Holocaust Video, Chapter 1 Reflection

1)What details about the Holocaust experience became clearer or more vivid for you because of the video?
The immense size of Auschwitz, how it was bigger than 500 football fields, and at least half of Manhattan.  I also saw how Elie Wiesel was affected by going back to the concentration camp; he would talk in a hushed tone, and refused to go in to the third crematorium- where his mother and sister most likely died.

2)Describe the video techniques used to tell this story:

The excerpts from the book were well placed, helping to reenforce some of the horrors Elie has seen, as well as recall some of our prior knowledge from what we read in the book.  It is presented in a form that is easy to follow along, superimposed on a picture or a short video clip that is relevant to the quote.  The graphics were very effective in giving a face to what the words are saying.  I noticed the camera rarely stayed still, even for the still pictures- where they had a "Ken Burns" effect.  Motion captures attention, and made it seem more dramatic than a regular monotone interview/documentary would.

3)What is the "madness" the Oprah and Elie Wiesel speak of at the end of this section?

The "madness" is of believing in humanity after what Elie has witnessed.  Oprah stated that she thinks that trusting and trying to fix humanity after something such as the holocaust is "madness", as being inhuman was so human at that time.

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Journal # (something)

The Things They Carried, By Tim O'Brien

1. Rat (Bob) Kiley (the medic)

"carried a canvas satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tape and comic books and all the things a medic must carry, including M&Ms for especially bad wounds for a total of 20 pounds." (page 5)

2. Chapter: How to Tell a True War Story

a) When his friend, Curt Lemon, died, Rat personally wrote a letter to Lemon's sister for his condolences. it shows he was very close and cared very much for his friend. By the way Tim O'Brien describes this, Rat thoroughly wrote about his adventures with Curt Lemon, both happy and serious. (pages 67-68)

b) When the sister didn't reply back to Rat, he called her a "cooze." This word is far more obscene than *ahem*...female dog. The book stated,"He's [Rat Kiley] 19 years old- it's too much for him- so he looks at you with those big sad killer eyes and says cooze, because his friend is dead, and because it's so incredibly sad and true: she never wrote back." (pages 68-69) The impression I get from this, is how he uses words to cope with the loss and the grief of the war. It shows that he is still "only human."

c)How Curt Lemon died also showed Rat's personality. "...Giggling and calling each other yellow mother and playing a silly game they invented..." (pages 69-70) The book states Rat is 19 years old; still a kid according to the other soldiers. At the time, Rat and Curt were goofing around playing a game with a smoke grenade, while the unit was camping out in a deep jungle. The land was booby-trapped with things like Toe Popper and Bouncing Betties, yet the time seemed like "not even war" to the two boys.

3. Insight

Character: Rat Kiley was an ordinary person, thrown into an extraordinary (in a bad way) position. He tried to make the best of things, and had a good heart.

War: The place changes people; there are somethings that cannot be unseen or un-experienced. War is ugly, and has no morality. In the chapter, "How to Tell a True War Story," it says that any war story that has a moral, or makes you feel uplifted at the end, is a lie.

Life: People can be essentially good. They are just thrown into situations where there are no obvious answers, such as war. Events like war bring out the worst in people, causing them to kill other men. However, this doesn't mean every person is emotionless. They can still be careless, goofy, angry, humorous, loving.

Outside Reading Card (Quarter 1)

Self-Critique on comment below

Team Discussion and Blog Post 1/28

*** to later be posted on the class blog

C. Describe Jem. Give at least 2 character traits and support with examples and page numbers.

Curious- Many of Jem's and Dill's conversations are about trying to get Boo Radley out of the Radley house, or what he does inside of it.

Quote: (p. 69) "Dill and Jem were simply going to peep in the window with the loose shutter to see if they could get a look at Boo Radley, and if I didn't want to go with them I could go straight home and keep my fat flopping mouth shut, that was all."

(p.61) "Jem said placidly, 'We are going to give a note to Boo Radley."

"Jem was merely going to put the note on the end of a fishing pole and stick it through the shutters."

Caring- Even though Jem doesn't always say the nicest things to Scout, we can see, by his actions, that he still cares for her.

Quote: (p. 137) {*note: in this quote Jem cares for Scout by giving her an apologetic look and helped her up from the ground}

"By that time I was shrieking. Jem yanked my hair, said he didn't care, he'd do it again if he got a chance, and if I didn't shut up he'd pull every hair out of my head. I didn't shut up and he kicked me. I lost my balance and fell on my face. Jem picked me up roughly but looked like he was sorry. There was nothing to say."

Finding Identity: Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers (Journal #9)

The story Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers is a novel by Lois-Ann Yamanaka. This story is about the life of Lovey Nariyoshi, a Japanese-American living in Hawaii. Lovey's tale is like a cultural roots and identity story. I think this because the story is from a first person point of view. She tells her life how it is, and it seems very authentic (how it is written) as the language Lovey (and her family and friends) uses is pidgin english. One example from the book:
"I wanna be Lovey Beth Cole. Mrs. Michael Cole. Wanna marry you, Dennis. Be a Cole. Be a haole. A Japanee with a haole last name."
From her statement, it shows her desires, or at least what she wishes for. Through out the book, Lovey shares, first-hand, about her everyday encounters, wheither it be playing with barbies with Jerry, to wanting to be in a rich haole family, or "growing up girl problems".