was a murder attempt by Kim Ki Jong in a message to the US. This whole thing is sparked by North Korea still wanting to reunite into one Korea. We learned in Social Studies about the Korean War and North Korea's need and want to reunite. I think its ridiculous especially considering South Korea is doing way better economically. Finally a article that actually positively impacts the world was Gabe's article about a lagoon power plant. Gabe says the lagoon stretches two miles into the sea. The reason the lagoon makes a contribution to society is because it shows that the world is starting to find and use new reusable resources.
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