Signpost- Words of the Wiser

   Since the last time I blogged, The Gestapo came into Korinna's house because they said it "smelled" like Jews & and they were a bit suspicious that Korinna's family were hiding Jews in their house.
When the Gestapo came, Korinna felt like helping the Jews so she lied and said she was strong enough to put that hole in the wall where the Jews were hiding from. The Gestapo didn't believe her at first, but then after a while they stopped asking questions and started to believe her.
    The life lesson that Korinna learned in the story is that people are allll equal. "They're people, they have nothing. Should I take away their religion, too?  It's no hardship for me to try to cook for them in kosher manner, so why shouldn't I? And why shouldn't I make them a hot meal?" This life lesson may affect the character by: since Korinna is a VERY loyal German, this may impact her life forever. She grew up with the impression that Jews are the enemy, and she grew up with the impression of hating Jews. Now that her mom is holding Jews behind her wardrobe, she starts feeling sorry for the Jews and that for her, is a big problem.

Lit Circle Book.

In "Behind The Bedroom Wall,"so far, Korinna is very loyal to Germany and absolutely hates Jews. In one chapter, Korinna finds out that her mom is hiding two Jews behind her wardrobe. One day, Rita wants Korinna to throw snow, that has ice, to three Jewish girls and she doesn't want to because she starts to feel bad for them. But Rita starts bugging her about it and she finally does it and feels terrible afterwards. Also in another chapter, she goes behind the wardrobe to give the little Jewish girl, named Rachel, some papers and some colored pencils to draw with. Rita's brother, Hans, and some other people, to go Korinna's house to see if they had some Jews hidden in there.
   Korinna is a very loyal German and loves Hitler. She also fiercely hates Jews. "I'm a loyal German, just like you, Mother. And you should never question the Fuhrer, because he's only doing what's best for us." Korinna loves her family very much too. In the book, she always reminds her mother or her father that she loves them almost like everyday. Frau Rehme, Korinna's mom, is a sensitive person, and a loyal German, but she still had Jews hidden behind Korinna's wardrobe. She cooks for them, gives them blankets, makes sure they're alright.  

Holocaustt Blog.

  After reading about some of the bystanders as well as the upstanders, I believe so many people stood by and watched the Holocaust take place because they believed if they stood up and said something, they'll get killed. Or they'll get sent to concentration camps.  Also, I think some Jews resisted the Nazi's because they were tired of seeing their people being treated like that.  I think sympathy inspired 1others to stand up to the Nazi's because they couldn't stand the Nazi's treating the Jews terribly. Honestly, I would be one of the bystanders because in what we've learned so far, if you stood up to the Nazi's, you could get killed, so I would be in fear for my life.  

I am a Taxi/ Summary

       So far in I am a Taxi, Diego decides he wants to make up a plan, so he & Mando can escape. He tells Mando about his idea but Mando doesn't approve. "I'm going to stay with Rock, help him carry the coca paste out of the country to the lab." Mando said. He basically doesn't want to go back with his father in prison living in a cell. Mando stumbles, dropping all of the coca paste. Rock yells at Mando to get on his feet even though Mando damaged his ankle. As he yells, he hits them with the butt of the gun. Mando then tells Diego he wants to help him make up a plan to escape. 

         Some conflicts in I am a Taxi, Mando and Diego find a tarantula then decide to keep it until they have a plan figured out. They decided to hide it at the edge of the camp, then put some sticks around it, to keep it hidden. Rock then comes and thinks that Mando and Diego are being suspicious and stealing their paste, he starts asking questions. Diego and Mando start running out of his sight, trying to get away from Rock. They come to a bridge where there is a rope in order to get to the other side. Mando then grabs the rope and starts swinging thinking he can get to the other side, but then Mando's hand slips off the rope and he falls all the way down to the river. Diego is then discovered there, yelling for his best friend to get up, but he doesn't. The leader whose name is "Smith,' takes Diego by the shoulders and takes him back to camp. Diego starts to cry & yell, begging them to let him go, but they send him to do more work.

Assessment

      The argument in the article, "Fight for fair treatment of workers: Don't buy Nike,"  was that Nike needs to stop treating these workers like this, and that they also should start paying them more, since Nike has been so successful. " In 2011, Steven Wright of The Associated Press reported physical and mental abuse in Nike factories," this was used as evidence. I agree with the article, since Nike has billions of dollars, Nike should start paying their workers more, and they also should stop abusing the Nike employees. Something I found upsetting was that Nike only pays their employees $1.25 per day. That is not enough for them to buy personal hygiene stuff, food, water, etc.

      The argument in the poem, "The Sweatshop,"  is that the narrator was telling the reader that she doesn't want to be a worker in the sweatshop anymore, she works and works and works,  day after day, tired, and without thought she works the machine. "Gashes his teeth, calls me 'machine,' and yells at me: 'Go!"  Reading the poem was different from reading the article by: the poem was written in first person, so she described how she felt about working so much, and in the article it was written in third person point of view, so I didn't know how these workers felt.  This form affected the meaning to my understanding of the book by: when the worker vividly described how she felt, I understood her, and also how she couldn't eat anymore because she was sick of eating the same food everyday.

I am a Taxi

In I am a Taxi, Diego's mother and father were arrested when Diego was only eight and his little sister Corina, wasn't born yet. Diego is a taxi. Not a car taxi, he runs errands for people and in return, he gets Bolivianos. Which are somewhat coins.  His family lives in a 8 foot by foot cell that his mother had rented in the prison. Their father lives in the men's prison. Diego's best friend, Mando, asked Diego if he wanted to go on a two-week trip with five other people that he rarely knows. The day after Diego says yes, one of the leaders called "Rock," forces them to work like slaves, also instead of feeding them for energy, he gives them tobacco. 

This book is teen fiction. What I like about this book is that it's interesting, & very well described. I have read this genre before & I will read it again. I like how the narrator describes everything, so I can paint a picture in my head. There is one character that I dislike and that is Mando. He is always making Diego do things he doesn't want to do. Almost like forcing him. 

Summary and Conflicts

Willa wanted to find out who was the hollywood killer, but lots of crazy things happened to her, such as: seeing numbers on the wall painted in blood, saw dead bodies, and etc. So, with the help of her friend Wyatt, they try to find out some clues that lead to The Hollywood Killer. Then, Willa finds some documents on her stepfathers' laptop but then she soon realizes the documents actually belong to Jonathan's assistant.



Conflicts:

The conflicts in my book were that Willa would get a feeling about a ghost's presence nearby, and/or staring at her. She would also see numbers painted in blood on the wall or see the words " GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT" over and over again.

Should cursive die?

To me, I think cursive should not die out and still be taught to elementary students. Kids need to know how to write cursive because kids need to know how to write nicely. When they are grown up and people ask for their signature, it's gonna be in print and not in cursive. Cursive is very easy to write though. You don't have to pick up your pen from the paper. Many people believe that cursive is a thing of the past, and that it isn't important. Many famous president's used cursive to write letters. Cursive is important in many ways. It builds muscles in our hands, writing by hand can improve thinking skills, and students who write out their essays rather than typing them, tend to express more and deeper ideas.
Overall, I think cursive shouldn't die out because it's important to learn.

POV

I am reading the book, " Famous Last Words" so far I have learned that Jonathan's assistant, Reed, is the Hollywood killer. In the story, Willa is going through the guest house when Jonathan told her not to. She goes into the guest house because she think that Jonathan is looking for her, so he can kill her.
There she finds a movie title called, The Dinner Party. She remembers that Reed had said that, that was his favorite movie. Later on in the story, Reed makes Willa dress up as Diana Del Mar and read her script from "The Dinner Party."




The book, "Famous Last Words" is in the point of view of Willa. "I tried the handle, but it was locked."
I do enjoy reading in this POV because Willa describes her feelings thoroughly. She has crazy hallucinations which are interesting to hear from her perspective.

My Summary

Summary:
There is a 'Hollywood Killer.' A killer who reenacts famous movie deaths with his victims. 'The Hollywood Killer' only kills actresses who people rarely know about. The victims may be in commercials, or have a small role in a big movie.
Willa & her mom move in with her famous stepdad, Jonathan. Jonathan is a famous director. Willa moved from Connecticut to Hollywood. Willa also starts a new school called Langhorn Academy. At this new school Willa meets a guy called Wyatt Sheppard. Later on in the story so far: Willa & Wyatt become lab partners. Wyatt mostly keeps to himself. One day though, Willa accidentally takes home Wyatt's notebook. She decides to read it & she finds some shocking information. She finds the names of the victims who the 'Hollywood Killer' has killed, and also the times they disappeared & the time they were found. Murdered. She decides not to give back the notebook to Wyatt because she wants to find out more. On the internet, she finds a fortune teller. Wyatt & Willa go to her for help. The fortune teller's name was Leyta Fitzgeorge.

Character Analysis:
Willa has crazy hallucinations. I think it's because her father died. She also experiences strange things. Willa speaks whatever is on her mind. She's very honest. In the story, Willa has lunch with Marine's ex boyfriend, (Marine is somewhat her friend) and Marine seems to have a problem with Willa doing that. So Willa becomes straight up and asks her, "Yes, I did. Do you have a problem with that?"

Lemon Brown

• Begin writing a blog post about the story.
• What were your reactions?
• How does this story connect to what we’ve already learned about homelessness?
• What did you find interesting? Surprising?
• How did Greg change throughout the story and why? 

I was surprised. This story connects to what we've already learned about homelessness by: Lemon Brown was living in an abandoned house, as to which in real life, some homeless people might do. What I found interesting was that Lemon Brown was trying to protect Greg even though they barely just met. Greg changed throughout the story by: he was annoyed by his dad for yelling at him when in the end he realized, his dad was only doing that to protect him.