Victory. By Sonia Weitz.

This poem is about how Sonia Weitz, a holocaust survivor, was able to sneak into the men's barracks of the concentration camp to see her father, who at that time was about to be killed. Her father's inmate then started to play a song on his harmonica and Sonia's father then said, "Little one, let us dance. We may not have another chance." She had the courage to break the rules even though the consequences were terrible. To me, this poem means that anything can be victorious. In this case, victory for Sonia was the fact that she could have that dance with her father. I was very curious as to what the victory Sonia was talking about in the first place, but after re-reading the poem, I realized what her point was.

The Degree Of Choices.

"Some people say that what makes a person a victim is they have limited or NO options about how to act."

This statement is a very general and simple, but it has a lot of meaning. This relates to many situations, and generally speaking, I agree with with this statement. Victims don't have many options on how they can act, and with the options that are available, they have the choice of using them or not. For me, I do believe that limited options is what makes a victim. To support my judgement, I have related this statement to the unit we are studying now in Humanities.

http://www.elegantsimplelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/choices_web.jpg

In Humanities, we have recently learned about Kristallnacht, which translates loosely to "Night of Broken Glass". The Jewish refugees trapped in Germany were victims of Adolf Hitler's hatred and Kristallnacht. Stormtroopers, SS men and SA men go around Germany, invading Jewish-populated areas.The Jews have been recognized worldwide as victims, and I have related this statement to them. The Jews did not have many choices They first had the option of moving, but after many countries did not open up their doors to let Jewish refugees in, the only other choice they had was to hide. Once they were stuck in Germany without any options, they basically had no options. Their right were taken away from them even if they were innocent. The Jews just did not have a place in this jigsaw puzzle known as the world. In summary, I do agree with this statement.

The Eternal Jew

The Eternal Jew

When I first looked at "The Eternal Jew", I had absolutely no clue as to what this picture's point was. But after a few moments of analyzing and observing, I finally figured out what this picture was trying to get through. In this picture, a man dressed in black is featured and this man has a long beard and a hat on his head. This man has his hand thrust out with coins in it. This man also has a rock tucked under his arm. This man is enlarged and is obviously the main feature of this picture. There is some text on the lower-left corner of the page. I realized that the background of this picture is very bright and stands out, while the main pointof the picture is wearing dark clothing which is a sign on contrast.

The man in the picture, is most likely to be a Jew, as he has a traditional Jewish hat on. He seems very old and this picture could be trying to say that Jews are old and disgusting. The creators of this poster is most likely to be the Nazi Party Platform, which could be used to promote their political party. The intended audience for this picture would most probably be the genuine "German citizens" with "German pure blood". This poster could be used to show that the Jews were greedy, as indicated by the coins in the Jew's hand, and that they wanted to take over Germany and to have an communist government. I think the creator of the poster is trying to say that the Nazis generalize the Jews and is saying that all Jews want a communist government and that all Jews are greedy.

I believe this poster interprets both lies and misleading information as not all Jews are like this Jew. Maybe NO Jews are like this one. But all people do in those days, is just look on the outside of people and judge them through what they see on the outside. I also believe that the Nazi Party Platform may have expressed their thoughts with more exaggeration because, as I stated before, not all Jews are like this Jew. The Nazis made it seem like all Jews are like this one and that all Jews are horrible. But the thing is, the Nazis were the horrible ones by generalizing all people of either the same race or religion. The Nazis are trying to say that the Jews are greedy, and that they want to take over Germany with a communist government.

The Treaty Of Versailles-Fair or Unfair?

The Treaty of Versailles was created to end WWI, but this treaty was specifically harsh on one country, Germany. The different articles that were found in this treaty included Germany taking full responsibilities for the damage to the Allied Powers, Germany surrendering all of their overseas countries and Germany paying for all of the damages caused to the Allied Powers. As you can see, this obviously seems unfair. And I agree with this statement.

One example of why the Treaty Of Versailles seemed unfair to me was because all the blame went to Germany even though it wasn't entirely their fault. According to fact, the United States of America declared war on Germany in April 1917. They had ignored the concerns of this specific conflict because they didn't want to be in the middle of a fight. After they had declared war,

Woodrow Wilson vowed that this would be the 'war to end all wars'. Though Europe had been at war for many years, the United States of America seemed to have made it more public when they declared war.

Another example on why the Treaty Of Versailles seems unfair to me is because after this was signed, Germany was led to a whole lot of failure. They felt betrayed by the treaty, and they will not slack off until they have found justice. This led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. The Germans expressed their rage on something they thought was an easy target, the Jews. This led to the holocaust. As you can see, this treaty is the head of a cause-and-effect situation.

There are many pros and cons about the Treaty Of Versailles and in this case, the unfairness of the situation was obviously a con. After many years, the results of the Treaty Of Versailles was unsuccessful.

I'm JJ...again.

Today's blogpost is a reflection on Learning Profiles, and now that you have a better understanding of your profile we would like you to write and share the information with the class. In a well structured response, (using the information you gained in class ) please reflect upon and answer the following ....

1) I learn best when I'm moving because I don't prefer to follow step-by-step instructions. I focus on the big picture. For example, when we were taking the DBQ, one of the questions was to annotate a picture of "The Fall of Icarus". I didn't pay attention to detail at first and I was focusing on the overall product. I also learn best when I imagine end results first and then by instinct, do what seems right.

2) I need to try to not be stressed often. I normally get stressed if I have a lot of homework. I am a procrastinator and if I have a lot of things to do, I will normally do it the day before they're due. When I am stressed, my technique gets worse as I continue with this headache. I should also be encouraged to work with aspects of life and learning.

3) The strategies that would help me in my learning would be that I could also sit on the right side of the classroom several rows back so I can hear easily. Another good strategy would be to do Lazy 8's which could help me in tests. Cross-hand and foot play lateral like writing or drawing with my non dominant hand is helpful. Tasks using the brain like word-searches, sudoku or crosswords involving math or linguistics will be highly beneficial.

4) I would like my teachers to know that I work well when I sit with/work with my friends. It seems as though I'm distracted and not doing work, but I actually am doing work because I know I have some people I can relate to and know very well. I would also like my teachers to know that I usually draw/doodle or play with something while they are talking. I still am listening as I am an auditory learner, even though it may seem like I am not paying attention.

Hope this helps a lot on how I learn!

-Nadia

"I Remember..."

"I Remember..."

I remember when I was about 4 or 5, I was locked in our family car, crying for my dad to get me out. We were going to my favourite restaurant with the best sweet and sour fish ever, and the only thing I feared was missing that fish.

I remember when I was about 3 or 4, I was trying to drink from my Rugrats tumbler, but ended up sticking the straw in my nose. We were taking a picture in front of Universal Studios and I was thirsty, I thrust my straw up and it ended up in my nose. We now have a picture of me with a straw in my nose.

I remember when I was about 4, first when into the pool, I was too scared to let go of the wall, even when I had my floaties on. I thought the water was the scariest thing ever, my mom had encouraged me to let go, but I just kept on refusing. Now I love the water, and a very good swimmer too.

I remember when I was about 2 or 3, my family was going to Universal Studios and I really wanted to take a picture with Barney. But when I saw the massive dinosaur, I immediately got scared and hid in my mom’s hair.

I remember when I was about 4 or 5, I had just burned myself for the first time. I stuck my finger in the car charger because I was curious. I remembered my mom scolding me for putting my finger in it. For weeks, my mom put Savlon on it and it magically healed.

I remember when I was 5 and I had just learned to ride a 2-wheel bike. My dad, my sister and I were cycling around the neighbourhood and my dad called out my name. I turned around and I bumped into a car’s rear bumper. I cried so hard, but felt better when my mom put a Barbie band-aid on my wound.

I remember when I was about 6 and in kindergarten, I had sprained my ankle during PE. We were practising our frog jumps and I landed on the outside of my foot. My friend was helping me to the Nurses’ office and I remember hopping all the from the gym to the Nurse’s. My friend then left and the nurse had just given me the worst news ever, “Go on back to class, it’s no big deal.” I asked her if she could help me but she just said she was busy. I then hopped all the way back to class, waiting for my mom to pick me up.

I remember when I was 5 and I had my birthday party. It seemed perfect, my hair was curled and my dress was nicely ironed. But the downer of the party was that ‘my’ prize had been given away to someone else. I cried so hard at my own party and there is a picture to remember us of this moment.

I remember when I was 4 and I had just made the most embarrassing video of my life. I was in a yellow Belle princess dress and I was dancing to the song ‘Mambo No. 5’. I was just being silly and I kept on asking my mom to play the song 3 more times. We found the video a few years ago and we had laughed our heads off.

I remember when I was about 4 or 5, I just had my first experience of snow. I was in Beijing and when I looked out my window, I saw this white cloudy blanket over our swing and porch tables. I ran out with my purple winter jacket out and my snow boots. I tried my first ever snow angel and my dad was at the window taking pictures of this moment.

I remember when I was 4 and one of my friends from my class had come over. I had just finished a shower and my maid was drying me off and then I heard a voice, “Nadia, are you there?” I froze because my friend was a boy. I told him to wait and quickly changed. We then got on with our play date, watching Teletubbies and Barney.

-Nadia Redza

My Name

MY NAME

Nadia. Such a simple name and yet when someone says it with happiness and pride, it lightens up my mood and completes my day. My name is from Russian, Arabic and Swahili origin. They all have different meanings; in Russian it means "hope", in Arabic it means "moist, tender and delicate", and in Swahili it means "caller". Some have teased me about Nadia meaning moist, but I don’t mind. Just how I didn’t mind when one boy called me "Narnia". It just means that I’m adventurous, just like the book. Such an adventure-filled journey through darkness.

I’m the kind of girl who has multiple names. My family calls me "Nana", from my middle name Adrianna, and sometimes old family friends or relatives call me "Adrianna". But my friends are different. They give me “fun” nicknames such as Naderzzz, Nodders and Nadie. I don’t know any particular reason as to why I am called these, but I love all my nicknames because it’s like a connection with the many kind of people I socialize with. When I hear these in the hallway, I turn around straight away like a person dodging a bullet. Though I respond to these nicknames, I will never remember my true identity. My mom named me after the great Nadia Comaneci because she hopes that one day, I will become an Olympian. Therefore came the meaning of Nadia, hope.

-Nadia Redza