Reflection and Response on Reading Assignments and Your Learning Style

I have personally liked having independent work time in class to work on our reading and other book assignments that we have. Normally, I would like hard deadlines and structured time, being a concrete-sequential learner. In this case however, I like being able to have work time to work on other class's assignments so I can read at home, where I am a for more productive reader. I am not a productive reader when reading in class. I also like the way our discussions have been set up as smaller groups where more people can get to say something and the online quizzes that we can take as we finish the reading.

Slaughterhouse-5 Movie Response

I thought the actual movie did a poor job of portraying the themes and even events in Slaughterhouse 5. I though they did a terrible job of casting and the actors weren't very good at acting. Valencia was way more obnoxious and annoying than I imagined her in the book. Billy was also way more awkward and creepy than he should've been. Also, the scenes and backgrounds in the movie didn't look like I imagined. Overall, the movie lacked the satirical element that Kurt Vonnegut emphasized in his book. I was really amazed at some of the ideas and visuals that people came up with in their presentations. Emma Westbrook's drawings were really cool and interesting that were in her group's project. It was obvious that a lot of time and effort went into making them. I liked how they took the approach of making their adaptation of Slaughterhouse 5 into black and white movie. Also, the only color they used was the red for the blood of the horse in Dresden. They clearly put a lot of thought into their project. I think that this group's project would've been way better than the actual movie. Going back to the actual movie we just watched, I didn't like that they left out the scene of him actually going to New York and especially the book store scene. I think this scene is crucial to setting the viewer up to see how Billy was imagining the Tralfamadorians by using elements he had come across in his life. For example, one of the books he picked up had a story about a man and a woman being abducted and taken to a far away planet, similar to the story that Billy claimed to be true. Also, he saw a magazine that claimed that Montana Wildhack was dead, the same person that Billy claimed to be in the Tralfamadorian zoo with him. Overall, I thought the producers of the movie could've done a far better job representing the Slaughterhouse 5 book.

Boy in the Striped Pajamas Response

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was a movie that deeply affected me. I think that it gives a very concrete image to the Holocaust that people don't always have when they view the numbers and statistics. It's good to put visuals to such a horrific event. I think that it is interesting how the movie works as a text of witness. You have this kid that is naive to the fact that his father is murdering Jews not far away from his house. It's interesting how the author/director uses Bruno to view the holocaust from an innocent lense. I think this view of the holocaust is very intertwined with the theme. One of the things that the movie might be trying to say in terms of a theme is that innocence can hurt people close to you or that people can get hurt if you shield them from the truth. For example, Bruno is hid from the truth of how they are killing Jews and because of this, he is hurt in a very literal sense. Another theme may be that the things you try to hide from people can end up hurting you the most. This applies to a lot of things in life and I think it could be something that the director is trying to convey. For example, Bruno is shielded from the fact that his father is murdering Jews and so he doesn't resist in exploring and developing a friendship with Shmuel. This friendship leads to Bruno going over to the camp and dying. Obviously, another message that the director is trying to convey is that the Holocaust was a terrible time in history in which horrific crimes were committed towards Jews. I think that this is the common message or theme that the Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Night, and Maus texts share.

Witness Reading Exercise Response

This is my poem response for exercise #6.

Ashes, Ashes
Ring around the rosy
A pocketful of posies
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down

I arrive at school and greet the other young kids
We are in kindergarten.
Ignorant bliss.
Commotion at school, but not because of school.
Planes, hijackers, twin towers.
These words swirl around the room, closing us in.
When I get home, the image of a collapsing building burns in my mind.
Ash fills the TV screen.

Ring around the rosy
A pocketful of posies
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down.

Explanation:
In this poem, I wrote about 9/11 and how I remember it as a child in kindergarten. At the time, I didn't fully understand what had happened, but I certainly felt that something was wrong that day. I included the "Ring Around the Rosy" nursery rhyme because it has a double meaning in the two different spots I included it. The first emphasizes my age and how I am a kid. The second symbolizes the twin towers and how they fell down and there were ashes from the buildings. In this way, I tried to draw a parallel from my life to the incident.

Meter and Rhyme Witness Poem

Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye

Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember

But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and I feel so rough
No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Rhyme: ABCCA, ABAACDCC

Sometimes family can push you to the limit

Like when they ask too many questions at one time

You imagine you could live in peace

If you could just collect your things and leave

But that is really just a dream that's just you kidding 

But it wouldn't ever be the same

Without family you'd never 'mount to nothing

Oh yea I wouldn't trade a thing

For the family from which I came

No you don't know what it's like to be

'Lone and trying not to end up in the jail or worse

With your parents you will see

In their thoughts you will forever be.

Explanation:

In this poem, I wanted to express the importance of a family as a strong base that you can build your life on, even though they can be hard to live with at times. The song that I scanned had an ABCCA rhyming pattern for the verse and an ABAACDCC pattern for the chorus. I used this to place important words such as peace and leave in rhyming positions and also so these ideas could be connected. My volta in the poem occurs at the beginning of the chorus because the poem changes from seeing the negatives of a family to seeing the many positives of having a good family.

Maus/Night Reflection Poem

I can see the gates
"ARBEIT MACHT FREI"
It is adorned over the entrance to the death camps
like a sorry excuse for a welcome mat
Work sets you free

THE JEWS LIKE TRAPPED MICE
THEY PILE OUT OF THE BOXCARS
Freed from the cramped space
Only to be bound once again to the death camps

FIRE FROM THE CREMATORIUMS LIGHTS UP THE NIGHT SKY
AS THE "DEFECTS" ARE PUSHED TOWARD THEIR DEATHS
FAMILIES ARE SLASHED APART WITH THE QUICKNESS OF A CAT'S SWIPE
AND SENT OFF INTO DIFFERENT PATHS
Never to see each other again

And yet, there are bonds
SUCH AS THOSE BETWEEN FATHER AND SON
That are too strong to be broken
AND THAT REMAIN DUE TO THE FIGHT OF THE OPPRESSED.

Explanation:
I used many references to the Maus books such as lines 6 and 12. I did this by comparing the Jews to mice and the Germans to cats, as it was done in Maus. I also made allusions to the book, Night, by including details that were described such as how "Arbeit Macht Frei" was the sign above the gates to Auschwitz (line 2) and how the Jews were transported in cramped boxcars (line7). Also, I described how there was the image of fire (line 10) and how people considered unable to work were sent immediately to them upon arrival (line 11). Also I alluded to the fact that Elie Wiesel's family was split apart in line 13. At the end, I made references to how Elie and his father managed to stay together and how they had to fight to keep it this way (lines 16 and 18). In my poem, the volta occurs at the start of the third stanza and changes from a totally dark and depressing attitude to a somewhat hopeful attitude because the father and son are able to stay together in the middle of this struggle.

Found Poem - Possible Hate Crimes

The article my found poem is based off of is 3 killed, 2 injured in Oklahoma shootings from CNN.

(CNN) -- Three people were killed and two were injured Friday in four shootings in north Tulsa, Oklahoma and police are searching for a lone suspected gunman, they said.

Tulsa police spokesman Capt. Jonathan Brooks said investigators were looking into whether the shootings may have been possible hate crimes.

"We're not absolutely certain, but a hate crime is a possibility. And we'll go with where the investigation leads us," he said.

All of the victims are black. The suspected shooter is a white male and is believed to be traveling in a white truck, said Brooks.

It was not immediately clear whether any of the victims knew each other, he said.

They range in age from 31 to 54. They were shot over the course of seven hours at four different street locations in the early morning, Brooks said.

Tulsa police formed a joint task force with the local FBI office as well as the U.S. Marshals Service. In the event the shootings turn out to be hate crimes, "they can help us pursue it," he said.

"This is not your standard homicide," said Brooks.

Possible Hate Crimes
Three people were killed and two were injured.
Friday, in four shootings
All of the victims are black
and the suspected shooter is a white male
"We're not absolutely certain"
Possible hate crimes.

They range in age from 31 to 54.
Four different street locations
Early morning.
"This is not your standard homicide."

Explanation:
In this poem, I tried to stress the details of the article to create emotions to make it real for the reader. For example, I used an end stop after "early morning" so that this would resonate with the reader. Also, I emphasized the detail of the shootings being on Friday by using a caesura in the middle of line 2. I used an enjambment in lines 3 and 4 so that they would be read quickly and together, which I thought was important. I also split up the poem into 2 stanzas to give the reader a chance to reflect on the "Possible hate crimes" line before jumping into the second stanza. I included a volta which happens in line 6 because it changes from a normal shooting to a possible hate crime. I emphasized this by using an end stop at the end of line 6.