FDR and the "Four Freedoms" Speech

During the time that this speech was given (January 6, 1941), the United States was on the brink of entering World War II. I believe that the thesis of this address to Congress was to prove that it was the United States' duty to enter the Second World War. This is a good thesis because it leaves room for people to be able to debate it. Many Americans probably just looked at the war with a vague idea of why America should be even considering it as an option. With the Great Depression still affecting the nation, I can imagine that I would feel the exact same way. FDR took it upon himself to give reasons supporting his claim with the hope that he would tug on a few skeptical heart strings in the process. However, if this were a paper, I don't think that we would regard it as greatly developed. In that instance, the thesis and the way the supporting evidence is given, as it relates to the paper, would not be so good.

Elie Wiesel

It can be sometimes hard to face what happened during the Holocaust. Just hearing about it can bring up so many emotions and fears in all of us. These emotions are especially surfaced when you listen to someone like Elie Wiesel talk because there is such wisdom in his words. While listening to his speech on the Universal Lessons of the Holocaust, I was completely still, throwing myself in the middle of what was being said. You can read all of the history books that you want, but when a Holocaust survivor talks to you themselves, it is a whole different ball game. While reading Night, also by Eli Wiesel, it is very hard to not at least try to dismiss the story as fiction. It is continuously difficult to believe what people went through during World War II. It is even harder to go a little deeper and think about what children younger than I am had to endure. In this primary source of what it meant to "belong" to a concentration camp, I tried my hardest to put myself in this fifteen year old's shoes....I couldn't do it. The interesting thing is that the world still seems that it has not learned any lessons from the legacy of the Holocaust. We still have countless numbers of murders, genocides, terrorist attacks, etc. If we can not learn from something as horrible as a genocide, what will it take for our world to change? Let's just hope we don't have to find out.

Midterm Evaluation

Coming into this class, I thought that I was already an ok writer, but little did I know that college writing was on another level. Since I was in about sixth grade, I have been taught to write using the five paragraph strategy. I remember being graded on outlines for papers and if I did not use the five paragraph way, I was marked down. Learning a new way of writing is always a challenge, but I am very happy with the way that this class has presented a way to get better at it. I won't know exactly what state I am in until I get my first real paper back, so I am hoping for the best. I guess what I need out of this class now is just practice so that I can go onto the next level without any problems. Overall, taking this class plus the seminar is perhaps the best decision that I have made so far in college. I have learned alot about World War II whether it is dealing with the Holocaust or from the students who lived through this time period. The movies don't hurt either.

Hoax of the Century

So, I came home today to hear all about the "balloon boy." My grandparents described how cameras followed a balloon that supposedly was holding a six year old boy hostage. When it was found out that the boy was actually in the attic, many wondered how this could have happened. When being interviewed by CNN, the boy accidentally gave away that the whole thing was for "show." I couldn't believe that the parents would actually go through with something like this until I looked it up for myself. I'm almost sad to say, but inside hysterically laughing, that this whole thing is real! I guess some people will do anything for attention.

The Book Thief Ending

So, I'm kind of mad at the ending of The Book Thief. More specifically, I'm upset that there was not more to the story when Liesel and Max saw each other again. His coming back was a shock in itself, but it left me wanting more. So now, I've just been coming up with possible scenarios for the two of them. Even though he is older than her, maybe they got married and had those kids that Death was talking about. That's how I like to see it anyway. What do you think happened to Max and Liesel?

American Landmark

I know that I already wrote on Ossian Sweet and Arc of Justice, but I also just found out that the house which the story centers on was made an historical landmark. To me, this is kind of sweet considering I just spent a lengthy amount of time reading about it. Since 1925 was such a long time ago, I would have thought that the house may have been taken down by now and replaced. I also learned that the house is actually not that far from where I live. Now I am tempted to go and check out the area. If you haven't already guessed, I like history. Here is a link to the house: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/hal_mhc_shpo_feature_0401_100021_7.pdf

American Hatred

I just got done reading a book for another class called Arc of Justice. It is about racism in the north, but primarily in Detroit during the 1920's. It follows the life of Ossian Sweet and his family. In 1925, blacks were primarily living in "Black Bottom" and were not welcome in the so-called white neighborhoods. When Ossian decided to go against the grain, there were hundreds of angry people outside of his house. Himself, his wife, and ten other men (friends and family) were stuck in the house while people outside were throwing rocks and breaking windows. One of the men, Ossian's brother, shot a gun and ended up killing one of the people outside, and they were taken to jail soon after. The rest of the story dealt with the nationally covered case "The People v. Sweet." It continually amazes me when I learn about the amount of hatred that existed and still exist in this country. Overall, it was a pretty good book with the exception of some dry spots (expected from a history book).

"The Book Thief"---The Character of a Great Man

Is it just me, or did the book get that much more exciting during the scene where the Nazi soldiers marched the Jews to Dachau? I completely forgot that I was reading a book and started to visualize everything. In my mind I could see the street, German on-lookers, the children, Hans, and the faces of the Jewish people as they reluctantly did as they were told. Beyond that, it really showed a lot about Hans, and his character, that he would even be brave enough to walk through the crowd and offer up a piece of bread to a struggling man. I was awestruck. Part of me was happy that he decided to do this, but the other part of me was extremely afraid for him. After the whipping, I was concerned that they would take him or even find Max. Thankfully that did not happen, but I cannot help but wonder what the the events to follow would be like if things did not go across so well. Also, I want to know how many more Germans were just like Hans. How many people, even in the smallest gesture, tried to stand up for what was right? Now those would be some interesting stories to hear.

Possible First Paper Topic

Today in class we started an exercise called the "Five Finger Exercise." From "The Book Thief" I chose to do mine on the scene where the Jews are marched to Dachau and Hans tries to help a man by offering him bread. By trying to be extremely detailed, I thought that maybe you could take the scene from Liesel's eyes and stretch it into a paper or even a short story. It might sound kind of weird, but I took up a good chunk of the page just describing the scenery before the children actually saw the Jews. I don't know how the rubric would be set up, yet I still think it would be kind of interesting (or even fun) to do.