Saturday, September 29, 2007

The Cage-Post 2

Loaded Words:
1) crazy pg.44-it can either mean like insane or a good way like fun and happy.
2) child pg.45-some people think of children in a negative way. They think they can't do anything on their own.
3) strength pg. 47-it can be emoitional strength or it can be physical strength.
4) healthy pg.47-it could be mentally, physically, in spirit. Being healthy comes in many ways.
5) ghetto pg.46-to some people it is a home. To other people they see it as a dangerous place.
6) adoption pg.55-people see it as a bad thing, like no one wants the child, while others see it as a positive impact.
7) free pg.61-you can be free from many things and people may see freedom differently.
8) Jews pg.65-some people take pride in being a Jew. While others hated them and wanted them eliminated.
9) love pg. 57-everyone doesn't feel love the same way, it is viewed differently.
10) normal pg.61-i don't think anyone really knows what normal is, it can be interpreted as people see.

Summary:
Moishe takes Refikele (RIva) to see the doctor. Her brothers get her vitamins to get her strength back. Riva starts writing lettters even though she can't mail them. She is secretly thinking that if they don't make it out alive, that someone will find her story. They go back to the adoption lady and she tells them that Riva can adopt her own brothers but she has to give up all her rights of being a child. Now she is legally an adult at age 16. Their friend Shmulek comes back from the labor camp. He was sent back because the soldier was drunk. But now they are collecting them back again so he has to hide by living with Henry's friend. It was very cold in their house and Riva's brother stole wood. The police came to their house and because they had compassion, he was not sent to a camp.

Reaction:
I think it's so sad that they have to live most of their life as a lie. Most of them are becoming sick and there is nothing they can do about it. I think it's really good that Riva could adopt her brothers though. Because in hard times they need to stick together and be a family.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

The Cage-Post 1

Summary:
The beginning of the book is about Rifkele when she is an adult. She often has nightmares about growing up a Jew when the Nazi's were trying to take over. She oftens talks to her daughter about this and she doesn't understand how the Nazi's could kill her grandparents. The book goes back to the past when Rifkele is growing up. They lived in an apartment and their landlady, Mrs. Gruber, is not a Jew. But she still loved them and treated them as family. Mrs. Gruber's son Harry was like a brother to her. One day they were playing outside andan angry mob surronded them. They said that Harry was a spy and was sending messages to the Germans, so he should be killed. In September 1939, the Germans invaded Poland. Mrs. Gruber who has always been their friend came to their home and started taking all their belingings. Leaving them wth no stove in the middle of winter. All over Jewish families were being killed, robbed of their belongings and thrown out of their homes. Rifkele's brother comes down with Tuberculosis. All the Jews are poor and they have little food. Rifkele and her mom work in a tailor shop. They only get a little bread and soup everyday but they bring it home mostly for her brother. One day Rifkele and her cousin were out walking. They got seperated and the Germans started marching them. They marched them all day until they finally seperated the men and women and children. The women and children got to go home that night. The German soldiers were coming to search their home. They hid her brother in a cellar so they would not find him and take him away for being sick. But that day their mom was taken away because she was ill. The children were all on their own. And now Rifkele is getting sick too.

Reaction:

I couldn't believe the way that the German's treated the Jews. The pushed a pregnant lady on the ground so she landed on her stomach. Then a man tried to help her and he got a rifle bashed through his skull. I couldn't believe that this was real reading it. I couldn't see how someone could do these horrible things to another.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

This I Believe Assignment..

1. A link to the essay
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9249892

2. Author
Judith Jamison

3. Title
To Thine Own Self Be True

4. On sentence of what the belief is
I believe that there is sanctity in the fact that we are only on this earth for a short period of time. And I believe that with that time, we'd better be doing something good.

5. 2 examples from the story that shows their belief
-A good performance on stage should take the audience on a journey where they learn something about themselves.
-In my life and work, I've found that honesty comes with goodness.

6. 1 favorite passage
I believe that to "be good," as my father instructed, we must be true to ourselves.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Assignment 1

The thing I am most anxious for about high school is being treated more as an adult. I think that when you get into high school you get a lot more freedom and people trust you to make decisions on your own. I'm also pretty excited to meet new people and have classes with not the people you have probably been with for years. Football games and dances and stuff will be fun too. Ther's just a lot more fun things going on in high school.

One goal that I have for my sophmore year is to try hard to get good grades even with sports and other activites going on. I want to try to get all A's and a few B's. I also just want to be able to find my way around the school better and not get lost. But I'm sure I will get used to it soon.