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Journal # 1
In the story,
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
, who fights against
prejudice and discrimination? How might this been seen as ironic and tragic?
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Journal # 2
In the camps, Wiesel must struggle to stay alive and to remain
human. In your opinion,how well does he succeed with his
struggles?
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Journal # 3
Throughout the last few days of his father’s life, Wiesel is tormented by the guilt he feels over his inability to help his father more than he does, and for secretly wanting to feed himself before feeding his father. During this time, Wiesel is told: “Every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else… Everyone lives and dies for himself alone.” Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
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Journal # 4
How would you define resistance? In what ways can a person
resist things? In what ways do we see Elie and the prisoners around him resist?
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Journal # 5
Respond to the following quote from Rollo
May: “The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity.”
How is this quote related to the Holocaust?
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Journal # 6
Tuvia tells the group, "Our revenge is to live....We may be hunted like animals, but we will not be animals." What do you think he means by this?
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Journal # 7
Tuvia Bielski once said: "I would rather save one old Jewish woman than kill 10 Nazi soldiers." What does this teach about his values system that influenced his thinking and decision-making?
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Journal # 8
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now- when?"
Ethics of the Fathers
1:14. This comes from a collection of famous quotes and teachings of Jewish Rabbis who lived from 70-200 CE. What does this quote mean in your own words? How does it relate to what we have been studying?
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Journal # 9
Throughout the book, characters demonstrate how survival instincts can override moral decisions and actions. For instance, sons beat or abandon their fathers in order to survive. In your opinion, is this an understandable,or forgivable, phenomenon? Why or why not?
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Journal # 10
Elie Wiesel writes, "A Jew cannot be a Jew on his own. A Jew needs to be part of a community." How does Wiesel and others create "community" in the concentration camps? How does the Bielski camp create community?
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Journal # 11
What have you learned from studying the Jewish partisans and the movie
Defiance?
How has this changed your understanding of World War II and the Holocaust?
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Journal # 12
Eliezer is unable to cry for his father’s death, and he admits that, deep inside, he is relieved of being freed from the burden of caring for his father. Eliezer’s experiences in the concentration camps have altered his perspectives on life and death; death is no longer feared. What is your perspective on death? Do you fear dying? Explain your viewpoint.
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Journal # 13
What role does the media play in your lives? Have you ever watched or read a story that made you angry or made take action? Do you ever discuss the news or a show you have watched with your parents? Friends? How far would
you go to report a story?
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Journal # 14
Why do Genocides occur? Why don't people or foreign countries intervene sooner in conflicts?
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Journal # 15
Can a "good" person do bad or evil things given certain circumstances? What does peer pressure have to do with it? How does fear come into play?
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Journal # 16
What are some bigger themes we have delved into and talked about this second semester that are shared by all genocides?
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Journal # 17
How would you define insanity? What types of behavior do you think an insane person has?
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Journal # 18
What do you consider to be one of the oldest forms of written communication? How far back do you think written communication goes? What is one of the oldest things you have seen or owned?
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Journal # 19
Jacques: "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages.
In this passage from As You Like It, Jaques says that the world is like a stage, and the people in the world are like actors that enter (are born) and exit (die), passing through several stages of life when they are on stage (alive). Jaques goes on to list the seven stages of life. Do you think your life is a play, movie or television show? Come up with the title of the show and what it would be about.
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Journal # 20
Shakespeare coined the phrase, "Heart of hearts"
Hamlet:....Give me that man
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him
In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart,
As I do thee." (III.ii.64-67)
Put this excerpt in your own words, using modern English.
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Journal # 21
What do you know about homelessness today? What are some of the reasons for homelessness? Why do you think people were homeless in the 1930s? Would teenagers have different reasons for being homeless than adults, both in the past and today?
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Journal # 22
In your journals write a diary entry or letter from the point of view of a teenager during the 1930s who has run away to ride the rails. Explain why you left and what you are experiencing. What are your hopes? What are your fears? Date it Spring 1935 and write for a paragraph or two.
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Journal # 23
What is the "American Dream"? What does that mean to you? Does it still exist? Why or why not.
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Journal # 24
Write about a time when you were unkind to someone mentally or physically disabled, or you witnessed someone else being unkind to a mentally or physically disabled person. Describe what
happened, and how you felt at that time.
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Journal # 25
Draw a map of a favorite outdoor retreat you enjoy. Why do you like this particular natural setting? How does it change, depending on the time of day or time of year you go there? When do you go to this place?
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Journal # 26
"Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope.” Write a response to this quote. What do you think the writer is saying here? How is this statement true or relevant to our world today?
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Journal # 27
Write about a situation in which you were powerless, when you had no control and had to obey someone else’s orders. How did this situation make you feel at the time? What do you think the person “in power” in that situation was feeling or thinking?
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Journal # 28
One author once wrote about dreams. He said,“Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you cease to live” (Swift qtd. Doan 88). What do you think he means by this? Do you agree or disagree with him? Why?
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Journal # 29
The things we own tell a lot about who we are. Someone who owns a lot of music and musical instruments is clearly interested in playing and listening to music. Someone with a lot of video games is usually interested in spending his/her time gaming. An athlete might possibly subscribe to Sports Illustrated, have posters of famous athletes pinned to the wall, and a lot of sports equipment. Think about the things you own. What do they say about you?
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Journal # 30
“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or cancer. It’s the feeling of
being uncared for, unwanted –of being deserted and alone” (Mother Teresa). Do you agree or disagree with this quote? Why or why not?
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Journal # 31
Think of a popular song that repeats a particular line over and over again. What song is it, and what line is repeated over and over again? Why do you think the song artist chooses to repeat this line? What does repetition in a song or a poem or a story do? What is its purpose?
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Journal # 32
Curley’s wife is a complicated and fascinating character. The men on the ranch constantly refer to her in a derogatory and sexual way.This is partly because she is the only woman, partly because they fear her as the boss’s wife and partly because this is the way she has learned to communicate. What do you think of her? Are the men right to think of her as they do?
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Journal # 33
How should this book end, in your opinion? Why?
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Journal # 34
Describe a time when you planned something and worked hard to accomplish your goal, only to have it utterly destroyed by someone or something else. How did it feel to see all of your hard work go down the drain?
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Journal # 35
"The sun never set on the British Empire." What do you think
this quote means?
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