1. Critical Stance:
a) Dehumanization means to deprive of human qualities or attributes; divest of individuality.
b) With living in the concentration camps for so long and witnessing inhumane acts from left to right, many prisoners doubted God's plan for them. After believing in His judgement for their entire lives they only began to question why certain things happened the way they did. For example, why crematories, gallows, or concentration camps even existed. Many lost the reason to ask God for guidance in time of need and just settled with whatever comes their way.
c) Eliezer was once a strong believer of God. The time he spent in the concentration camps have transformed his mindset towards life. He lost faith in God after experiencing the crematories and the gallows. All these inhuman acts he witnesses soon begins to mean nothing to him. He would simply take a glance and turn away as if nothing happened; as if he had become immune to it.
2. "I had watched the whole scene without moving. I kept quiet. In fact I was thinking of how to get farther away so that I would not be hit myself. What is more, any anger I felt at that moment was directed, not against the Kapo, but against my father. I was angry with him, for not knowing how to avoid Idek's outbreak. That is what concentration camp life had made of me. " Pg. 52
"Blessed be the Name of the Eternal!"
"Why, but why should I bless Him? In every fiber I rebelled. Because he had thousands of children burned in His pits?Because he kept six crematories working night and day, on Sundays and feast days?"...."How could i say to Him: "Blessed art Thou, Eternal, Master of the Universe, who chose us from among the races to be tortured day and night, to see our fathers, our mothers, our brothers, end in the crematory? Praised be The Holy Name, Thou Who hast chosen us to be butchered on Thine altar?" Pg. 64
"But these men here, whom You have betrayed, whom You have allowed to be tortured, butchered, gassed, burned, what do they do? They pray before You! They praise your name!" Pg. 64
"He would recite whole pages of the Talmud from memory, argue with himself, ask himself questions and answer himself. And one day he said to me: "It's the end. God is no longer with us." Pg 73
"The thousands who had dies daily at Auschwitz and at Birkenau in the crematory ovens no longer troubled me. " Pg. 59
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Literary Check #1
1. Critical Stance
With each new decree given by the government, the Jews of Sighet continued to remain calm. They believed in God so heavily they had faith he could get them out of any situation. Despite the torture or inhumane acts the Jews were put through they continued with the mindset that it will all get better.
2. Dialectical Journal Entries
"Man question God and God answers. But we don't understand His answers. We can't understand him" Pg. 2
Before they were told to leave their lives behind, Elizer believed strongly in God's plan for him. He may not know where it will take him or why certain things happened, but regardless, he entrusted Him with his life.
"They went by, fallen, dragging their packs, dragging their lives, deserting their homes, the years of their childhood, cringing like beaten dogs." Pg. 15
The Jews of Sighet didn't know why they had to leave their homes. They created families and memories and at an instant they had to drop everything and leave; to only get killed in the end.
"You can go if you want to," he said to me and to my older sisters. " I shall stay here with your mother and the child..."
"Naturally, we refused to be separated" Pg. 18
This quote shows the situations in which Eliezer could've grew up in. If he did't have much or lost everything important, there would always be something that would remain the same, family. No matter the circumstances Eliezer values family to the point of wanting to die together.
" Humanity? Humanity is not concerned with us. Today anything is allowed. Anything is possible, even these crematories..." Pg. 30
Its sad to admit that torture to this extreme is now considered normal. The Jews started to expect all these inhumane acts like it was a casual occurrence. They started to lose that positive mindset because they anticipated their death.
" Yitgadal veyitkadach shme raba...My heart was bursting. The moment had come. I was face to face with the Angel of Death." Pg. 31
Even at the moment he could've died, Eliezer found the strength to pray to his God. To his advantage it worked. His life was spared. This shows how he used his beliefs to get through tough situations.
With each new decree given by the government, the Jews of Sighet continued to remain calm. They believed in God so heavily they had faith he could get them out of any situation. Despite the torture or inhumane acts the Jews were put through they continued with the mindset that it will all get better.
2. Dialectical Journal Entries
"Man question God and God answers. But we don't understand His answers. We can't understand him" Pg. 2
Before they were told to leave their lives behind, Elizer believed strongly in God's plan for him. He may not know where it will take him or why certain things happened, but regardless, he entrusted Him with his life.
"They went by, fallen, dragging their packs, dragging their lives, deserting their homes, the years of their childhood, cringing like beaten dogs." Pg. 15
The Jews of Sighet didn't know why they had to leave their homes. They created families and memories and at an instant they had to drop everything and leave; to only get killed in the end.
"You can go if you want to," he said to me and to my older sisters. " I shall stay here with your mother and the child..."
"Naturally, we refused to be separated" Pg. 18
This quote shows the situations in which Eliezer could've grew up in. If he did't have much or lost everything important, there would always be something that would remain the same, family. No matter the circumstances Eliezer values family to the point of wanting to die together.
" Humanity? Humanity is not concerned with us. Today anything is allowed. Anything is possible, even these crematories..." Pg. 30
Its sad to admit that torture to this extreme is now considered normal. The Jews started to expect all these inhumane acts like it was a casual occurrence. They started to lose that positive mindset because they anticipated their death.
" Yitgadal veyitkadach shme raba...My heart was bursting. The moment had come. I was face to face with the Angel of Death." Pg. 31
Even at the moment he could've died, Eliezer found the strength to pray to his God. To his advantage it worked. His life was spared. This shows how he used his beliefs to get through tough situations.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Friday, January 30, 2015
Allusion Poem DRAFT
Born with a kind heart,
right intensions,
sweet personality,
and a love for knowledge
All you could ever ask for in a little girl,
right?
Blessed with a family
but questions their intentions.
Words hurt, but speak the truth
"I'm smart, you're dumb,
I'm big, you're little,
Im right, you're wrong!"
She wishes for a fairytale life,
like in the books
But happy endings only come after evil
Such a plot twist for this little girl
punished when showing intelligence,
and locked up in rooms lined with nails
Everyone in her life
doubts what she is capable of
Until she reveals
what the negativity has done to her.
Able to manipulate others
but still stuck with a messed up family
Whether its home or school,
there's always someone bringing her down.
There is little kindness left in this crazy world
some embrace it
some hide it,
and others are sweet like honey
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Angry letter
1518 Dement St.
Honolulu, HI, 96819
December 3, 2014
Costco Wholesale
525 Alakawa St
Honolulu, HI 96817
Dear Costco Administration,
For many years my family and I have valued the service provided by your company. With great variety, quality, and reasonable prices Costco is our first resort when it comes to preparing for family gatherings or shopping for our daily meals.
Recently we have been having issues with standing in long lines and seeing only a few lanes open at checkout. A few days ago my mom and I were on our way to pay for our groceries when we came across large crowds near the checkout area. We noticed that only the center lanes were open, which caused the long lines. At the same time we saw multiple lanes towards the ends that were "closed". Like most households we do our shopping on the weekends when it is most convenient considering our busy schedules. We've noticed the weekends are also the most busiest working days for this business. Since its the holiday season more families are taking frequent trips to your stores to prepare for gatherings, but that doesn't mean it's not a year round issue. I understand your workers have other tasks to do, but I feel that, especially during the weekend, more workers should be assigned to checkout to accommodate the amount of customers.
In addition, while waiting in line I have witnessed customers complaining on how they were on a tight schedule and how the lines weren't working to their favor. Like most stores, cashiers are in charge of a large portion of customer service. With that in mind I think more employees should take on the task to ensure customers an enjoyable shopping experience. Through this all, the employees working in the open checkout lanes were very considerate and diligent. They were well-aware of the long lines and worked to the best of their ability to prevent customers from having to wait too long. With all that they do to ensure an efficient shopping experience for your customers, I do not feel they should have to work more than they have to when more lanes could easily be open.
I have no objection to your companies way of dispersing employees to different tasks, but I feel you should do a better job at allowing your customers a comfortable shopping experience by not having them wait in long lines for majority of the time.
Sincerely, Sheryl Cheong
Honolulu, HI, 96819
December 3, 2014
Costco Wholesale
525 Alakawa St
Honolulu, HI 96817
Dear Costco Administration,
For many years my family and I have valued the service provided by your company. With great variety, quality, and reasonable prices Costco is our first resort when it comes to preparing for family gatherings or shopping for our daily meals.
Recently we have been having issues with standing in long lines and seeing only a few lanes open at checkout. A few days ago my mom and I were on our way to pay for our groceries when we came across large crowds near the checkout area. We noticed that only the center lanes were open, which caused the long lines. At the same time we saw multiple lanes towards the ends that were "closed". Like most households we do our shopping on the weekends when it is most convenient considering our busy schedules. We've noticed the weekends are also the most busiest working days for this business. Since its the holiday season more families are taking frequent trips to your stores to prepare for gatherings, but that doesn't mean it's not a year round issue. I understand your workers have other tasks to do, but I feel that, especially during the weekend, more workers should be assigned to checkout to accommodate the amount of customers.
In addition, while waiting in line I have witnessed customers complaining on how they were on a tight schedule and how the lines weren't working to their favor. Like most stores, cashiers are in charge of a large portion of customer service. With that in mind I think more employees should take on the task to ensure customers an enjoyable shopping experience. Through this all, the employees working in the open checkout lanes were very considerate and diligent. They were well-aware of the long lines and worked to the best of their ability to prevent customers from having to wait too long. With all that they do to ensure an efficient shopping experience for your customers, I do not feel they should have to work more than they have to when more lanes could easily be open.
I have no objection to your companies way of dispersing employees to different tasks, but I feel you should do a better job at allowing your customers a comfortable shopping experience by not having them wait in long lines for majority of the time.
Sincerely, Sheryl Cheong
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