Suggestion: Look at Marina's post from Monday to see how detailed your post should be.
Topics for Tuesday night (please number your responses):
1. List the questions your group discussed today in class.
2. Describe how the group interacted.
3. Describe part of the discussion where someone disagreed with what was being said. Describe the different points of view in detail.
4. What did you learn from the disagreement/debate?
5. Read the blog posts from Monday night and:
- identify a post you find most interesting
- explain why you find it interesting
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ReplyDeleteToday in our group, we were discussing chapter 8 on the following questions:
ReplyDelete1. Whose voices do you think Elie Wiesel remembers the most from the time when his father was dying? Why?
2. If it had been you, whose voice would haunt you the most? Why?
In our group discussion many people agreed that the voices Elie remembers the most is the SS officer’s, and his own voice. We said this because Elie had mentioned about that one SS officer near the end of his book. The SS officer had said “…don’t give your ration of bread and soup to your old father. There’s nothing you can do for him. And you’re killing yourself. Instead, you ought to be having his ration (105).” He also wrote how he felt, ashamed of even thinking that it was right to abandon his father. But Elie did thought of the offer was right. It is because in the book, Elie stated that, “I listened to him without interrupting, He was right, I thought in the most secret region of my heart, I dared not to admit it (105).” I agreed with the majority of the group on this discussion. But there were two people in my group who disagreed. They argued that it was Elie’s father is the one who he remembered the most, even in years after the Holocaust. It is because while Elie’s father was dying, Elie’s father kept mumbling his name. The two people in my group said that Elie remember his father’s voice the most because Elie’s father kept asking for water, and saying that prisoners in the camp was hitting him. I disagreed with them because that of course Elie would remember his father’s voice, because his father was always with him in the concentration camp. While the SS officer, is one of many SS officers. Elie remember that one SS officer because of what the SS officer said to Elie. Since Elie had been secretly thinking that it might be reasonable to abandon his father, but he kept telling himself not to. When the SS officer told him the same advice he told himself about earlier in the book, Elie realized it was true, and that is why he included what the SS officer said in his book. This is showing that one of the voices Elie recognize the most is that one SS officer who told him to take his father’s rations of bread and soup and just abandon him since Elie’s father is old and Elie needs to survive in a place like this, in the concentration camp.
I find Ms. Karvunis’ post the most interesting one. Because it doesn’t relate to the topic, instead convince kids in class to post more properly. But another interesting post was Saqib’s. His post mentioned that in his group that they were discussing about rather or not if Elie still believed in his God. I thought that Elie didn’t believe in his God anymore, but I never thought of that Elie still believed in his God and simply was just mad at him. By reading Saqib’s post, it mad me realize that Elie might still believe in his God and is just mad at him.
1. We discussed the questions :
ReplyDelete1. What keeps Elie and his father alive?
2. Why does the author write about Rabbi Eliahou and his son (86)?
3. Why does the author write about Juliek and his violin?
4. How do others outside of the Jews react to the running, dying, starving, empty band of Jews? Be sure to cite three reactions from these chapters.
5. Explain what each cited incident from #4 says about how others reacted to the Holocaust.
2. Our group talked about how Elie specifically mentioned the meeting of Juliek and his violin. At first we argued of what the violin meant, did it mean possession, power, passion, life? In the end we agreed that it was his individuality, with this we inferred the reason why Elie mentioned it was because it inspired him to continue living. From the book we inferred that Elie had a strong passion for his violin, for it was the only thing he cared about, Elie at first thought it was stupid to carry such a item while you are running for your life, but it was the feeling Juliek had for his violin that made Elie understand what it meant to treasure something. We concluded that Juliek inspired Elie to continue on living.
3. During our group discussion, I disagreed with a members saying on what the others felt about the Jews. He mentioned that the Lady on page 95 threw coins at the Jews as charity, but I saw it in a different way. Instead of being charity, he mentioned that the Lady threw coins at the Jews so they can pick it up, yet I saw it as the Lady mocking the Jews, using them as entertainment. This was supported when another group member of mine pointed out on page 92 that a man would throw bread in the cart to watch the Jews fight over the bread like animals. Charity is usually made out of sincerity but the Lady and the man the threw the bread was using the Jews as entertainment and mocking them.
4. I learned from the debate that not everyone may see the same meaning from a certain text. In order to get the thought across, we must have enough support and analysis for what we are saying. For example a group member mention charity as a good thing for the Jews, yet a couple of my group members and I saw it as mockery. Supporting oneself is the most important aspect I learned in the debate we had today.
5. I found Rania's post the most interesting because it clearly stated what her group was discussing and the development she had with her group. In her writing she agreed with a group member on his thought and explained how he mentioned it and the broke it down in her own words of what she saw through his opinion. This interested me since I usually don't fully break down what a group member of mine would mention and just see the brief main topic they are mentioning.
1). Today in our group discussion, we talked about the questions on chapter eight. a. Whose voices do you think Elie Wiesel remembers the most from the time when his father was dying? Why? b. If it had been you, whose voice would haunt you the most? Why? In our group discussion, we were split up about which voice/voices Elie listened to through out the whole story. Some people believed that Elie remembered his Fathers voice calling to him before the day he died. Elie's dad slept in the bunk under him. Through the night, Elie heard his father’s cries for help. He kept on hearing his dad call for him through the night but he was unable to answer his dad’s plea. Elie was unable to help his dad when he needed Elie the most. In his dreams, he would have nightmares about his father sleeping in bed and calling to him for help. Elie was unable to provide his dad with what he pleaded for and the next day his dad was gone. The Nazi’s took him away and Elie had done nothing to help his father. The other half of the group disagreed with this and argued that Elie remembered his own voice and the voice of the officer who told him to forget about his dad. One person used the example, "stop giving your ration of bread and soup to your old father. You cannot help him anymore...He was right, I thought deep down"(Wiesel 111). They explained that Elie had listened to the officer’s advice about forgetting his dad. The officer told Elie to forget his friends and family because they did not matter in a concentration camp. The only thing that mattered was himself that it was survival of the fittest. Some one else mentioned that this also proved that Elie listened to his own voice because he had listened to the officer's advice. He had paid attention and agreed to what the officer had said but after he regretted thinking about what he had said. Elie was ashamed that he had even thought about betraying his dad in his time of need and he repented what he thought. His voice would be the one he remembered because he thought about betraying his dad when he was at the brink of death. Elie thought about forgetting his dad and continuing on his own and then latter on his dad died and he was ashamed about having those thoughts now that his father had died. Overall, the group shared their opinion and gave examples about why they believed what they believed. It was a debate between whose voice was remembered by Elie during his dad’s death.
ReplyDelete4). what I learned from the group disagreement is that people have a different way of viewing or interpreting an event. One person may see it one way and another person ay disagree and see it as another way. Overall, the group used examples from the book in order to persuade each other about their position.
5). I found Marina's post very interesting. She explained in detail her group's discussion and how they came about answering the question, they had been assigned. Marina mentioned that her group came up and agreed with one answer and talked about what it was. She went into details explaining their belief and giving examples in order for the reader to understand what they did and how they came to their conclusion.
Spyro Fletouris
ReplyDelete1. The questions that my group discussed were What do possessions represent? Explain.
Examples:
a. teeth
b. shoes
c. soup
d. blanket, washbowl, soap
What does the author begin to add to the characterization of young Elie? Why? Explain the difference between Elie then and Elie now.
What do the symbols add to the story?
2. My group started the discussion by asking everyone's opinion about the first question. Then a group member explained their reasoning behind what they said. Some of the group members disagreed with what was being said and then he or she tried to prove it. People in my group were giving very good examples from the book to prove their point and persuade others to think about the question a certain way. My group spoke this way for all of the questions.
3. Some of my group members disagreed with was said that about question one. The debate brook out when Rania,Stephanie and I said that the possessions that the Jewish had maintained there identity as humans. The Germans treated the Jews as if they were zoo animals and not human. The counter arguement Saquib and Ahmed asked how can we prove the Jewish were treated like animals and not have human rights. My partners and I told Saquib and Ahmed an example when a little Jewish boy named Juliek was killed and all he cared about while dieing was his violin. The violin was part of Juliek's identity. The most important possession to Elie was his father. Elie always took care of his father and did what was told of him by his father. Elie would fell empty and alone if his father died.
4. I learned from the disagreement was that there will always be conflict about a question. A person needs to explain their opinion with good details and examples. The other people may disagree with your interpitation, but they can see and understand your point of view. Also I learned from this experience that both sides to the question were trying to persuade others to see it in there perspective.
5. I found Rania's post interesting because she explained what her group did in detail. What I liked was that she mentioned Elie's opinion and then compared her own. Rania gave great insight to the ideas that the group was talking about. She also included someone else's thoughts to back up her idea of what the question was trying to say.
1. Today my group was discussing questions to chapter 8:
ReplyDelete~Whose voices do you think Elie Wiesel remembers the most from the time when his father was dying? Why?
~If it had been you, whose voice would haunt you the most? Why?
2. There were similar answers in my group today to the first question. First someone read the question. Then we all took turns to say what we thought the answer was. Then we started to disagree with each other and give examples to support ourselves.
3. There was mainly one disagreement since there are people on one side and others on the other. Me and Joseph thought the voice Elie will remember the most from the time when his father was dying was his father's voice. On the other hand, Christian, Eric and Elaine thought Elie will remember the SS officer's voice and his own voice the most from the time when his father was dying. I said that Elie will remember the father's voice the most because the last few words of Elie's father were Elie's name. Also, Elie didn't respond to it even though he knows his father is dying and calling his name. Elie just ignored him and let his father die and get hit. I thought the father's voice would haunt Elie in his dreams because his father was nonstop calling him his name and maybe in the middle of Elie's sleep he will hear his father going like, "Eliezer, Eliezer, Eliezer..." I thought his father's voice would haunt him since he left his father dying. However, Elaine, Christian, and Eric said that Elie would remember the officer's voice because the officer was the one that told Elie to leave his father and by the end of the book, Elie mentions the officer. Also, Christian said in the beginning of chapter 9, Elie said he no longer thought of his father or mother. However,I still think that Elie would remember his father's voice the most when his father was dying.
4. From this debate I learned that Elie could remember more than one person's voice when his father was dying. Also, I learned that there could be other answers out there that others could support it more then I could support my answer. Moreover, I learned that in a debate, it could change a person's perspective easily.
5. From the blog posts in Monday night, I think Marina's response was the most interesting. I thought that it was most interesting because it was really detailed and it gave examples from the chapter. Also, it kind of gave a summary on the chapter so whoever reads it would understand it clearly.
1. Today my group discussed the questions from chapter 3. The questions we discussed are:
ReplyDelete-1. To whom does Elie actually listen? Cite pages.
-2. What happens when he does listen? Cite examples.
-3. Identify when Elie, the character, uses his voice. What is the outcome?
-4. How does Elie Wiesel, the writer, convey his messages about his experiences?
a. Give examples of tools or techniques he uses to convey emotions in the story.
Think of recurring images and words.
b. What does FIRE represent? What does NIGHT represent? What do TEARS represent?
c. Why does he use imagery and vivid description?
d. Why doesn't Mr. Wiesel just tell his feelings about his story explicitly?
2. My group interacted very well. We each contributed to the group discusssion. There was also some debates like if Elie chosing to listen when the prisoner told him to lie about his age, we debated about if that was him using his voice or not. We decided it was him using his voice because it was his own decision if he wanted to listen to what the prisoner told him. We also debated if him listening to the guards orders was him listening to their voice. We were unsure about this because it was either he listen to them, or he dies. We also decided that he was using his own voice to listen to theirs because he always had the choice wether to listen or not, even if it meant life or death for him. We debated mostly about these topics because each of us had a different opinion about what voice meant in Elies situation, we didnt know if he was using his voice if he did what he wanted to do, or if he was using his voice by chosing to listen to orders. We said that he was using his voice just by listening to the orders because he still had some sort of a choice and he could choose to listen or not.
3. From the disagreement about voice that my group had, I learned that a persons definition of voice could change depending on the situation they are in. Elie could have used his voice and rebelled against the officers, but he was also using his voice when listening to the officers.
4. From Mondays posting I think Marinas is the most interesting. I read the suggestion and looked at Marinas post. I find this post ineteresting because she explains both sides of the story from the rabbis sons poin of view and from Elies point of view. She compared the two because they both thought of their fathers as a burden and dead weight. I also found her idea about why Elie Wiesel wrote the book interesting. I never thought of the book as an apoligy, I thought of it more as a way to spread the word of the evils that happened during the Holocaust. It makes sense to me why this book would be written as an apology because he said in the book how the thought of his father stood with him forever and made him feel so guilty, so he uses the book as a way of saying he is sorry for that while also showing the true horros of the Holocaust.
1.. These are the questions me and my group discussed.
ReplyDelete- Elie begins the chapter observing two holy holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, with his fellow Jewish prisoners. What does each holiday represent? Research to find out why these holidays are observed.
- Who observes this holiday with Elie? How is it observed?
- What is Elie's voice about his God now? How does he feel? Why?
- WHOSE VOICES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN THIS CHAPTER? Why? Who is the real God in Elie's life? In the life of the people?
- Elie describes his father by saying "His voice choked" (71). What does this symbolize?
- To whose voice should Elie listen in your opinion?
2. At first we each had our own idea and grasps of the first two questions. After that we went a little off. Some of us had one opinion, and others had different opinions. We did listen to everybody's opinion of the questions and either agreed or disagreed.
3. There was a point where I disagreed with one of my partners opinion. We were discussing, what is god? My partner at my table was being too literal about what god is, someone that powerful. Examples: like Buddha and the Messiah. As a group we disagreed and said that hod is someone or something that you look up to such as an idol.
4. I learned a lot form this discussion/debate. I learned that we can learn a lot from other people's opinions. Also as a member you have to listen to everybody's opinion, because you can either have the same one and agree or disagree with it.
5. A post that I found most interesting to me was Marina's post. She explained the discussion she had in a lot of detail. She explained the the difference between the relationships of Elie and his father and rabbi Eliahou and his son. She also mentioned how she and her group discussed their own opinions, either they agreed or disagreed.
1.
ReplyDelete1. To whom does Elie actually listen? Cite pages.
2. What happens when he does listen? Cite examples.
3. Identify when Elie, the character, uses his voice. What is the outcome?
4. How does Elie Wiesel, the writer, convey his messages about his experiences?
2. Today in class, our group interacted by asking questions. When we had to answer question three, everyone had different opinions as to how to define voice. The example Brandon gave was that Elie used his voice to lie about his age. Miriam then said that the example might not show Elie was using his voice because he was told to lie. Then it was also a question wether Elie could be using his voice because he chose to lie. The group tried to form definition of what voice meant. The two forms of voice we were debating upon was either that a person does or says what their own person tells them to do, or someone who literally uses their voice but says an idea that was influenced by someone else. Most of the group, minus Brandon, believed that the example could not show Elie’s voice because he was influenced to make that decision, it wasn’t his own person thinking of that.
3. In question one, another debate began when Monte said that the S.S. soldiers were other people Elie listened to. Now some people disagreed with this statement because they did not think Elie had a choice if he wanted to listen to the soldiers or not. Then I said that he had a choice of wether he lived or died, so he chose to listen to the S.S. soldiers so therefore, it meant that their voices was something he listened to. Then Miriam said, “Well, how are we defining listening?” After this the discussion turned to what is listening? I thought listening meant that Elie heard what someone told him and then obeyed them. Other members said that this could not be because he was forced to obey the soldiers so he isn’t really listening to them.
4. From the debate on listening, I learned that there was a possibility that Elie did not listen to the S.S. soldiers because he was forced to follow them. I still however, believe that he was listening to them because he had a choice to either live and listen to orders or stand up for himself and die. I believe that Elie made the first decision, which meant that he was listening to the soldiers because he acted upon what he heard.
5. One comment that I thought was interesting was Rania’s post. Her last statement when she said that even though Elie said he did not appreciate God’s silence but he still did believe in God, made me change my mind about Night. I did not think that Elie really had faith in God anymore towards the end of the novel, but now I think he might have. I think Rania’s group made an interesting discovery. If Elie was upset with God and did not believe in him anymore, then why does he mention him over and over? Why call him God if he doesn’t exist? Why pray to him on Roshashanah if he isn’t helping his people? These details were ones I missed while reading the book. Instead I was listening to what Elie told himself rather than really reading into him as a character or person.
1. My group discussed chapter 3 and the following questions:
ReplyDelete1. To whom does Elie actually listen?
2. What happens when he does listen?
3. Identify when Elie, the character, uses his voice. What is the outcome?
4. How does Elie Wiesel, the writer, convey his messages about his experiences?
2, 3. While we disscussed these questions, some people in the group had different opinions and ideas. We listed and cited pages that have Elie listening to someone. We mentioned he listens to his father on page 32, the prisoner on page 28, to himself and to the SS officers throughout the chapter. We all then agreed on the outcome of him listening to these people. Then someone asked a question about Elie's voice. The question was "did Elie have a voice when he listened to the prisoner who told him to say he was eighteen years old"? My group had a long discussion about this question. I thought he didnt have a voice because the prisoner told him what to say if he was asked about his age. Others in my groups agreed but some said that he does have a voice because he chooses to lie about his age. This idea led to another question which was what is voice? The group began defining voice as an opinion. There was also a disagreement there as well. Someone said that voice can also be choosing what to do and doing it. For example, on page 41, Elie choses to tell Stein that his family was fine. He decided to lie so he can bring hope to Stein because Stein was worried about his family. We then started to look at the symbols in the chapter. We picked out the symbols flame and possessions. On page 34, there was a paragraph about flames which read: "The night was gone. The morning star was shining in the sky. I too had become a completely different person. The student of the Talmud, the child that I was, has been consumed in the flames. There remained only a shape that looked like me. A dark flame had entered into my soul and devoured it." When we read this part of the chapter, someone in my group mentioned that flames symbolize death because Elie mentions that he is a different person and that his soul is gone so it is like death. Someone else said that it symbolized his innocence being gone because he is no longer innocent. I thought that it symbolizes power because the falmes "took over" him and turned him into a new person. Another group member said that there was more to it and that all of the ideas are connected in a way. Death, guilt, and power are all connected to each other. This made the discussion intresting because each person had a different perspective and it all related to each other.
4. I learned that the concept of voice can be hard to understand especially when there are many different perspectives on it. At one point of our discussion, we were confused about what voice is because the way everyone interprets it is differently. I also learned that symbolism is also a hard technique to figure out because so many choices can fit for the symbol.
5. I thought Rania's post from yesterday was interesting because she described what was being discussed in the group and explained what her group member said and what was going on in her group. She also included details about the discussion.
1. The question that my group discuses today were of chapter 5: a. Elie begins the chapter observing two holy holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, with his fellow Jewish prisoners. What does each holiday represent? Research to find out why these holidays are observed, b. Who observes this holiday with Elie? How is it observed? c. What is Elie's voice about his God now? How does he feel? Why? d. WHOSE VOICES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN THIS CHAPTER? Why? Who is the real God in Elie's life? In the life of the people? e. Elie describes his father by saying "His voice choked" (71). What does this symbolize?
ReplyDelete2. First my group read the questions that we were assign and we discuss the answer that we wrote. My group interaction was that we disagree on whose voices was important and who’s God in Elie’s life. Many of us had different opinions on that subject and we had to support that with evidence from the book.
3. A part where some of us disagree was when we discuss on who had an important voice. Boris said that the Nazi had an important voice, while some said it was Hitler, himself. Many didn’t understand that Boris was saying that though Hitler had power and he was the one who created the genocide and it was his plan, he has little affect on the individual who carry out his plan, in the end people have their own opinions and they make their own decision.
4. I learned that in order to get someone to understand your view on something, a person need to explain thoroughly and listen. They need an example that will be clear to them to see point that trying to be across.
5. The post that I thought that was interesting was Emily. She gave in great detail the discussion that her group had and said what affect it had on her and how her views has change now.
1.) The questions my group and I discussed today were:
ReplyDelete- Elie begins the chapter observing two holy holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, with his fellow Jewish prisoners. What does each holiday represent? Research to find out why these holidays are observed.
- Who observes this holiday with Elie? How is it observed?
- What is Elie's voice about his God now? How does he feel? Why?
- WHOSE VOICES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN THIS CHAPTER? Why? Who is the real God in Elie's life? In the life of the people?
- Elie describes his father by saying "His voice choked" (71). What does this symbolize?
- To whose voice should Elie listen in your opinion?
2) The way my group interacted today was bit different then yesterday's discussion. We needed to work on listening to one another more and i noticed how we tried more to do so. While we listen to one another more, i saw that we were able to get our point across to one another and we did not sound repetitive. Through out the discussion i also observed that we were able to move quicker because we were listening to one another and saying our views at the same time.
3) A part that we disagreed on as a group was the answers we were giving to the question - "Who is the real God in Elie's life?". This question took most of the time up from our discussion. One of my group members at one point stated that to Elie, maybe the Nazi's were his god because we all agreed they had the most important voice in the chapter. What i tried to explain to my group member was that someone's words and even actions can be very important and valuable to you, but that does not make them your God. This is when the debating became more intense because i myself thought that Elie believed Humanity was God. Since Elie was in the concentration camp he believes that God had no mercy on the people who were suffering "Thou, Almighty, Master of the Universe, who chose us among all nations too be tortured day and night , to watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers end up in furnaces? Praised be Thy Holy name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine altar?"(Wiesel 67). He then started to question God's absence in this torture and hated him for it. He went against his religious ways and did not fast for Yom Kippur. He believes if man like himself is strong enough to go through this torment with out the guidance of God then man power must be stronger. Then as a group, we came up with the conclusion that we have to define what is God to a person before we can determine who was God to Elie. A definition that caught my attention was that go is the superior being that governs a person.
4)What i learned from my group's disagreements was that you cannot determine who is a superior being in someone's life with out defining what that is. I also learned that there is no correct answer. Everyone has a different opinion on what a God or a representitive to them maybe.
The post that i found most interesting was Nesma's. I felt that in her post she explained what it was that she did not realize and what she learned. She also made it clear that certaini part in the book brought certain emotions as well as better understand the character.
1. To whom does Elie actually listen? Cite pages.
ReplyDelete2. What happens when he does listen? Cite examples.
3. Identify when Elie, the character, uses his voice. What is the outcome?
4. How does Elie Wiesel, the writer, convey his messages about his experiences?
a. Give examples of tools or techniques he uses to convey emotions in the story.
Think of recurring images and words.
b. What does FIRE represent? What does NIGHT represent? What do TEARS represent?
c. Why does he use imagery and vivid description?
c. Why doesn't Mr. Wiesel just tell his feelings about his story explicitly?
2. My group interacted in a good way. There were differing opinions on almost every topic, and everyones opinion was discussed and debated. We had a discussion on what we would define voice as, which we agreed, in Elie's case, was when he acted on his own accord, like telling his cousin that his family was ok, even though Elie wasn't sure if it was true. My group also discussed what the meaning of each symbol was. We had a debate on what fire was supposed to symbolize, but eventually settled on that it was Elie losing his innocence.
3. When my group was talking about what fire symbolized, we had some differing opinions. One of them that was presented was that fire was destructive, using the example of when the babies were being tossed into the flames. Another opinion was that the fire represented power because it possessed that destructive power. Myself, as well as other members of the group argued that fire couldn't be power and that it represented Elie's loss of innocence (well, the SS soldiers aren't just going to run around throwing fire at the Jews to show them they're in charge). We all agreed on that fire represented the loss of innocence.
4. I changed my perspective on what fire represented in the book today. I originally was thinking that it represented the death of the Jews, but after todays discussion i can agree that it symbolized Elie's loss of innocence and going from a boy to a man.
5. I found Marina's post the most interesting because it fulfilled the task because it was both detailed and informative, unlike most of the other posts, which were very broad and unappealing.
1.)My group discussed the questions from chapter six and seven which were:
ReplyDelete1. What keeps Elie and his father alive?
2. Why does the author write about Rabbi Eliahou and his son (86)?
3. Why does the author write about Juliek and his violin?
4. How do others outside of the Jews react to the running, dying, starving, empty band of Jews? Be sure to cite three reactions from these chapters.
5. Explain what each cited incident from #4 says about how others reacted to the Holocaust.
2.)My group interacted with each other by listening to each others opinions and either disagreeing or agreeing with them. We all had eye contact with each other and we all spoke clearly. We each contributed our thoughts and opinions we had for the questions.
3.)Throughout the discussion, we had a few debates. One of the debates were from the question number four:How do others outside of the Jews react to the running, dying, starving, empty band of Jews? Be sure to cite three reactions from these chapters. One of the reactions was when a lady was throwing coins at the Jews for charity. One of my group members disagreed and she thought that the lady was doing it to mock them and find entertainment. When she said her thought, the whole group saw how she would have thought that way and agreed to it.
4.)I learned from the disagreement that people can see differently and have their own opinions to things. Also, I learned that explaining your opinion or idea to someone, it must have a clear and thorough thought and evidence to support the idea. According to the situation about the Lady who threw coins at the Jews, the person had to explain her idea thoroughly and thoughtfully with evidence on why she thought that way.
5.)The post that I found more interesting is Marina's. I find it interesting because she expanded her explanation more clearly and more unique. She explained her discussion using examples and what people thought about each others' idea.
1. Our group was assigned to chapter 3 today in class. We discussed the questions:
ReplyDeleteTo whom does Elie listen to?
What happens when he does listen?
Identify when Elie, the character, use his voice. What is the outcome?
How does Elie Wiesel, the writer, convey his messages about his experiences?
2. In the group discussion we talked about a few people who Elie listened to. We all said that he listened to the prisoner who told Elie to lie about his age (Wiesel 28). When Elie listens to the prisoner and tells the officers that he is 18, the outcome is that he is allowed to stay with his father. Someone in the group also said that Elie also listens to his father who tells Elie not to draw attention to himself (Wiesel 32). The outcome of Elie listening to his father is that he avoided working in the crematory. During the discussion a question was asked about the true meaning of voice. This question came up a lot while answering the questions. People questioned if Elie was actually using his voice when he lied about his age. Some group members thought since someone told Elie to lie about his age it was not actually his voice. One person in the group thought that Elie was using his voice because he did lie and made a decision to lie about his age. Some people defined voice as saying something that the actual person thought of and not what someone told them to say. Another group member thought of voice in a literal sense meaning that a person actually talking uses voice. Most of our discussion was focused around questions about voice and if Elie used his voice by listening to the prisoner.
3. One disagreement that our group had during the discussion was about the meaning of fire. Some people felt that fire represented death. They felt this because of the quote on page 34 in which Elie says “A dark flame had entered into my soul and devoured it.” He felt this way because he saw the children burning, which could have been him if he hadn’t lied about his age. Some group members felt the flame meant death because the flame took away his soul, killing it making him dead inside. One group member felt that the flame represented power because it was able to take control over Elie. This person felt that the flame overpowered Elie’s soul and that if the flame took over Elie’s soul then it must be strong and powerful. The main disagreement while discussing symbolism of fire was that it either meant death or power.
4. The disagreement between the meanings of fire gave me a new insight. I still think that fire symbolizes death but after hearing my group member’s opinion about fire symbolizing power I feel like that could be the possible meaning as well. I never thought of fire meaning power and after hearing that I considered it more. The fire could show the power that it had over Elie because it destroyed his soul. It could also show the power the Nazis had over the Jews because they had the power to just burn Jewish children and adults.
5. I found Rania’s post very interesting. Rania and her group discussed some interesting ideas about God. I thought it was interesting how they thought that God was putting Elie through a test. When I read the part in the book where Elie does not fast and questions God I did not see it as God putting Elie through a test but by reading Rania’s post I agree with this now.
Joseph Nagiub
ReplyDelete1)Today in class, our group discussed chapter 8 and the questions:
-Whose voices do you think Elie Wiesel remembers the most from the time when his father was dying? Why?
-If it had been you, whose voice would haunt you the most? Why?
2)The group interacted pretty well. Their were a few debates about who Elie remembers the most when his father was dying and whose voice would haunt you if you were Elie. Som people thought it was his father's voice for both answers and some thought it was the SS officer. We each gave evidence about our opinion to that question. After one of us in our group talked , the next person would go and agree or disagree to their statement. We each were allowed to express on our opinions about the topics.
3)In our discussion there was a time where Emily and I believed that Elie would remember his father's voice the most. Others believed that it was the SS officer voice and his own voice. We said his father's voice because as his father was dying he was calling Elie's name but he didnt hear him. These last words is what i believed that would make Elie remember his father and all the times he helped save him and stay alive.There was another debate where I believed that his father's voice would haunt him the most and Christian believed it was the SS officer. He supported his answer with Elie saying "...I had one desire-to eat. I no longer thought of my father or of my mother(107)". I realized that his evidence was good and he had a good point of why is father's voice wouldn't haunt him.He also had a good point when he was talking about the SS officer saying"..-don’t give your ration of bread and soup to your old father. There’s nothing you can do for him(105)".Elie will always have remember the voice of this officer giving him advice to eat for himself and not help his father.
4)From this disagreement and debate, i learned that there could always be more than one answer as long as you have good evidence to support your opinion. Using evidence to prove your opinion is a great way to prove your point in a debate. I learned that you have to really look up the book for evidence and how it could help you.
5)From Monday's post, the post that is most interesting to me is from Sully. Her post is most interesting to me because she was honest about how her group was really working.She then discussed what her discussion was about and explained it well.
Chapters 6&7
ReplyDelete1. What keeps Elie and his father alive?
2. Why does the author write about Rabbi Eliahou and his son (86)?
3. Why does the author write about Juliek and his violin?
4. How do others outside of the Jews react to the running, dying, starving, empty band of Jews? Be sure to cite three reactions from these chapters.
5. Explain what each cited incident from #4 says about how others reacted to the Holocaust.
1) We all had the same idea for the first two questions. We all said that it was each other that kept Elie and his father alive. They watched out for each other and give each other support. Like when Elie felt like giving up, he saw his father and that gave him the strength to carry on. He didn't want to die yet because he didn't want to leave his father. The group also agreed that the reason Elie wrote about Rabbi Eliahou and his son was because he wanted to show how relationships were affected by the Holocaust. He wanted to show that many families were torn apart because of the Holocaust and how family members treated each other. We also agreed on an answer to why Elie wrote about Juliek and his violin. We agreed that Juliek inspired Elie because Juliek had the courage to keep his own personality by keeping his violin. Afterwards, Juliek died after playing a violin piece. One member said that Juliek died being himself.
2) We did have some disagreement with the last question where we had to cite examples of how outsiders reacted to the Jewish prisoners. One example was when the woman saw the prisoners and she was trying coins to them. One group member said that she was doing this because she pitied them and wanted to give them charity. But some other group members thought that she was only throwing the coins because she was amused by it and wanted to mock the prisoners. But it did say in the book that the passengers on the boat were amusing themselves by throwing the coins at the prisoners (95).
3. I learned that Elie wrote about Juliek and his violin because of inspiration. I originally thought he wrote that part because seeing that Juliek is alive and not dead gave him hope. But one group member said that Juliek loved his violin and that it was his passion, and he was playing the violin and died right after. I learned that his violin was what made him different from the other prisoners and he died being himself because he died with his violin.
4. I thought Rania's post was very interesting. She talked about whether Elie believed in God or not. What I found most interesting was that a group member mentioned that God was putting Elie through a test to see if he can encounter hardships, and to see if he still kept his faith in God even through tough times. I liked how Rania connected this concept to real life, saying how she believed that our lives are tests arranged by God.
1. Ahmed, Saqib, Spyro, Stephanie, Ying, and I discussed Chapter four which included the following questions:
ReplyDelete1. What do possessions represent? Explain.
Examples:
a. teeth
b. shoes
c. soup
d. blanket, washbowl, soap
2. What does the author begin to add to the characterization of young Elie? Why? Look back at how Elie is developed in the first 30 pages and look closely now. Explain the difference between Elie then and Elie now. Cite pages.
3. What do the symbols add to the story?
2. Our group had a very open discussion today. We started off the conversation by each answering the first question. However, every one of us made a connection to an idea or event outside of our given chapter. My group members all had a very deep and insightful analysis. We all tried to look for the author’s hidden message when it came to symbols and descriptions. We also looked at the chapters before and after to pick up on a change in Elie and his emotions. Our main discussion was the idea of possession, or owning something. Later, we looked for changes in Elie from the first 30 pages up until chapter 4.
3. The group came to an agreement when we discussed what having a possession really meant. We came to a conclusion that possession symbolized identity. At first, Spyro and I didn’t use the word identity. We thought it was Elie’s way of hinting that all prisoners, although not treated like one, were still human. When I read about the killing and torturing of Jews, I can honestly say that I would forget that they were human. They were people just like me. So for Elie to give these characters possessions, reminded me as the reader that they were once again still human. I encountered a disagreement with Ying during our possession talk and she felt that characters who owned something had a little power. I disagreed because Jews had no control whatsoever of anything that was happening. If any of them even questioned or disobeyed the authority, death was their only consequence. I felt that even a little power meant some kind of say in any event, and that was not apparent during the Holocaust. The only decision the Jews might have had was the choice to end their life or to continue to suffer and hope that one day this would all end.
4. Today I learned that possession meant a lot to these characters, or at least that’s what Elie made it seem like. For example, Elie as a writer chose to include the scene where Juliek died with his violin. Juliek loved his violin. I believe that he did not want to die alone and with his violin beside him, he did not.
5. Based on Monday night’s responses, I read the student’s who had already discussed chapter four to see if their interpretations were similar to my group who discussed chapter four today. I found it interesting that in Ewelina’s group, they understood each possession as a different symbol. For example, Ewelina mentioned that the soup, the washbowl, and the blanket were all important to their survival whereas my group looked at the examples as a whole. I found this interesting because Elie might have included these specific possessions for a reason.
1.Today in our group discussion we discussed chapter eight questions which were:
ReplyDeletewhose voices do you think Elie Wiesel remembers the most from the time when his father was dying? why? and If it had been you, whose voice would haunt you the most? Why?
2. In our group discussion we talked about the voices that Elie remembers most when his father was dying.Christian , Eric and I thought the voice that he remembers most when his father was dying is himself and the SS officer. The SS officer told Elie not to give him the ration of bread because he was going to die soon because of old age. Elie was sacrificing his life for his father because he could have die for sharing that ration of bread.In the camp it was about yourself making it through in the camp. There are no friends in the camp only yourself. Elie was trying to fight for his survival in the camp.The SS officer reminded him that he shouldn't help his father because it would hurt him.He remembers his own voice when his father is dying also because he did what he could have . With the condition they live under it was very hard to take care of his father because they had work in the morning. The only chance he got to see his father was after eating. He gave bread to his father which helped him a lot from starvation. Emily and Joseph disagreed that the SS officer and his own voice was the voices that he remembers the most when he father was dying. Emily and Joseph thinks the voice Elie remembers most when his father was dying is his fathers. When his father was dying he kept calling his name. He didn't respond to his father and he felt ashamed because he thought of leaving his dad and just letting him die. This is the disagreement we had between whose voice Elie remembers the most when his father was dying. The other question was whose voice would haunt you if you were Elie? Most of us agreed the father since he kept calling his name when he was dying.
4. From the disagreements that we had there could be more than one voice Elie remembers when his father was dying. Elie could be thinking of what the SS officer said and what he should do after he heard the speech. Elie can also remember his own voice because he helped his father but he failed to survive.
5. The post that I found most interesting is Marina's. She gave a lot of details about what her group discussed about.She also added analysis to her group discussion. I agree that Marnia said Rabi and his son shows the opposite relationship of Elie and his father.
Ahmed Atieh
ReplyDelete1)The questions that my group discussed were what do possessions represent? Explain.
Examples:
a. teeth
b. shoes
c. soup
d. blanket, washbowl, soap
What does the author begin to add to the characterization of young Elie? Why? Explain the difference between Elie then and Elie now.
What do the symbols add to the story?
2)My group interacted in many ways. We started out by answering the questions one by one. After answering the first question, we jumped into the second one which was the difference between elie then and elie now. This led back to the first question which created an argument amongst my group.
3)The difference between elie then and elie now was that elie began to use his voice to get himself out of tough situations. For example, when the doctor wanted to take elie’s gold tooth, elie lied to keep his tooth. The argument for question #1 was that the possessions made them feel as though they were still human. I argued to this statement because the jews were treated like animals even with these possessions. In fact, elie faced many situations where others tried to take his possessions away from him. Ms. Karvunis stated that the possessions gave them a sense of identity. The jews who had possessions felt as though they had something to be known for. The possessions were things that the jews had control over or owned.
4)I learned that the possessions gave the jews a taste of what it was to be human. The possessions gave them identities because it gave them hope. It gave them some sense of what it is like to be human.
5)I think everyone’s posts were very similar. Everyone spoke of how someone else’s opinion was interesting.
1. My group discussed the questions of chapter six and seven in class today. The questions we discussed are the following:
ReplyDelete1. What keeps Elie and his father alive?
2. Why does the author write about Rabbi Eliahou and his son (86)?
3. Why does the author write about Juliek and his violin?
4. How do others outside of the Jews react to the running, dying, starving, empty band of Jews? Be sure to cite three reactions from these chapters.
5. Explain what each cited incident from #4 says about how others reacted to the Holocaust.
2. We were discussing how the only thing that is keeping both Elie and his father alive is each other. They gave each other support and basically, they are both trying to hang on to keep the other alive. Without each other, their life become pointless. We also agreed that Elie told the story about Rabbi Eliahou and his son to foreshadow how this might also happen to Elie and his father. Then we discussed about Juliek and his violin. We were talking about how Juliek's violin was basically his passion and life. Then we bought up something we discussed about yesterday from chapter four about possessions. We connected how teeth and shoes represented individuality and identity in the book and concluded that Juliek's violin showed a bit of his identity. He held onto his violin even when he was about to die and we agreed that this shows how he held onto his identity even when he died. We, then, discussed the examples in which the outsiders reacted to the Jews and the Holocaust.
3. When we were discussing the reactions of the outsiders to the Jews and Holocaust, there was a disagreement. One of the members were talking about how the Germans gave charity to the Jews when they see them pass by out of pity. One of the group members disagreed to this, because she believed that it wasn't out of pity or charity. She said that the Germans found it amusing how the Jews were killing each other for bread. She believed that the outsiders used the Jews for their own personal entertainment.
4. I learned from the disagreement that the outsiders weren't really necessarily charitable in a sense but just found it amusing and entertaining to watch the Jews fight for a piece of bread. This is because when the woman threw bread into the wagon and saw that everyone started beating each other up for food, she found this amusing and threw in more. Elie told her to stop because the Jews were all fighting to death for the bread. She wouldn't listen and just continued. This shows that she didn't care about the Jews and just wanted to be entertained.
5. I found Marina's post interesting, because today our group was discussing the same thing. I agreed to her analysis about how Elie used the story about Rabbi Eliahou and his son to foreshadow the relationship between Elie and his father. I agreed that it will foreshadow how it would change and become just like Rabbi Eliahou and his son. I found this interesting because my group today all agreed to this point too.
1. The questions we discussed today are:
ReplyDelete1. What keeps Elie and his father alive?
2. Why does the author write about Rabbi Eliahou and his son (86)?
3. Why does the author write about Juliek and his violin?
4. How do others outside of the Jews react to the running, dying, starving, empty band of Jews? Be sure to cite three reactions from these chapters.
5. Explain what each cited incident from #4 says about how others reacted to the Holocaust.
2. The group interacted much better than yester day every one was able to state their opinion. Even if we split in two at some point, deciding what question number tree was.
3. When we discussed question number tree. We all began confused at first. Then one person said that Juliek dies playing his violin in other words he was dying doing what he loved which inspired Elie. Then some one else and I said he actually died being him self. He still had his individuality and thus it was inspiring to Elie. Since he played Beethoven’s concerto which was what he loved, he was playing what made him himself.
4. Well I learned nothing since we all agreed on that.
5. Marina’s post was very interesting it went into great detail in the discussion and I my self agreed to all that was in the discussion.
Sarah Zhou --
ReplyDelete1. My group discussed the questions of chapter six and seven in class today. The questions we discussed are the following:
1. What keeps Elie and his father alive?
2. Why does the author write about Rabbi Eliahou and his son (86)?
3. Why does the author write about Juliek and his violin?
4. How do others outside of the Jews react to the running, dying, starving, empty band of Jews? Be sure to cite three reactions from these chapters.
5. Explain what each cited incident from #4 says about how others reacted to the Holocaust.
2. We were discussing how the only thing that is keeping both Elie and his father alive is each other. They gave each other support and basically, they are both trying to hang on to keep the other alive. Without each other, their life become pointless. We also agreed that Elie told the story about Rabbi Eliahou and his son to foreshadow how this might also happen to Elie and his father. Then we discussed about Juliek and his violin. We were talking about how Juliek's violin was basically his passion and life. Then we bought up something we discussed about yesterday from chapter four about possessions. We connected how teeth and shoes represented individuality and identity in the book and concluded that Juliek's violin showed a bit of his identity. He held onto his violin even when he was about to die and we agreed that this shows how he held onto his identity even when he died. We, then, discussed the examples in which the outsiders reacted to the Jews and the Holocaust.
3. When we were discussing the reactions of the outsiders to the Jews and Holocaust, there was a disagreement. One of the members were talking about how the Germans gave charity to the Jews when they see them pass by out of pity. One of the group members disagreed to this, because she believed that it wasn't out of pity or charity. She said that the Germans found it amusing how the Jews were killing each other for bread. She believed that the outsiders used the Jews for their own personal entertainment.
4. I learned from the disagreement that the outsiders weren't really necessarily charitable in a sense but just found it amusing and entertaining to watch the Jews fight for a piece of bread. This is because when the woman threw bread into the wagon and saw that everyone started beating each other up for food, she found this amusing and threw in more. Elie told her to stop because the Jews were all fighting to death for the bread. She wouldn't listen and just continued. This shows that she didn't care about the Jews and just wanted to be entertained.
5. I found Marina's post interesting, because today our group was discussing the same thing. I agreed to her analysis about how Elie used the story about Rabbi Eliahou and his son to foreshadow the relationship between Elie and his father. I agreed that it will foreshadow how it would change and become just like Rabbi Eliahou and his son. I found this interesting because my group today all agreed to this point too.
1. The questions my group discussed in todays class were a few for chapter 5. The questions were: Who observes this holiday with Elie? How is it observed? What is Elie's voice about his God now? How does he feel? Why? WHOSE VOICES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN THIS CHAPTER? Why? Who is the real God in Elie's life? In the life of the people?
ReplyDelete2. During this second discussion there was more debates and disagreements than the first. These debates and disagreements were because there was alot of misunderstanding in our group. For example Alicia had stated that she thought everyone had lost faith in God in the book. However this was not true, she didnt say this but we thought she did because we were not listening to one another speak. Instead we were so eager to let our voices be heard so we didnt cleary hear one another. We later settled down which made our discussion improve as we went along.
3. One of our discussion was based on this question: Who is the real God in Elie's life?
Sully answered it by saying that man was Elie's God because they had control of everything where God didnt because he didnt do nothing for the Jews. Alicia did not agree. Thats where the disagreements jumped in. Sully was trying to explain how a God does not mean or fall under religon. This was due to Alicia's thought that a God was one that determines ones faith. However the rest of the group didnt see it this way. This person was taking the definition of a God to literal. After about ten minutes of this we came to the conclusion that a God can sometimes determine your faith. We then went on describing the characteristics of a God. I then disagreed with Boris because I felt that the decisions made by the Nazis were influenced by others. Therefore the Nazis couldnt have been Elie's God. I later saw what Boris was trying to say. Althought Hitler was the main man and the head of this whole movement, during each situation and moment, the SS men and Nazis told the Germans where to go and had control over them.
4. In this discussion I learned that you have ti be abele to analyze every part of the story in order to jump to conclusions. When answering the questions one must have complete understanding of what is going on and be able to brake it down and back it up. This can lead to confusion or misunderstanding, especially when in a group. I also learned that in a group we must learn to listen to one another, everyones voice is important.
5. The post from Monday night I found most interesting is Rania's. Not only do I like how she described what they spoke about I like how she wrote how they spoke. She made me feel like i was part of the group. If I was part of her group I would change my mind or thoughts of what i believed in as it was influenced by others opinion. I would also feel like i was in a good discussion group because it was organized and smooth. Thats how Rania described the experience her group had.
Stephanie Almanzar
ReplyDelete1. The questions we discusses in my group were those of Chapter 4 :
What do possessions represent? Explain.
Examples:
a. teeth
b. shoes
c. soup
d. blanket, washbowl, soap
What does the author begin to add to the characterization of young Elie? Why?Look back at how Elie is developed in the first 30 pages and look closely now. Explain the difference between Elie then and Elie now. Cite pages.
What do the symbols add to the story?
2. My group interacted well. Together, we really tried to figure out the deeper implicit meaning to Night. When someone would come up with a statement that another didn't disagree with then we would try to debate about it. Some would often change their minds if the other would prove them wrong. I think we did a good job in listening, disagreeing, and agreeing with each other. We also made sure that everyone understood what we were stating and that all ideas were expressed.
3-4. One interesting point/disagreement was when we were answering the question : What do possessions represent?. We had identified, as a group, that a possession really was the reason for ones living or what made a person human.. Ms.Karvunis then asked us what was Elie's possession and/or identity? I found this interesting and it really got me to think. At first i had thought of his gold cap, since he was the only Jew left with it on but then i looked at the bigger picture. I noticed that it wasn't an actual object but a person-his father. His father was the one he was really living for. There was a debate on how Elie felt once his father passed away. Some of us felt that Elie was relieved since he felt free afterwards and others felt that Elie had lost his identity and reason to live. There was a full discussion on this since Elie was broken and also speechless once his father passed away but at the same time he said he was "free at last"(106). We then discussed if Elie feeling relieved and free that his father had left him changed or took away his identity. I found this very interesting because possibly the person Elie had been throughout the whole time he was with his father was actually his father being translated onto him. Now that he was free, he was able to show his true colors.
5. I felt that Nesma had an interesting point about Juliek and his violin. Today in my group's discussion we brought up a similar point. I actually had said that since possessions gave the possessor identity, then a good example is Juliek and his violin. Juliek had been extremely worried about losing violin, as if he had lost himself. In a way, his violin was what made him, him. Many associated him with music or the orchestra. Nesma brought up that Elie, the author, mentioned Juliek's violin and had him play his last song so beautifully to set a mood. I felt that this was a very interesting point because i associated this with movies where sometimes directors put much thought into what type of music would go with the situation at hand. The violin has a very whiny, sad sound to it which i associate with what was being done to the Jews. The Jews were basically being tortured and suffocated since they had no space. They barely had space to even breath. I felt that the violin was a perfect instrument for the situation at hand where so many were suffering and dying.
1.The questions that my group discussed were what do possessions represent? Explain.
ReplyDeleteExamples:
a. teeth
b. shoes
c. soup
d. blanket, washbowl, soap
What does the author begin to add to the characterization of young Elie? Why? Explain the difference between Elie then and Elie now.
What do the symbols add to the story?
2.My group and I started the discussion by asking all the members of the group to share their opinions. Then every member of the group shared why they felt that way towards the questions. We spoke about each question, moving to the next when we felt we were ready. However, after discussing question two we went back to question one. We wanted to be sure what the possessions really meant. Every member of the group had an argument and by the end we all saw the question in different prospective.
3.The argument that took place in my group when it came to discussing the meaning of possessions. Most of the group had the basic idea, but we didn’t use the word identity which was the main reason for the disagreement. Spyro and Rania said that the possessions gave sense of humanity, and they meant identity as well. However, since the word identity was not said we argued whether or not it really meant humanity. We came to the conclusion that possessions do represent a sense of humanity and identity for the Jewish people.
4.I learned the meaning of possession was that they gave the Jews a sense of humanity, identity and hope. That the possessions were the things that made Jews feel somewhat human in a time in which they were treated like animals.
5.The person with an interesting post was Ahmad. Ahmad stated what he thought in the simplest and straight forward way. He didn’t take long getting to the point and simply said it, and that was what I found most interesting.
Today my group and I were assigned to chapter 5. The questions our group mainly focused on was: who were the most important voices in this chapter? And who was the god in Elie's life? My assigned group and I were discussed these two main questions and we came to an agreement that the most important voices of this chapter were the Nazi party in general due to the amount of power they have over the jews in the concentration camp. Our groups' disscussion involved a lot of contridicting thoughts and disagreements.One of the disagreements in our group was whether to be an important or powerful voice necessarily means to be considered a god. One perspective of this argument was that a god rules and has power amoung all which is why the Nazis could be considered "god". On the contrary another group member gave an example that a person such as your parent does not necessarily need to be considered a god although they might have power over you. After discussing this, a new question arose, what is a god? Our group then discussed or perspective on what a god means to us. Some of us decided that a god determines fate while others mentioned the amout of power and whether the other characters have a voice or not. After todays discussion I saw that every persons perspective of god might be different. I learned that one must look at all point of views in order to infer, to point out symbolism and to see opinon within books like Night.
ReplyDelete-- After viewing Mondays blog I thought that Emily's blog seemed interesting. This blog stood out to me and seemed interesting. Her description of the discussion she had with her group was very clear. I also liked this blog since she mentioned the impact that her discussion with her group had on her and how it changed her view on certain things. I think this is extremely important because it shows that she is learning and the communication she is having with her classmates is allowing her to open her mind toward new ideas.
Jason Grullon1.
ReplyDelete1. What keeps Elie and his father alive?
2. Why does the author write about Rabbi Eliahou and his son (86)?
3. Why does the author write about Juliek and his violin?
4. How do others outside of the Jews react to the running, dying, starving, empty band of Jews? Be sure to cite three reactions from these chapters.
5. Explain what each cited incident from #4 says about how others reacted to the Holocaust.
2. My group interacted by discussing our ideas taking turns. We mainly discussed the story of Juliek and his violin. We began to debate the ideas of symbolism through the violin. We discovered each of contained a different interpretation. The meaning our group came up with was power, individuality, voice, will, determination, and control. Nestor revealed an interesting statement that violin was consider a lifeline. At the end of the debate we concluded that Nestor idea seems correct. We found that the violin contain important significance in the book. We found detailed evidence on pg 89 because it showed how important the violin was to him. In the story of Juliek and his violin he plays the songs as if it was his last which inspired hope. In the Concentration Camp it was banned to play musical instruments. The story created a new understanding of the story Night with a clear image of hope soon to come.
3. A part that we disagree on as a group was the idea of the symbolism behind the violin. Our conflicting views on the true meaning of the violin. We soon analyze the text and learned the meaning of the violin was to be a lifeline to ensure his survival. We also had a conflicted view on question five. We debated on the idea of the true meaning of charity on page 95. On page 95 we debated the idea of symbolism for charity. Our group had opposing views on charity being discussed. A member in the group analyzes the meaning of charity to be entertainment instead of the literally meaning. We still contained conflicted views on this topic of charity.
4. I learned from the debate that questions can lead to many different perspectives that might disagree with your current idea. The disagreement also showed powerful factors that you may not have a full understanding on the idea. My group shown a new lens to answer the questions we discuss.
5. I think Marina blog was very interesting because she gave full detail with evidence. She backed up her answer for each question. The ideas for each question were full of detail. A clear understanding was shown by her.
1.)Today in our group discussion we discussed chapter eight questions which were:
ReplyDeletewhose voices do you think Elie Wiesel remembers the most from the time when his father was dying? why? and If it had been you, whose voice would haunt you the most? Why?
2.)In the group discussion we spoke of which voice Elie remembered most, we took turns stating who's voice we believed Elie remembered few of us said the SS officer and another few said the fathers voice was what Elie remembered most.We debated this statign our opinions and giving valid evidence/support.
3.)The part of the discussion where we have had our disagreements was with who's voice did Elie remember. Christian, Elaine and I, argued that the SS officer was the voice that Elie rememebred because he told Elie not to keep giving his rations that his fathers time was almost up and that Elie was in an concentration and in a place like that you can oly look out for yourself, Elie believed that with his fathers passing he was finally free. Joseph and Emily argued that Elie's fathers' voice will be the one painted on Elie's memory because he heard his fathers voice calling his name before he died, Elies' father kept calling his name before his finals hours of living and his voice called Elie over and over again and it haunted Elie. We had good evidence supporting our arguments.
4.) What I learned from the debates today is that we all have an idead and we can back it up but we keep counterign each other and have diffrent opinions, it's good to know we can provide a good argument and were not afraid to speak our mind.
5.) I really liked Marina's blog it had very clear detail and was full of lot's of information.
BRANDON CADMEN
ReplyDelete1.
-To whom does Elie listen to?
-What happens when he does listen?
-Identify when Elie, the character, use his voice.
-What is the outcome?
-How does Elie Wiesel, the writer, convey his messages about his experiences?
2. In my groups interaction we managed to get an okay answer out of all the questions we asked. Everyone had a say and also commented on each others opinions as well. For example when one individual said that Elie used his voice in order to lie about his age, another said that he didn't and was in turn only listening to what an inmate had told him to say. In the end after everyone expressed their opions a final conclusion was brought out. We were never side tracked from our question and moved on when everyone felt an answer was drawn.
3. For task number three which was to identify when Elie, the character, used his voice. Was when someone said that Elie uses his voice to lie about his age. But the disagreement came when Michelle suggested that he wasn't using his voice but just listened to what an inmate had told him. I said that it is using his voice because in the end he was the one that decided to act and lie about his age. In the end after discussin this out with each member in the table we came to a vague conclusion that he did use his voice to lie about his age. The first point of view exclaimed that he did use his voice, and the second of Michelle said that he didn't.
4. From the discussion i learned that a voice can be influenced by another voice. Because you never know if Elie was going to lie about his age if he was not told to. In conclusion i also got a more clearer explanation to what is my definition of voice, and it being a persons action(s).
5. A blog from monday that interested me the most came from Alicia. Because she brought an interesting point to my mind. She and her group discussed the same questions as my group did today. She brought up the point that voices are often influensed by other voices. This was clear to the situation which we discussed in our group. It was clear and it made alot of sense to my own personal answer on that task.
1. The questions my group discussed was from chapter 3. They are:
ReplyDelete• To whom does Elie actually listen? Cite pages.
• What happens when he does listen? Cite examples.
• Identify when Elie, the character, uses his voice. What is the outcome?
• How does Elie Wiesel, the writer, convey his messages about his experiences?
2. My group interacted very well between each other. We each expressed our different opinions about the questions. As well we asked questions to each other when we wanted to understand more about it. When we started breaking down the questions we realized that how we answered it depended on how we interpreted the questions. For example one of our group members answered a question about voice. Then when we were discussing it some didn’t agree with it because we had our own perspective on what voice is. We kept on going back and forth with our opinions and we did have pages to support them but we still as well had our way of looking on what we thought voice is. Even though we had our different opinions we respected them and treated each other well.
3. There was a disagreement when we answered questions. One that I remember is when we got up to a quote which was “Dark flames entered into my soul and devoured it” (34). My group wanted to find out what it meant. Being the fact that we all interpreted it differently. One member had said it could mean that Elie had lost his innocence. Then other said it could mean that the dark flame was that a fire destroys things. Also a group member had said that the fire could represent power. We were disagreeing about this because the fire symbol could have been seen in many ways.
4. From this debate I learned to accept the new ideas there are for answering questions and interpretation quotes. I learned that just because someone else thinks differently doesn’t mean they or you are wrong. I learned that before we start answering or debating, we should all be clear on what our meanings are. Not being on the same page can throw us off a little.
Today during English class our group discussed chapter 8.
ReplyDelete1.Elie begins the chapter observing two holy holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, with his fellow Jewish prisoners. What does each holiday represent? Research to find out why these holidays are observed,
2. Who observes this holiday with Elie? How is it observed?
3. What is Elie's voice about his God now? How does he feel? Why?
4. WHOSE VOICES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN THIS CHAPTER? Why? Who is the real God in Elie's life? In the life of the people?
5. Elie describes his father by saying "His voice choked" (71). What does this symbolize?
During the discussion where were many disagreements. At first each of us had a different meaning of the Jewish holidays. Some people views the holiday as a new beginning while I thought it signified the end , the end for the people complete annihilation. For Yom kippur the day of atonement we concluded that the prisoners obsrved it with him. Not only that we realized that the SS officers also observed it. For the next question there was a very heated argument. Fot who Elie viewed as God there were many different ideas. Sully felt that Eli no longer had faith in God so she said he believed Elie views man as the new God. Alicia and I disagreed , we felt that the Nazis are Elie's God since they control him. Miguel then brought up the point of defining God, that a hat can be God to someone. He then explained that food can be his God. From this debate I learned that there can be multiple answer that make sense for one question. I also learned its important to let others finish their thought and not interrupt.
5)I found Miguel's post very interesting. I chose Miguel's because he was in the same group as so I found his comments on how we worked together intriguing. i agree with his idea that Elie listens to his own voice but uses other voioces to reasure his own.
1. List the questions your group discussed today in class.
ReplyDeleteOur group was assigned to Chapter 4. The questions were:
1. What do possessions represent?
2. What does the author begin to add to the characterization of young Elie? Why? Look back at how Elie is developed in the first 30 pages and look closely now. Explain the difference between Elie then and Elie now. Cite pages.
3. What do the symbols add to the story?
2. Describe how the group interacted.
In the group discussion while discussing the first question. I believed possessions represented the little power and rights the Jews had life because they have little power and rights to do anything against the Nazis. When they take away their possessions, it represents the little power and right they had. But we all came upon an agreement that possessions represents the humanity left in the Jews and gave them a sense of humanity. Someone said it represent what was left of their humanity because they were taken and treated like wild animals. Wild animals don't live civilized like the humans and thus, the Jews were compared because they were being treated like one. Possessions were extremely valuable and represents humanity because it gives themselves a sense of identity. On the second question We all agreed Elie became rebellious and made more decisions for himself. Elie starts to rebel again God and others. When Elie wanted to be in the same block as his father, the price was his shoe, but he refused and offered bread. That was a sign of rebellion. On the last question, someone said symbols gave emotions. He didn't fully elaborate. I believed it gave a deeper understanding for the viewers because a comparison to everyday life helps the reader to understand the feelings more.
3. Describe part of the discussion where someone disagreed with what was being said. Describe the different points of view in detail.
When we were discussing the first question I disagreed that symbols represented humanity. I thought it represented the title power and rights they had. I Thought possessions meant people had power and rights. And the Jew's possessions were constantly being taken away. It seemed as a symbol to represent how little power and rights they had. Someone said it represent humanity because the Jews were treated like animals. Animals had no possession and they were similar because they had taken everything away from the Jews and treated them like animals. Possessions were the only thing that made them humane. i disagreed because animals had possessions such as their territories.
4. What did you learn from the disagreement/debate?
From the disagreement and debate, I learned one idea could have multiple meanings. To figure out the writer's meaning, we have to look at his style. There are other parts of the book that must be analyzed to figure out another part. Elie's father was a possession, because it was HIS father. We had to look at how he felt after, to try and figure out the representation of possessions.
5. Read the blog posts from Monday night and:
* identify a post you find most interesting
* explain why you find it interesting
From Monday's post, I found Gianluca's post most interesting because he mentioned about Elie's voice being influenced by others. As it was mention in class, I began to be more attentive. His post reminded me of the question "Is that really Elie's voice? Or is it the voice of the ones that influenced him?" I thought it was still Elie's voice, because it was his decision to listen or not.
Dear Ying,
ReplyDeleteYour post spoke about possessions and the meaning that it held in the book. You spoke about your group member's opinion on what possessions signified and the way they interpreted it. I first like to comment on your first outlook on the idea of possessions. I understand that you believed possessions meant power and the rights that people should have. If you notice, your definition of possessions is similar to the group's definition of possessions. You said that your group believes “possessions represents the humanity left in the Jews and gave them a sense of humanity." What makes us human and part of humanity is being able to possess objects, those are part of our rights as people. So I believe your beginning definition is similar to your groups definition just phrased differently.
-Sully