3rd Quarter Reflections

      I cannot believe that the year is almost over. Next year, I will be in high school. It is crazy. It went by so fast. Every quarter, we have to reflect on what we did.

- In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts? 

I think that this quarter I have improved the most with getting my work done on time. Especially during 2nd Quarter when we were reading To Kill A Mockingbird and answering the questions, I would forget to fill in the graphic organizer or answer a question, and so I would have to go to working lunch. This quarter, I think that I have really improved and I haven't really had to go to working lunch. I have been trying to make sure to do my homework right when I get home from school instead of procrastinating until 10:00, like I sometimes did in 2nd Quarter.

- What has been the most challenging part of 3rd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

The most challenging part of 3rd Quarter has been time management. I have been so busy lately that I don't have enough time to do everything that I need to do. Or I forget that I have to do something and don't give myself enough time to do it. Since my mom is running for school board and sometimes have to help out with that, and I have after school activities, sometimes it is hard to find time to do everything that I need to do. Also, when I get home, all I want to do is go on my phone and watch Netflix or Youtbe, but, I think that I have been doing a better job at turning my phone off and doing my homework first. 

- Where are you in your 40 Book Challenge?

For the 40 Book Challenge, I have read 30 books. I have read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling. I also finished the Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket: The Hostile Hospital, The Carnivourous Carnival, The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto, The Penultimate Peril, and The End. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, Wonder by R. J. Palacio, The Alchemyst by Michael Scott, Notes From A Midnight Driver by Jordon Sonnenblick, Turning 15 On The Road To Freedom by Lynda Blackmon Lowery, Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan, Unstoppable by Tim Green, Scat by Carl Hiaasen, A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall, and Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen. We, as a class have also read some books. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Of Beetles and Angels by Mawi Asgedom, and Night by Elie Wiesel. Most of the books that read this quarter have been for Battle of the Books, which is really helping with the 40 Book Challenge, and also getting me to read books that I normally wouldn't read. 

Life is Beautiful

      Today, we watched the movie, Life is Beautiful. We also recently read the book Night by Elie Wiesel and did research about the Holocaust. There were many ideas and events that were similar in the book and the movie. For example, something that is similar is the father/son bonds. In Night, Elie talks a lot about the relationship he had with his father. In the movie, Life is Beautiful, we see how Guido, the main character, is trying to protect his son, Joshua. The whole time they are at the camp, he is trying to convince his son that it is a game. That if they follow a specific set of rules, they will win a big tank. That is what helps Joshua to survive, since almost all of the other kids were killed. There were also a lot of similar ideas in the beginning of the movie. For example, we see Guido's property get vandalized. We also see Guido's uncle's horse get vandalized with the words: "Jewish Horse". There were also references to heiling Hitler. Also, when Guido was pretending to be a school inspector, he is supposed to give a speech about how "one race is superior", which is a theme we see during Holocaust research a lot, and during the speech, he starts out by saying, "I am of pure Aryan blood..." This is something that comes up in both the research and Night. Some other things that are similar are the tattoos. When the Jews got to the camp, they were given number tattoos. Elie was also given a number tattoo, and mentions it in his book.
      There were a couple differences between the book and the movie. For example, in the movie, we get to see the mother throughout the camp. In the book, we learn that Elie's mother and sister are sent to the crematoriums on the first day. Another difference is that in the book, before Elie's family went to a ghetto before they went to a concentration camp, but in the movie, they were taken from their homes and forced into the cattle cars. An obvious difference is the location. Elie was born in Sighet, Transylvania and is taken to Birkenau, which is in Poland. In the movie, the main character is from Italy. We don't know which concentration camp Guido and his family went to. Another difference is that the characters are older. Guido, his friend, and Dora look like they are in their 30s. Elie was 15 when he went to the camp. Some other differences are that in the movie,  the main character really wants to open a book store in the beginning, and in the book, the main character really wants to study religion in the beginning.
      In the movie, there was a lot of humor. Especially in the beginning. For example, when Guido is trying to open his book store, he runs into some mean people at the office. And he accidentally knocks a plant out of the window and onto the man's head. When he trys to help clean up the mess, he accidentally causes raw eggs to break on the man's head. Twice. The second time was at his wedding announcement party. Another funny part was when Guido was driving around with Dora, because he liked her, and when she asked, "When did you learn to drive?" he said, "Ten minutes ago." Another funny moment, probably the funniest in the whole movie, is when Guido pretends to know how to speak German and volunteers to be a translator for a German Nazi in his barrack. The entire time the Nazi was giving instructions about what the rules were at camp, Guido was just making up funny things about the Nazi, pretending that it was the translation, because since the Nazi did not speak Italian, he would never know the difference. One of the things that Guido said was. "On some days you will get lollipops, but not today, because I ate all of them. We Nazis do that sometimes." Or something along those lines, I cannot remember exactly what he said.
      In the movie, Life is Beautiful, life is shown as beautiful in many ways. One of those ways is that Guido and Dora keep running into each other everywhere they go. When his car breaks down, and he ends up on a farm, she literally falls into his arms after jumping out of the barn window (I think to avoid being attacked by a chicken). When Guido and his friend go to stay in the city, they run into each other when she is walking to work. He happens to be the waiter at her engagement party. Before that though, he would try to find out where she was going and meet her there. At the opera, at the school, everywhere. He saves her from her own engagement party, and they end up getting married and having Joshua. Another way that life is shows beautiful is when they are in the concentration camp, Guido keeps finding ways to let Dora know that he is alive. Even though Dora was not supposed  to go to the concentration camp, she forced the Nazis to stop the trim so that she could  get one she did not want to leave her family. When they were in the concentration camp, Guido wanted  to let Dora know that he was alive. So, when the guard went on break, Guido went to the intercom system and said what he always says to her: "Buongiorno Principessa!" He gives a whole speech too, just to let her know that he was alive. Also, when he got a  job as a waiter for a Nazi dinner, he had to change the music. He noticed in the pile of records the song from the opera that he followed her too. He opened the window and flipped the record player so that it was facing out the window, hoping that the song would get to her barracks. Luckily, it did, and she knew that it was coming from him. It was really beautiful.

Argumentative AOW

      Today, we were educated by our peers about different arguments in the world currently. Some of them include: self-driving cars, school food, fast food, GMO labels, surveillance and privacy, e-cigarettes, and more. In Eamonn's article, we learned about new school food rules that regulate how many calories the school lunches should have and what kinds of foods they can give the children. The PRO side of the article was talking about how since parents have really no way to know what their kids are eating at school, this will help to assure them that they are eating healthier. The CON side of the article says that every kid is different. Every child has their own nutritional needs and their parents know what is best for their own kids. The government should not be able to decide how many calories the child can eat. I agree with the CON side of the article because I think that the parents really do know better than the government when it comes to their kids. They should be the ones to decide how many calories their child can or cannot eat. 

       In Carter's article, we learned the PROs and CONs about putting GMO labels on foods. In the PRO side of the article, it says that 93% of Americans want GMO (genetically modified organism) products to be labeled and that GMO products have dangerous chemicals that could harm people. In the CON side of the article, it says that GMO products have never actually hurt anyone and that they are 31% cheaper than natural foods. They also said that if companies put GMO labels on their foods, it will drive people away, which will cause the prices of the food to go up. The CON side of the article also says that GMO is not just dangerous chemicals; it can help to reduce spoilage and allergens in food. 

      My article was about self-driving cars and if they will be good for Armeica or not. The PRO side of the article says that this kind of technology in cars will be helpful because it will help to reduce crashes and vehicle accidents. In the article, it says, "In the U.S alone, vehicular accidents have killed more than 32,000 people annually for the past five years for which data is available." Many people die from car accidents and if the driver was no longer driving, would that reduce it? That is what one author thinks. He also says that this kind of technology would give disabled people and elderly people, ones who wouldn't be able to have licenses otherwise, the chance to drive.  The CON side of the article thinks that the technology, the kind that can help drivers park, or stop for the driver if they were about to crash, is very helpful, but that taking the driver out of the equation is a very bad idea. What if the car were to malfunction in the middle of the highway? It could be dangerous for a lot of people. Also, what if a child were to run across the middle fo the street into the car's path? The autonomous car wouldn't be able to swerve out of the way like a human driver would, because the car would be programmed to follow the law. I think that this is a pretty important argument because if these kinds of cars would be on the road, it would change a lot of things. It would be a big change and a big argument. 

Night by Elie Wiesel

      In the book Night, by Elie Wiesel, the author describes his experiences during the Holocaust. He was was born in Sighet, Transylvania, and was taken into concentration camps when he was about 14, almost 15. He spent about a year in five different concentration camps: Birkenau, Auschwitz, Buna, Gliewitz, and Buchenwald. In those camps, he was changed forever. 

      One of the biggest changes that he went through in the camps, was losing his faith. In the beginning of the memoir, we learn that Eliezer is very pious. Religion is very important to him. On page 4, it says, "Why did I pray? Strange question. Why did I live? Why did I 
breathe?" This shows that his religion is a part of him. It comes as naturally to him as breathing. However, when he is forced into the concentration camp and sees all of these horrible things happening, he begins to wonder why God isn't doing anything. On page 33, 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? " He was saying that he did not want to pray with the rest of the Jews. He was angry at God for not doing anything to stop the Holocaust. In fact, he was angry at the world for not doing anything about it because he also says, "Was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent? No. All this could not be real. A night- mare perhaps..." He is almost refusing to believe that what he is seeing is real becuase, how could something so horrible be happening and no one around him is doing anything to stop it?

Another example of when we see his faith being destroyed is when he says, "Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever....Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes." He is saying that all of the things that he saw in that camp, pretty much destroyed his morals and religious beliefs. Before the concentration camps,  his religion was a part of him. The Holocaust destroyed a part of him. 

Another big change we see in Elie throughout the concentration camps is with his father. When he first gets to the concentration camps, Elie and his father rely on each other. In fact, Elie considers his father to be the only reason to live. On page, 86, Elie says, "My father's presence was the only thing that stopped me. He was running next to me, out of breath, out of strength, desperate. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his sole support." This is saying that Elie doesn't think that his father would survive in the camp without him. So, even though it would be easier to stop and be killed, he keeps on running for his father. Another example of him helping his father is when Elie teaches his father how to march in step. On page, 55, it says, "My father had never served in the military and could not march in step. But here, whenever we moved from one place to another, it was in step. That presented Franek with the oppor- tunity to torment him and, on a daily basis, to thrash him savagely. ... I decided to give my father lessons in marching in step, in keeping time. We began practicing in front of our block. I would command: 'Left, right!' and my father would try." This shows that he truely cares about his father because he is taking time out of his day to teach him. He doesn't want his father to get hurt. Even though the other inmates make fun of them, and even though his father doesn't learn it very fast, Elie continues to teach him. 

Towards the end of the book, Elie's feelings about his father begin to change a little bit. He begins to wonder if he would be better off without his father. Especially because some of the inmates keep telling him this: "'Listen to me, kid. Don't forget that you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others. Not even your father. In this place, there is no such thing as father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone. Let me give you good advice: stop giving your ration of bread and soup to your old father. You cannot help him anymore.'" (P. 110) Elie begins to wonder if that was true. On page 111, he says, "I listened to him without interrupting. He was right, I thought deep down, not daring to admit it to myself. Too late to save your old  father...You could have two rations of bread, two rations of soup..." He is starting to think that he would be better off without his father because, if his father wasn't' there, he wouldn't have to give away his ration of bread and soup. He wouldn't be threatened because his father wouldn't stop calling Elie's name to go get him water.  When Elie's father dies, Elie does not cry. Instead, on page 112, he says, "But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!..." He says that he feels free without his father, letting the reader know that he has changed forever.  

Works Cited:

Wiesel, Elie. Night. Trans. Marion Wiesel. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. 
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