"You Can Help"

How often do you help a stranger out? Most of us are too busy to be engrossed in some stranger's business. But I believe that helping other people can be easy.

You don't need to do anything grandiose to help someone; I think the minimum to help them is stepping aside if they're passing through. Helping extends to social media, where you can make someone's day better by getting them to laugh at the things you post. Sometimes, they could get so distracted from those posts that they forget about their troubles. Two of my friends and I managed to do that on Twitter.

In September, a stranger found me randomly from seeing my comments on several posts. At the time, I was involved in a big shenanigan with my friends, and the stranger got curious about said shenanigan, then later, involved in it. We had a lot of fun.

In early October, he sent us a message. He wanted to thank us for changing his life without meaning to. That didn't make sense, but he explained that before he met us he was having a hard time with his depression. He was all alone, on the verge of suicide, and reduced to screaming at hallucinations. When he found us, he got so distracted with our jokes that he managed to get a hold of himself, and we didn't know we made that possible.

I was shocked when I read that. Not ever have I helped someone in such a significant way, least of all by posting image macros on the internet. That experience inspired my belief in helping, and I know there will be a change in what I do when I see someone struggling with their things, or if a flurry of papers fall out of their folder. I won't stand by and stare; I'll act.

End of Year Reflection

1: What are the three most important things you learned this year?

     At first thought, it seemed as though I haven't learned any life-changing lessons. On second thought, I realized they don't exactly have to be life-changing lessons: just very useful or important lessons.

     The TIQA format, the unhealthiness of procrastination, and avoiding prejudice. Before this school year, I've never had any sort of experience in writing, so I had no idea about the TIQA format. I actually still don't know when I should be using it, and I'm kinda worried about this entire post. The negative by-products of procrastination are some things I'm constantly reminded of so they're stuck in my mind. It's affected a lot of my personal life, but I won't digress. As for prejudice, I thought everyone in this school would be jerks, based on first impressions of the loudest kids, but apparently not, now that I've spent some time in this class. Basically, everyone here is cool. I've learned of not judging books for their covers long ago, but that particular experience this school year made me relearn that.


2: What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?

     I have horrible memory, seeing how I already forgot whatever memories I had from two years ago, so I can't really be sure with my answer. Memories of reading activities for TKAM, Night, and TwM may have the highest chance of prolongment for me, since they're all really great books that I'm interested in owning for myself.
     It's rather ironic that I'm losing grasp of those memories while I'm typing this, but I'm sure I'll get them back once I reread those books.


3: What is the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?

      Not many things really stand out to me since I don't remember much, but I'm just glad my classmates haven't treated me like an outcast. People have offered to hang out with me throughout the year (I think) but I never really took the chance to (I think), but that is enough of a gesture to let me know I'm not disliked. I expected I would be seen as an oddball way before I even knew which middle school I would be going to, or even before I knew middle schools existed, since they don't in the Philippines.

     Actually, I don't even know what my classmates think of me or what my personality is like. Perhaps let me know in the comments?


4: What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year?

     I don't have a better answer for this, but perseverance beats intelligence. I've gotten MAP scores that belong in the 99th percentile, but my class work has always been subpar to my work from 7th gradeーbefore I started slacking. Unhealthy habits restricted my time, and thus, the quality of my work this year, and I was unable to give it my all.

     I bet you can tell from my tone that I'm really disappointed in myself. I don't really like this answer since the lesson taught was a result of my incompetence, and it gives off a negative vibe. So, if you're reading this, it would be nice to see something I taught you with a positive vibe in the comments, since I can't really think of anything that fits that description on my own.


5: In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?

     Here's the thing, I sort of dislike myself, so I pay more attention to what I can't do than what I can do. That means I have trouble judging myself on my abilities. If I had to say, though, I think the quality of my writing has improved since the beginning of the year. Well, I've never had English Language Arts in my life before, only Grammar, and the only references for professional writing I had frequent contact with were my Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books. In that sense, my biggest accomplishment would be a piece of writing, which coincidentally answers another question on here.


6: What was the most challenging part of the year for you?

     Without a doubt, keeping up with homework while remnants of my obsessive perfectionist personality co-persist along with 5 months' worth of lazy attitude has been freakishly tough. In the Philippines, school ends around late March, and I landed in O'Hare in early April. Since I technically didn't have school then, I had an absurdly long vacation, and in that time my hardworking self vacated my mental confines. That meant I started to put off work until the last minute.

     I can still recall the feeling of exhaustion from staying up way too late, until 2 AM at the most, painstakingly writing countless of notes as accurately and concisely as possible on sticky notes and sticking them inside each and every single page of To Kill a Mockingbird. As wonderful of a book it is, I would much prefer reading casually and discover new details by myself, at my own pace. Working like that was pretty bad. As I'm typing this, it is 1 AM, and that feeling is resonating within me. Send help?


7: What was the best piece of writing you did this year? Why do you think it is your best?

     As of making this post, it's still not done yet, but I feel rather proud of the "This I Believe" essay I'm working on. Partially because it has to deal with how I got one of my closest friends, partially because I get to write in my own style, and partially because this is the sum total of the writing experience I've accumulated this year, but mostly because of the event that spawned my belief. I still find it surreal that I helped someone get a hold of himself while he had severe depression. Once I remembered about that, I knew I had to write about it. My past works have been subpar, I know that, but I will make this one minute essay the best I can.


8: Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why?

     Tuesdays with Morrie was absolutely incredible. In the afterword, I believe, Mitch mentions that one of the publishers he presented the book to said he had no idea what a memoir is. Poor man missed out on an international bestseller. I wonder if that person lays down sometimes and thinks, "Well, I screwed up."

     To Kill a Mockingbird and Night are equally great books, but I tend to be drawn to books with a lighter atmosphere. Yeah, Morrie was going to die, but it had a more casual feel to it, compared to the realist vibe TKAM gives me and the obvious horror of the events told in Night. Tuesdays with Morrie is just a rather simple retelling of a meaningful relationship between an old man and a young man, and it is practically swimming in aphorisms. That book made me rethink a lot about American society, and at points the Philippine society. I mean, you're guaranteed to be degraded for anything you do there, even being smart. That's pretty far from making people feel good about themselves. Ah, it also made me cry a bunch.


9: What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?

     Do not EVER think about slacking off, for several reasons:

1. Tons of Falcon Fouls. If you tell an assignment, "I'll do that after I finish this game, yadda yadda," you're in trouble. Trust me, I've gotten multiple Falcon Fouls this way, and at times it gets worse in the way that your payload increases, forcing you to sacrifice time for another project that you also need to work on, spurring more Fouls. I think the fact that even having an actual reason to be absent is potentially enough to put a kilogram on your mental shoulders is proof enough.
2. The suffering. Once you finish all your work, the feeling of satisfaction is way better than suffering full time from unfinished responsibilities.
3. The free time. Wouldn't you like to live a life free of worry? Or at least worry about some other thing in peace? Yeah, I've done that before, when I worried I wronged one of my friends so much that I forgot about my homework. When I did remember, my brain almost stopped working. It was nearing midnight.
4. Repaying Ms. Larson's efforts. Now, I'm not trying to butter her up. But even though I've only been in this class for around three-fourths of the year, I can tell she puts in a lot of work just teaching this class. I've taken note of the multiple times the contents of the bulletin board change in just a day, as well as a bunch of other things I wanted to write but my sleep-deprived mind suddenly decided to forget, but it's mostly in how she seems to manage a lot of things at once. Others may think otherwise, but this is what I think. You can fight me on this, I swear.

Thanks for the wonderful year, guys!

Aphorism Poster

"Death is not contagious, you know. Death is as natural as life.

It's part of the deal we made."

     This particular aphorism refers to how Morrie thinks most people see death as "contagious," and how they are so afraid of death as if it isn't natural. Yet it is only natural that life should come with death: "It's part of the deal we made."

     In June 2012, my maternal grandfather died. Apparently he died in his sleep, foam in his mouth. Peaceful or not, I'm not sure, but he died naturally, although his years were cut short by tobacco. Like Morrie thought, the immediate family hadn't treated his death as thought it was natural, except they acted in denial of it instead of treating it as contagious. They didn't want to believe that my grandfather was dead. I accepted it, though, either because I knew somehow that death was natural or because I was a hundred times more emotionless than I am now.

     If I disagreed with this aphorism, I wouldn't have chosen it for this project. After being introduced to this idea, I thought that what brings about life should have some sort of equalizer, something that ends life: death. Otherwise, the earth would be filled with pleasant old people, with not too pleasant old odors. Actually, wouldn't they have decayed by now? It would be much like Morrie's condition for most of the book, except far worse: unrecognizable flesh bags, forced to live for eternity. War would also be more pointless than it already is. Life is natural, and its counterpart and equalizer, death, is also natural. It's needed just as much as life.

My Personal Aphorism

     Close-minded individuals think that the way they perceive society is the only way society exists.

Which Tuesday with Morrie Has Inspired Me?

One of two very late posts. Whoops.

     Among the first six Tuesdays we've read, the fourth one, in which Mitch and Morrie discuss death, moves me the most. Although, it was rather hard to pick from among the six since Morrie is absurdly wise, so I went by eliminating which I felt spoke to me the least, and repeated until I only had one Tuesday left.

     The first (the world) and second (feeling sorry for yourself) Tuesdays I can relate to the least at the moment. I feel as if the third Tuesday, about regrets, simply plants the seeds for the fourth Tuesday. The sixth Tuesday, in which Morrie tells Mitch about fully immersing yourself in whatever emotion you're feeling in order to be able to detach from it, is one I've given more thought than the former Tuesdays. The fifth Tuesday is about the importance having a loving family, which is something I absolutely agree with. However, admittedly I have felt rather detached from mine for the past few years.

     The fourth Tuesday really makes me question the lifestyle I have currently. I'm not sure why, but I've always thought my life would end several years earlier than others'. Perhaps it's because my body feels a lot weaker when I'm sick. It's as Morrie says in the chapter: “Everyone knows they’re going to die,” he said, “but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently.” But what would I do? I give so little thought to what I'd do when I have enough power to be on my own, which I subconsciously believe is the only limiter to what I can do. I hope to find time someday to give it some thought.

     On that train of thought, Morrie imposes another scenario about death. Morrie asks, "Is today the day I die?" He also encourages Mitch to ask himself this. So why not me, too? Will today be the day I die? Will a murderer bust into my house? Will I pass out from exhaustion from working long hours into the night and never wake up again? While I was reading the book, I was so sure I'd do as Morrie did. He's living life to the fullest he can live while shackled to his chair by ALS. Reflecting upon it, though, I wonder how I'd do that. Knowing how little time I have would only make me panic, instead of trying to enjoy what time I have.

I think the answer to what I'd do in both scenarios lies in Morrie's aphorism: “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” Perhaps if I know how to die, I can be like Morrie, in almost complete comfort in his chair. I don't know yet.

It seems as though what draws me so much to this particular Tuesday is how it serves as a reminder of how lost I really am. I only realized while writing this post. I guess you learn something new everyday.

Socratic Seminar Final Reflection

If I were to explain how the Socratic Seminars influenced my thinking about Tuesdays with Morrie, or life in general, I wouldn't have much to say. If anything, the book itself influenced me the most, and the Socratic Seminars only helped tie a few other things into what I know.

I noticed that my personal goals for the Seminars mainly focused on my ability to contribute to the discussion, as well as how much I can contribute. This is mostly because I am an introverted person, and it's hard for me to speak loudly or voice my thoughts well around people I'm not exactly comfortable with (no offense, everyone here is cool but I'm still unfamiliar with you all). This was most apparent during the first Seminar, when the number of times I spoke up was most likely a single digit number. My performance in the second Seminar was a considerable improvement over the first, and thus my goal changed to being readily able to cover a wide range of topics pertaining to the material we were studying. Ironically, I was left speechless in the third Seminar as everyone started talking about subjects mentioned in the book, but with material from outside the book. My goal reverted to the one I had for the second Seminar.

The class changed a lot throughout the four Seminars. At first it was challenging to contribute to the discussion (or talk at all) since we haven't had a Seminar for a few months, but we started picking up after the first Seminar, which influenced me as well. We identified our goal as not to hang on too long or let go too soon from a topic for the next couple Seminars, as a reference to an aphorism Morrie had. The actual reason for this was that we shifted from topic to topic too much, but ironically we hung on to the topic of abuse for 20 minutes straight in the third Seminar.

Usually, we changed topics abruptly, usually forcing another subject into the conversation. Another trend is that most participants who didn't speak out of their own interest in the first Seminar started doing so in the next three, aside from a couple of people. Another was that I usually had to squish myself into a table to make room for people to my right for three Seminars straight.

Tuesdays with Morrie – Bucket List

• What are your initial reactions to what you have read in Tuesdays with Morrie thus far?
• One of the main themes developing in Tuesdays with Morrie is not to take your life for granted. Based on this premise, what is on your Bucketlist?

I'm not gonna lie, I felt really sad just from reading the first two pages of Tuesdays with Morrie. Heck, I almost cried. I can't explain why–I think it's obvious that I can't voice my thoughts that well, despite having acquired a rather expansive vocabulary. The feeling of sadness I got most likely came from the fact that Morrie, an old man of 78 with ALS, was dying. He was teaching the last course of his life, so to speak, to a former student, who had promised to keep in touch with him but had not. I feel as if the seriousness of this is magnified by the fact that this is a true story, and the student was the author of the book.

Morrie Schwarts was apparently Mitch Albom's favorite college professor, and took all of his courses during his years at college. The book is titled Tuesdays with Morrie because all of Morrie's classes took place on Tuesdays, even those of his last course. Morrie was a lively person, even when nearing death. He is generally very kind and friendly, once telling Mitch that he hopes to be friends with him soon, when Mitch was just starting his sociology class. Some students have even remarked that they would probably be able to get along with him, had they met him. Morrie is also a deep thinker, noted as such by Emily who said, "Every other thing he speaks is an aphorism." There is a lot more to Morrie than I can put into words.

A main theme in Tuesdays with Morrie is not to take life for granted, which is a rather visible theme seeing how the author describes Morrie grappling with death, trying to squeeze out the most out of his remaining breaths. Death is not something many of us think about on a regular basis, so life is often taken for granted. As Morrie said, not enough of us take a step back, look at our life, and ask ourselves, "Is this it? Is this what I wanted?"

Based on the thought that we can die at any moment, I was asked to create a bucket-list of things-- no, priorities I want to accomplish before I perish.

Here is said bucket-list.

• Travel to Japan to satisfy my curiosity of its culture
• Travel to England someday in the hopes of meeting an old classmate and friend of mine
• Return to the Philippines and meet a friend I haven't been able to meet
• Visit some Aztec ruins to satisfy the old part of me that was obsessed with the civilization
• Walk on terrain that's coated with water, giving it reflective properties (I know there is a name for such land masses but it's been two years since I've last read about them that I've forgotten)
• Get at least 4 years of college education
• Get rid of extremely laid back attitude at home
• Gain ability to toss away reserved attitude at will when speaking
• Learn about the craft and structure of literature, which I have never received formal education on
• Figure out how to talk without instantly jumbling up my thoughts
• Get the chance to meet people I have become friends with online, especially the ones I talk to on Twitter

3rd Quarter Reflection

Prompts:

• Of the books you have read this quarter, which was your favorite? Why?
• *In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts?
• *What is something you have accomplished this quarter that you are proud of?
• Where are you in your 40 Book Challenge?
• *What has been the most challenging part of 3rd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?
• What have you learned about the world?

* Required

I've finished around three or four books this quarter, and The Lost Hero from the Heroes of Olympus series is my favorite of those books in terms of entertainment, but Night by Elie Wiesel was really eye-opening. Night is a firsthand witness report of life as a Jewish prisoner during the Holocaust. It had a very direct style of word choice, employing no tricks yet leaving no escape from it.

"My faceless neighbor spoke up:

'Don’t be deluded. Hitler has made it clear that he will annihilate all Jews before the clock strikes twelve.'

I exploded:

'What do you care what he said? Would you want us to consider him a prophet?'
His cold eyes stared at me. At last he said, wearily:

'I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.'"

 The book had me doubting about God at one point, like the narrator, who wrote about the night his God was murdered.

I have tried observing the TIQA format more often after being told several times that my blog post was good, but the format didn't match that of TIQA. Although, while writing this paragraph, it is hard to observe TIQA, and I don't exactly know why.

I don't remember

I have read 8 or 9 books so far this school year, and I am in the middle of reading I Am Malala, which I have not read since late 2014. I have a feeling that I won't be able to finish the 40 Book Challenge, particularly since I'm not that invested in it (sorry).

Like past quarters, keeping up on schoolwork has been hard for me. I think it's actually gotten worse, since I got my first detention due to a combination of tardies and unfinished/no homework. However, I managed to wake up today early due to a recovered mentality from two years ago, and I plan on developing that.

We studied the Holocaust this quarter, and I've learned a lot about that time period. My memory retention is horrible, however: I know things, but if I don't see them often enough they get buried deep into my mind and I don't remember them unless some sort of catalyst (like a reminder) causes me to. But I still found out some things, like how there were many reasons behind Hitler's rise to power, such as his gift of speaking and manipulation of the Germans' feelings.

The Lightning Thief Reading - Reader/Protag Comparison, Opinion of First Person

 

Anaklusmos / Riptide in the movies.

Riptide as imagined by the official TLT illustrator, John Rocco.

I'm nearly done with the book. As I'm going through I keep finding more details that I've forgotten about this book...

Prompts:
• Describe the similarities and differences between the main character and you.

• What special way did the author write (for example, flashbacks, told in firstperson, multiple voice narrative, foreshadowing, lost descriptive words thatcreate visual images in your mind, etc.)? Did that make reading it better orworse? Explain.

I find that I'm somewhat similar to Percy Jackson, the protagonist of the story. Both of us are teenagers, have black hair, and tan skin. Both of us also get distracted easily, and get bored as easily. Although it's not so pronounced in my case, we both have trouble reading. Impulsivity is a problem for the two of us, although it is once again less evident for me. Both of us also tend to be tempted to act on our emotions-- he almost got himself killed when he felt like fighting Ares, the god of war, actually. I might've felt or done the same.

There are more differences between Percy and I, though. Percy has ADHD and dyslexia while I do not. Percy has green eyes-- I have brown. He is also considered a delinquent, and is rather outgoing, both of which I am not. The biggest difference is that he is courageous, while I usually feel like crawling into a corner whenever someone starts getting angry, no matter how harmless they are. Oh, and he's half-god, but that is of fiction only, meaning I will never have that similarity with him. Although if I was, I would like to be a son of Athena or Hades...

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I'd like to talk about how Rick Riordan uses first person from Percy's perspective for the entire series.
Before I started reading this series, I read Harry Potter, which used a third person view in its writing, mainly focusing on Harry. Sometimes it would show the story from a different person's viewpoint, usually only at the beginning of a book in the series.
When I started reading TLT for the first time, I was rather shocked-- I've never read a story in first-person before. Although I like books, my collection of novels was rather small, and all of them were written in third-person. It was refreshing, though— I liked having a sarcastic juvenile delinquent narrate a death quest. I feel like the series would have a lot less spunk if Percy hadn't narrated.

The Lightning Thief Reading - Connections and Tiny Details

Some Percabeth art. I still find it surreal that I had the idea to search Tumblr for art to put on this blog post, and that I followed through with it.

This is the 5th or 4th time I've read Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief, but it is probably only the 3rd time I'll be finishing it.

This time through, I noticed that a character who is first formally introduced in The Last Olympian, the goddess Hestia, was actually acknowledged to exist in the first book.

The Lightning Thief, page 80

Hestia is the goddess of the hearth. She tends the campfire flames in Camp Half-Blood, and prefers to take the form of a human girl. She is rarely recognized as a goddess by any of the campers. All of thid checks in with the description Percy gives in the page above. This little detail here makes me wonder if Rick Riordan, the author, had planned the entire series from the start.

There are more small details that I noticed, which foreshadow the identity of Percy's godly father. There are plenty which do just that, but these two are ones I only noticed in this reading. The first is when Percy faces the Minotaur while it was raining. Drenched in water, Percy gains a sudden boost in energy, and kills the Minotaur with its own horn. It is never directly said that the rain was what gave Percy the extra energy.

The second detail that I hadn't noticed is during sword practice, when Percy mimics Luke by pouring a bucket of ice water on himself because it looked like a good idea to him. This gives him yet more extra energy, giving himself a chance against Luke. He then manages to perform the disarming maneuver Luke had demonstrated. However, when asked to do that again, the energy boost had already worn off, and Percy is easily defeated.

It seems that pouring ice water on his head had become a major part of his routine before practicing, as noted by Chiron in a version of the official PJO website that I can't seem to find.

Elie Wiesel - Transformation

A traumatic event like the Holocaust, the slaughter of millions of Jews, would certainly leave some scars behind. It can also change one's personality: their beliefs, their morals, etc., usually for the worse.

The same happened to Elie Wiesel, along with countless other Jews.

The first notable change that happens to him is the shift in his beliefs. After he bare witness to the horrors at Auschwitz during his first night, he begins to believe that God is dead. Elie used to be a very religious person, who aspired to be a cabbala, one who studies the Torah. Seeing was believing for him then: but not in God.

"Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust."

Later on, he admits that he does not doubt God's existence, but doubts His overall authority.


While spending time in camp, Elie and the other prisoners are quickly stripped of their humanity. They are malnourished, only being given 1,700 calories worth every day, while being forced to do labor. Additionally, they are forced to sleep in cramped bunk beds with no blankets. Their clothes are thin and itchy. Living conditions at the camps weren't all that great, and that's an understatement. By the end of the book, many of the prisoners think only of survival, while many others give up, sleep, and never wake up. The survival-minded would step on their own parents to accomplish their goal. Elie falls victim to these feelings, but his bond with his father does not break. He regains his emotions whenever his father gets in trouble (is on the brink of death). This changes when his father finally dies from weakness caused by dysentery combined with a single bludgeon from a truncheon. Elie no longer has anything to connect to being human other than his emaciated body until the liberation.

Night - Chlomo Wiesel

In the non-fiction story Night, Eliezer states that Chlomo, his father, rarely showed any emotion, and that he was more concerned with others' situations than with his own family's.

It seems like this changes when they arrive at the first concentration camp. During the selection, he is eager to stay with his son. As they get separated from the girls of their family, who die right after, their bond tightens, determined to stay alive.

They stayed together until Buna, where the were separated for a while. Elie manages to get his father into the same unit as him shortly after, though, and stays with him at all times. Despite that, Elie does not interfere when his father is beat up at the warehouse, possibly due to his inhumanity slowly crawling into the bond he has with his father, or fear of being beat up as well.

On the way to Buchenwald, Chlomo becomes weaker, and needs to rely on his son more. In Buchenwald he contracts dysentery, and completely relies on Elie, like their roles were reversed as father and son; he was retrieved from the snow by Elie, is assisted by Elie to move, and is kept away from trouble by Elie. He has grown so weak, the other prisoners believe that it would be better to steal his ration of food since he would inevitably die soon.

And, they were correct. While resting in the block, Chlomo kept asking Elie for water. He could not comply, so Chlomo went on, when a guard heard him, and ordered him to be quiet. He didn't listen. Soon, the guard had enough of it, and bashed his face with a truncheon.

Chlomo's last word was, "Eliezer."

Holocaust AoW Impressions

Last Friday, I've heard a lot of stories from in-class sharing of articles related to the Holocaust. Well, except for three people having the same article to share, but I still got something new from each account.

I will start by talking about the story that three people in the class had to share. Israel has been refusing to provide aid for Syrian refugees, and it isn't sitting well for Holocaust survivors, who were once in the same situation. They have been demanding that Israel, as well as other countries, help the refugees immediately. The article in which the story was told was titled Holocaust survivors demand Israel help refugees, and was published on September 10, 2015.

The story I find most interesting is that of Oskar Groening, former Auschwitz guard accused of 300,000 counts of accessory to murder, which means that he has assisted 300,000 murders. Oskar himself feels moral guilt, but denies that he has directly assisted any of these murders. He says that any of his decisions as an Auschwitz guard were of the Nazi state, and he does not consider himself accountable for them.

Butterfly Project Thinglink

Berlin Memorial Reflection

Years before the Second World War, the first anti-Semitic laws were established.

These first laws mostly took trivial privileges from Jews, aside from a few others refusing reimbursement for Jewish doctors and the expulsion of Jewish civil servants. Further along the line, though, the laws established become more punishing, with the Nuremberg Laws stripping Jews of their nationality.

There were even prohibitions on graduation, and eventually all sorts of schooling for Jews. You couldn't even buy a book in 1942. Personally, that would be the hardest to cope with if I was a Jewish person in that time period. I am a recluse, and I prefer not to interact with people (since it bothers me and I'm bad at it), so my usual time-killers are video games or books. Video games outside of arcades were non-existent at that time, meaning I would only be able to read books to spend time. Without books, I would suffer in that scenario.

In 1938, more anti-Semitic laws were made with the purpose of isolating the Jewish population, possibly for easier targeting. A few years later, Jews were essentially deprived of food and other necessities. All of the documents recording these laws were destroyed in 1945, when Germany was defeated.

In years of importance, up to ten or more laws were passed, specifically during 1933, the year Hitler rose to power;  1938, the year before the invasion of Poland; and 1942, the year after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Many, many years later, in memorial of the Holocaust, over 80 signs with the anti-Semitic laws from 1933-1943 written on them are propped onto lampposts in Berlin. It's been hard trying to look for any written information regarding these signs, so I can only assume what the purpose of these signs are. My best guess for this is that these signs were meant to remind people of the cruelty of the Nazi Party to Jews. They warn people that this happened once, and it could happen again, unless we stop it.

TKAM Film/Book Juxtaposition

Question Prompts:

1. How would you prove or disprove that one version of To Kill A Mockingbird is more effective in delivering its message than the other? Be sure to provide specific pieces of evidence to support your opinion.

2. What is the purpose in having different versions of a story? Think about how different versions contribute to the overall understanding and interpretation of that piece of work. Use specific concepts to support your opinion.

It's common knowledge that movie adaptations of books rarely stay faithful to their originals, especially in the case of the Percy Jackson movies (which might as well be an alternate universe instead of an adaptation).

The movie adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird is no exception. Aunt Rachel is replaced as Dill's aunt by Stephanie, who is still the same as a character. We get to see Judge Taylor ask Atticus defend Tom Robinson. We never witness Scout's trip to First Purchase (I believe that's what the church is called, although I'm not entirely sure). The list of differences certainly does not stop there.

With all of these differences, any messages the story is supposed to convey might be affected, which means they could be potentially screwed up.

This is my own biased opinion, but I think that the book is more effective at delivering the message of empathy to its audience, simply because it is a book. It is more in-depth than the movie, which will help the reader understand the concepts introduced by the book more easily. Also, there are no child actors. This is more of a personal thought, really, but I've observed that child actors tend to force their acting, due to their inexperience.

If I were to support the idea that the movie is better at conveying this message, though, I would present Gregory Peck as evidence. There's a reason he won an award for this movie. His acting in the movie was perfect, which could be attributed to the fact that he is much like Atticus himself, as noted by the actor who played Scout.

Okay, but is there a need for different versions of a story? Isn't one version enough?

I think it's probably because there are different preferences when it comes to media. Some people understand movies best, others like books, some others audio books, and a few other people who prefer to play out the story through a video game.

(Aiming for more general understanding would probably be an incentive of the past. Media companies nowadays only hope for quick cash by jumping on the bandwagon...)

These different versions can come together to form a big picture. Movie depictions of characters can help someone reading the book envision those characters without trouble. Audio versions set the tone and mood for you, as well as leaving you to your imagination. Games let you experience what it's like being in the protagonist's shoes.
While there aren't any games based on To Kill A Mockingbird (that would just be awkward), the other three apply to it.

2nd Quarter Reflection

The end of the 2nd Quarter, huh? Usually, it would be the end of the 3rd Quarter for me. I am rather disoriented because of this, since I keep getting hopeful that school is going to end, and being disappointed when I realize I'm not in the Philippines anymore…

But I digress. I will try to reflect on this past quarter as best as I can.

「*In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in the English Language Arts?

This is a tough one, since I don't pay much attention to which skills I could improve. I would say that I've gotten a little better at staying on task in class. This applies mostly to late in the quarter. I've been able to keep up with the class constantly. My ability to do so at home hasn't changed, though, which sucks.

「*What is something you have accomplished since the new year that you are proud of?

I can't remember anything to be proud of related to this class aside from being able to submit my TKAM Comparative Analysis on time. It's rather small, but I feel like that was a start of keeping up more frequently.

「*What has been the most challenging part of 2nd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

This one is easy. Reading every single page of two chapters in To Kill a Mockingbird, supplying those pages with annotations of decent quality, and working on answering the questions for those two chapters; combined with my subpar time management skill. Due to regrettable decisions on my part, I usually had to stay up until around 1 a.m. Looking back on that time, I'm surprised I wasn't late to school more often.
Anyway, I only managed to do this by persisting in getting my work done, hitting my head when needed. Oh, and playing music I like while working also helped.

*Of the books you have read this quarter, which was your favorite? Why?

To Kill a Mockingbird. I both dislike the book and absolutely love it. I dislike it since it brings up some pretty bad memories of trying to squeeze out whatever I had left in my brain cells late at night to try and finish the day's work on the book. Though I love it because it has a realistic feel to it. Harper Lee, the author, supposedly based the book on real events that happened in her childhood. If that was the case, then I would believe that Harper Lee had eidetic memory at the time she was writing this, which allowed her to describe scenes and events in detail. And there are just a lot of characters in the book, you know? You could probably relate to one or some other. My point is, I really enjoyed reading through the book, even if it was late at night and I was in need of sleep.

TKAM Character Relationships

Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird has a wide cast of characters, most of them related to each other in some way. Some may have a direct relationship with Scout, while some might not. Those that do may serve as "alter egos" or "foils" for Scout.

I will try to analyze the relationship of one pair of characters, how they are alike or different, and from there, see if one of them acts as a foil or alter ego to Scout. I've chosen Dill and Francis as my subject.

Dill and Francis never interacted with each other directly, although Francis seems to know about the other. He expresses a negative opinion of Dill during Scout's visit to the Finch's Landing. There isn't much more to their actions concerning each other after that.

Dill is crafty, confident, and sensitive, while Francis is... rude. He's not a dirty person, exactly. He's proper and all that stuff. Such a waste, since he acts just like a spoiled child. In my opinion, he's obnoxious. Despite being around the same age, these boys have quite the number of differences. I can't think of any more similarities between them aside from their age and the fact that they can get any material thing that they ask for from their parents.

The only way these two could have any sort of relationship without actually meeting is through a "common medium", aka Scout. Dill is apparently "engaged" with Scout, something that goes on for the duration of the book. Although if Scout's initial treatment of Dill continued for much longer (she beat him up for not paying much attention to her) that wouldn't be the case. In reality, both of them are just close friends.

Francis's relationship to Scout, is something of the opposite. During the time span of Scout's visit, Francis constantly provokes her, challenging her self control, until Scout's mental fortitude breaks and she sends a flying one to his face. Simply put, she hates his guts. That's largely due to the fact that Scout and Francis are complete opposites. For example, Scout usually comes to conclusions on her own, while Francis gets his from his grandmother. Francis is an example of a foil for Scout.

Both Dill and Francis have a huge impact on Scout, even though Dill interacts with Scout over a much longer time period than Francis. Francis has a more obvious effect on Scout, since his provocations ultimately led to Scout getting punished by Uncle Jack. Scout learned an important lesson then (even though I can't grasp in my memory what it was). Dill was a change to Scout's everyday life after appearing one summer. It's possible that events concerning the "Boo Radley timeline" might not have even happened if Dill wasn't present, since he was usually the one who spearheaded any "Boo operations".

To finish this up, I believe that Francis had an immediate effect on Scout, while Dill had a long-term effect. Without both characters, the book would be rather dull.

TKAM Free Blog: Emotions While Reading

I was allowed to talk about anything related to TKAM in this blog post, but I had no ideas so I just took a blog prompt and responded to it.
(I am aware that I am not the most creative of people. Please don't ask about it if we meet.)

So, what emotions did I feel while reading the story?

This is the first time I've ever read a book while actively thinking about what I was reading. That brought with it plenty of new experiences.

The most notable of which was that I frequently felt emotions. I usually read a book for entertainment, and though I do get absorbed into the words of the book, I never really felt as if the characters were real people. I'm not sure if it was me paying more attention to the book or Harper's masterful storytelling (it could have been both) that made me actually see the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird as people. If I saw them as real people, of course, I would react to their interactions as if I was watching people in real life.

Though of course, I might miss something people usually react to, since I do not have my fair share of interacting with people, since I act like a recluse (or an antisocial, or a NEET, or a hikikomori, whichever you prefer) as evidenced by my absence in the outside world for the entire winter break.

My memory of the book isn't fresh, although it should be fine since it left a lasting impact on me.

The first instance that comes up is when Jem made a stab at ruining Mrs. Dubose's plants with the baton he bought Scout. I went silent when Jem started fighting with Scout, like I usually do when someone around me is livid. I was shocked, even, since Jem is usually the patient one between Scout and he.

Another situation where I felt more emotion was when Tom's verdict was given. I felt really shocked, so much that I gripped the book hard. Everything about the trial felt one-sided, on Atticus's side, from the reader's viewpoint. I doubted Jem's sureness on the whole matter, but I also felt sure the verdict would come out as "not guilty."

The last event I want to share is Boo Radley's appearance. Honestly, if I didn't read this part in public, I would have cried, which would be a first. I felt as if Harper was teasing us with all the mentions of Boo Radley throughout the story, which of course made me wonder if he would make an appearance later on. He did, and it shattered the negative image of him that was framed early in the story. He saved Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell, which made me happy--another first while reading.