Who's On Top?- Holocaust Group Blog

In all the books we read in the Holocaust Literature Book Club, the Nazis fight to be on top, and are struggling to gain more and more power. Everyone is so self absorbed that they believe that they are superior to all others, and that you can simply call everyone else animals and inhumane and that makes you better. To call a group of people scum and worthless does not have the power to make them scum or worthless. So many times in history races have decided that they are superior and have the right to power, and this means that they can simply kill other at will. This is so clearly not the case, and to call one group of people superior to another is so clearly wrong. People in the war, and now, are so self absorbed and in this state of mind where they or whatever group of people they fall into is better than that of others, whether or not they even realize it.

People will always wonder how one person could ever lose themselves so much that they have the ability to, as we read in "Maus", grab a child and smash him or her against a brick wall until they are dead, because they are crying? How could they not see the face of a brother, sister, son, daughter, or childhood friend? They are so caught up in saving their own lives, that it is not very hard to believe others are worthless and not as important, it becomes so easy to just say 'this child is an animal' and even if you don't believe in that, to many its much easier than risking their own lives. To so many young men, they could fight for the Nazi's, which seemed like the better choice for staying alive, or be at risk. They may not have realized it, but to go against what is right for your own individual strength or 'safety' is selfish. When the time comes, I realized while reading these books, almost every person, decided that they were quite simply, better, than everyone else and was able to put their own security before that of another one person, or even another group of people. In addition, when Jews needing protection came to the door of most families, they were shut out. This choice seemed logical and reasonable, yet to an entirely selfless person, one who was thinking of others needs in such an awful times, sending Jews away would have seemed like the wrong thing.

I also began to think of the idea of groups of beings as more superior than others. People, in general, regard themselves as the most important form of life. Maybe not scientifically, but in the worth of life, we regard ourselves as the highest. The things done at the holocaust are disgusting and sick, and almost ever person today knows that. But I realized such horrors are done to other species every day. We may consider ourselves the most important, simply because we are the most intelligent and the most advanced, but does that give us the right to go around killing other animals that feel physical pain as well as we do? Just because Germany's armies gained the most power they still had no right to kill of other humans. I know that it is not quite to the same horrific extent, but just because we are the most advanced species do we have the right to consider the head of another species, like a deer, a trophy we can put above our fireplace? Does it make it right to care so little about a fox, that humans will skin them alive and leave them dead, for the mere pleasure of wearing a fur jacket? It is not as extreme and sick as what Nazis did, especially because they committed the most disgusting crimes to their own species, but does it make it okay to do things like that to another living being because they are not as intelligent or the same as you?I began thinking about this, when in Maus 2, Vladek is talking about the poison used in gas chambers (which is also in bug spray), and then goes and kills a mosquito with he same poison used to kill his friends. Are humans selfish enough to regard themselves as so special that they get the right to do that to others not as strong or with as much power as them?

I think that through reading these books about The Holocaust I realized how much self centered people made all those things possible, and how the people needed to stand together for one another, yet very few had the courage to put something at risk for the good of everyone. In addition, the idea of who is the most important and who gets the most power obviously played a huge role with the Nazis considering the Jews animals and calling themselves more important, and I began thinking about what impact that idea of who's on top plays today. What should define who as more power, and therefore has the right to kill the less powerful at will?

Poetry Reading Response- “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”

Maddy Stutt 809 ELA Ms. Robbins

Poetry Reading Response- “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night”

The poem “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas was originally written about the death of thomas’s father. The poem also seems to be more important and through his father’s death I think Thomas is sending a message to all people who ,ade the same mistake as his father. I think that the main theme of the song is the idea that no matter who you are your life must be something worth fighting for, and you cannot keep going in the face of wrong, you must stand up and fight for your life and what you believe in. many lines from the poem were supportive of the message. Also, Thomas seems to use repetition to help show the message of the poem.

First, Thomas includes repetition in two parts of the poem to help show the message that you have to fight for your life and live it to the fullest. He repeats two lines ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ and ‘Rage, rage against the dying of the light.’ Because he repeats them, they seem to stand out as the most important lines, which draws the reader to them. Both lines have similar themes. They start with a feeling of distress and anger through ‘Rage, rage’ and ‘Do not go gentle.’ Then, they both end with a sense of darkness. When the two parts are put together they mean that you have to fight and shouldn’t go along with bad things, or just go into the dark without a fight. The way Thomas repeats those two lines so they stand out helps draw the reader of the poem to them, and analyze them more deeply to help support the message. In addition Thomas mentions a figure, repeating it over and over at the beginning of stanzas 2, 3, and 4. In each one he says ‘men’ paired with an adjective. He uses ‘good men,’ ‘wild men,’ and ‘grave men.’ Like the two lines from before, repetition is used to stress importance on the people mentioned. Thomas did this because the rest of each stanza metaphorically all shows the men all making the mistake of not letting themselves shine and simply fading away. The adjectives good, wild, and grave all show very different feelings, which makes me think that by repeating the idea of using a group of mean Thomas is showing that anyone, and everyone, should be fighting for life.

In addition, the theme of the poem stood out through a few key lines. The fist one was the second line of the third stanza ‘their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay.’ This line metaphorically says that all of ones good accomplishments, or ‘frail deeds’ could have shone and been recognized by people, and ‘danced in a green bay.’ This idea of  ‘dancing in a green bay,’ shows light and happiness that could have happened, yet never did, because the people never put in any effort, or fought to make their lives great. Also, in the fourth stanza the line ‘blind eyes could have blazed like meteors’ stands out and helps show the theme of the poem. The idea of being blind helps to symbolize the people that aren’t living or fighting for life and is not trying to see life for the opportunity that it is. The second half of the line shows that the hollow, empty eyes, could be blazing with emotion. Basically, it means that the people who weren’t living there lives, could have had fulfilling lives and yet they did not put in any effort and are left ‘blind.’

In conclusion, the idea portrayed in the poem ‘Do Not go Gentle into that good Night’ by Dylan Thomas is that you have to make your life worth living for and live it to the fullest. The poem has made me think deeper about humanity because of the way it refers to people living their lives as if they have no end. I realized how often people say “Oh, maybe next time,” to new experiences, yet very few people think about the fact that there might not be a next time.  It makes me stop and think that humans need to take more advantage of everything that is given to them, and think about how ‘well’ everyone is living their own life. Maybe people should start doing and trying new things, because as Thomas says, time runs out, and sometimes, there is no ‘next time.’

Book Club Post- Maus

'Maus' by Art Spiegelman-

In the book club we are currently reading the first of the two Maus books, this one is called "My Father Bleeds History" by Art Spiegelman. They are the true story of Spiegelmans father, Vladek, and his time through Auschwitz and the Ghetto's. The book is all done as a comic where the officers are pigs, Nazi's are cats, and the Jew's and civilians are mice. Although it is a comic, the book is still an intense, very real, true story of a Holocaust survivor. The pictures are done witout color and to me are never very happy or lighthearted. It is done through clips times of Vladek telling Art his story in the 1970's or so and clips from during the war. The book gives you a much more real retell of the war and makes you feel as though you are very close to Vladek and could have been with him the whole way. While reading I began noticing a connection between how Vladek becomes... almost like a hoarder and saves everything and is a little crazy and during the war the sense of desperation he and everyone else around him had.

During the book I realized the characters did so many impulsive, crazy things that were horrible an at first i was confused at why they would act like that. Towards the beginning- middle of the book I began to realize that it was because they were so desperate that sometimes, they really had no other choice. On page 109 Tosha kills three children that she loves and then takes her own life to avoid being gassed. She felt as though she had no other way out and had no control over anything, and her only option was to kill them all. People keep having to do crazy things, all because in a world turned so upside down there was just nothing else to do. Also, on page 114 Vladek has to pay his own cousin to save their lives. That war changed the way people though and how relationships worked. Today, saving a loved one is something you just do it's not something done as a job. I think that anyone going through and who lived in a world like this can never be left untouched. I know Spiegelman also encountered horrors, but I believe even if he hadn't just living around people in that state of mind would leave you with affects. For Spiegelman I began noticing that he was incredibly stingy and could never get rid of or buy anything. For example, Mala says that he put her on a $50 a month budget, and thats his own WIFE! Also, Mala says that in restaurants he would bring home toilet paper just so he didn't have to buy it. I think this comes from how life was in the war.

 In the war everyone was so desperate just to have essential things such as food or toilet paper. Because Vladek witnessed and went through all this, it has left him with the fear that maybe it could happen again or just the state of mind that he still must act the same way. I began to think that maybe he is  thinking about how desperate people were for anything and everything and how impulsively they acted and because he still hasn't and never really will be able to move on, he is still living in that mindset.

Blogging off a Song- Bohemian Raphsody by Queen

Bohemian Raphsody by Queen - Stuck in a Small Box, All Alone

As a kid, I never listened to very much 'pop' music or anything that was fairly new. I mostly listened to what my parents listened to, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, etc. Queen has always been one of my favorite bands, and their song Bohemian Raphsody was one of my favorite songs. When I was younger, and probably still now, this song confused me. In one verse Mercury, the singer, would be singing about one thing and in the second verse he is singing about having killed someone, and I was never able to put it all together to really mean something. For this blog on a song, I chose Bohemian Raphsody because I knew it would be challeging to piece together, but I've always been under the impression that once I understood how I interpret it it would have a very powerful meaning.

I've read and reread the lyrics again and again and I believe that the song is about a person who is in this big scary world and feels completely lost and alone. I'm not exactly sure if it is meant to have a message, but I think that it may be that everyone is important and people must look for that in everyone.  The whole song gives off a general feeling of worthlessness where the speaker feels as though they are treated like nothing and people walk all over them. He is showing his anger and how much it hurts, which leaves me with the idea that everyone must be treated as equally special and important. For example, Mercury sings," So you think you can stop me and spit in my eye! So you think you can love me and leave me to die!" towards the end of the song. He then sings "Just gotta get out, just gotta get right out of here." I believe that this means he has been mistreated and suddenly is brought down to feeling worthless, and I believe the feeling of being trapped comes from the fact that he sees nowhere to go and starts yelling that he just has to get out, but doesn't seem to have anywhere he can go. Also, the line, "Bismillah! No! We will not let you go!" shows me that he feels stuck and held back by all the 'demons' around him. Bismillah means in the name of God, and the way this line is yelled conveys distress and anger.

In addition, the musical affects of this song actually show a lot of the feeling that is going on. For example, at the end of the first verse Mercury's voice fades out while singing 'doesn't really matter... me' putting no stress on the importance of his own opinion. Also, I think that it comes off as though no one is listening to him and there is just no point in trying. Later in the song, while singing an electric guitar comes on and he starts yelling and escalating the volume at which he sings for the lines "I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all!" and then for ,"So you think you can stop me and spit in my eye! So you think you can love me and leave me to die! Oh baby -- can't do this to me, baby!" Which makes me think he is getting incredibly angry and frustrated as the song progresses. Unlinke when reading a book, when listening to a song it's not just the text that helps me figure out the message and mood, but I also use the music and volume and things like that.

When I hear this song it really has an impact on me. I think that there are very few people who have never at least been in a situation where they feel trapped and alone, or like everyone is against them. I loved trying to get into this song just because there are so many things that feel random and strange yet when you put it all together make sense. In conclusion, I think that Bohemian Raphsody is about the idea of feeling alone and trapped, and how upsetting and confusing that is for people.

The History of Love: Waiting for Life to Start

The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss: Waiting for Life to Start

I am currently reading the book "The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss. The book follows the trail of a manuscript called "The History of Love." It is narrated by the man who wrote the book, and a young girl named Alma Singer. The author, Leo Gursky, is a Yiddish man who wrote the book in Yiddish and it was about a past girlfriend and he didn't intend for his book to be published or read. After having about 1,000 copies published in Spain the book dissapeared. It was found and read by Alma's father who then died of cancer and he never told anyone about the book. Years later a copy comes back into Alma's hands and the book begins to tie them all together. The book studies the relationships people have with one another whether it's love, loss, friendship, or they are family. In it almost every main character seems to feel like there is something missing in their lives and they are looking for something. i think that in this they are waiting to find that something, and be able to start or restart their lives.

Since Alma's father died she lives with her brother 'Bird' and her mother Charlotte in Brooklyn, and although they don't know it, near Leo Gursky. I have gotten the impression that Alma was really close to her dad and was torn when he passed away, even though she was only six. It was the same way with Alma's mother who often doesn't leave her bed and although it's been five years is still heartbroken and practically refuses to talk to other men, especially if she really likes them. I think that she is scared to lose another loved one and is waiting for her heart to heal and to move on. I think this is something she really, really wants to do, but has no idea how to do it. She is waiting for someone to come along and show her that she can go on. Also, I think that Alma is waiting to have a family again. She often seems to be really alone and it brings her down. She wants her mother to heal and for them to be a family so that she too can move on and they can be happy together. Until then I don't think Alma kind find the strength to move on and so she is waiting for her mother.

Leo Gursky is waiting for a new life to come through love. I think that he wants his life to begin, see's no way to make it really start for him, and yet is scared of death. He is running in circles away from death, yet not taking a moment to stop and live the last few years of his life. Leo and his friend Bruno have specials signals like tapping the radiator so that they hear the noise in each others apartments that are one floor apart, to make sure that neither of them are dead. Neither of them do very much and usually stay inside. They are both so afraid of death that they do not take a moment to live. Also, Leo always remembers his past love and when he does walk around the city, love is almost all he thinks of. Although he won't admit it at all, I think he is searching for someone to love. He waits to find someone to love, because i believe he thinks that it will fill him with a will to live and give him something to live for. For example, he had a son with a girlfriend who never knew him, although he always kept tabs on that son, until his son died. For a while after his son died he became antisocial and it hurt him. Leo relies on needing someone to love.

In conclusion, in "The History of Love" I think that most of the main characters, Alma Singer, Charlotte Singer, and Leo Gursky, and some other characters are simply waiting for their lives to truly begin, or begin again.

Nonfiction Post: "Sugar Wars"

"Sugar Wars": Mayor Bloombergs 'Ban on Soda'

Majerol, Veronica. "Sugar Wars." Upfront 17 Sept. 2012, 145 : 6-7
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1040714528/13BA6098859103DF35C/2?accountid=14875 

For this blog post I read the article 'Sugar Wars' by Veronica Majerol from the magazine Upfront. The article is about how in New York City, Mayor Bloomberg is taking action against the always rising obesity rates. He proposes that by no longer allowing private restaurants or places serving people food, like McDonalds, they no longer can serve sodas that are more than 16 ounces. Places like grocery stores would not have to follow this law. In the US, one in three adults in obese. In New York City, one in two adults are obese. Fast food chains now offer a 42 ounce soda. 42 ounces is about a liter and a half. They make the prices only slightly higher than those of the smaller drinks, which incentivises the costumer to just buy the larger one. Then they figure that because they have it, they may as well drink it, which plays a huge role in whats causing obesity.

I think that in the article the author supports Bloomberg's ban and is passionate about ending the obesity epidemic. I believe that throughout the article they were trying to make me, the reader, agree with them, and I definitely do agree with Majerol. She used many techniques and craft moves in her writing to convince the reader of what she believes. "The proposed ban is intended to help fight obesity, which has reached nationwide epidemic proportions. According to health agencies, more than one third of Americans are obese; in New York City, more than half of adults are either overweight or obese. High consumption of sugary drinks is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and long-term weight gain" says Majerol. Whether you agree or disagree with Bloombergs proposal, these facts are shocking! Majerol uses these statistics because it is apparent that they will be heard by both sides of the argument, and because they prove her point, they may convince many to feel the same way. The way she states facts plainly like this leaves no room for argument or opposition, which really proves her point.

In my opinion, I think that Bloomberg definitely should go through with the ban on sugary drinks. Basically these fast food restaurants are tricking the public. They know many people think it is smarter to buy what you can get more from, for the same or a similar price and the large size is so accessible. When companies add 50 cents to a drink thats much larger than the last size down, they're not trying to give you a great deal, they're trying to get money. When everyone uses the same logic, all those extra 50 cents add up, it can be a large amount of money. They are not concerned about your health, and are aware it will hurt you. I don't think people consider obesity dangerous, because the effects cannot necessarily be seen directly, yet they're HUGE. If these drinks are banned then they are no longer acessible and Americans aren't going to want to go to 'all the trouble' of finding a drink as big. Instead they'll just go for the smaller size, just because it's whats there. This way, even the people who do not car enough to make healthy choices, wind up being forced into making them.

Friendship, Lies and All

Friendship, Lies and All: Home for the Holidays, Heather Vogel-Frederick

         I'm currently reading Home for the Holidays, by Heather Vogel- Frederick. It is the fifth book in the Mother Daughter Book Club series. I think that what I really love about this book is how relataeble it is, particurally through friendships. Most books show friends that are absolutely perfect together, and always help each other, and when they're together nothing goes wrong. This is something I really dislike about realistic fiction books, because generally friendships aren't like that, and like everything there is a lot of stuff that goes wrong. I think that to read a book that I cannot relate with, really makes it a lot harder to enjoy because everything tend to mean a little less to you. In Home for the Holidays the girls are incredible friends to each other, but they still lie to each other, and have their issues.

          

          While Megan and Becca's families are on the Caribbean cruise, Becca lies to Megan. On page 236, Megan tells Becca that she really, really likes the captains son Phillipe. Later, Becca goes on a 'walk' with Phillipe because shes possibly jealous even though she claims shes not. For a few days towards the end of the cruise Megan won't talk to Becca because of how hurt she is, but by the end she realizes that her friendship with Becca is more important and that they can work through anything. Although their problems do end up a little easier and faster than they might in real life, I've read so many books where the main girl has her one best friend that has never, ever done anything wrong, which really isn't realistic. Also, while at Jess's aunt and uncles house, Jess has a broken leg and Emma befriends her mean cousin and without realizing they begin to disclude Jess. When Jess confronts Emma, Emma tells her that she wasn't trying to and although she is mad Jess trusts Emma and they forgive each other. This is another example of a relationship in a book where friendships aren't perfect, and thats a big thing that I love about these books.

          Seeing how the girls get happy endings with their friends, they still do fight with their friends. when I read a book where all friendships are perfect, despite whatever other problems the main characters have, it makes me feel like I cannot relate to the book, because it feels a little fake. One of the most important qualities in a book, is when you can really get inside of it, and if it feels... wrong, that's pretty hard. I think that when I see best friends getting through struggles together it makes me want to read more, and get deeper into the book.

          In conclusion, I really like the aspect of the book where it seems like there are more problems than just basic ones, and also ones that happen between best friends. This makes the book feel a lot more realistic and relatable.