Final English 11 Essay

FLAWS

- I trust people far too much and hold grudges when I get hurt.
- I can be socially awkward around people I want to impress.
- I care about a lot of people but fail to see when those people don't care back.
- I say often say things I don't mean and end up hurting people because of it.
- I tend to ignore people who I am angry with and avoid confronting them.
- I am submissive and will not hold my own ground when someone does not let me tell them how I feel in a fight. I put others feelings before mine and let people take advantage of me. 
- Self-centered


STRENGTHS

- Ambitious
- Hard-working
- Kind
- Caring
- Loving
- Intelligent
- Humorous
- Positive/ Negative
- Resilient
- Creative
- Proud
- Determined

"There are questions of real power and then there are questions of phony authority. You have to break through the phony authority to begin to fight the real questions of power."  - Karen Nussbaum


I think this if of the most obvious statements about power. There is real power, pure ambition and god-given power. There is also a phony type of authority that is handed over by another human being who believes he holds power when, in reality, his power is none but the same type of phony authority. This reminds me of the type of power policemen and educational officials hold. There is no real power there. There is no influence or genuine practicality with that power. There is only a false sense of  authority over a seemingly inferior group of people and for that to be considered power is ridiculous. 


"The guilty think all talk is of themselves."  - Geoffrey Chaucer

A guilty person feels that everyone must being talking of their actions and what they have done. Cocky if you ask me, to be constantly thinking another person is talking about you. One should never assume another person is speaking of them, thinking of them, or looking at them. It's not classy, not lady-like, not gentlemanly. One must be humble, even when guilty. Guilty people who are suspicious are often caught sooner than those who are not.  

Yes, everyone has the capability to come out of a situation. But opportunity doesn't fall from the sky in to the hands of the needy. They need to be given an opportunity. People who have no where to go, no motivation, no self-respect. These are people who have been told, their whole lives, that they are worthless. They believe it. People who have been given an opportunity, an open door, are able to thrive in their potential. 

The real question is, to what degree of selfish is it considered negative? Are you doing something for another person because you want to help, and the self satisfaction is just a bonus? Or are you doing something because you know it will make you look like a good person. We all just want to be good people. 

Evil: 

Dispositional 
Situational
Systematic

"Confrontation. Depending on your adversary, it's not always a good idea." Standing up for oneself, proving one's capability, being tough. When the instinct of the human mind takes over and our natural defense mechanisms kick in, we become slaves to our insecurities. We put up walls of our own, concrete barriers that hold strong against any nuclear weapon, but can be cracked by the most insignificant comment. Words that hit home, words that weasel in to our deepest subconscious and hurt more than any stick or stone. In an attempt to prove our stability we create conflict. It is easiest to fight back. Although many people feel that confrontation is pointless and that fighting back will get you no where, one's actions do not always reflect one's opinion. Confrontation derives from the inner most need to defend oneself. It latches on to one's weaknesses and as soon as those tiny imperfections are threatened, it attacks. Confrontation comes from needing to be right, needing to be heard and seen. It comes from having to proves oneself, no matter the opponent. 

Learning about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust has made me question the real definition of evil even further, and has made me think about the true origin of evil. Is it nature, nurture, or both?

After studying evil and the Nazis and this book, I have begun to think about the way I was brought up in more detail. I question whether the person I am right now is because of the way my parents raised me, or because of the way I raised myself. There were many instances when my parents would tell me the world is one way and I would disagree and tell them it is another way and that would be it. Rarely would I let my parents ideals influence me because often, to me, they were quite wrong. I think this has kept me in a place I like to be. This independence has made me a person I am proud of. Sure, I embrace the things my parents have tried to teach me, and there are some things that you have to take with opens arms and accept that they are right. I am proud of who I am because I have not followed a lot of what my parents have taught me. I would rather be considered wrong in their eyes than be ashamed of myself because I mimic the way my parents act in public or my mom's idea of what dance competitions are about. Sure, I have arguments with my mom and dad, mostly my mom, because I don't agree with where they are coming from and they don't understand where I am coming from, but these arguments have shaped me in to the kind of strong-willed person I am right now. I don't let other people tell me what is and what isn't if I don't like it. Of course I am open to new ideas and I am aware of what is fact and what is fiction, but I won't let another person's opinion take priority over my own.

Learning about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust has made me question the real definition of evil even further, and has made me think about the true origin of evil. Is it nature, nurture, or both?

After studying evil and the Nazis and this book, I have begun to think about the way I was brought up in more detail. I question whether the person I am right now is because of the way my parents raised me, or because of the way I raised myself. There were many instances when my parents would tell me the world is one way and I would disagree and tell them it is another way and that would be it. Rarely would I let my parents ideals influence me because often, to me, they were quite wrong. I think this has kept me in a place I like to be. This independence has made me a person I am proud of. Sure, I embrace the things my parents have tried to teach me, and there are some things that you have to take with opens arms and accept that they are right. I am proud of who I am because I have not followed a lot of what my parents have taught me. I would rather be considered wrong in their eyes than be ashamed of myself because I mimic the way my parents act in public or my mom's idea of what dance competitions are about. Sure, I have arguments with my mom and dad, mostly my mom, because I don't agree with where they are coming from and they don't understand where I am coming from, but these arguments have shaped me in to the kind of strong-willed person I am right now. I don't let other people tell me what is and what isn't if I don't like it. Of course I am open to new ideas and I am aware of what is fact and what is fiction, but I won't let another person's opinion take priority over my own.

The Book Thief - Compare/Contrast Essay

Liesel:

1. Stubborn

• p28 "The fact was this: Liesel would not get out of the car."
• p47 "On this occasion, they tried to force Liesel out. As you might imagine, she protested, and Rudy agreed."

2. Curious

• p66 "As Papa flicked through it, he could surely feel Liesel's eyes on him.They reached over and gripped him, waiting for something, anything, to slip from his lips."

3. Tempermental

• p79 "Still crowded with adrenaline, Liesel caught sight if him smiling with such absurdity that she dragged him down and started beating him up as well."

4. Determined

• p86 "... she had neither the selflessness to allow him to sleep nor the hide to be offended. She was a girl with a mountain to climb."

5. Forgiving/Modest

• p98 "Liesel didn't mind. She didn't whine or moan or stamp her feet. She simply swallowed the disappointment and decided on one calculated risk - a present from herself."

6. Caring

• p334 "'Look at all this. These gifts.' He held the button in his hand. 'And Rosa said you read to me twice every day, sometimes three times. '"

Rudy:

1. Cocky/Pretentious

• p49 "He's the boy who refuses to fear the opposite sex, purely because everyone else embraces that particular fear, and he's the type who is unafraid to make a decision."
• p53 "'If I beat you, I get to kiss you.'"
• p55 "'One day, Liesel,' he said, 'you'll be dying to kiss me.'"

2. Imaginative

English - In Class Essay

If you had a son or daughter, what are the 2-3 most important values you would want them to learn by the time they graduate from high school?

• People will always let you down. Learn to forgive them.
• Spend your life with those who make you happy, not who you have to impress.
• 
  

White Rose Movement - PowerPoint project

Memorial to the “White Rose” student resistance group, Ludwig-Maximilian-University, Munich. The White Rose group, a small and very unrepresentative group of German students, have assumed enormous symbolic importance in modern Germany, particularly for young people, as examples of “good Germans” who resisted the Nazis at the risk, and the cost, of their lives. Their graves in a Munich cemetery are heaped with flowers. 

http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=9572 

Germany's culture of commemoration
by Adam Carr  

Christoph Probst
http://paulonpius.blogspot.com/

Sophie Scholl
http://andreaskluth.org/2009/11/18/the-white-rose-german-heroes/

Johann Gottlieb Fichte:

And thou shalt act as if
On thee and on thy deed
Depended the fate of all Germany,
And thou alone must answer for it.

people's court in Berlin

http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/whiterose.html

Students Against Tyranny: The Resistance of the White Rose, Munich, 1942-1943 

White Rose, The (pamphlet) Franz J. Muller,et al., White Rose Foundation, Munich  1991

At the Heart of the White Rose: Letters and Diaries of Hans & Sophie Scholl Inge Jens, ed., Harper & Row, 1987

http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/wrleaflets.html

Students Against Tyranny: The Resistance of the White Rose, Munich, 1942-1943 

White Rose, The (pamphlet) Franz J. Muller,et al., White Rose Foundation, Munich  1991
Leaflets of the White Rose  -Thomas J. Cox, ISBN:1879710021, Riverside Books, July 1991

James Parsons 
http://www.suite101.com/content/the-white-rose-resistance-movement-munich-a105166

 

Literary Essay - "And Summer Is Gone" by Susie Kretschmer

David: 

• Studious
• Curious
• Imaginative
• Creative
• Passionate
• Artistic
• Insightful
• Intuitive
• Introvert
• Secure
• Academic
• Mature

Amy:

• Friendly
• Forward
• Adventurous
• Insecure
• Extrovert
• Social
• Under-achiever
• False
• Untrue
• Confident
• Judgemental
• Shallow

Quotes: 

David:

• "I was an artist." (2)
• "I lived in the worlds that I drew." (4)
• "I spent more time on my art, alone." (3)
• "I met her blue eyes with a level calm stare." (4)

Amy:

• "Tall as I was and unafraid to claim every inch of it." (2)
• "But she hardly spoke to me at school, ever." (3)
• "She complained she was fat and affected to eat little." (3)

Amy is social in order to be accepted by her peers at school. She is insecure about her appearance and what people will think of her. This is why she does not talk to David at school. She wants to be something she is not. As a kid, Amy was adventurous and outgoing. She was lanky and awkward, she played in the mud and played dress up and pretend. As she reached high school, she changed. Her personality changed with her body and she became self-conscious. She wanted to be perfect, she wanted to fit in. She changed who she was to please other people and to please her thirst for popularity.

Growing older provides an opportunity for personal change and growth, not only physically but psychologically as well. The short story “And Summer Is Gone” by Susie Kretschmer describes the changing attitude of a young girl as she experiences the pressures of high school. The story, told from the point of view of the girl’s close friend, expresses how her urgency to find a comfortable niche in the high school experience has put a strain on their once innocent friendship. While Amy is insecure and ultimately shallow, her friend, David, is intuitive and secure about his identity.

                Amy first appears to be a confident young girl. As a gawky thirteen year old, she is forward and friendly. She is tall and “unafraid to claim every inch of it” and her adventurous attitude is appealing to David the day they first meet (2). As Amy grows up she is molded by the kinds of influences a stereotypical high school experience has to offer. She ceases to find David interesting, only speaking to him during the summers and never at school. It is easy to assume that Amy is embarrassed by David’s artistic and academic interests, as they now contradict her own. Her extrovert personality seems to mask her discomfort with her image and she is social in order to be accepted by her peers at school. This image change affects how Amy acts around David as well. She stops eating around him, “complain[ing] she was fat and affect[ing] to eat little” (3). By the closing of the story it is evident that Amy changes who she is to please other people.

    

The story is told from David’s point of view, from the day he meets Amy until the day he knows he’s lost her. He is a very secure person, not one’s typical definition of confident, but he knows who he is. David is a bright, creative, studious person. He finds simplicity mesmerizing and is significantly observant. His intellect and introvert personality allows him to quietly view the world around him and gather information about people and things. David prefers to work on his art alone and he “lived in the worlds that [he] drew” (4). He is comfortable with himself and is quite proud of his own personal accomplishments. David finds security in understanding that “it was [him] who had grown up and [Amy] who had gotten lost” (4). This level of maturity is, in this context, unusual for a boy of David’s age and impressive all the same.

Both friends evolve in different ways, growing apart in their experiences.  These differences in personality and interest allow both Amy and David to find what it is they are looking to find when it comes to school, relationships, and friendships. As Amy feels she has grown up and it is David who is still immature, it is David who finds maturity while still holding on to the integrity of his childhood.

Literary Essay - "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson

Tradition and conventional practices are often considered the foundation of many cultures. These customs are established in order to conserve the original integrity of the society. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson tells the story of a small village, reliant on the ancient tradition of stoning one unlucky member of the community every summer. Although there is evidence that the lottery will continue indefinitely, there is evidence that the tradition will not last.

Despite the growth in discontent among citizens, there is sufficient evidence that the lottery will persevere. A tradition such has this one, having been practice as long has this one has, is difficult to overrule. In a community where tradition is of great value, rarely would anyone attempt to “upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (148), let alone tackle eliminating the ritual altogether. Elders of the village, such as Old Man Warner, are not quick to accept the changing times. Having grown old with the tradition, Warner expresses that “there’s always been a lottery” (152), implying that he believes there always will be. These beliefs have been instilled in the youth of the community as well, giving way to an equally brutal future.

               

                As humans evolve and times change, ceremonies similar to the lottery become less welcomed.  These traditions are seen as morally unacceptable and, in this particular situation, many begin talk of “giving up the lottery” (152). As less people find these traditions exhilarating, less people take them seriously. As a result, parts of the tradition are “forgotten or discarded” (149). Mr. Summers, the official of the lottery, ignores certain elements of the ceremony such as using wood chips to draw from the black box. By allowing small parts of the tradition much like this to collapse, the members of the community are allowing the eventual end of the entire tradition itself.

            Aside from the clues that suggest that the lottery will soon cease to exist, there is a strong belief that this ritual is essential to the functioning of the society. Though this event is considered morally wrong by many modern day cultures, the village described in the story is impartial to this immorality. The lottery has become an integral component of their lifestyle and is something that would not easily be resolved.

EVIDENCE IT WILL CONTINUE

·      “No one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.” (148)

·      “But every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything being done.” (148)

·      “There’s always been a lottery.” (152)

EVIDENCE IT WILL FALL

·      “Because so much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations.” (149)

·      “Years and years ago this part of the ritual had been allowed to lapse” (149)

·      “Some places have already quit lotteries.” (152)