Blog #6

This week in English class we have started the novel, Persepolis. Persepolis is written by Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian and French graphic novelist. This novel is one big comic book, filled with black and white pictures that help tell the story. This novel is about Satrapi's childhood in Iran, before and after the revolution. It takes place during the war between Iran and Iraq. The child in the novel is a very interesting child. She wants to become a prophet and attend demonstrations at the age of ten. Talk about a courageous young woman. I find this story very interesting because it about a revolution from a child's perspective. There are so many views and opinions that are from adults, but not many from children. I find that very odd, because children, the next generation, are the ones who will need to pick up the political messes made by adults. So our perspectives do matter. Persepolis is also very intriguing because it's about an area of the world that most Americans are not very fond of. Therefore the history of middle-east is very unrecognizable to many. I love reading this because before this story, I had no idea about the Iranian Revolution.

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. Paris, France: L' Association.2000

Blog #5

This week I have finished the famous novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, written by Julia Alverez.The story was very interesting, however it felt like I was reading more than one story. In this novel there are many characters. The characters who narrate the story are the four Mirabal sisters, Dede, Mate, Minerva, and Patria. Each has a different point of view on what is occuring in the story. For example during the movement Minerva is very involved and Dede is not at all. This caused two stories to form. One from Dede's perspective, not involved with the movement. And Minerva's perspective, a radical, deeply involved in the movement. This created a thruough but confusing story. What I found most interesting about this story was that it was based on a true story. When I read some of the details about the girls lives or about the shocking things that occured. I couldn't believe it. I was so appauled by some of the things that were occuring that it kept me reading. As terrible as it sounds, it's the truth. To anyone questioning to read this novel I highly reccommened it to history buffs.

Alvarez, Julia.In the Time of the Butterflies.1994, New York. Penguin Group.

Outside Reading #4

Don't worry Twilight fans, Edward will still be able to be seen on the big screen by November! Rumor has been flying around, especially EHS, that author of the Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer is being sued. Meyer was supposively being sued for stealing the idea of Twilight from a college roomate. Rumor also said that the production of New Moon the film was halted, meaning they would delay the release date or not even release it at all. This left thousands of teenage girls in terror. As i researched online and read through tabloids I concluded that the rumor was fiction. This was a sign of relief to myself as well to the thousands of other teenage girls who want to have their neck bit by Edward Cullen. Apparently there are many different stories to how this false information was released out into the public. One story said that it was a desperate tabloid writer. Other's say it was writers who were jealous of Meyer's fame.

New Moon. New York: Little Brown and Company,2006>

Outside Reading #3

This week I have began to read In the Time of the Butterflies written by Julia Alvarez. Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American poet and novelist. Alvarez was born in New York City in 1950. However, she spent the first ten years of her life in the Dominican Republic. Alvarez's family was obligated to move back to the United States after her father was involved in a political rebellion. Her father was apart of a group who had attempted to overthrow the military dictator, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. In 1960 the Alvarezs moved back to the United States. When Julia Alvarez moved to the U.S. she experienced alienation, homesickness, and prejudice. Alvarez overcame her struggles. Today she is considered on of the most successful Latina writers. Alvarez has written famous novels such as How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies, ¡Yo!, and In the Name of Salome. Alvarez's novels are very intriguing. They are full of history, and Alvarez's personal experiences. She writes with Dominican and American contributes. Julia Alvarez has proven that hard good pays off.

Alvarez, Julia.In the Time of the Butterflies.1994, New York. Penguin Group.

Outside Reading #2

This week we watched the 1971 film Duel directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie was a very interesting film. It was very different than movies I have watched before. Duel was very suspenseful, however I would tend to get very bored. Almost every scene was a car chase, cat-and-mouse-like chase, between David Mann and a tanker truck. This film descended from a short story in Playboy magazine. Duel was Spielberg's feature-length directing debut. Many of the shots in Duel are medium shots of David Mann driving. These types of shots emphasized his point of view on the chase. It expressed his emotions, thoughts, strategies, etc... The other shots the film consisted of were extreme close ups of the tanker truck. This emphasized it's physical features which were suppose to be scary. As the movie progressed the chase did as well. David Mann seemed to have lost his mind by the end of the movie when he uses a strategy to get the truck to drive off a cliff. As he looks down at the destroyed truck and what is left of his little red car. The film ends, without putting any of the puzzle together. I was very frustrated at the end because their was all this tension, all this build up. And then you don't even get to know why.

Spielberg, Steven. Duel. 1971. George Eckstein, 1971

Outside Reading#1

For fourth quarter's outside reading I have decided to continue reading New Moon written by none other than the talented Stephenie Meyer. I have found myself half-way done with the book, and still loving every second of it. It's amazing how the story sucks me in and could keep me reading for hours. Hopefully no one is reading my blog who has yet to read New Moon because I would hate to spoil it! As of right now in the story Bella has just realized her good family friend, Jacob, is a werewolf. I personally believed everything was pretty slow moving in the book until this part. With Edward gone and nothing exciting occurring I began to grow pretty bored. Besides finding out that Jacob is a werewolf, Bella also finds out some very disturbing news. Jacob and his family know about the Cullens and their secret. Bella is in complete shock when she finds out. After successfully patching up the whole that Edward left in her heart, Bella feels that the whole has come back. Apparently the Cullens, vampires, and Jacob and his people, werewolves, do not mix well. Leaving Bella stuck in the middle. I cannot wait to read more!

New Moon. New York: Little Brown and Company,2006>

Effects of the Holocaust Paragraph

The Holocaust had nothing but a negative impact on the world. As a result to the Holocaust the Jewish people lost their rights and extermination camps were established. When German soldiers first invaded Jewish areas, they would take their rights away. The German soldiers would first force them into an unpleasant living situation, ghettos. Ghettos were established throughout 1941 and 1942, and held Jews until they were deported to the concentration camps. While living in ghettos Jews were not aloud out on the streets after a certain time. As well as living in ghettos, Jews were forced to wear a yellow badge that was in the shape of the Star of David. Theses badges marked Jews in public. Some even died before deportation, starvation and disease lurked in every ghetto. When the time of deportation came, all rights were taken away. Jewish people were deported to concentration camps. In 1933, with the cooperation of local authorities, the Nazis set up camps as concentration centers within Germany. At these camps prisoners would be tortured or killed. The conditions of the camps were unbearable. The most famous concentration camp was Aushwitz, located in Poland. Up to three million people were killed in Aushwitz. During the Holocaust a totaly of six million Jews were killed. That number was about seventy-eight percent of the 7.6 million Jews living in Europe at the time. However, Jews were not the only group executed during the Holocaust. Soviet POWs, Ethnic Poles, Romanians, the disabled, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and gypsies were also victims. In conclusion the results of the Holocaust affected the rights of Jewish people and the establishment of concentration camps.