Blog #3 - If I Should Die Before I Wake

In the beginning of If I Should Die Before I Wake, the main character, Hilary, is waking up in an unfamiliar Jewish hospital, after a terrible motorcycle accident she was recently in. Although she was being treated and taken care of, Hilary didn’t like the fact that people in the hospital thought of her in a certain way before meeting her. Since Hilary is part of a neo-Nazi gang in her neighborhood, she proudly wears an armband, letting everyone see who she is really. “They think they know me, know all about me,” Hilary thinks, “they don’t know crap.” Whenever Hilary goes places, people probably make assumptions about her, similar to the hospital. Unlike Hilary, her mother isn’t like her at all, but kind and loving. Her mother wishes that Hilary wasn’t part of the neo-Nazi gang and was still the sweet young girl that she used to be.

While in the hospital, Hilary is suddenly transported into a life that is not her own, but instead, a young Jewish girl, Chana’s life. What Hilary went into wasn’t just an ordinary dream, but instead was actually living the life and feeling emotions that came with the different situations. Chana and her friend were walking to school, when a couple officers stopped them and forced them to work hour after hour, scrubbing floors on their hands and knees. Both Chana’s mother and neighbor were forced to scrub floors too. After being allowed to go home, she spotted her father being tormented by other officers because he couldn’t do what they were asking. Although the officers learned that her father had a heart condition, it didn’t make them any more caring, instead, they made Chana do it in replace of her father. Since her father couldn’t do easy labor like digging, the officers probably thought that he would be no use in other labor jobs, so they shot him without any emotion at all.

The whole transported into another life is very mysterious, how did it happen? Was it an effect of the accident Hilary was recently in? Is it a dream? A fantasy? Hilary is very confused with the whole situation and doesn’t really know what to think of it. One minute she is in the hospital and the next she’s in Chana’s world. The two times Hilary has transported, the last person she saw was Grandmaw. Is Grandmaw the cause of these mysterious happenings? Are these dreams trying to teach Hilary a life lesson? In one of President Obama’s many speeches, he stated, “…the ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes; to see the world through the eyes of those who are different from us…” I think this is relevant to the situation Hilary is in. Hilary is seeing life in a different point of view, the life Chana lives.

So far in the story, the two protagonists are Hilary and Chana. The two girls both live two very different lives. Hilary hates Jewish people and thinks all of them should die where as Chana is a Jewish girl, wishing that none of this was happening. Will Hilary ever learn to accept Jewish people and realize they aren’t that bad?

Blog #2 - Annexed

So far in the book, Peter is getting a realization of what life is going to be like stuck in the Annex. In the beginning of the story, Peter couldn’t stand Anne at all, but slowly he’s coming to realize that Anne, isn’t all that bad. They even dressed up and did a skit for their families to liven up their moods. Peter no longer thinks of Anne, as a clumsy know it all, 13 year old girl like he did when they first met, but more or less a friend. Even though I know how this is going to end, I think mostly anyone can infer that Peter and Anne will become even closer than they are now. Also, you can infer that them and their families are eventually going to get caught and sent to a concentration camp. Although no one mentions or talks about how they will be caught, they never talk about having a bright future and how excited they will be when they get out of the Annex. Even though they don’t talk about it much, you can infer that they are always thinking about it in the back of their minds. I think they are trying to pretend that it isn’t going to happen until the moment comes. Even though I think they know they are going to get caught, do they really? Do they ever think of their future beyond the walls of the Annex? Happy or dreadful?

Night by Elie Wiesel

Today in class, we read a passage from the book Night, by Elie Wiesel. It was about a person traveling in a freight train that was eventually going to Auschwitz, Poland. The freight car was dark and cramped, making it almost unbearable for the many people that were stuffed in the freight car to survive. Everyone who was in the car didn’t have the right qualities to work in labor camps, so they were being sent to concentration camps to die. Mostly everyone in the freight car were silent because of the lack of water, making the thirst become ‘intolerable.’ We do not know who the narrator of the book is, but they and everyone else in the car were clearly very irritated with one woman named, Mrs. Schächter.

Throughout the passage, Mrs. Schächter often yelled of ‘fire’ and ‘flames’. At first, people are worried about her and wonder if she is okay, but eventually they get very annoyed. At one point, some of the men gagged and strike Mrs. Schächter to make her stop screaming. Even before the narrator says that they think why Mrs. Schächter is yelling, you can infer why even before. In the very beginning of the passage, the person described how much everyone longed for a glass of water and how ‘intolerable’ their longing was. Similar to needing water, the feeling of having the flames of fire lick onto your skin, burning you, making you scream out in agony can make you have an ‘intolerable’ type of feeling. Even though you can infer things, it doesn’t mean they’re necessarily correct. Was Mrs. Schächter really that that thirsty, or was it that she could see into the future and knew that people would be burned to death lter? Or was just an old lady who lost her mind? Although, there are some topics that you truly don’t know if the inference is correct or not, you can make a very clear inference of what the rest of the story is going to be about.

Blog #1 - Annexed

In the beginning of Annexed, the main character, Peter, is making the most of the last few hours he has left outside in the fresh air. Later that day, Peter knows that he will have to go to the Annex to hide from Nazis’ who are trying to capture him and his family. While walking to his girlfriend, Liese’s house, he can only watch when he sees her and her family escaping from officers. Eventually sometime after watching Liese’s escape, Peter makes his way to the Annex where he will spend the next two years in mostly silence, never being able to feel the warmth of the sunlight or a shiver from a cool breeze.

The protagonist and narrator in Annexed is a Jewish 15 year old, Peter van Pels. He recently moved into the Annex with his family and another Jewish family, the Franks, to hide from the Nazis’. For the first few days, all Peter does is sleep, sulk, and think about Liese. Peter isn’t happy that he has to stay in the Annex with the Franks, and especially can’t stand their daughter Anne. Anne is the type of person who isn’t afraid to speak her mind no matter what she’s thinking of. Living with an overly confident Anne, drives Peter insane; she never has something kind to say to him. Whenever she speaks to him, it's either her being rude or indignant.

A problem in the story is that Peter, his family, and the Frank family have to hide in the Annex to try and keep hidden from the Nazis. Peter wishes that his life could be like before, not having to worry every second of the day if someone will capture and take him to a Death Camp. Also, Anne doesn’t help living in the Annex any better for Peter. It seems that everything Anne does, irritates Peter some how. Since living in the Annex allowed Peter to have more free time to think, the only thing he thinks about is Liese. He thinks about her all the time and knows that he probably would ever be able to see her again.

Taken For Granted

As I sit my computer, thinking about what to write, I start to stare out my window and realize what a dreary day it is. The dark, gloomy clouds hovering in the sky above, blocking the sun’s path to shine down on the world. When thinking about this, I couldn’t remember the last time there was a full week of bright beautiful sunshine. As the days are getting shorter, and the nights longer, there soon won’t be a lot of these bright days left. The crisp autumn air will soon take over with its gentle, but cold breeze. I long for the days when the sun was shinning all day, week after week. I wish travel back in time; not taking for granted all of those wonderful moments of heat and the picturesque sunshine.

Response: Flower Garden by Shirley Jackson

The story, The Flower Garden, is about a widowed woman named, Mrs. MacLane, and her son, Davey, moving into a small town in Vermont. When Mrs. MacLane and her son first move into their small cottage, they were greeted and helped by many people in the town including Mrs. Winning, one of the neighbors. Briefly after moving in, Mrs. MacLane decided to start something that she always dreamed of making, a garden. Eventually after planting bulbs and everything, Mrs. MacLane realized that she was going to need some help if she wanted the flowers to stay beautiful and tended to. She hired a black man named, Mr. Jones to help her. Soon after hiring him, the people in the town stopped being kind towards her and started talking behind her back. After hiring him, Mrs. MacLane didn’t understand why everyone began to cut her off short while talking to her. At the end of the story, Mrs. MacLane’s close friend, Mrs. Winnings even decided to stop talking to her because of the choice she made.

While reading this story, there were many thoughts going through my mind thinking about what the ending of it would be. Around halfway through, I figured out how it would probably end. Once I finished, there were two literary elements that came quickly to my mind which were Person-Against-Society and an open ending.

Once people in the town found out that Mrs. MacLane hired Mr. Jones, to help her tend to her garden, they started to give her the ‘cold shoulder.’ Talking about her behind her back, they no longer thought highly about Mrs. MacLane because of the decision she had made. This situation seems similar to times around the Civil War. If Mrs. MacLane hired Mr. Jones for help then, she wouldn’t have been frowned upon, but because she was nice and kind to him, people would have thought badly of her just the same as they thought of her in the story.

Throughout the story there were many topics that were written, but the answers were not given. This makes me believe that the author, Shirley Jackson, wanted to make the story an open ending. One example, is that she told us about many physical features about Mr. Jones such as he was a big man with skin like a dark bronze, but she didn’t explain any internal characteristics about him. There was one part in the story were the mother-in-law, Mrs. Winnings says, “And working out there without his shirt on. He goes in the house,” talking about Mr. Jones. From this statement, I feel that he may have had an abusive side to him that the author isn’t telling us about.

The ending of this story leads me to believe that there are many possible theories to end it. I think that Shirley Jackson wanted the reader to really think about what happened in the story and have them decide on their own how the story should end.

Simplicity Query

How can we focus on simplicity to unclutter our lives?

By Mia

A Greek philosopher, Plato, once wrote, “In order to seek one’s own direction, one must simplify the mechanics of ordinary, everyday life.” Plato was trying to say that to find where you want to go in life, you first have to simplify your world. When Plato says, “…one must simplify the mechanics of ordinary, everyday life,” he doesn’t mean you have to get rid of all your possessions that seem non-simplistic, such as cell phones or computers, he’s trying to say to people that you must go forward in life with the mentality of simplicity.

There are many people that have very busy and stressful lives being kids, teens, or adults. To have a simple life, you must cut back on distractions and complications, and just focus on the important things in life. You can sometimes forget the essential things like family, friends, education, and having fun. Thoreau, an American, poet, author, and philosopher, said, “Our life is frittered away by detail… simplify, simplify.” Sometimes in life you need to just take a moment and think about everything that is important.

I created a video that’s about the small things in life that are truly important. I hope that it will make you understand the necessities in life.

The small, essential things right now will one day be the big things in your life that you will always want to remember. Today’s query is, “How can we focus on simplicity to unclutter our lives?”