Retell- The Boy in Striped Pajamas is about an eight year old boy named Bruno who moves into a new neighborhood with his family. Like any other young child, Bruno is curious to explore his surroundings. Bruno comes upon a fence where he meets a young boy sitting on the other side. the boy wearing striped pajamas (as Bruno would describe it). Bruno is quick to make friends with Shmuel, but soon discovers that Shmuel is Jewish and Bruno knows better than to make friends with a Jew. A speechless Bruno runs away as soon as he discovers that Shmuel is Jewish. Bruno often sneaks a sandwich out of the house to give to Shmuel as the two boys spend time together. One day Shmuel tells Bruno that he is unable to find his father and is worried. Bruno promises to help Shmuel in his search and Shmuel vows to get Bruno a pair of pajamas so that they blend in. After wearing the pajamas, Bruno sneaks onto the other side of the fence. As they search for Shmuel's father, the soldiers take the prisoners into the gas chamber and Bruno and Shmuel get mixed into the crowd. Bruno's father desperately searches the neighborhood in hopes to find Bruno once again. But he fails to get to the gas chamber in time to save Bruno.
Relate- When Bruno has to move to his new house, it reminded me of how I was felling when I had to move. I grew up with many friends in my old neighborhood with all my memories left behind. Bruno felt the same way as he said goodbye and moved on. The plot in the movie is very much like what is happening today in Nigeria. Boko Haram is an extremist Islamic group in Nigeria who seize young innocent girls for no specific reason. In the movie, Jews were captured because the Nazi's didn't like them. As we saw, young innocent children like Shmuel were captured for no reason.
Reflect- This movie is based on the thematic topic of the innocence of childhood. Shmuel does not know that his father has died in the gas chamber. But he is quick to realize that when he is forced into one. There's no tragedy in life like the death of a child. Things never get back to the way they were.
Sunday, 1 March 2015
Saturday, 14 February 2015
Ishmael Beah: A Child Soldier
A young author by the name of Ishmael Beah was once a child soldier. Ishmael grew up having the average childhood life. But by the age of twelve, Ishmael was separated from his family when the rebels attacked his town. His family had fled to another village that had been already destroyed. by the time Ishmael got to where his family was, it was too late because he saw death right before his very eyes. Ishmael then went to military base to find safety but ended up being recruited into war. he was forced to take drugs that would make him numb in order to kill others. Ishmael grew up with a very rough and tragic childhood life but he was later blessed with another mother who was glad to look after Ishmael.
Connection to previous learning: The story of Ishmael's life reminds me of a movie we watched last year called "Blood Diamond". In that movie, Solomon Vandy is captured by the rebels when they invade a small village in Sierra Leone. Solomon's son Dia, is forced into the rebels where he is eventually brainwashed to kill others. Ishmael was recruited by the rebels in Sierra Leone similar to how Dia was forced into the rebels. they both were eventually forced to kill.
Connection to "Teaching Kids to Kill": Fourteen year old Michael Corneal was involved in a school shooting but he had never before picked up a real gun in his life. Ishmael Beah was twelve years old when he first fired a gun. Both of these boys have one thing in common which is that they both learned to kill. While Ishmael Beah was brainwashed by the rebels, Michael Corneal learned it from video games and media violence.
Challenges: Although Ishmael Beah has wrote a book about his life, is he still engaged in the rebels way of life or has he put that behind him to start a new life?
Concepts: Some of the key concepts that I learned from the interview is that life can change with the blink of an eye. One minute you could be surrounded by the love of your family and the next minute you could be desperately looking for that love once again.
Changes: I think the changes that this interview suggests is that you should cherish the time you have with your loved ones because you never know where life can take you and every day may be your last.
Connection to previous learning: The story of Ishmael's life reminds me of a movie we watched last year called "Blood Diamond". In that movie, Solomon Vandy is captured by the rebels when they invade a small village in Sierra Leone. Solomon's son Dia, is forced into the rebels where he is eventually brainwashed to kill others. Ishmael was recruited by the rebels in Sierra Leone similar to how Dia was forced into the rebels. they both were eventually forced to kill.
Connection to "Teaching Kids to Kill": Fourteen year old Michael Corneal was involved in a school shooting but he had never before picked up a real gun in his life. Ishmael Beah was twelve years old when he first fired a gun. Both of these boys have one thing in common which is that they both learned to kill. While Ishmael Beah was brainwashed by the rebels, Michael Corneal learned it from video games and media violence.
Challenges: Although Ishmael Beah has wrote a book about his life, is he still engaged in the rebels way of life or has he put that behind him to start a new life?
Concepts: Some of the key concepts that I learned from the interview is that life can change with the blink of an eye. One minute you could be surrounded by the love of your family and the next minute you could be desperately looking for that love once again.
Changes: I think the changes that this interview suggests is that you should cherish the time you have with your loved ones because you never know where life can take you and every day may be your last.
Thursday, 12 February 2015
Obama Uses Military Force Against ISIS
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/fighting-isis-barack-obama-asks-u-s-congress-for-war-powers-1.2953245
This article is about the U.S. President Barack Obama, who wants to use military force in the campaign against ISIS. This reminds me about the time when we had a class discussion about war being justified or not. Many students believed that war is not justified for many different reasons while other students believed that war is justified for their own reasons. Prior to the class discussion, my opinion on war was that it is never justified. But after reading this article, I learned that war is justified under certain circumstances. For example, Obama wants to use military force in the campaign against ISIS. I believe in this situation, war is necessary because ISIS is a Militant Islamist Organization and they are threatening many nations. Therefore after reading this article, I came to the conclusion that war is justified for all the right reasons.
This article is about the U.S. President Barack Obama, who wants to use military force in the campaign against ISIS. This reminds me about the time when we had a class discussion about war being justified or not. Many students believed that war is not justified for many different reasons while other students believed that war is justified for their own reasons. Prior to the class discussion, my opinion on war was that it is never justified. But after reading this article, I learned that war is justified under certain circumstances. For example, Obama wants to use military force in the campaign against ISIS. I believe in this situation, war is necessary because ISIS is a Militant Islamist Organization and they are threatening many nations. Therefore after reading this article, I came to the conclusion that war is justified for all the right reasons.
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