Last Blog!

Now that I have an idea for my presentation, I need to finish my creative project. Over the past weekend I was able to create a Dr. Seuss-like story that I’ll share with the class when I present. Now all I need to do is create the illustrations, which will probably be the most time consuming. Before this weekend I hope to have two illustrations finished out of the ten I need to do. Over the weekend it'd be good if I finished three more illustrations. I’m hoping to get all this done, but it will be tough!

Presentation Ideas

On Friday I handed in my last high school research paper EVER, and boy did it feel good, but unfortunately for me the year is not over. I now have to figure out what I am going to do for my presentation that is supposed to be between 10 to 15 minutes. I plan on starting the presentation by discussing what I have learned from the research I found for my research paper. A poster will be made to show the class Dr. Seuss’s political cartoons and book illustrations. Once I talk about everything I learned from my research paper as well as everything from my poster I will share the book I created for my creative project with the class. After reading the book I will ask the class some questions to make sure that they understand the meaning of my book. I plan on getting the class involved at the end of my presentation, by handing out blank sheets. The sheets will have a quote from one of Dr. Seuss’ children’s books at the bottom, and there will be space for the class to illustrate what the quote says. When everyone is done we will compare the student’s artwork to Dr. Seuss’s.

Almost Done!

So, I surprisingly stayed somewhat true to what I said I was going to do in my last week's blog. By the end of the weekend I managed to have my introduction paragraph finished, along with two body paragraphs. I am half way through my third body paragraph, and plan to finish that by Tuesday along with my conclusion. On Wednesday night I will complete my bibliography. If I end up doing all of this I will have Thursday night to completely revise everything, and get my research paper ready to hand in on Friday. Over the weekend I plan to create a Dr. Seuss- like story for my creative project. 

This Week's Agenda

Last week I never got around to starting my opening paragraph of my research paper, so I need to get that done this week. By Wednesday I am going to have an outline along with my opening paragraph completed. I think that the opening paragraph and outline are the hardest things to organize when it comes to creating a research paper, so if i get these two things done by Wednesday I will feel much better about my paper. Thursday I will begin my first body paragraph, and I am hoping to have at least two body paragraphs completed before the weekend starts so that over the weekend I can really focus on editing my paper. 

Approval

Today, my project idea was approved by my teacher, and I will now be able to begin my fourth marking period project! I decided to research Dr. Seuss for my project, which is based off of my book illustration idea. Last week I came up with the idea of creating my own Dr. Seuss-like book with my own rhymes and illustrations for my creative project. Now that I have my creative project idea down, I am going to begin my research paper because the due date for the research paper is much sooner than the due date for the creative project. So, for this week my goal is to find out as much as I can about Dr. Seuss, read as many books of his as I can, and hopefully start my opening paragraph this week.

Beginning Thoughts of my Fourth Marking Period Project

For the fourth-marking period the assignment is to look up any topic that has never been discussed in my English class that I would like to learn about. Yes, it is awesome that I get to research any topic that I would like, and I’m sure that it will make my project easier to complete; however, English is not my favorite subject, and I am having difficulty finding an interesting topic to research. Over the weekend, I started thinking about possible topics to research. I began to think that researching books that were made into movies would be fun because who wouldn’t want to watch a movie for their English project? Later, I realized that I do not have enough interest in the topic to do a project. So I began to think and ask myself, what am I interested in, and what do I like to do? Art was one of the first things that came to my mind, and book illustration soon followed my thoughts about art. What if my project was about book illustrations? It is a topic that I would love to spend my time researching through the whole fourth marking period. Now that I have a topic I need ideas on what I should discuss in my research paper as well as what I should do for my creative project. This week I will find websites to help me find ideas for my research paper, and I will think of ideas for my creative project. I’m going to try and find some websites from credible sources like Britannica Online as well as Historical Newspapers and Questia.

Why the Recipes?

In every chapter of Like Water for Chocolate Tita describes different Mexican recipes that she weaves into her story. She goes back and forth between talking about her life and descriptions of how to make food, such as a Chabela Wedding Cake and Christmas Rolls. Her descriptions of the recipes seem to be very random and uninteresting because at first I did not understand what they had to do with the novel. As I read on, I discovered that each recipe has a huge significance to Tita’s story. Because cooking is such a huge part of Tita’s life, it makes sense that she would incorporate her recipes into her story.

I did some research online to see what other people say about the incorporation of recipes within the novel, and I found out that many people enjoyed the recipes. Erica Bauermeister states, “Like Water For Chocolate is a deceptively simple book - a love story set in Mexico, interspersed with recipes, related in unadorned, uncomplicated language. Yet when the ingredients are combined and simmer, subtle and unusual flavors emerge.” She doesn’t go into much detail about the recipes, but it is clear that she enjoyed them, as well as Shonneky Langham who states, “At the beginning of each chapter there is a recipe that corresponds to some pivotal event in the story. I know it sounds cheesy but it really works well for the pace of the book. These recipes only add an element of intimacy to the novel. The way to a man's heart in this story is, literally and figuratively, through his stomach.” Like both of these critics, I believe that the recipes eventually added to the story, but I didn’t catch on so quickly.

Arranged Marriages

So I began reading Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel and I can’t seem to be able to put it down. The above link is a helpful and positive review of the book that explains why the book is so interesting. As I began reading this book, my attention was instantly caught once Mama Elena, the protagonist’s mother, said to Tita, the main character, “If he intends to ask for your hand, tell him not to bother. He’ll be wasting his time and mine too. You know perfectly well that being the youngest daughter means you have to take care of me until the day I die.” From this quote I learned that arranged marriages are a big part of Tita’s culture, and I also began to absolutely HATE Mama Elena. What will happen to Tita when she gets older? Who will take care of her if she is not allowed to marry? I began to research more about arranged marriages, and I discovered that the practice continues today, especially in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan and India. It even happens in America. I have a friend whose friend just had her marriage arranged, and she decided to go along with it even though she has never met her future husband. I find the whole process to be very odd and unfair, but it is not a part of my culture; therefore, I do not understand it. I guess kids today, like Rosaura and Pedro in Like Water for Chocolate still go through with arranged marriages to remain respectful towards their parents. I have not finished the book yet, so I do not know what will happen to Tita and Pedro, but I hope they overcome the obstacle that Mama Elena places in front of them.

Why the Sunflower?

After completing the novel and my projects for the book, I couldn’t help but wonder why Wiesenthal named the book The Sunflower . Before I started researching what sunflowers are used to symbolically represent, I always thought that sunflowers represented happiness. I asked myself, why would a flower that represents happiness be a major symbol in a novel about the Holocaust? In the novel, Wiesenthal walks past sunflowers that are placed over Nazi soldiers’ graves, and is mesmerized by them. I didn’t think that Wiesenthal would find happiness from flowers planted on a soldier’s grave; it just didn’t add up to me. I looked online and found that the sunflower actually represents hope in a dark time. If you are interested in reading more on how the sunflower got its meaning, this link will be very helpful. After reading this website, I figured that the sunflower meant so much to Wiesenthal because he needed hope during a time as horrible as the Holocaust. These sunflowers were the only form of comfort Wiesenthal had, and this was probably why he made The Sunflowerhis title. This link talks about titles, and what makes them good. I believe that Wiesenthal did a great job of choosing The Sunflower as a title. It seems simple, but it has a lot of meaning behind it, and I believe that’s what most titles of novels should be like.

Albert Speer's Guilt

Just the other day I was in the car with my friend and her parents, and we were talking about books we were currently reading for school. I told them about how I was reading The Sunflower, by Simon Wiesenthal. To my surprise, they had no idea that Wiesenthal was a writer, they just knew him from his success as a Nazi Hunter. I thought this story was interesting to add to my latest blog, because I knew Wiesenthal as a writer before I read about him being a Nazi Hunter. Some would say Wiesenthal is more famous for catching Nazi’s than his writing.

Albert Speer’s response to Wiesenthal’s question in part two of The Sunflower is very intriguing. Speer was a high ranking Nazi who was one of the planners of the Third Reich; he was Hitler’s minister of armaments. Albert Speer was on trial at Nuremberg, and was one of very few who took responsibility for his actions during the Holocaust. In his response to Wiesenthal, Speer says, “Afflicted by unspeakable suffering, horrified by the torments of millions of human beings, I acknowledged responsibility for these crimes at the Nuremberg Trials.” After reading Speer’s response, it is clear that he has not forgiven himself for what he had done during the Holocaust. He does not expect Wiesenthal to either, but he is understanding. He thanks Wiesenthal for being compassionate and tolerant, as well as “showing clemency, humanity, and goodness.” Speer does not expect anything out of Wiesenthal. He does not even expect Wiesenthal to be nice to him. When Wiesenthal doesn’t reproach him, or “comfort him with his anger,” Speer becomes very appreciative. Albert Speer’s response to Wiesenthal’s question was very respectful. When I read it, it made me more sympathetic towards him, after all Speer did help Hitler in the massacring of millions of Jews. I do not think that what he did during the Holocaust was right, nor do I think he should be forgiven, but his response makes him seem more humane.

After reading all the responses in part two, I found Speer to be the most intriguing because Speer has a different point of view compared to everyone else who responded to Wiesenthal’s question. Some who responded were Jews, some were religious leaders, and some were journalists, but none of them were actual Nazis like Speer was. One of the links I added above talks about Speer’s life, and the other one is an anaylsis of his life, and I recommend reading the section called, Speer’s Guilt and Sense of Responsibility.

Wiesenthal's Other Hobby

As I was writing a research paper for my english class about The Sunflower, I ran across an interesting website that mentioned Wiesenthal’s involvement as a Nazi War Criminal Investigator after the Holocaust. This did not surprise me too much because I’m sure that once he got out of the concentration camps and regained his strength, he wanted justice... who wouldn’t? How could the Nazis not be punished for the horrible crimes they committed during the Holocaust? I decided to research more about Wiesenthal’s life, and found out that his work prosecuting the Nazis was legendary. Who would have guessed that a well-known author in his genre would also be famous for something completely different? Wiesenthal was able to bring 1,100 Nazis to justice, and his greatest success was with Adolf Eichmann. Wiesenthal was the leader of a campaign that uncovered information about Eichmann’s whereabouts, and brought him to trial in 1961. I’m very impressed with Wiesenthal’s accomplishments, and I recommend reading the link I posted above to anyone who is reading The Sunflower, or anyone who is considering reading it.

Answering Wiesenthal's Question

Throughout the second half of part one of The Sunflower, Wiesenthal contemplates if he made the right decision in regards to the dying soldier's request. In the last sentence of The Sunflower Wiesenthal tells the reader to ask, “What would I have done?” if I were placed in this situation. For me, the answer is simple. I would not have forgiven the soldier, and I would not be hard on myself for not forgiving him. How could Wiesenthal even consider forgiving a man who has killed so many innocent people, and who probably would have killed him if he was told to? The people that the Nazi really should be asking for forgiveness from is the people he killed. Wiesenthal should never forgive the SS soldier, especially after everything he had been through in his life at the Nazi camps. I found this link about Wiesenthal's life to be very interesting, and I recommend it to anyone interested in reading about his life.

What probably surprised me the most about the book was the fact that the Nazi soldier asked for forgiveness. If I had just killed a bunch of innocent Jews, and was on my death bed, I would not have had the audacity to even face a Jew. The soldier, being the Christian that he was, should have talked to a priest before he died. The priest would have been more likely to have helped him die in peace.

There are many reasons why I believe Weisanthal should not forgive the Nazi. I do not understand why he felt somewhat bad for the Nazi, or why he visited the Nazi’s mother. Maybe with time, he thought that the soldier was just following orders and really didn’t have a choice. Maybe he thought that the soldier knew he was doing the wrong thing, and asked for forgiveness because he was trapped into doing a horribly wrong deed. However, I still think that everyone has a choice about their actions, and the soldier was wrong to kill those innocent people even if he was doing it under orders.

First Impression

My first impression of Simon Wiesenthal
s autobiography, The Sunflower, was not positive. The story, which took place in a Nazi death camp, was about Wiesenthal
s difficult experience with a dying SS man and his final request of Wiesenthal. I recently read a criticism stating that Wiesenthal, "in less than one hundred pages, painted a vivid picture of what it was like to be a Jew in that place and time." His book was an easy read and was very short, but while the book was quite short, I found it difficult to become interested in because he was repetitive with some of his thoughts. As I got further into the story, I noticed that things began to pick up and became much more interesting, especially when Wiesenthal met the SS soldier. I do not want to spoil the story for anyone who is considering reading this book, but Wiesenthal
s response to the dying Nazi
s request for forgiveness surprised me. I
m looking forward to reading the diverse viewpoints in part two based on what occurred in part one. Overall, I think that part one is a pretty good read, but be patient with it.