Brian Page The book that I read was Ghost's In The Fog by Samantha Seiple. The message of this book to me was that, there was more to WWII than it looked. At first the main reason why we joined the war was because, Pearl Harbor was bombed. But nearly six months after the bombing was the invasion of Alaska. The invasion wouldn't be discovered to the public until years later by POW's and soldiers that experienced it for them-self. The soldiers did accomplish their goals by taking back Alaska. The task wasn't easy but they accomplished it. My book covered WWII, but it takes place in Alaska not over sea's. The author's book teach's me that Alaska during that time wasn't in a good spot. The condition's in Alaska were horrible. Mainly for the Seventh Infantry took the biggest amount of wounded and deaths because, the men were mean't for the desert operations. Also, conditions were not so good because, medicine was invented but not as good. The reason for this is because, a lot of men got trench foot from walking in snow and steams. It got to point where men continued to fight but men crawled because, they had so much pain in there feet. Soon as they stopped to rest or try to get medical attention, When they got Medical attention the first thing to do was to warm their feet up. If the Soldiers foot was bad and infected it would have to be amputated. "Being a POW is as tough as tough can be but at least I made it", said Walter Winfrey. This proves that the Japanese treat our soldiers like slaves. " I don't think I could have survived another Winter as a prisoner. This quote proves to me that winter in foreign countries have rough winters.( Mainly Russia but this isn't what this is about). I did enjoy reading this book because, it shows what conditions these men had to go through just to get one of the many states of the U.S.A.. Not only that but also the History of it and how it connects to today. I would reconmmend this book to history buff's or people who like to study WWII and would like to learn more. My favorite quote from this book is from a man named Alex. " At first we did alright because we ate flour and sugar and fish we brought from Attu". This quote made me happy because the men had barely eaten in a week and they were replenished with supplies.
Chris Silva July 21, 2014 Hana’s Suitcase By Karen Levine Hana’s Suitcase by the author Karen Levine is about the Holocaust and about a Jewish girl named Hana Brady. She had a brother called George who was the only person in his family to survive the Nazis. The Nazis killed Hana. The Nazis wanted to destroy the Jews. Auschwitz was a death camp where people were sent to die and their bodies to be burned. It is where Hana died. The children and the adults were taken away to the death camps. In the concentration camps, old people had to eat less food because the Nazis felt they would die soon anyway. When the people died in the concentration camps, they were so skinny and and bony because there was never enough food to eat. Many years later, after being found by Fumiko Ishioka, the head of a Holocaust center for young people in Tokyo, Japan, George Brady went to Japan to visit the Japanese students and take pictures with them. George went to Japan many years after the Holocaust because he had to see Hana’s suitcase. He was crying when he remembered that his sister, with whom he was so close as a child, had died. Fumiko Ishioka, of the Holocaust center in Tokyo, Japan, had asked George to come from Canada, where he now lived, to remember Hana’s life by seeing her suitcase and celebrating her life with the Japanese children. Karen Levine wrote this story because it shows that children are our future and there is a hope that they can prevent bad things like the Holocaust from happening again through education. Fumiko showed the children why Hana’s suitcase was so important and what it meant to them. The author’s goal was to show that, with knowledge, children can change the world. By learning what happened to Hana and George in the Holocaust, the children would know that bad things happen in the world and maybe they will one day be able to keep them from happening. Hopefully, terrible events like the Holocaust will not happen again.
Hana’s Suitcase covers the time period of the 1930’s and 1940’s, which includes World War 2 and the Holocaust. The author taught me that this time period was a bad time for Jews in Europe because of Hitler and the Nazis. The Nazis blamed the Jews, without reason, for Germany’s problems. The Nazis took everything away from the Jews, including their rights and their families, and put the Jews in concentration camps where millions of Jews died. “On March 15, 1939, Hitler’s Nazi troops marched into the rest of Czechoslovakia, and the Brady family’s life was changed forever. The Nazis declared that Jews were evil, a bad influence, dangerous. From now on, the Brady family and the other Jews in Nove Mesto would have to live by different rules.” The Nazis were conquering countries in Europe and saying that Jews were bad. The rights of the Jews were being cut off. “With each loss of friendship and with each new restriction, Hana and George felt their world grow a little smaller. They were angry. They were sad.” With all the restrictions put on Jews in Czechoslovakia, Hana and George lost their friends and the right to go to the places they loved, such as the park, their friends’ houses, and even school. I enjoyed reading Hana’s Suitcase because I learned about a time and some places I did not know a lot about. I learned about people’s feelings during the time of the Holocaust and I learned about what happened inside the concentration camps. The story was about young people about my age who had a bad time in the Holocaust. I would recommend this book to others because it is a true story about what it was like for the Jews in the 1930’s and 1940’s, especially for people my own age. My favorite quote from the book is about George Brady. “But whatever he accomplished, whatever joy he felt, it was always tinged with the memory of his beautiful little sister and the horror of her fate.” It is my favorite quote because George never forgot about his sister Hana after many years. I would not forget my brothers either.
The Spies of Mississippi by Rick Bowers discussed the time during the Civil Rights Movement when the FBI hired spies to spy on the private civilians in Mississippi. Governor Coleman of Mississippi signed the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission into action. This commission was set up in order to keep segregation in Mississippi. The commission wanted to keep segregation in order to keep white power over African Americans in the south. African Americans during this time did not have the same rights as white people. They were not allowed to vote or hold the same jobs so many African Americans moved to the North in search of equality. The commission was set up in order to keep these differences between whites and African Americans. They did not want to give African Americans the right to vote so they spied on people involved in activist groups. 87,000 private civilians were spied on during this time.
The author probably wrote this book in order to make people aware of the situation in the south during the Civil Rights Movement. Bowers probably wanted to make people aware of how there were spies everywhere in Mississippi and most people didn’t even know it. He also probably wanted to expose how the government was involved in trying to keep segregation in the south during this time. Bowers did accomplish this goal because he provided a lot of evidence that shows that there were spies in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. He also had evidence that the FBI and government were involved in keeping segregation in the south. The author used interviews from actual spies and documents as evidence as well as photographs and articles from this time.
The book covers the Civil Rights Movement period from 1950s-1960s. This book taught me that African Americans still did not have a lot of rights in the south. For example, they could not vote or hold the same jobs at whites. Also, the book taught me that many people wanted to keep segregation in the south so many African Americans moved to the north in order to have equal rights. The information in the book was very detailed and entertaining.
“The new ‘black codes’ restricted freedoms of speech, travel, voting, owning land, and choosing an occupation. White supremacy-the concept that white people are naturally superior to blacks-was written into law, taught in schools, praised in churches, and reinforced in the media” (p. 12). This quote taught me that segregation was popular in the south during this time period and African Americans did not have the same rights as whites.
“My advice is that everyone read the Commission files, with their chilling investigative reports on private citizens and their underhanded tactics for maintaining the racist status quo. In the end, the files are an important reminder of the dangers of unchecked power and the reckless regard for individual rights” (p.101). This quote taught me that it is important for people to know that people in power can sometimes abuse that power and that they do not care about people’s rights.
No, I did not really enjoy reading this book. I found it hard to relate to because we are not in that time period. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this time period because it shows a good amount of evidence.
Alex Butler 8/2/14 The book that I read was No Easy Day by Mark Owen and Kevin Maurer, the basis of what this book was about was a firsthand account of the mission that ultimately killed Al Qaeda’s leader, Osama Bin Laden. You witness the story from Mark Owen a U.S Navy Seal from DEVGRU’s point of view in detail of what he saw through his eyes during the mission as well as some scenes that went on prior to the mission; it follows Mark Owen as him and DEVGRU, a seal squad infiltrate the base in Afghanistan and it starts with Mark Owen in the Blackbird helicopter getting ready to fly into the Afghan base while flying towards the Bin Laden base however, the Blackbird helicopter is shot down and he hangs on tucking himself in, hoping to survive without being crushed, but it ends after they infiltrate Bin Laden’s base kill his wives and then kill Osama Bin Laden. I think the author’s purpose for writing this was to show the events that led to the biggest terrorist organization’s leader’s downfall in a first-hand perspective in order to document his life and what he accomplished. His goal for this book was definitely accomplished because it was a very in depth look into the eyes of a U.S Navy Seal that was involved with the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden. This book covers the events in 2011 until Osama was killed in May of 2011. My favorite quote from this book was “The only easy day was yesterday.” this taught me that no day is truly easy unless it already had happened and this is the Navy Seal Philosophy. I did enjoy reading this book because it was a good book that explains what really happened during the mission that killed Osama. I would recommend this to others because if they enjoy semi-short books that are about strategic warfare and that explain the stories behind missions that affected the world as we know it.
Kinsey DelBuono - 2nd Half Laura Hillenbrands purpose for writing this book was to inform readers about the inspiring and powerful life story of Louie Zamperini. She definitely did this showing the multiple traits of Louie which left readers admiring his bravery courage and strength. This book covers the time period of World War 2. What Laura Hillenbrands teaches us about World War 2 is that this was a time of brutal war. Many people did not survive and for the people that did it took a lot of bravery and strength to do. For example when Louie was drifting in the water for over 40 days he never once gave up. He kept looking for food and ways he could survive. Also when he was in those camps and when America dropped the bomb on japan he could’ve died but he found ways to survive. Laura used many detailed quotes in her story. One of the quotes she used was, "Louie and his father rode together to the train station. The platform was crowded with uniformed young men and crying parents, clinging to one another, saying good-bye. When Louie embraced his father, he could feel him shaking." What this quote shows about World War 2 is many parents had to say goodbye to their kids and for many of them it would be there last goodbye. Also it describes the uniformed men which show how they were going to war because they all had to be in uniform. Another quote from this story that the author used to show what happens in this time period is, "it was absolutely dark and absolutely silent, save for the chattering of Phil's teeth.” During the time of World War 2 if you were being held prisoner you needed to be really quiet and obey what the guards were saying and what this quote shows is that at some of the camps it was absolutely silent and dark because you didn’t want guards finding or catching you. During my reading I enjoyed the book very much. It was very suspenseful and sometimes I didn’t want to put it down because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I would recommend this book to people that want to learn more about World War 2. My favorite quote from this book is, “Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen.” The author tries to show us that you need to have pride and believe in yourself because its just important as the essential materials you need have to keep you alive. She also includes a quote that says, “Without dignity, identity is erased.” Laura tries to show through this quote that if you don’t believe in yourself nobody will.
Kinsey DelBuono - 1rst Half Unbroken Unbroken is a true story based on a young Olympic runner from Torrance, California. During his childhood he was a trouble student and didn’t always do his work. One day he was called into service on a bomber crew in the Pacific in World War 2. The Plane went down while over the Pacific Ocean and Louie and two others were the only survivors. They drifted in the ocean for over 40 days. The two men and Louie lived on rain water and the occasional fish or bird that they could catch. After the 40 days two men were left Louie and the pilot of the plane. When they were finally nearing land they were both captured by the Japanese navy. America was not informed about the kidnap so they were declared dead. Their families did not give up hope as they still thought they were alive. At first these men were treated very gently but after a little bit of time they were transferred to a Japanese prisoner camp where they thought they might end up dead because if the harsh treatment. Because of Louie’s fame as an Olympic runner he was given really harsh treatment by the guards but he was not killed. He was sent to multiple camps and eventually he ended up in one in Tokyo where he was given partially brutal treatment by a group called “The Bird”. They attempted to make a broadcast to America but when he refused he was severally punished. Louie was in Tokyo prison camps for awhile. While he was there America dropped atomic bombs on Japan which led Japan to surrender. Most prisoners knew nothing about this war until the guards told them it was over. Louie was hospitalized and then sent home to his family. His life was very troubled when he arrived home. He was forced to marry a young woman after 2 weeks of meeting her. While they were married Louie kept getting flash backs from the beatings he got In Japan and he started to drink. Because of this he became an alcoholic. His wife then told him she wanted to file for divorce. Louie then decided to turn his life around to save his marriage. He quit drinking and soon found his nightmares were not as bad as they use to be. He then started making appearances to people and giving talks about his experience with “The Bird”.
I read the book If I Die In A Combat Zone. This book is about a guy named Tim O'Brien and he travels the world to be in different battles, of different wars. sometimes he gets scared of the next day and what's going happen, the worst thing he thinks about is his family getting hurt. Tim has no where to run to or talk to, to become a better person or find a better way out of his situation. Tim's captain tells him not to worry but, that is all Tim does and tries to protect the world and especially his family. In my opinion, the author's purpose for writing this book is to teach people who are going to war, that they have to suffer a lot of things that they really don't want to go through. Also, when I was reading this book I did feel like I was actually in the characters position and what he feels through this. He did accomplish this goal because I had the feeling of actually being there and having good descriptions on what it was like. The historical time period of this book is World Wars 1 and 2. The main character (Tim) has to go through a lot to make his way through all the hard times. The book teaches me how to deal with real life problems and how families or people or are in the world feel about there families when someone is gone for a long period of time. One quote in this book that teaches me about this period or time is when that Captain told him "Worrying is the worst thing you could do because it just makes everything more harder for you!", this teaches me that if you worry about everything you will build up stress and it will make things harder for you to equip. Another quote that teaches my about this period or time is when Tim said "My baby is sick...", this is also teaching me that if you worry about your family and you go back to help the then, the Captain will complain and tell you that if you leave you can never come back and you would make things worse. I enjoyed reading thins book because I was able to understand it and it made me actually feel and see in my mind how it was for soldiers back then and families around that world that had to suffer. I would recommend this book to million of other people around the world because this book is really expiring and it is very easy to understand. Kids around the world should understand and think about people back then and what the had to go through. There are still some people that are still going through this. I would love to think about making an organization to donate things to the soldiers fighting for us this minute and the families waiting for a family member that is fighting for us to call them and tell them that they are okay. My favorite quote from the book is the one I listed before that the Captain said "Worrying is the worst thing you could do it makes everything more harder for you!", I say this because this is showing me that whatever you worry about makes it harder for you and makes thing around you worse than it already is.
Band of Brothers, by Steven E. Ambrose, is a book about the Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 101st Airborne Division, from basic training to D-day. It follows the jump into Holland, the Battle of the Bulge, and the occupation of Berchtesgaden and Austria. It details the day to day life of a soldier not like other military histories; it also explains how citizen soldiers like the 101st Airborne did against well trained Wehrmach and S.S. A description of the basic training explains why many volunteers never made it as far as the airplane door. The first day of basic training all of the men had to run up Currahee Mountain and back. When they were not exercising they were learning the basics of soldiering. This book also details the nine months of training in preparation for the invasion of Hitler’s fortress. After the jump on D-Day there were less than 100 men, one 60mm mortar, nine riflemen, two light machine guns, and two officers. They were sent in to overrun a four gun German battery guarded by a fifty man platoon. The mission took 3 hours and was successful. The book talked about how there were no heroics and that it was a way to get killed without getting the job done. The men fought in Normandy until June 29thand was sent to a field camp near Utah Beach. They entered Normandy with 139 men and officers and left with 79. They were later in occupation duty in Austria and on November 30, 1945, 101st was deactivated. The author’s purpose for writing this book is to show the audience what it was like for soldiers going from all of their training in WW2 to touching down on D-Day. Not only that but what compelled them to continue the intense training, the honor, the thrill, and the extra cash. The author accomplished this goal by going into such detail of what happened that let you see the exact scene in your head. He had exact dates of when certain events happened like when the company was dispatched. This book covered the time period of World War II. The author teaches you about the intense training that went into forming an army. It also teaches you about the scenarios and circumstances the Easy Company had to face. “No one jumped up and charged a machine gun, we worked as a team to destroy it or make it withdraw.” This teaches me that real war is not like you see in the movies; it’s about teamwork and dedication. “Heroics are a way to get killed without getting the job done.” This teaches me that no one should be a hero, you should all work as a team or you could get killed. I enjoyed reading this book because it is a genre that I have not read in a while and it encouraged me to get into those types of books again. I would recommend this book to others because it is well detailed and describes life in World War II. My favorite quote is “"Here the training paid off, we fought as a team without standout stars.” This quote talks about fighting as a team and not taking matters into your own hands. By Jonathan Soler 8/10/14
“The Spies of Mississippi” is about the year 1956 which saw the creation of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, a special agency charged with preserving the right of the state to govern itself without interference from the federal government or private pressure groups. In this era, “sovereignty” was code for segregation, and the commission was granted major powers to investigate private citizens and organizations, make arrests, maintain secret files and force witnesses to testify. Using primary-source materials, including 134,000 pages of documents from the commission’s once-secret files, Bowers tells the story of how the Mississippi government created a propaganda machine and statewide spy network and conspired with such groups as the Klan and the White Citizens’ Council to undermine the efforts of civil-rights organizations. He illustrates the desperate and shockingly illegal lengths the commission went to but is not successful in linking it to the assassination of Medgar Evers and the murders of three Freedom Summer volunteers. The author’s purpose for writing this book was to show that not all spies are good. When young children think of spies they think of James Bond and other spies of this generation. But in this book it shows a different point of view on spies, which are used more for nefarious purposes. Rick Bowers, I think definitely accomplished this goal because while reading the book I realized how different situations were back then. Also I noticed how dangerous and risky some of these people were when fighting for what they wanted. The time period my book takes place is in the 1950’s and 60’s. This book taught me that in the 50’s and 60’s day to day life was very hard for some people. They had to constantly fight for what they believed in and were fought for wanting equality. Also that most people were forced to do things they didn’t want to do which is one of the reasons those people started to rebel. One quote from the book that I chose was, “Virtually all the faces looking back at him were white.” The reason I chose this quote was because it taught me right off the bat that at this time period blacks and whites were separated, which is later described as segregation. The reason behind this quote, I think, is to show that segregation was very popular back then and that as the story continues it is a good thing us people, nowadays don’t think that way. Another quote I chose is, “Governor Coleman, despite his reluctance, became the overseer of the state’s new segregation watchdogs.” I chose this quote because not only does it say that whites were in control of blacks but it also shows that the new “overseer” of these rules was not okay with how things were being handled. I actually really enjoyed reading this book. I enjoyed it because I think Bowers really brought to life this event of the past. It was interesting and specific, and I feel like now I know more about the Civil Rights movement then I ever did before. I would recommend this book to others because it is very in-depth and detailed. This book also is easier to read for teenagers or young adults who are interested in this time period. My favorite quote from the book is actually the last sentence. The quote is, “Their names- categorized in the files as race agitators, subversives, and communists- live on as champions of the most powerful democratic movement in our history.” I chose this quote because it really just ties the whole story together and shows how serious this issue was to some people.
This novel takes place on April 20th, 1999 when two boys, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, killed 13 people at school. This included twelve fellow classmates and one teacher. I think that the author's purpose for writing this book was to bring attention to the fact that anything can happen at any time and that there are some sick people out there that will do unexplainable things. I definitely understand how this book explains that life can be scary at times but if we have gotten through such a tragedy as the Columbine school shooting, then we can get through anything. Eric and Dylan's plan was not to just kill 13 people, oh no, it was to kill over 600 with two bombs that were supposed to go off at 11:17 in the lunchroom a.k.a. the commons. Eric designed at least seven big bombs working off of what he read from an anarchist cookbook he had found on the web. Bomb #1 employed aerosol cans for detonators and were planted in a park 3 miles from Eric's house. That bomb could kill hundreds but was only meant for stones and trees. This was only a decoy to distract police and cause panic towards the park on the other side of town so that Eric and Dylan had time to fulfill their entire plan. The bombs that they planted in the cafeteria did not detonate and as soon as the bombs failed to explode their whole plan had changed. They planned to stake out 2 of the 3 main entrances to the school. The bombs going off were supposed to cause a panic and make everyone want to run out and there they would be, waiting with automatic shotguns, pistols, etc. My first quote was said by Eric Harris to buddy of his, the buddy who got him the ammo. His buddy asked him if he was going shooting tonight, wondering why he needed all this ammo. Eric responded, "Maybe tomorrow." Just think if that kid had said something to someone he could have saved so many lives. Eric and Dylan wanted to kill as many people as humanly possible. They wanted to be remembered for this long after they die. Cassie Bernall was a normal christian teenager with a love for everyone and everything. She had no date to the prom though and not many friends. Most would probably label her a loser or an outcast maybe even a wallflower. No one would have even guessed that on April 20th, 1999 she would be killed by Eric Harris and become a martyr for christians everywhere. My second quote was said by Eric Harris to Cassie Bernall before he killed her. He asked her, "Do you believe in God?" She paused. The gun was still there. "Yes, I believe in God," she said. Eric asked, "Why?" Before she could respond, he shot her clean in the head. I'm a christian and this made me think, would I have done the same and would I have been brave enough to say, "Yes," while I was at gunpoint, knowing that he was going to shoot me. On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this novel an 8 because this book was definitely one to remember. I would recommend this for people who like books that are real and teach you how the world really is and that things can happen, anywhere at anytime. This was a good read and I enjoyed it very much.
The book I read this summer was columbine by Dave Cullen and it was published in March of 2010. This book is awesome for including a lot of details about the massacre and how the planned it and how long it took for these two boys to actually complete their dreams. Eric and Dylan first went into the cafeteria during lunch, after missing a few periods in the morning. They had two bombs in the huge bags they had carried into the cafe. No one noticed what they had done. That day, these two boys shot up their school and didn’t care who they killed. The boys wanted to be remembered. Dave had made it obvious the day of the shooting will be a day no one will forget.
Eric and Dylan started planning the shooting when they were both sophomores in school. Dylan started writing his journal. Eric and Dylan started their jobs at a pizzeria and began to build their first bomb in the summer. Eric used his website he had made as a journal. Brooks Brown found his name on Eric’s website. Brooks and Eric had a cruel history. Eric was threatening to kill Brooks Brown. Eric’s website was reported to the police and it listed everybody he hates in his school. Brooks had become civil with Eric. When it was junior year they started to break into things. This was also when they first started making pipe bombs It was spring now, Dylan started warning Brooks Brown about Eric’s death threats. A month later Eric had started his journal. The boys started to draw their attack. Eric’s junior year he took a lot of medication for depression and OCD. Its now the boys senior year and Eric had started making pipe bomb production.
Eric still writes in his journal every day, but one day Eric writes about his gross rape dreams. Late November, Dylan and Eric began to buy guns. They both went to a gun show and bought three guns. It was the start of December when Eric had fired a gun for the first time in his life. Dylan and Eric had gone out and bought another gun. The two of them were both starting to practice shooting at a range. The boys filmed themselves shooting at the range. The two boys not only wrote in their journals but also started filming themselves. A couple months before the shooting, Dylan and Eric started filming their “Basement Tapes”. They made tapes to record how they felt about people. It was now April and prom was coming. The night of prom Dylan’s dad filmed him the whole night until he left with his date. Dylan had gone to prom with Robyn Anderson that night. It was now Tuesday, the day of the shooting. Eric and Dylan came late to school that day, lunch was starting. The boys walked into the cafe and left two bombs in two bags. A kid named Richard was with Rachel Scott sitting outside just starting to eat lunch. That’s when Eric had thrown a bomb and it blew up. No one really cared because they all thought it was some prank or something. That’s when Eric pointed a gun at Rachel and shot, she was hit three times. Eric and Dylan went into the school and the shooting started. They were hurting so many people from
shots and bombs. Kids were freaking out, running around the school to get out. The teachers were trying to keep everybody OK but it just didn’t work. Rachel was the first victim murdered followed by 12 others. Not only were some student’s killed and a teacher but many were hurt. When Eric and Dylan were running out of bullets they decided it was time to die. They sat down in the library and counted ONE-TWO-THREE and shot them selves. Dylan and Eric commited suicide.
I totally disagree with the books ending because it was stupid of Eric and Dylan to shoot students and a teacher because they hated the kids who were mean to them and the jocks and the school. The book columbine contradicts my knowledge before reading it because I knew about the shooting and how students died and that two kids were the killers and they killed themselves cause they thought they were lame but I was kind of wrong cause really they were just losers and hated the school and all the jocks and people who were mean to them. And I thought they were dumb kids who did it just to kill kids they hate but they did it cause they wanted people to remember them. Yes this book is perfect because, it really lets you know about Eric and Dylan before the shooting and what kind of people they were like. I liked reading this book for a lot of reasons because I can connect to the student’s reactions. I’m always thinking about what the kids did in that situation. I would totally recommend this book to other people for 2 reasons. 1st, the book went into a lot of detail bout the whole problem then the news had. And 2nd, the book wasn’t unfair. The author never took sides or accused the killers, he laid out the information he had and let you guide yourself into an conclusion.
Emma Gagnon Period 1 8/23/14 The book that I chose to read this summer was Columbine by Dave Cullen. This book was about a school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado on Tuesday April 20, 1999. This was a massacre that was well-known all over the world and it changed the way we view the world. The two shooters names were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. People believed they did it because they were bullied. Their initial plan was to have 2 bombs blow up. One of the bombs was inside the school and the other one was on the other side of town. They put it on the other side so it would distract the police. The bomb inside of the school didn’t blow up so they went inside and shot about 37 people. 13 of them were killed and 24 were wounded. They went into the library and killed themselves. It took the police 3 hours to find the shooters but by time they did they were already dead. I think that the author’s purpose for writing this book was to explain that tragedies like this actually happen and they’re serious problems. I think that he accomplished that goal because the topic of the book was a real life event. He spent about 10 years doing research to write this book and he had actual details about each thing in the book. He also included a lot of quotes from people that witnessed the incident. In the back of the book he included the shooters mapped out plan. This book took place in the 1990s. This was a violent time period in history. Before the incident at Columbine high school, there had been many more school shootings throughout the world. After the shooting in Bethel, Alaska in 1997 people didn’t really feel safe anymore. The historical event that my book covered was the shooting at Columbine High School. One quote that taught me about the event was, “As difficult as it may be, please stay away.” The quote was put in the book when the two shooters were in the school killing people. Parents heard the news and were going crazy to enter the building. Everyone hearing about the incident was terrified for all the kids inside the school. It made me feel like I was a part of the situation with all parents and students going through the tragedy. Another quote was, “Eric has staggering confidence in himself. He left no indication that he planned for contingencies, Dylan left no indication that he planned much of anything.” This quote taught me that even back then, no one could tell who would do what. Even if the person looked innocent and didn’t seem the type to do something bad they still could be hiding something and try something bad. My favorite quote from this book was probably, “I don’t think he thought about it” and “His instinct was to save his kids.” This quote was said by the daughter of a well-known teacher that was much liked. I picked it as my favorite quote because it shows what kind of person he was and that even though he could have gotten out of the school and survived, he chose to save the students. I enjoyed reading this book because I learned a lot about this incident. It was a great book overall. It told a lot of great stories on how people helped each other through the tragedy and how students helped each other escape and survive. I would recommend this book to those who would like to learn about or more about the Columbine school shooting. People who want to learn about tragic events in the 1990s should also check this book out.
Cailey Lopes Part one Fly boys as it says in the title is a story of courage. It’s about nine world war two pilots. It talks about how they were shot down over Chichi Jima. Only one pilot, George H. W. Bush, was rescued by a submarine while the others were taken by the Japanese and were executed as POW’s. They were nowhere to be found. They were kept a secret because the Japanese government wanted to keep them a secret. Most of the flyboys were just average kids who wanted to join the war, or thought that they had to. I think the authors’ purpose for this book was to talk about how brave these nine pilots were. Also, to talk about how brave they were and what they went through. I would say the author did accomplish this goal because in some parts of the book it talked about how it was important to some of the men to keep their friends safe and they would do anything for this. This really shoes how much courage and bravery they had which I think the author was trying to get across to the readers by writing this book. The time period covered in this book is during the World War two. “We don't want you bringing bullets home; we have millions. Leave the bullets up there. Let the Germans take them home”. “Watch the fuel. If you run out of gas, you will sleep with the Germans.” These quotes showed how they had to be careful because one wrong move and they could be I the hands of the Germans which they were all trying to stay away from. During this time the Germans invaded Poland, and once they conquered Poland Germany attached France. Soon they took over most of Europe and North America. I learned this in the book because the author included this throughout the book. He talked about how they didn’t want to get caught by anyone if they crashed. They were caught by the Japanese who were horrible during the war as the author describes it. He talked about how they treated everyone bad during this war. I would recommend this book to others because I rarely read books like this and after reading Flyboys, I thought that it was a book that everyone could enjoy because there were a lot of things I learned throughout this book, that I didn’t already know. It talked about World War two pilots which I never really knew a lot about.
Cailey Lopes Part Two For example, I didn’t know how difficult it was to keep safe when they were shot down. I feel like other readers would learn a lot too. My favorite quote in Fly boys is, “when I asked him, fifty-three years after the event, “Mr. Lucas, why did you jump on those grenades?” he did not hesitate with his answer, “to save my buddies”. I liked this quote because it showed how much he cared about his friends and how he would do anything to keep them self. It also shows how he was brave and had courage because he did this to save the lives of his friends which is extremely good of him. I did enjoy reading this book. Mostly because it was interesting to say what the men all went through during this time
Sarah Jinks (part 2)The author, Laura Hillenbrands, purpose for writing this book was to inform readers about the inspirational and influential life story of Louis Zamperini. She did this by showing the multiple positive traits of Louis which made the readers appreciative of how brave and courageous he was. This book covers the time period of World War II (1937-1939). What Hillenbrands teaches us about World War II is that the war was brutal and many soldiers suffered not only during the war but afterwards dealing with Post-traumatic stress disorder. With all the stress and suffering from this war a lot of soldiers did not survive and the ones who did it took a lot of strength to do. As an example, when Louis and the other two were drifting in the water they had to think about not giving up. Louis had to keep looking for ways he could survive, focusing on how he was going to get food and fresh water. Laura used many powerful quotes in her story. One of the quotes she used was, "Louie and his father rode together to the train station. The platform was crowded with uniformed young men and crying parents, clinging to one another, saying good-bye. When Louie embraced his father, he could feel him shaking." What this quote shows about World War II is that it was hard for the parents and drafted soldiers to say goodbye. For many of the parents they did not know if it would be the last goodbye. Another quote from this story that the author used is, "It was absolutely dark and absolutely silent, except for the chattering of Phil's teeth.” During the time of World War II if you were a prisoner you were expected to be silent and to just obey the orders from the guards. This quote shows that at some of the camps it was supposed to be silent and dark because otherwise the guards would discipline you and probably beat you. Personally I thought the book was okay. There were some parts that were suspenseful and I just wanted to know what was going to happen. There were some parts that I found less interesting but I would recommend this book to someone that wants to learn more about World War II. My favorite quote from this book is, “Without dignity, identity is erased.” Hillenbrands uses this quote to show that if you don’t believe in yourself and do what you need to do for yourself nobody will. And that in stressful situations it’s important to know who you are and to remember what you believe in and fight for that.
Sarah Jinks (Part 1) Unbroken is a true story based on a young Olympic runner from Torrance, California named Louis Zamperini. As a child he was a troubled student and didn’t always complete his work. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Force in September 1941 and after all his training he was called into service on a bomber crew in the Pacific in World War 2. On May 27, 1943 the Plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean and Louie and two others were the only survivors. After more than a month the two men were left Louie and the pilot of the plane. As they got closer to a shore line they were both seized by the Japanese navy. They were stated to be dead because America was not informed about the capture but even with hearing this, their families did not give up hope and believed they were alive. In the beginning they were getting treated tolerable but after a while they were transferred to a different Japanese prisoner camp where because of the severe treatment they thought that they would die there. Louis got harsher treatment at the camps since he was a famous Olympian runner. He was sent to multiple camps and eventually he ended up in Tokyo. While there he was tortured by a group called “The Bird” and was treated partially brutally. They attempted to make a broadcast to America but when he refused he was severally punished. When Louis was in one of the Tokyo camps America dropped the atomic bombs on Japan which was when Japan to surrender. A lot of the prisoners knew nothing about this war until the guards told them it was over. When the prisoners got released Louis was hospitalized first and then sent home to his family. His life was very disturbed when he arrived home. He was forced to marry a young woman after only two weeks of meeting her. He started to become an alcoholic because of drinking all the time from all the stress he was feeling from flashbacks of being imprisoned. It put a lot of strain on his marriage and his wife told him she wanted to file for divorce. When she told him this Louis decided to turn his life around to save his marriage. After he quit drinking he soon realized that his nightmares weren’t as bad as they were before. He started making appearances to people and giving speeches about his experience with “The Bird”.
Tori Gagnon If I Die in a Combat Zone Tim O’Brien If I die in a Combat Zone tells the true story of Tim O’Brien’s journey as a soldier in the Vietnam War. Before he goes into detail about his daily life in the war, he discusses how throughout his childhood, he would listen to World War II veterans tell their stories about the war and how that used to inspire him to become a soldier. Although the stories he was told scared him and many times made him think about deserting, he still pulled through and received his training at Fort Lewis Washington. Throughout the book, he tells the reader about his hardships during his time serving. Some of which include the many bomb mines he came across, jungle warfare and grenade dangers. The story ends off with Tim being taken out of a safer job away from the chaos and brought safely home. In my opinion, the author’s purpose for writing this story is to inform the reader about all the ups and downs of the Vietnam War. He probably wanted to show us what all the soldiers had to go through on a daily basis and how it greatly impacted them. Yes, the writer did accomplish that goal. I say this because after reading the book, I really had a different point of view on war. The story taught me all about how the soldiers of the Vietnam War had to go through a lot more than what people actually thought. I learned that even their home lives got impacted by all the tragedies of the war. I think Tim wanted everybody to be able to put themselves in a soldier’s position and try to picture what it would be like to fight in Vietnam. He wanted people to be more appreciative of everybody in the service. The book that I read covered the historical time period of the Vietnam War. The book teaches me a lot about the time period. One of the things it taught me is that the war not only affected the soldiers but also the people at home, such as the family and friends. Not only that but it also greatly impacted the community in many negative ways. I feel people in this time period were very grateful and understanding with each other because they never knew when another bad thing from the war would hit them. “…At night is the fear of getting lost, of becoming detached from the others…” (Page 87) This quote tells me that you never know what’s going to happen and they all depend on each other to protect one another, that no matter how tough they seem individually, they still need each other in the end. “I wondered if they stopped to help the dead man, if they had been angry at his death, or only frightened that they might die.”(Page 88) I feel like this quote has a deeper meaning than what it seems like. When I first read it, the first thing that came to mind was that the soldiers weren’t sure if they should stop and get the body, purely out of respect and sorrow, or if they should keep going instead of risking their own lives. Yes, I did enjoy reading this book. It was sad, but at the same time it was very informative of the war. I’m glad I chose this book. I would recommend this book to others. I feel like after reading it, no matter who you are, you will have a completely different perspective on many things and you will realize that you should be thankful for what you have. “Things happened, things came to an end. There was no sense of developing drama.”(Page 17) This was my favorite quote because it’s basically telling you not to stress out over things that you simply can’t change. A lot of things will happen to you in your lifetime, whether they’re good or bad, you can’t always do something about it to change what’s going to happen and that’s just how life is. You cannot change it so there’s no point in making a big deal and stressing out about it.
Alexa Rinaldi- Period 1 If I Die in a Combat Zone Tim O’Brien (Part 1) “If I Die in a Combat Zone” by Tim O’Brien is a true story depicting his life before and during his time as a Vietnam soldier. He reminisces about his childhood, and talks about even from early on he wanted to go into the service. He would play army games, and find out information about World War II from war veterans. He then goes on to his time in the war, and the many scary events he encountered while a soldier. From the very beginning he was terrified, to the point where he wanted to desert his fellow soldiers. But, he pulled through and remained strong. O’Brien discusses his time in Vietnam, and how the war affected soldiers and civilians. The book concludes with him receiving a job away from the fighting, and is flown safely home. The author’s purpose for writing this book was to inform us on the hardships of all soldiers in the Vietnam War. O’Brien wanted his story to be heard, because the Vietnam War was one of the worst. Many soldiers came home in shock, or “Vietnam Syndrome”. He wanted people to understand a soldier’s daily life, and how it left an everlasting effect on him, physically and emotionally. Tim O’Brien accomplished his goal of informing us on the Vietnam War. He thoroughly explained how hard training was, and how scary the whole war experience was. He wanted people to hear his story and be able to picture themselves in that situation, which is very hard to do, because not many people would be so willing to give up their time to risk their lives. And O’Brien wanted them to appreciate soldiers more, which would differ greatly than the treatment he and other veterans received when returning from the war. And now, soldiers are more appreciated, for many reasons. This appreciation of soldiers helped Tim O’Brien accomplish his goals. This book covers the historical event of the Vietnam War. It explains how horrible the war was, affecting not only soldiers but civilians. The Vietnam War was a tragic event during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. “If I Die in a Combat Zone” teaches me that this time in history was rough for everyone. The war left a devastating effect on Vietnam, ruining miles of the country. The war left America in chaos, women taking men roles and without much money. Both sides had negative effects from the war. “Now war ended, all I am left with are simple, unprofound scraps of truth. Men die. Fear hurts and humiliates.” taught me that even after the war ends, it still lives with you. The men that died alongside you, will always be in your thoughts. I learned from this quote that even after you fight your battles, whether on a battlefield or not, that memory will live with you forever. “The moment-to-moment, step by step decision-making preys on your mind. The effect sometimes is paralysis.” taught me that the soldiers had to constantly make last minute decisions. They couldn’t plan too far ahead into the future. And their decisions always left an effect on them. Even if it was killing the enemy, it still hurts them for putting that upon another life. I enjoyed reading this book. It really helped open my eyes to the tragedy of war.
Alexa Rinaldi- Period 1 If I Die in a Combat Zone Tim O'Brien (Part 2) Reading this book was saddening at times, thinking about how hard it was for the soldiers during this war and even training, but I still enjoyed it. It was nicely written, and made me more grateful for the people we have in the service fighting for us. I would recommend this book to others. It is very informational on a soldier’s life, and written from experience. It was truly amazing to me that even from a young age he wanted to be in the service. This book was a good story about the Vietnam War, and how hard it was to be a soldier in it, no matter what side you fight for. I didn’t see a reason to not want to read this book, especially if you are learning about this time period. Of the whole book, my favorite quote is “Do dreams offer lessons? Do nightmares have themes, do we awaken and analyze them and live our lives and advise others as a result?” This is my favorite quote because it really makes you think about your dreams in a whole new way. Not to just brush them off, but to think about what they really mean. That we could live by our dreams and fear everything from our nightmares, or we could just live in the moment.
Patrick Czerniawski 8/13/14 World History Flyboys by: James Bradley
Summary: In 1914, "The Great War" (WWI) began in Europe. By 1917, the Allied powers of France, England, Italy and others were on the edge against the German juggernaut. Some Americans disagreed with the war. They volunteered to fight alongside their counterparts in France; some in the infantry, some in the Ambulance Corps. A lot of others had a different idea, they decided to learn how to fly. The first of them became known as the Lafayette Escadrille. They had their own story. Forced to abandon his family's ranch, Blaine Rawlings finds his future in a newsreel. At a small train station in rural Nebraska, William Jensen promises to make his family proud. In New York, Briggs Lowry embarks on a trans-Atlantic passage. Meanwhile, in France, black expatriate boxer, Eugene Skinner, vows to repay his debt to his country. Together, these American boys arrive at an aerodrome in France, eager to learn how to fly. What they didn't realize was that they were the world's first combat pilots. 2. The author’s purpose for writing this book was so that people could experience and make it feel like you’re in the airplane during a dog fight. The author also wrote this book to educate people what was happening in the skies during WWI in an entertaining way. 3. The author accomplished his goal because by the end of the book, I still wanted to read more because it felt like I was in the action. 4. The book covers WWI which was from 1914 to 1918 5. The time period of this book was during hard times were all families had to ration there goods and was a time of fear knowing that the home you lived could have been bombed and torn to shreds. 6. “Some day it’ll just end. Everyone will go home, get on with their lives. Tall grass will cover the battlefields. And all pilots we’ve lost won’t mean a damn thing.” This shows that everyone’s attention has been kept on the war and nothing else. Eugene Skinner “This country has been good to me. Better than my own. I owe them something.” This quote means that during this time period, the country he lived in was more racist because Eugene is black. 7. I enjoyed reading this book because the whole time I was reading I didn’t want to put the book down. I sometimes spent one hour reading the book at night before bed. Flyboys always gave me something to do when I was bored. 8. I would recommend this book to war enthusiast and most mature audiences because some younger aged children wouldn’t understand the book and its meaning.
Caitlyn Bolduc “If I Die In Combat Zone.” By: Tim O’Brien I read “If I Die in Combat Zone” this book is Tim O’Brien’s personal account of what happened to him when he was drafted into the Vietnam War. During his memoir he tells us about his time during training and the steps leading into the war zone. Tim brings to life the night marches through the villages and minefields during the Vietnam War along with his days of just training. Along with knowing what happened during war, Tim O’Brien also brings in some childhood and early education facts. O’Brien describes the severity of the basic training and advanced infantry school. He was forced out of the comfort of his hometown into the harsh conditions brought to him in basic training. For example there was very limited amounts of sleep, and having to share bunks during this time. There were many times O’Brien tried escaping advanced infantry school and hoping to cross the border into Canada, he failed. As an upside, he was then named a radio operator. But O’Brien still faced and experienced things he never thought possible. I believe that the author Tim O’Brien had many good reasons of why he wrote his memoir, “If I Die in Combat Zone.” One good reason why he wrote the book is because he wanted to let the younger generation know what it is like to be called for duty. This book also informed the readers what it feels like to be away from home. Tim O’Brien’s goal of informing us about being away from home was accomplished. Also, somewhat of the goal of being called for duty was accomplished. I say this because he included a lot more about his training then his days on duty. Throughout his book we could feel what he was feeling throughout the book. The book, “If I Die in Combat Zone,” took place in the years of the Vietnam War, which was around 1960-1970. This memoir helps us also learn about the Vietnam War in general. There are many good quotes that taught me about the time period. For example, “Now, war ended, all I am left with are simple, unprofound scraps of truth. Men die. Fear hurts and humiliates (pg 23).” This quote shows us that this time period wasn’t the greatest. They didn’t really have anything to be proud of, they just knew that there were many injured and killed for no reason. The second quote that showed the truth of the war, "I wondered if they'd stopped to help the dead man, if they had been angry at his death, or only frightened that they might die (p.98).” This quote shows me a lot about the time period and the situation he was in. I say this because its saying in war if you see someone dying you would try to get them help stay alive, but in this war you didn’t you’d just leave them. So in this quote he is saying that people were almost frightened if they saw a dead man/woman. Both of these quotes show me how serious war is.
Yes, I did enjoy reading this memoir it was very interesting, and serious at many points. But the author spent a lot of time telling us about his basic training and not about the time in war. Which made some of the book less interesting because it took a lot of the book before he got it into the war zone. But other than that I thought it was a well written book. Certainly I would recommend this book to others. I would very much recommend this book to people who like to read about war, people who would like to know what happened in the Vietnam War, or learn about what it is like to be on the war zone, and especially to people who have an interest in becoming a solider, or part of the war. There were many important quotes throughout the book. One of my favorite quote was, "One of the most persistent and appalling thoughts that lumbers through your mind as you walk through Vietnam at night is the fear of getting lost, of becoming detached from the others, of spending the night alone in that frightening and haunted countryside (p. 91).” This quote is my favorite because you can feel how the character feels and this quote also helps you picture what he is going through. Tim O’Brien also shows through his quote how scary it can be being alone in war and how easily you can become detached from your brothers or friends. Overall this book was well written and I enjoyed reading it.
James Bradley has written books such as The Flags of our Fathers to honor his father who was is in World War II in the battle of Iwo Jima and was one of the men that raised the American flag on Mt Suribachi. However Flyboys was written to honor the airmen who fought in Chichi Jima and the background and outlook of Japan’s views and beliefs on the war. James Bradley wanted to know the story of the airmen who fought in Chichi Jima and hated not knowing what really happened to them.
James Bradley overall accomplished his goal of finding out what happened to eight certain airmen. Even though the families might have not wanted to know the full details of the deaths, Bradley felt they should know how it really happened. However I think he could of went into more finding out more about the individual airmen and how they could of felt or the experiences they had. What their individual back stories were and why they joined. He ended up mainly just focused on the facts of the war.
The book covers mainly early 1940’s during WWII regarding Japan’s involvement with the US. It also covers the background of colonial times and the treatment of Native Americans by the settlers. The book taught about the sacrifice the airmen made on every mission they took. Many were rich young men trying to prove themselves but also found a thrill in the missions they had to take. It also references Japans main involvement in the war. Japanese believed they had warrior spirits guiding them in their missions and would lead them to victory. “ A soldiers duty is to die and never surrender.” Japan believed if you surrendered you weren’t loyal to your country, which many went on missions to die in honor of their country. “Iwo was hell Chichi would have been impossible” was stating the conditions Americans had to push through. Iwo Jima had some flat areas suitable for assault from sea. Chichi was covered in hills inland and rough uneven coast. The book was kind of interesting because I learned some things about WWII regarding the Japanese view of the war and about Japanese land and islands. However most of the times in the book it would talk about things out of place. It would refer back to years before and bounce back and forth from the past to the present in the book. It also in my opinion got very boring in the way Japan’s history and landscape was described. It didn’t talk about the eight airmen until near the end of the book. I would recommend the book to someone who wants to know about the Japans background and their involvement with the U.S at the time period. However, if you are someone wanting to learn about the fly boys I would not recommend this book. You need to read the book slow to not miss certain pieces of information because it is snuck in weird places.
“The Flyboy who got away became President of the United States. What might have been for Warren Earl, Dick, Marve, Glenn, Floyd, Jimmy, the unidentified airman, and all others who had lost their lives? And what might have been for those millions of doomed Japanese boys, abused, and abandoned by their leaders? War is a tragedy of what might been.” This quote represents all the possibilities that these young men could have had in life if it weren’t for this war and everything that stood behind it.
The book I read was Lone Survivor by Patrick Robinson and Marcus Luttrell. This book was an auto biography/ biography on a real life situation that happened with seal team 10. The purpose for this book was to express to people a real life situation that happened in our error. Yes, they accomplished their goal because it is very clear to me how this event all came into action and described the scenery and location well. The event this book covers is the seal team 10’s mission in 2005. This book teaches me that even though this had happened almost 10 years ago technology was still very key in the situation. For example if the team had a working piece of device to communicate, there was a great chance for zero deaths or injuries. One quote from the book was, “ I will never quit. My nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my enemies and to accomplish our mission. I am never out the fight.” this taught me that in order to survive the situation you couldn’t just be physically strong but even stronger mentally. This also teaches me real life situations like in sports, you don’t have to be the strongest, as long as you believe you are. Another quote was, “ fear is a force that sharpens your senses. Being afraid is a state of paralysis which you cant do anything.” This quote tells me that at the time seal team 10 probably had fear in their minds, but that only kept them aware and on top of things. Meanwhile if they were afraid, they would be hiding from war and would not have went out without a fight. This book really interested me, after I had read the book I went to watch the movie and just found the book way better. The reason I say this is because the book described the events that happened a lot better and was straight from Marcus Luttrell. I also enjoyed reading the book because it was a real event that happened in my time so it was much easier for me too understand and relate it to my life with sports. I believe Luttrell’s quotes really inspired me and probably many others to never give up and keep pushing until the finish! I would definitely recommend this book to others. Whether guy or girl this book can inspire any type of person. Also there isn’t a single part in this book that made me want to stop reading. My favorite quote was the, “ fear is a force that sharpens your senses. Being afraid is a state of paralysis which you cant do anything.” I really like this one because once I read it I had so many real life situations flash through my head and realized how true it really is.
Brian Page
ReplyDeleteThe book that I read was Ghost's In The Fog by Samantha Seiple. The message of this book to me was that, there was more to WWII than it looked. At first the main reason why we joined the war was because, Pearl Harbor was bombed. But nearly six months after the bombing was the invasion of Alaska. The invasion wouldn't be discovered to the public until years later by POW's and soldiers that experienced it for them-self. The soldiers did accomplish their goals by taking back Alaska. The task wasn't easy but they accomplished it. My book covered WWII, but it takes place in Alaska not over sea's. The author's book teach's me that Alaska during that time wasn't in a good spot. The condition's in Alaska were horrible. Mainly for the Seventh Infantry took the biggest amount of wounded and deaths because, the men were mean't for the desert operations. Also, conditions were not so good because, medicine was invented but not as good. The reason for this is because, a lot of men got trench foot from walking in snow and steams. It got to point where men continued to fight but men crawled because, they had so much pain in there feet. Soon as they stopped to rest or try to get medical attention, When they got Medical attention the first thing to do was to warm their feet up. If the Soldiers foot was bad and infected it would have to be amputated. "Being a POW is as tough as tough can be but at least I made it", said Walter Winfrey. This proves that the Japanese treat our soldiers like slaves. " I don't think I could have survived another Winter as a prisoner. This quote proves to me that winter in foreign countries have rough winters.( Mainly Russia but this isn't what this is about). I did enjoy reading this book because, it shows what conditions these men had to go through just to get one of the many states of the U.S.A.. Not only that but also the History of it and how it connects to today. I would reconmmend this book to history buff's or people who like to study WWII and would like to learn more. My favorite quote from this book is from a man named Alex. " At first we did alright because we ate flour and sugar and fish we brought from Attu". This quote made me happy because the men had barely eaten in a week and they were replenished with supplies.
Chris Silva July 21, 2014
ReplyDeleteHana’s Suitcase
By
Karen Levine
Hana’s Suitcase by the author Karen Levine is about the Holocaust and about a Jewish girl named Hana Brady. She had a brother called George who was the only person in his family to survive the Nazis. The Nazis killed Hana. The Nazis wanted to destroy the Jews. Auschwitz was a death camp where people were sent to die and their bodies to be burned. It is where Hana died. The children and the adults were taken away to the death camps. In the concentration camps, old people had to eat less food because the Nazis felt they would die soon anyway. When the people died in the concentration camps, they were so skinny and and bony because there was never enough food to eat. Many years later, after being found by Fumiko Ishioka, the head of a Holocaust center for young people in Tokyo, Japan, George Brady went to Japan to visit the Japanese students and take pictures with them.
George went to Japan many years after the Holocaust because he had to see Hana’s suitcase. He was crying when he remembered that his sister, with whom he was so close as a child, had died. Fumiko Ishioka, of the Holocaust center in Tokyo, Japan, had asked George to come from Canada, where he now lived, to remember Hana’s life by seeing her suitcase and celebrating her life with the Japanese children.
Karen Levine wrote this story because it shows that children are our future and there is a hope that they can prevent bad things like the Holocaust from happening again through education. Fumiko showed the children why Hana’s suitcase was so important and what it meant to them. The author’s goal was to show that, with knowledge, children can change the world. By learning what happened to Hana and George in the Holocaust, the children would know that bad things happen in the world and maybe they will one day be able to keep them from happening. Hopefully, terrible events like the Holocaust will not happen again.
Hana’s Suitcase covers the time period of the 1930’s and 1940’s, which includes World War 2 and the Holocaust. The author taught me that this time period was a bad time for Jews in Europe because of Hitler and the Nazis. The Nazis blamed the Jews, without reason, for Germany’s problems. The Nazis took everything away from the Jews, including their rights and their families, and put the Jews in concentration camps where millions of Jews died.
ReplyDelete“On March 15, 1939, Hitler’s Nazi troops marched into the rest of Czechoslovakia, and the Brady family’s life was changed forever. The Nazis declared that Jews were evil, a bad influence, dangerous. From now on, the Brady family and the other Jews in Nove Mesto would have to live by different rules.” The Nazis were conquering countries in Europe and saying that Jews were bad. The rights of the Jews were being cut off. “With each loss of friendship and with each new restriction, Hana and George felt their world grow a little smaller. They were angry. They were sad.” With all the restrictions put on Jews in Czechoslovakia, Hana and George lost their friends and the right to go to the places they loved, such as the park, their friends’ houses, and even school.
I enjoyed reading Hana’s Suitcase because I learned about a time and some places I did not know a lot about. I learned about people’s feelings during the time of the Holocaust and I learned about what happened inside the concentration camps. The story was about young people about my age who had a bad time in the Holocaust. I would recommend this book to others because it is a true story about what it was like for the Jews in the 1930’s and 1940’s, especially for people my own age. My favorite quote from the book is about George Brady. “But whatever he accomplished, whatever joy he felt, it was always tinged with the memory of his beautiful little sister and the horror of her fate.” It is my favorite quote because George never forgot about his sister Hana after many years. I would not forget my brothers either.
Spies of Mississippi by Rick Bowers
ReplyDeleteThe Spies of Mississippi by Rick Bowers discussed the time during the Civil Rights Movement when the FBI hired spies to spy on the private civilians in Mississippi. Governor Coleman of Mississippi signed the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission into action. This commission was set up in order to keep segregation in Mississippi. The commission wanted to keep segregation in order to keep white power over African Americans in the south. African Americans during this time did not have the same rights as white people. They were not allowed to vote or hold the same jobs so many African Americans moved to the North in search of equality. The commission was set up in order to keep these differences between whites and African Americans. They did not want to give African Americans the right to vote so they spied on people involved in activist groups. 87,000 private civilians were spied on during this time.
The author probably wrote this book in order to make people aware of the situation in the south during the Civil Rights Movement. Bowers probably wanted to make people aware of how there were spies everywhere in Mississippi and most people didn’t even know it. He also probably wanted to expose how the government was involved in trying to keep segregation in the south during this time. Bowers did accomplish this goal because he provided a lot of evidence that shows that there were spies in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. He also had evidence that the FBI and government were involved in keeping segregation in the south. The author used interviews from actual spies and documents as evidence as well as photographs and articles from this time.
The book covers the Civil Rights Movement period from 1950s-1960s. This book taught me that African Americans still did not have a lot of rights in the south. For example, they could not vote or hold the same jobs at whites. Also, the book taught me that many people wanted to keep segregation in the south so many African Americans moved to the north in order to have equal rights. The information in the book was very detailed and entertaining.
“The new ‘black codes’ restricted freedoms of speech, travel, voting, owning land, and choosing an occupation. White supremacy-the concept that white people are naturally superior to blacks-was written into law, taught in schools, praised in churches, and reinforced in the media” (p. 12). This quote taught me that segregation was popular in the south during this time period and African Americans did not have the same rights as whites.
“My advice is that everyone read the Commission files, with their chilling investigative reports on private citizens and their underhanded tactics for maintaining the racist status quo. In the end, the files are an important reminder of the dangers of unchecked power and the reckless regard for individual rights” (p.101). This quote taught me that it is important for people to know that people in power can sometimes abuse that power and that they do not care about people’s rights.
No, I did not really enjoy reading this book. I found it hard to relate to because we are not in that time period. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this time period because it shows a good amount of evidence.
Alex Butler
ReplyDelete8/2/14
The book that I read was No Easy Day by Mark Owen and Kevin Maurer, the basis of what this book was about was a firsthand account of the mission that ultimately killed Al Qaeda’s leader, Osama Bin Laden. You witness the story from Mark Owen a U.S Navy Seal from DEVGRU’s point of view in detail of what he saw through his eyes during the mission as well as some scenes that went on prior to the mission; it follows Mark Owen as him and DEVGRU, a seal squad infiltrate the base in Afghanistan and it starts with Mark Owen in the Blackbird helicopter getting ready to fly into the Afghan base while flying towards the Bin Laden base however, the Blackbird helicopter is shot down and he hangs on tucking himself in, hoping to survive without being crushed, but it ends after they infiltrate Bin Laden’s base kill his wives and then kill Osama Bin Laden. I think the author’s purpose for writing this was to show the events that led to the biggest terrorist organization’s leader’s downfall in a first-hand perspective in order to document his life and what he accomplished. His goal for this book was definitely accomplished because it was a very in depth look into the eyes of a U.S Navy Seal that was involved with the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden. This book covers the events in 2011 until Osama was killed in May of 2011. My favorite quote from this book was “The only easy day was yesterday.” this taught me that no day is truly easy unless it already had happened and this is the Navy Seal Philosophy. I did enjoy reading this book because it was a good book that explains what really happened during the mission that killed Osama. I would recommend this to others because if they enjoy semi-short books that are about strategic warfare and that explain the stories behind missions that affected the world as we know it.
Kinsey DelBuono - 2nd Half
ReplyDeleteLaura Hillenbrands purpose for writing this book was to inform readers about the inspiring and powerful life story of Louie Zamperini. She definitely did this showing the multiple traits of Louie which left readers admiring his bravery courage and strength. This book covers the time period of World War 2. What Laura Hillenbrands teaches us about World War 2 is that this was a time of brutal war. Many people did not survive and for the people that did it took a lot of bravery and strength to do. For example when Louie was drifting in the water for over 40 days he never once gave up. He kept looking for food and ways he could survive. Also when he was in those camps and when America dropped the bomb on japan he could’ve died but he found ways to survive.
Laura used many detailed quotes in her story. One of the quotes she used was, "Louie and his father rode together to the train station. The platform was crowded with uniformed young men and crying parents, clinging to one another, saying good-bye. When Louie embraced his father, he could feel him shaking." What this quote shows about World War 2 is many parents had to say goodbye to their kids and for many of them it would be there last goodbye. Also it describes the uniformed men which show how they were going to war because they all had to be in uniform. Another quote from this story that the author used to show what happens in this time period is, "it was absolutely dark and absolutely silent, save for the chattering of Phil's teeth.” During the time of World War 2 if you were being held prisoner you needed to be really quiet and obey what the guards were saying and what this quote shows is that at some of the camps it was absolutely silent and dark because you didn’t want guards finding or catching you.
During my reading I enjoyed the book very much. It was very suspenseful and sometimes I didn’t want to put it down because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I would recommend this book to people that want to learn more about World War 2. My favorite quote from this book is, “Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen.” The author tries to show us that you need to have pride and believe in yourself because its just important as the essential materials you need have to keep you alive. She also includes a quote that says, “Without dignity, identity is erased.” Laura tries to show through this quote that if you don’t believe in yourself nobody will.
Kinsey DelBuono - 1rst Half
ReplyDeleteUnbroken
Unbroken is a true story based on a young Olympic runner from Torrance, California. During his childhood he was a trouble student and didn’t always do his work. One day he was called into service on a bomber crew in the Pacific in World War 2. The Plane went down while over the Pacific Ocean and Louie and two others were the only survivors. They drifted in the ocean for over 40 days. The two men and Louie lived on rain water and the occasional fish or bird that they could catch. After the 40 days two men were left Louie and the pilot of the plane. When they were finally nearing land they were both captured by the Japanese navy. America was not informed about the kidnap so they were declared dead. Their families did not give up hope as they still thought they were alive.
At first these men were treated very gently but after a little bit of time they were transferred to a Japanese prisoner camp where they thought they might end up dead because if the harsh treatment. Because of Louie’s fame as an Olympic runner he was given really harsh treatment by the guards but he was not killed. He was sent to multiple camps and eventually he ended up in one in Tokyo where he was given partially brutal treatment by a group called “The Bird”. They attempted to make a broadcast to America but when he refused he was severally punished.
Louie was in Tokyo prison camps for awhile. While he was there America dropped atomic bombs on Japan which led Japan to surrender. Most prisoners knew nothing about this war until the guards told them it was over. Louie was hospitalized and then sent home to his family. His life was very troubled when he arrived home. He was forced to marry a young woman after 2 weeks of meeting her. While they were married Louie kept getting flash backs from the beatings he got In Japan and he started to drink. Because of this he became an alcoholic. His wife then told him she wanted to file for divorce. Louie then decided to turn his life around to save his marriage. He quit drinking and soon found his nightmares were not as bad as they use to be. He then started making appearances to people and giving talks about his experience with “The Bird”.
Sanaria Morris
ReplyDeleteHistory 10th Grade
Summer Work
8/20/14
If I Die In A Combat Zone
By: Tim O'Brien
I read the book If I Die In A Combat Zone. This book is about a guy named Tim O'Brien and he travels the world to be in different battles, of different wars. sometimes he gets scared of the next day and what's going happen, the worst thing he thinks about is his family getting hurt. Tim has no where to run to or talk to, to become a better person or find a better way out of his situation. Tim's captain tells him not to worry but, that is all Tim does and tries to protect the world and especially his family. In my opinion, the author's purpose for writing this book is to teach people who are going to war, that they have to suffer a lot of things that they really don't want to go through. Also, when I was reading this book I did feel like I was actually in the characters position and what he feels through this. He did accomplish this goal because I had the feeling of actually being there and having good descriptions on what it was like. The historical time period of this book is World Wars 1 and 2. The main character (Tim) has to go through a lot to make his way through all the hard times. The book teaches me how to deal with real life problems and how families or people or are in the world feel about there families when someone is gone for a long period of time. One quote in this book that teaches me about this period or time is when that Captain told him "Worrying is the worst thing you could do because it just makes everything more harder for you!", this teaches me that if you worry about everything you will build up stress and it will make things harder for you to equip. Another quote that teaches my about this period or time is when Tim said "My baby is sick...", this is also teaching me that if you worry about your family and you go back to help the then, the Captain will complain and tell you that if you leave you can never come back and you would make things worse. I enjoyed reading thins book because I was able to understand it and it made me actually feel and see in my mind how it was for soldiers back then and families around that world that had to suffer. I would recommend this book to million of other people around the world because this book is really expiring and it is very easy to understand. Kids around the world should understand and think about people back then and what the had to go through. There are still some people that are still going through this. I would love to think about making an organization to donate things to the soldiers fighting for us this minute and the families waiting for a family member that is fighting for us to call them and tell them that they are okay. My favorite quote from the book is the one I listed before that the Captain said "Worrying is the worst thing you could do it makes everything more harder for you!", I say this because this is showing me that whatever you worry about makes it harder for you and makes thing around you worse than it already is.
Band of Brothers, by Steven E. Ambrose, is a book about the Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 101st Airborne Division, from basic training to D-day. It follows the jump into Holland, the Battle of the Bulge, and the occupation of Berchtesgaden and Austria. It details the day to day life of a soldier not like other military histories; it also explains how citizen soldiers like the 101st Airborne did against well trained Wehrmach and S.S. A description of the basic training explains why many volunteers never made it as far as the airplane door. The first day of basic training all of the men had to run up Currahee Mountain and back. When they were not exercising they were learning the basics of soldiering. This book also details the nine months of training in preparation for the invasion of Hitler’s fortress. After the jump on D-Day there were less than 100 men, one 60mm mortar, nine riflemen, two light machine guns, and two officers. They were sent in to overrun a four gun German battery guarded by a fifty man platoon. The mission took 3 hours and was successful. The book talked about how there were no heroics and that it was a way to get killed without getting the job done. The men fought in Normandy until June 29thand was sent to a field camp near Utah Beach. They entered Normandy with 139 men and officers and left with 79. They were later in occupation duty in Austria and on November 30, 1945, 101st was deactivated.
ReplyDeleteThe author’s purpose for writing this book is to show the audience what it was like for soldiers going from all of their training in WW2 to touching down on D-Day. Not only that but what compelled them to continue the intense training, the honor, the thrill, and the extra cash.
The author accomplished this goal by going into such detail of what happened that let you see the exact scene in your head. He had exact dates of when certain events happened like when the company was dispatched.
This book covered the time period of World War II.
The author teaches you about the intense training that went into forming an army. It also teaches you about the scenarios and circumstances the Easy Company had to face.
“No one jumped up and charged a machine gun, we worked as a team to destroy it or make it withdraw.” This teaches me that real war is not like you see in the movies; it’s about teamwork and dedication. “Heroics are a way to get killed without getting the job done.” This teaches me that no one should be a hero, you should all work as a team or you could get killed.
I enjoyed reading this book because it is a genre that I have not read in a while and it encouraged me to get into those types of books again.
I would recommend this book to others because it is well detailed and describes life in World War II.
My favorite quote is “"Here the training paid off, we fought as a team without standout stars.” This quote talks about fighting as a team and not taking matters into your own hands.
By Jonathan Soler
8/10/14
Jessica Higbee
ReplyDeleteSummer Assignment
“The Spies of Mississippi” is about the year 1956 which saw the creation of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, a special agency charged with preserving the right of the state to govern itself without interference from the federal government or private pressure groups. In this era, “sovereignty” was code for segregation, and the commission was granted major powers to investigate private citizens and organizations, make arrests, maintain secret files and force witnesses to testify. Using primary-source materials, including 134,000 pages of documents from the commission’s once-secret files, Bowers tells the story of how the Mississippi government created a propaganda machine and statewide spy network and conspired with such groups as the Klan and the White Citizens’ Council to undermine the efforts of civil-rights organizations. He illustrates the desperate and shockingly illegal lengths the commission went to but is not successful in linking it to the assassination of Medgar Evers and the murders of three Freedom Summer volunteers. The author’s purpose for writing this book was to show that not all spies are good. When young children think of spies they think of James Bond and other spies of this generation. But in this book it shows a different point of view on spies, which are used more for nefarious purposes. Rick Bowers, I think definitely accomplished this goal because while reading the book I realized how different situations were back then. Also I noticed how dangerous and risky some of these people were when fighting for what they wanted. The time period my book takes place is in the 1950’s and 60’s. This book taught me that in the 50’s and 60’s day to day life was very hard for some people. They had to constantly fight for what they believed in and were fought for wanting equality. Also that most people were forced to do things they didn’t want to do which is one of the reasons those people started to rebel. One quote from the book that I chose was, “Virtually all the faces looking back at him were white.” The reason I chose this quote was because it taught me right off the bat that at this time period blacks and whites were separated, which is later described as segregation. The reason behind this quote, I think, is to show that segregation was very popular back then and that as the story continues it is a good thing us people, nowadays don’t think that way. Another quote I chose is, “Governor Coleman, despite his reluctance, became the overseer of the state’s new segregation watchdogs.” I chose this quote because not only does it say that whites were in control of blacks but it also shows that the new “overseer” of these rules was not okay with how things were being handled. I actually really enjoyed reading this book. I enjoyed it because I think Bowers really brought to life this event of the past. It was interesting and specific, and I feel like now I know more about the Civil Rights movement then I ever did before. I would recommend this book to others because it is very in-depth and detailed. This book also is easier to read for teenagers or young adults who are interested in this time period. My favorite quote from the book is actually the last sentence. The quote is, “Their names- categorized in the files as race agitators, subversives, and communists- live on as champions of the most powerful democratic movement in our history.” I chose this quote because it really just ties the whole story together and shows how serious this issue was to some people.
"The Spies of Mississippi"
By: Rick Bowers
Columbine By: Dave Cullen
ReplyDeleteThis novel takes place on April 20th, 1999 when two boys, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, killed 13 people at school. This included twelve fellow classmates and one teacher. I think that the author's purpose for writing this book was to bring attention to the fact that anything can happen at any time and that there are some sick people out there that will do unexplainable things. I definitely understand how this book explains that life can be scary at times but if we have gotten through such a tragedy as the Columbine school shooting, then we can get through anything.
Eric and Dylan's plan was not to just kill 13 people, oh no, it was to kill over 600 with two bombs that were supposed to go off at 11:17 in the lunchroom a.k.a. the commons. Eric designed at least seven big bombs working off of what he read from an anarchist cookbook he had found on the web. Bomb #1 employed aerosol cans for detonators and were planted in a park 3 miles from Eric's house. That bomb could kill hundreds but was only meant for stones and trees. This was only a decoy to distract police and cause panic towards the park on the other side of town so that Eric and Dylan had time to fulfill their entire plan. The bombs that they planted in the cafeteria did not detonate and as soon as the bombs failed to explode their whole plan had changed. They planned to stake out 2 of the 3 main entrances to the school. The bombs going off were supposed to cause a panic and make everyone want to run out and there they would be, waiting with automatic shotguns, pistols, etc. My first quote was said by Eric Harris to buddy of his, the buddy who got him the ammo. His buddy asked him if he was going shooting tonight, wondering why he needed all this ammo. Eric responded, "Maybe tomorrow." Just think if that kid had said something to someone he could have saved so many lives. Eric and Dylan wanted to kill as many people as humanly possible. They wanted to be remembered for this long after they die.
Cassie Bernall was a normal christian teenager with a love for everyone and everything. She had no date to the prom though and not many friends. Most would probably label her a loser or an outcast maybe even a wallflower. No one would have even guessed that on April 20th, 1999 she would be killed by Eric Harris and become a martyr for christians everywhere. My second quote was said by Eric Harris to Cassie Bernall before he killed her. He asked her, "Do you believe in God?" She paused. The gun was still there. "Yes, I believe in God," she said. Eric asked, "Why?" Before she could respond, he shot her clean in the head. I'm a christian and this made me think, would I have done the same and would I have been brave enough to say, "Yes," while I was at gunpoint, knowing that he was going to shoot me.
On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this novel an 8 because this book was definitely one to remember. I would recommend this for people who like books that are real and teach you how the world really is and that things can happen, anywhere at anytime. This was a good read and I enjoyed it very much.
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ReplyDeleteJack Lam
ReplyDeleteColumbine: Dave Cullen
The book I read this summer was columbine by Dave Cullen and it was published in March of 2010. This book is awesome for including a lot of details about the massacre and how the planned it and how long it took for these two boys to actually complete their dreams. Eric and Dylan first went into the cafeteria during lunch, after missing a few periods in the morning. They had two bombs in the huge bags they had carried into the cafe. No one noticed what they had done. That day, these two boys shot up their school and didn’t care who they killed. The boys wanted to be remembered. Dave had made it obvious the day of the shooting will be a day no one will forget.
Eric and Dylan started planning the shooting when they were both sophomores in school. Dylan started writing his journal. Eric and Dylan started their jobs at a pizzeria and began to build their first bomb in the summer. Eric used his website he had made as a journal. Brooks Brown found his name on Eric’s website. Brooks and Eric had a cruel history. Eric was threatening to kill Brooks Brown. Eric’s website was reported to the police and it listed everybody he hates in his school. Brooks had become civil with Eric. When it was junior year they started to break into things. This was also when they first started making pipe bombs It was spring now, Dylan started warning Brooks Brown about Eric’s death threats. A month later Eric had started his journal. The boys started to draw their attack. Eric’s junior year he took a lot of medication for depression and OCD. Its now the boys senior year and Eric had started making pipe bomb production.
ReplyDeleteEric still writes in his journal every day, but one day Eric writes about his gross rape dreams. Late November, Dylan and Eric began to buy guns. They both went to a gun show and bought three guns. It was the start of December when Eric had fired a gun for the first time in his life. Dylan and Eric had gone out and bought another gun. The two of them were both starting to practice shooting at a range. The boys filmed themselves shooting at the range. The two boys not only wrote in their journals but also started filming themselves. A couple months before the shooting, Dylan and Eric started filming their “Basement Tapes”. They made tapes to record how they felt about people. It was now April and prom was coming. The night of prom Dylan’s dad filmed him the whole night until he left with his date. Dylan had gone to prom with Robyn Anderson that night. It was now Tuesday, the day of the shooting. Eric and Dylan came late to school that day, lunch was starting. The boys walked into the cafe and left two bombs in two bags. A kid named Richard was with Rachel Scott sitting outside just starting to eat lunch. That’s when Eric had thrown a bomb and it blew up. No one really cared because they all thought it was some prank or something. That’s when Eric pointed a gun at Rachel and shot, she was hit three times. Eric and Dylan went into the school and the shooting started. They were hurting so many people from
ReplyDeleteshots and bombs. Kids were freaking out, running around the school to get out. The teachers were trying to keep everybody OK but it just didn’t work. Rachel was the first victim murdered followed by 12 others. Not only were some student’s killed and a teacher but many were hurt. When Eric and Dylan were running out of bullets they decided it was time to die. They sat down in the library and counted ONE-TWO-THREE and shot them selves. Dylan and Eric commited suicide.
ReplyDeleteI totally disagree with the books ending because it was stupid of Eric and Dylan to shoot students and a teacher because they hated the kids who were mean to them and the jocks and the school. The book columbine contradicts my knowledge before reading it because I knew about the shooting and how students died and that two kids were the killers and they killed themselves cause they thought they were lame but I was kind of wrong cause really they were just losers and hated the school and all the jocks and people who were mean to them. And I thought they were dumb kids who did it just to kill kids they hate but they did it cause they wanted people to remember them. Yes this book is perfect because, it really lets you know about Eric and Dylan before the shooting and what kind of people they were like. I liked reading this book for a lot of reasons because I can connect to the student’s reactions. I’m always thinking about what the kids did in that situation. I would totally recommend this book to other people for 2 reasons. 1st, the book went into a lot of detail bout the whole problem then the news had. And 2nd, the book wasn’t unfair. The author never took sides or accused the killers, he laid out the information he had and let you guide yourself into an conclusion.
Emma Gagnon Period 1 8/23/14
ReplyDeleteThe book that I chose to read this summer was Columbine by Dave Cullen. This book was about a school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado on Tuesday April 20, 1999. This was a massacre that was well-known all over the world and it changed the way we view the world. The two shooters names were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. People believed they did it because they were bullied. Their initial plan was to have 2 bombs blow up. One of the bombs was inside the school and the other one was on the other side of town. They put it on the other side so it would distract the police. The bomb inside of the school didn’t blow up so they went inside and shot about 37 people. 13 of them were killed and 24 were wounded. They went into the library and killed themselves. It took the police 3 hours to find the shooters but by time they did they were already dead. I think that the author’s purpose for writing this book was to explain that tragedies like this actually happen and they’re serious problems. I think that he accomplished that goal because the topic of the book was a real life event. He spent about 10 years doing research to write this book and he had actual details about each thing in the book. He also included a lot of quotes from people that witnessed the incident. In the back of the book he included the shooters mapped out plan. This book took place in the 1990s. This was a violent time period in history. Before the incident at Columbine high school, there had been many more school shootings throughout the world. After the shooting in Bethel, Alaska in 1997 people didn’t really feel safe anymore. The historical event that my book covered was the shooting at Columbine High School. One quote that taught me about the event was, “As difficult as it may be, please stay away.” The quote was put in the book when the two shooters were in the school killing people. Parents heard the news and were going crazy to enter the building. Everyone hearing about the incident was terrified for all the kids inside the school. It made me feel like I was a part of the situation with all parents and students going through the tragedy. Another quote was, “Eric has staggering confidence in himself. He left no indication that he planned for contingencies, Dylan left no indication that he planned much of anything.” This quote taught me that even back then, no one could tell who would do what. Even if the person looked innocent and didn’t seem the type to do something bad they still could be hiding something and try something bad. My favorite quote from this book was probably, “I don’t think he thought about it” and “His instinct was to save his kids.” This quote was said by the daughter of a well-known teacher that was much liked. I picked it as my favorite quote because it shows what kind of person he was and that even though he could have gotten out of the school and survived, he chose to save the students. I enjoyed reading this book because I learned a lot about this incident. It was a great book overall. It told a lot of great stories on how people helped each other through the tragedy and how students helped each other escape and survive. I would recommend this book to those who would like to learn about or more about the Columbine school shooting. People who want to learn about tragic events in the 1990s should also check this book out.
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ReplyDeleteCailey Lopes
ReplyDeletePart one
Fly boys as it says in the title is a story of courage. It’s about nine world war two pilots. It talks about how they were shot down over Chichi Jima. Only one pilot, George H. W. Bush, was rescued by a submarine while the others were taken by the Japanese and were executed as POW’s. They were nowhere to be found. They were kept a secret because the Japanese government wanted to keep them a secret. Most of the flyboys were just average kids who wanted to join the war, or thought that they had to. I think the authors’ purpose for this book was to talk about how brave these nine pilots were. Also, to talk about how brave they were and what they went through. I would say the author did accomplish this goal because in some parts of the book it talked about how it was important to some of the men to keep their friends safe and they would do anything for this. This really shoes how much courage and bravery they had which I think the author was trying to get across to the readers by writing this book. The time period covered in this book is during the World War two. “We don't want you bringing bullets home; we have millions. Leave the bullets up there. Let the Germans take them home”. “Watch the fuel. If you run out of gas, you will sleep with the Germans.” These quotes showed how they had to be careful because one wrong move and they could be I the hands of the Germans which they were all trying to stay away from. During this time the Germans invaded Poland, and once they conquered Poland Germany attached France. Soon they took over most of Europe and North America. I learned this in the book because the author included this throughout the book. He talked about how they didn’t want to get caught by anyone if they crashed. They were caught by the Japanese who were horrible during the war as the author describes it. He talked about how they treated everyone bad during this war. I would recommend this book to others because I rarely read books like this and after reading Flyboys, I thought that it was a book that everyone could enjoy because there were a lot of things I learned throughout this book, that I didn’t already know. It talked about World War two pilots which I never really knew a lot about.
Cailey Lopes
ReplyDeletePart Two
For example, I didn’t know how difficult it was to keep safe when they were shot down. I feel like other readers would learn a lot too. My favorite quote in Fly boys is, “when I asked him, fifty-three years after the event, “Mr. Lucas, why did you jump on those grenades?” he did not hesitate with his answer, “to save my buddies”. I liked this quote because it showed how much he cared about his friends and how he would do anything to keep them self. It also shows how he was brave and had courage because he did this to save the lives of his friends which is extremely good of him. I did enjoy reading this book. Mostly because it was interesting to say what the men all went through during this time
Sarah Jinks (part 2)The author, Laura Hillenbrands, purpose for writing this book was to inform readers about the inspirational and influential life story of Louis Zamperini. She did this by showing the multiple positive traits of Louis which made the readers appreciative of how brave and courageous he was. This book covers the time period of World War II (1937-1939). What Hillenbrands teaches us about World War II is that the war was brutal and many soldiers suffered not only during the war but afterwards dealing with Post-traumatic stress disorder. With all the stress and suffering from this war a lot of soldiers did not survive and the ones who did it took a lot of strength to do. As an example, when Louis and the other two were drifting in the water they had to think about not giving up. Louis had to keep looking for ways he could survive, focusing on how he was going to get food and fresh water.
ReplyDeleteLaura used many powerful quotes in her story. One of the quotes she used was, "Louie and his father rode together to the train station. The platform was crowded with uniformed young men and crying parents, clinging to one another, saying good-bye. When Louie embraced his father, he could feel him shaking." What this quote shows about World War II is that it was hard for the parents and drafted soldiers to say goodbye. For many of the parents they did not know if it would be the last goodbye. Another quote from this story that the author used is, "It was absolutely dark and absolutely silent, except for the chattering of Phil's teeth.” During the time of World War II if you were a prisoner you were expected to be silent and to just obey the orders from the guards. This quote shows that at some of the camps it was supposed to be silent and dark because otherwise the guards would discipline you and probably beat you.
Personally I thought the book was okay. There were some parts that were suspenseful and I just wanted to know what was going to happen. There were some parts that I found less interesting but I would recommend this book to someone that wants to learn more about World War II. My favorite quote from this book is, “Without dignity, identity is erased.” Hillenbrands uses this quote to show that if you don’t believe in yourself and do what you need to do for yourself nobody will. And that in stressful situations it’s important to know who you are and to remember what you believe in and fight for that.
Sarah Jinks (Part 1) Unbroken is a true story based on a young Olympic runner from Torrance, California named Louis Zamperini. As a child he was a troubled student and didn’t always complete his work. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Force in September 1941 and after all his training he was called into service on a bomber crew in the Pacific in World War 2. On May 27, 1943 the Plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean and Louie and two others were the only survivors. After more than a month the two men were left Louie and the pilot of the plane. As they got closer to a shore line they were both seized by the Japanese navy. They were stated to be dead because America was not informed about the capture but even with hearing this, their families did not give up hope and believed they were alive.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning they were getting treated tolerable but after a while they were transferred to a different Japanese prisoner camp where because of the severe treatment they thought that they would die there. Louis got harsher treatment at the camps since he was a famous Olympian runner. He was sent to multiple camps and eventually he ended up in Tokyo. While there he was tortured by a group called “The Bird” and was treated partially brutally. They attempted to make a broadcast to America but when he refused he was severally punished.
When Louis was in one of the Tokyo camps America dropped the atomic bombs on Japan which was when Japan to surrender. A lot of the prisoners knew nothing about this war until the guards told them it was over. When the prisoners got released Louis was hospitalized first and then sent home to his family. His life was very disturbed when he arrived home. He was forced to marry a young woman after only two weeks of meeting her. He started to become an alcoholic because of drinking all the time from all the stress he was feeling from flashbacks of being imprisoned. It put a lot of strain on his marriage and his wife told him she wanted to file for divorce. When she told him this Louis decided to turn his life around to save his marriage. After he quit drinking he soon realized that his nightmares weren’t as bad as they were before. He started making appearances to people and giving speeches about his experience with “The Bird”.
Tori Gagnon
ReplyDeleteIf I Die in a Combat Zone
Tim O’Brien
If I die in a Combat Zone tells the true story of Tim O’Brien’s journey as a soldier in the Vietnam War. Before he goes into detail about his daily life in the war, he discusses how throughout his childhood, he would listen to World War II veterans tell their stories about the war and how that used to inspire him to become a soldier. Although the stories he was told scared him and many times made him think about deserting, he still pulled through and received his training at Fort Lewis Washington. Throughout the book, he tells the reader about his hardships during his time serving. Some of which include the many bomb mines he came across, jungle warfare and grenade dangers. The story ends off with Tim being taken out of a safer job away from the chaos and brought safely home. In my opinion, the author’s purpose for writing this story is to inform the reader about all the ups and downs of the Vietnam War. He probably wanted to show us what all the soldiers had to go through on a daily basis and how it greatly impacted them. Yes, the writer did accomplish that goal. I say this because after reading the book, I really had a different point of view on war. The story taught me all about how the soldiers of the Vietnam War had to go through a lot more than what people actually thought. I learned that even their home lives got impacted by all the tragedies of the war. I think Tim wanted everybody to be able to put themselves in a soldier’s position and try to picture what it would be like to fight in Vietnam. He wanted people to be more appreciative of everybody in the service. The book that I read covered the historical time period of the Vietnam War. The book teaches me a lot about the time period. One of the things it taught me is that the war not only affected the soldiers but also the people at home, such as the family and friends. Not only that but it also greatly impacted the community in many negative ways. I feel people in this time period were very grateful and understanding with each other because they never knew when another bad thing from the war would hit them. “…At night is the fear of getting lost, of becoming detached from the others…” (Page 87) This quote tells me that you never know what’s going to happen and they all depend on each other to protect one another, that no matter how tough they seem individually, they still need each other in the end. “I wondered if they stopped to help the dead man, if they had been angry at his death, or only frightened that they might die.”(Page 88) I feel like this quote has a deeper meaning than what it seems like. When I first read it, the first thing that came to mind was that the soldiers weren’t sure if they should stop and get the body, purely out of respect and sorrow, or if they should keep going instead of risking their own lives. Yes, I did enjoy reading this book. It was sad, but at the same time it was very informative of the war. I’m glad I chose this book. I would recommend this book to others. I feel like after reading it, no matter who you are, you will have a completely different perspective on many things and you will realize that you should be thankful for what you have. “Things happened, things came to an end. There was no sense of developing drama.”(Page 17) This was my favorite quote because it’s basically telling you not to stress out over things that you simply can’t change. A lot of things will happen to you in your lifetime, whether they’re good or bad, you can’t always do something about it to change what’s going to happen and that’s just how life is. You cannot change it so there’s no point in making a big deal and stressing out about it.
Alexa Rinaldi- Period 1
ReplyDeleteIf I Die in a Combat Zone
Tim O’Brien
(Part 1)
“If I Die in a Combat Zone” by Tim O’Brien is a true story depicting his life before and during his time as a Vietnam soldier. He reminisces about his childhood, and talks about even from early on he wanted to go into the service. He would play army games, and find out information about World War II from war veterans. He then goes on to his time in the war, and the many scary events he encountered while a soldier. From the very beginning he was terrified, to the point where he wanted to desert his fellow soldiers. But, he pulled through and remained strong. O’Brien discusses his time in Vietnam, and how the war affected soldiers and civilians. The book concludes with him receiving a job away from the fighting, and is flown safely home. The author’s purpose for writing this book was to inform us on the hardships of all soldiers in the Vietnam War. O’Brien wanted his story to be heard, because the Vietnam War was one of the worst. Many soldiers came home in shock, or “Vietnam Syndrome”. He wanted people to understand a soldier’s daily life, and how it left an everlasting effect on him, physically and emotionally. Tim O’Brien accomplished his goal of informing us on the Vietnam War. He thoroughly explained how hard training was, and how scary the whole war experience was. He wanted people to hear his story and be able to picture themselves in that situation, which is very hard to do, because not many people would be so willing to give up their time to risk their lives. And O’Brien wanted them to appreciate soldiers more, which would differ greatly than the treatment he and other veterans received when returning from the war. And now, soldiers are more appreciated, for many reasons. This appreciation of soldiers helped Tim O’Brien accomplish his goals.
This book covers the historical event of the Vietnam War. It explains how horrible the war was, affecting not only soldiers but civilians. The Vietnam War was a tragic event during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. “If I Die in a Combat Zone” teaches me that this time in history was rough for everyone. The war left a devastating effect on Vietnam, ruining miles of the country. The war left America in chaos, women taking men roles and without much money. Both sides had negative effects from the war. “Now war ended, all I am left with are simple, unprofound scraps of truth. Men die. Fear hurts and humiliates.” taught me that even after the war ends, it still lives with you. The men that died alongside you, will always be in your thoughts. I learned from this quote that even after you fight your battles, whether on a battlefield or not, that memory will live with you forever. “The moment-to-moment, step by step decision-making preys on your mind. The effect sometimes is paralysis.” taught me that the soldiers had to constantly make last minute decisions. They couldn’t plan too far ahead into the future. And their decisions always left an effect on them. Even if it was killing the enemy, it still hurts them for putting that upon another life. I enjoyed reading this book. It really helped open my eyes to the tragedy of war.
Alexa Rinaldi- Period 1
ReplyDeleteIf I Die in a Combat Zone
Tim O'Brien
(Part 2)
Reading this book was saddening at times, thinking about how hard it was for the soldiers during this war and even training, but I still enjoyed it. It was nicely written, and made me more grateful for the people we have in the service fighting for us. I would recommend this book to others. It is very informational on a soldier’s life, and written from experience. It was truly amazing to me that even from a young age he wanted to be in the service. This book was a good story about the Vietnam War, and how hard it was to be a soldier in it, no matter what side you fight for. I didn’t see a reason to not want to read this book, especially if you are learning about this time period. Of the whole book, my favorite quote is “Do dreams offer lessons? Do nightmares have themes, do we awaken and analyze them and live our lives and advise others as a result?” This is my favorite quote because it really makes you think about your dreams in a whole new way. Not to just brush them off, but to think about what they really mean. That we could live by our dreams and fear everything from our nightmares, or we could just live in the moment.
Patrick Czerniawski
ReplyDelete8/13/14
World History
Flyboys by: James Bradley
Summary: In 1914, "The Great War" (WWI) began in Europe. By 1917, the Allied powers of France, England, Italy and others were on the edge against the German juggernaut. Some Americans disagreed with the war. They volunteered to fight alongside their counterparts in France; some in the infantry, some in the Ambulance Corps. A lot of others had a different idea, they decided to learn how to fly. The first of them became known as the Lafayette Escadrille. They had their own story. Forced to abandon his family's ranch, Blaine Rawlings finds his future in a newsreel. At a small train station in rural Nebraska, William Jensen promises to make his family proud. In New York, Briggs Lowry embarks on a trans-Atlantic passage. Meanwhile, in France, black expatriate boxer, Eugene Skinner, vows to repay his debt to his country. Together, these American boys arrive at an aerodrome in France, eager to learn how to fly. What they didn't realize was that they were the world's first combat pilots.
2. The author’s purpose for writing this book was so that people could experience and make it feel like you’re in the airplane during a dog fight. The author also wrote this book to educate people what was happening in the skies during WWI in an entertaining way.
3. The author accomplished his goal because by the end of the book, I still wanted to read more because it felt like I was in the action.
4. The book covers WWI which was from 1914 to 1918
5. The time period of this book was during hard times were all families had to ration there goods and was a time of fear knowing that the home you lived could have been bombed and torn to shreds.
6. “Some day it’ll just end. Everyone will go home, get on with their lives. Tall grass will cover the battlefields. And all pilots we’ve lost won’t mean a damn thing.” This shows that everyone’s attention has been kept on the war and nothing else.
Eugene Skinner “This country has been good to me. Better than my own. I owe them something.” This quote means that during this time period, the country he lived in was more racist because Eugene is black.
7. I enjoyed reading this book because the whole time I was reading I didn’t want to put the book down. I sometimes spent one hour reading the book at night before bed. Flyboys always gave me something to do when I was bored.
8. I would recommend this book to war enthusiast and most mature audiences because some younger aged children wouldn’t understand the book and its meaning.
Caitlyn Bolduc
ReplyDelete“If I Die In Combat Zone.”
By: Tim O’Brien
I read “If I Die in Combat Zone” this book is Tim O’Brien’s personal account of what happened to him when he was drafted into the Vietnam War. During his memoir he tells us about his time during training and the steps leading into the war zone. Tim brings to life the night marches through the villages and minefields during the Vietnam War along with his days of just training. Along with knowing what happened during war, Tim O’Brien also brings in some childhood and early education facts. O’Brien describes the severity of the basic training and advanced infantry school. He was forced out of the comfort of his hometown into the harsh conditions brought to him in basic training. For example there was very limited amounts of sleep, and having to share bunks during this time. There were many times O’Brien tried escaping advanced infantry school and hoping to cross the border into Canada, he failed. As an upside, he was then named a radio operator. But O’Brien still faced and experienced things he never thought possible.
I believe that the author Tim O’Brien had many good reasons of why he wrote his memoir, “If I Die in Combat Zone.” One good reason why he wrote the book is because he wanted to let the younger generation know what it is like to be called for duty. This book also informed the readers what it feels like to be away from home. Tim O’Brien’s goal of informing us about being away from home was accomplished. Also, somewhat of the goal of being called for duty was accomplished. I say this because he included a lot more about his training then his days on duty. Throughout his book we could feel what he was feeling throughout the book.
The book, “If I Die in Combat Zone,” took place in the years of the Vietnam War, which was around 1960-1970. This memoir helps us also learn about the Vietnam War in general. There are many good quotes that taught me about the time period. For example, “Now, war ended, all I am left with are simple, unprofound scraps of truth. Men die. Fear hurts and humiliates (pg 23).” This quote shows us that this time period wasn’t the greatest. They didn’t really have anything to be proud of, they just knew that there were many injured and killed for no reason. The second quote that showed the truth of the war, "I wondered if they'd stopped to help the dead man, if they had been angry at his death, or only frightened that they might die (p.98).” This quote shows me a lot about the time period and the situation he was in. I say this because its saying in war if you see someone dying you would try to get them help stay alive, but in this war you didn’t you’d just leave them. So in this quote he is saying that people were almost frightened if they saw a dead man/woman. Both of these quotes show me how serious war is.
Yes, I did enjoy reading this memoir it was very interesting, and serious at many points. But the author spent a lot of time telling us about his basic training and not about the time in war. Which made some of the book less interesting because it took a lot of the book before he got it into the war zone. But other than that I thought it was a well written book. Certainly I would recommend this book to others. I would very much recommend this book to people who like to read about war, people who would like to know what happened in the Vietnam War, or learn about what it is like to be on the war zone, and especially to people who have an interest in becoming a solider, or part of the war. There were many important quotes throughout the book. One of my favorite quote was, "One of the most persistent and appalling thoughts that lumbers through your mind as you walk through Vietnam at night is the fear of getting lost, of becoming detached from the others, of spending the night alone in that frightening and haunted countryside (p. 91).” This quote is my favorite because you can feel how the character feels and this quote also helps you picture what he is going through. Tim O’Brien also shows through his quote how scary it can be being alone in war and how easily you can become detached from your brothers or friends. Overall this book was well written and I enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteBrie Brodeur
ReplyDeleteJames Bradley’s
Flyboys
James Bradley has written books such as The Flags of our Fathers to honor his father who was is in World War II in the battle of Iwo Jima and was one of the men that raised the American flag on Mt Suribachi. However Flyboys was written to honor the airmen who fought in Chichi Jima and the background and outlook of Japan’s views and beliefs on the war. James Bradley wanted to know the story of the airmen who fought in Chichi Jima and hated not knowing what really happened to them.
James Bradley overall accomplished his goal of finding out what happened to eight certain airmen. Even though the families might have not wanted to know the full details of the deaths, Bradley felt they should know how it really happened. However I think he could of went into more finding out more about the individual airmen and how they could of felt or the experiences they had. What their individual back stories were and why they joined. He ended up mainly just focused on the facts of the war.
The book covers mainly early 1940’s during WWII regarding Japan’s involvement with the US. It also covers the background of colonial times and the treatment of Native Americans by the settlers. The book taught about the sacrifice the airmen made on every mission they took. Many were rich young men trying to prove themselves but also found a thrill in the missions they had to take. It also references Japans main involvement in the war. Japanese believed they had warrior spirits guiding them in their missions and would lead them to victory. “ A soldiers duty is to die and never surrender.” Japan believed if you surrendered you weren’t loyal to your country, which many went on missions to die in honor of their country. “Iwo was hell Chichi would have been impossible” was stating the conditions Americans had to push through. Iwo Jima had some flat areas suitable for assault from sea. Chichi was covered in hills inland and rough uneven coast.
The book was kind of interesting because I learned some things about WWII regarding the Japanese view of the war and about Japanese land and islands. However most of the times in the book it would talk about things out of place. It would refer back to years before and bounce back and forth from the past to the present in the book. It also in my opinion got very boring in the way Japan’s history and landscape was described. It didn’t talk about the eight airmen until near the end of the book.
I would recommend the book to someone who wants to know about the Japans background and their involvement with the U.S at the time period. However, if you are someone wanting to learn about the fly boys I would not recommend this book. You need to read the book slow to not miss certain pieces of information because it is snuck in weird places.
“The Flyboy who got away became President of the United States. What might have been for Warren Earl, Dick, Marve, Glenn, Floyd, Jimmy, the unidentified airman, and all others who had lost their lives? And what might have been for those millions of doomed Japanese boys, abused, and abandoned by their leaders? War is a tragedy of what might been.” This quote represents all the possibilities that these young men could have had in life if it weren’t for this war and everything that stood behind it.
Brie Brodeur
isaac ortiz
ReplyDeleteThe book I read was Lone Survivor by Patrick Robinson and Marcus Luttrell. This book was an auto biography/ biography on a real life situation that happened with seal team 10. The purpose for this book was to express to people a real life situation that happened in our error. Yes, they accomplished their goal because it is very clear to me how this event all came into action and described the scenery and location well. The event this book covers is the seal team 10’s mission in 2005. This book teaches me that even though this had happened almost 10 years ago technology was still very key in the situation. For example if the team had a working piece of device to communicate, there was a great chance for zero deaths or injuries. One quote from the book was, “ I will never quit. My nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my enemies and to accomplish our mission. I am never out the fight.” this taught me that in order to survive the situation you couldn’t just be physically strong but even stronger mentally. This also teaches me real life situations like in sports, you don’t have to be the strongest, as long as you believe you are. Another quote was, “ fear is a force that sharpens your senses. Being afraid is a state of paralysis which you cant do anything.” This quote tells me that at the time seal team 10 probably had fear in their minds, but that only kept them aware and on top of things. Meanwhile if they were afraid, they would be hiding from war and would not have went out without a fight. This book really interested me, after I had read the book I went to watch the movie and just found the book way better. The reason I say this is because the book described the events that happened a lot better and was straight from Marcus Luttrell. I also enjoyed reading the book because it was a real event that happened in my time so it was much easier for me too understand and relate it to my life with sports. I believe Luttrell’s quotes really inspired me and probably many others to never give up and keep pushing until the finish! I would definitely recommend this book to others. Whether guy or girl this book can inspire any type of person. Also there isn’t a single part in this book that made me want to stop reading. My favorite quote was the, “ fear is a force that sharpens your senses. Being afraid is a state of paralysis which you cant do anything.” I really like this one because once I read it I had so many real life situations flash through my head and realized how true it really is.