Choose a short passage from your novel that made an impact on you as you read it, that made you stop and think maybe even say "Oh wow" to yourself. It may have made you stop and think because you made a personal connection. It may have made you wonder and ask a question. It may have made you react in some emotional way to the words on the paper. In your response, quote the passage and list the page number that it can be found on. Explain, in detail, why you chose this passage, what reason did you have that made you stop and think or had you reacting in some way. Include your feelings and emotions as well as state any connections you made (text to self, text to text, text to world). An example from another novel of how to start is this:
"Big signs were posted at the pool saying"No Jews or Dogs Allowed". pg 14
As I read this passage I couldn't believe that this could happen. How could the Jewish even be compared to dogs?"
As I read this passage I couldn't believe that this could happen. How could the Jewish even be compared to dogs?"
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ReplyDelete“I didn't tell anyone this, but often I thought of different ways to kill myself. After all, if I was going to die anyway, wouldn't it be better to do it in my own way? I'd heard that when the Germans got rid of Jews sometimes they buried them alive because they didn't want to waste the bullets”
When I read the first line my mouth dropped open. I couldn't believe what I was reading. A little girl thought about killing herself so she didn't have to be tortured to death. When I read this I felt angry that the German people would do this to such innocent humans. They would sometimes just bury them alive because they didn't want to waste bullets on them? That is absolutely disgusting. What if the German soldiers were in the Jewish people's position? How would they feel? Why do they feel that this okay? Just because a very powerful human who hates Jewish people doesn't mean that what they are doing is okay.
@LemonPie, I agree. Everyone hates things, but do we really hate them that much? Sure I hate cauliflower a lot, but it doesn't mean I'm going to go and burn every piece of cauliflower ever existing! What Hitler did was crazy and horrible.
Delete@Sassmaster and @LemonPie Well after read both of your comments I feel like we could all feel the same about the ways of Hitler and his soldiers, but the main thing Sassmaster talked about was how one little girl would rather be dead then be tortured. What if Hitler did not want to torture, but just kill. What if he just would torture to the point where you are dead. What do you guys think Hitler was meaning to do that instead of torture?
Delete@TeddySprinkles I think you might be right about him and the Nazis not wanting to kill the Jews because they might have lost more of Germany. What if he wanted to torture do death to conserve time? They maybe wanted to kill more people. What do you guys think?
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ReplyDeleteBefore she could finish the German soldier took his pistol out of his holster and shot old Mr.Zuckerman in the head. Then he shot the young Mr.Zuckerman.
First off I would like to say yes this is the beginning of the book and won't have much meaning to the rest of the book.
I had a connection to the last book I read called Daniel's Story. The part when the family was in Lodz (if you haven't read this part of Daniel's Story or the book at all, please skip to the next paragraph) and the German shot Auntie Leah in the head. Auntie Leah was also shot in the same spot the Zukerman's were and two of her children were also shot so in both books two generations of a Jewish family are killed.
I wonder why the Zukerman's were shot in the first place. Where they trying to protect the woman/girls in the family? Where they fighting back at the soldiers? What do you guys think about why they got killed? Tell me what you think!!
@NovaSpec, I think they were killed because not only were they Jewish, but I think they were trying to protect their family. When I read this part, I was horrified. Imagine watching a whole family get shot outside your window for no reason. In the book the Zuckermans seemed innocent, and so did everyone else who got killed. What do you think they did that caused them to get shot? Please tell:)
Delete@NovaSpec527, I don't think they were even fighting back!! Hitler is just crazy and wants to kill every single Jewish person on the face of the planet! At page 3, it says "Suddenly the old Mr. Zuckerman and the young Mr. Zuckerman were pushed into the middle of the street. Had they said something? Done somthing wrong? No they didn't. The only thing they did "wrong" was being Jewish!!!!!! It's crazy! What do the rest of you guys think?
Delete@Sassmaster It is terrible! The fact that they would be killed right on the spot just for being Jewish is foolish! What if they had a family? Imagine a helpless child that would soon be with you right after they pulled the trigger, the bullet surging through your skull as if its goal was to go straight through your head. As you slowly drift off to death, you see your child, tears springing from their face as they come towards you, but it's too late, you can't help them, no one can. I would never want to go through something like that! If this happened to one of you, ( the child's view) what would you do? Would you be mentally scarred for your short life that was soon coming to an end?
DeletePS: This wasn't from the book I wrote that myself.
@Sassmaster and @LemonPie I think that since this is just in Marisa's perspective she does not know all of the clues and facts about what happened that day. What i they did exactly what @LemonPie said and they were just trying to protect family. would that have changed anything?
Delete"'Last week Mr. Krysanska, our neighbour, was discovered hiding a Jew,' she said." The Germans took both him and the Jew to the time square. They shot the Jew. They cut off Mr. Krysanska's tongue. They pulled out his fingernails one by one. Then his toenails. They pulled his teeth out, gouged out his eyes; They peeled his skin off his body."
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this I cringed, I was disgusted! The fact that they would do something like this to someone just for doing the right thing is ludicrous! It does show though, that Mrs. Florczak is willing to let all of these terrible things happen to her. Although she is only letting them stay for one night, it is very brave and selfless of her to do so after she watched this one man get terribly tortured. Is this the Nazis way of sending a message to every Jew who isn't in the ghetto?
@TeddySprinklesI actually gagged when I read this. I can't even fathom to watch that. It's so terrible to have to watch it, but what If that was you? Absolutely disgusting. No innocent human deserves that. I would like to see Hitler in his position. When he would scream they would do it again. Horrible. Makes me sick to my stomach.
Delete@Sassmaster I totally agree, it was horrible! It still is! If you didn't watch you would be shot right then and there. What if you were a Nazi and didn't want to torture them, would you be killed as well? Do you think that the Nazis didn't want to kill the Jews, but it was too late to back out?
Delete@TeddySprinkles and @Sassmaster Why would the Nazis force the innocent Jews watch an old man tortured to death? He was just trying to hide a Jew! There was no need to kill him in such a way that other people had to watch. Just disgusting to visualize such a thing! Why do you guys think the Nazis forced innocent people to watch him get tortured?
Delete@teddy sprinkles This part was so horrific and disgusting. one man was shot. Which is horrible, and the other was tortured. Why did they do that. That would have been incredibly painful and the pain would not go away for a while. I also agree that Mrs.Krysanska is incredibly brave letting them stay at the barn. That could easily happen to her.
Delete@Teddy Sprinkles
DeleteI agree with all of you completely. I literally gagged while reading this part of the book! I can't imagine being in Mr. Krysanska's position, let alone a witness. I found it absolutely ridiculous that the Nazis were laughing the entire time. They are cold hearted- no let me try again.- They have no heart at all, and even if they had a heart, it would be cold as ice. As song the lyrics say in (I don't know the song): "He's a cold hearted snake, look in to his eyes. He's been telling lies!" This really relates to how the Nazis really were as people.
Sincerely,
Amelia Pond l>o<l Bow ties are cool<3
Whoops! I forgot to put @Rafi A., @Sassmaster, @Landon McQuarrie, and @NovaSpec527. Sorry for all the people I forgot!!
DeleteSincerely,
Amelia Pond l>o<l Bow ties are cool<3
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Delete@Teddy Sprinkles
DeleteWhen I read this passage I too was disgusted. What a horrible thing to do to some poor, innocent man who was just trying to do the right thing. I also think that making the other farmers that lived in the area watch him being beat up, is brutal as well. I would not want to watch someone in pain as they get their skin burned off. How could the Nazis live with themselves?
@TeddySprinkles I think that some Nazis felt bad and wanted to back out. but Hitler may would have killed them. Thats why no one really backed out of WW2. I bet at least some soldiers would have wanted to back out. What do you think?
ReplyDelete@NovaSpec527, I never really thought about that. I bet some of the Nazis had family back home and truly didn't want to kill the innocent Jewish people but they knew that if they didn't they would have gotten killed! It's Hitler who truly doesn't care and has no spec of heart for the thousands of innocent people he killed.
Delete"Marisa, they're gone. Wake up. Everyone is safe."
ReplyDelete"The Zuckermans?"
"No, not the Zuckermans."
I chose this bit of dialogue because it was really deep to me. The family down the street is not safe, in fact, they are dead. I think that this was a turning point in the war because the definition of "Everyone is safe." changed drastically. First, it meant that all the Jews were safe, then all the Jews in just their neighbourhood, then their family, then only themselves until they too, perished and no one was ever safe.
@IzzyHeaton This is a big thing and it does make the impact on what the Jews thought, but what would have happened it the Jews attacked the christians. I know its not related to the Zuckermans, but what would have happened it the Jews decided to start a war. what would have happen then? Anyone Please reply!
DeleteSorry, I meant all about @novaspec527
Delete"...and then kicked Fanny right in the side, hard."
ReplyDeleteThis is at a part in In My Enemy's House, where Marisa and Fanny were basically getting abused my a couple Nazis they had to work for. It is honestly disgusting and heartless. They were doing absolutely nothing to them, and they had the audacity to kick them, quite forcefully, in the side? What kind of humans are these? I have no sympathy whatsoever for the Nazis and they have no right to treat people this way.
I can't help to feel very terrible for Marisa, Fanny, and every other innocent victim. They were peacefully being who they were, living a normal life. But then one day, they are swept away into a hurricane of tragedy they may never get out of. I do have to ask this: WHY?? Why be so cruel to someone that did absolutely nothing to you? What makes their lives more important than the other harmless human being? Just... Wow.
Anything else to add about this?
Sincerely,
Amelia Pond l>o<l Bow ties are cool!!
The passage that I choose is on page 6, “I didn't tell anyone this, but often I thought of different ways to kill myself. After all, if I was going to die anyway, wouldn't it be better to do it in my own way? I'd heard that when the Germans got rid of Jews sometimes they buried them alive because they didn't want to waste the bullets." When I read this I was shocked. Did the Germans really think that Jews were that horrible. That is like saying that their life is worth less than a bullet. A life is worth much more than a bullet.
ReplyDelete@LandonMcQuarrie Yes life is worth more then a bullet, but if we are all going to die anyway then why would it matter. To the Germans, their lives are worth so much, but at the end of the day we all lived our lives well. What do you think the Germans thought about their lives. Did they accept the fact that they are all human?
Delete@novaspec527 I know that everybody dies but I think that it does matter. We would all rather die in a hospital than die of starvation or drowning so I think that it does matter wether you have a peaceful death or not. Think that the Germans thought that their lives were worth a million Jews lives. I don't think they accepted the fact at all. They thought that Jews were so bad and it did not make sense that they were both human.
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ReplyDeleteI just started this book and I got to the part on pg. 48 when the Naughtzies caught somebody hiding a jew so he took all his teeth out individually and toenails and finger nails, then gouged out his eyeballs, and finally ripped off his skin. This disgusted and disturbed me so much that I stopped reading for 15 minutes thinking about how disgusting these people must have been to be able to do this to someone. Like she said in page 6, "After all, if I was going to die anyway, wouldn't it be better to do in my own way?" I would consider it if I was forced to watch this happen like they were. What do you think?
ReplyDeletePg. 104: "I pretended constantly to be someone I was not and the more I pretended the more I hated myself.
ReplyDeleteI started thinking of all the ways I could kill myself."
This passage really stuck out to me because of how powerful the sentence really is! It made me sick thinking about the thoughts that go through Maria's/Marisa's head. But I don't nessecarily blame her for thinking these god awful thing. I mean, how hard it must be to go through the painful labor, and then in the end come up with ways to kill yourself. When's it going to happen? Where's it going to be? And how painful or long should the tragedy be? It must be terrible being the only thought inside your head, and actually thinking about going through with it. How awful...
I can't even imagine being in Marisa's position. I despise the Nazis and anyone associated with the reigning of Hitler, because they are the reason these suicidal thoughts are traveling within her head. She should be at home, in bed, and drinking a nice cup of tea because she deserves it. Instead, she has to walk around as someone she isn't, and hide her true identity. For if she was to be found out, she would be killed in a very painful way.
This is what they have to go through.
Sincerely,
Amelia Pond l>o<l Bow ties are cool<3
@Amelia Pond. Why do you think she wants to commit suicide? What causes a human being to want to do this? Actually kill themselves! How... Why-W-WHAT! God gave you a life to use it, not kill it to go back were it came from. If you want your life then you have to be determined to keep it.
ReplyDelete@Hotdog Is me,
DeleteI think she may have wanted to kill her self because she was basically being someone she isn't. She has her own personality, but to survive, she has to be someone she isn't, which must be severely difficult for her. All she wants is to be her self with out being hated. I guess she just had enough.
I completely agree with what you are saying. What reason is possibly out there to want to kill yourself? Crazy right? But I want you and everyone else to think about this. If you were in this situation, what would you do? Would you have the same feeling? Would you have so many issues like this that it would drive you to commit suicide? It is a much bigger question, and definitely more difficult, to answer.
What do you have to add?
Sincerely,
Amelia Pond l>o<l Bow ties are cool<3
I might consider it but would probably not go through with it because I would be too scared. What would you do? And you are totally right on her wanting to kill herself because of her not being herself. I don't think anyone should pretend to be who they are not but she has a pretty good reason for it. Please answer back.
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