Never Lose Hope

"So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit- It's when things seem worst that you must not quit" (Author Unknown, Don't Quit Poem).

We have talked recently about the school's "values of the month" of positive attitude and personal goals. The quote above came from the poem I showed you in Homeroom a few weeks ago (see link above).

In reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, we saw Anne exhibit these qualities, values, and "ideals", as she says. These virtues were what kept her alive and happy, though she was living in wretched conditions. Right at the end of her diary, after over 2 years living in oppression and fearing for her life, she writes:
“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again” (p. 263-264).

In Defiance (check out the "bookmarks" in this link), we saw that same survival of hope and human spirit. Think about the scene when Tuvia gets angry that one of the community members gave birth to a newborn baby, and Lilka reminds him that he can't lose his humanity. Or, the scene when they are fleeing from the Germans and come to a lagoon. They are about to give up, but then Asael reminds them, "Nothing is impossible. What we have done is impossible!"

And what about The Boy in Striped Pyjamas? How do we see human spirit in this movie? The survival of hope and goodness? Does this movie also show us that, like Anne says, "in spite of everything, people are really good at heart"?

This post is for you to open a discussion about "the human spirit" and its survival in even the worst of times. Think about the movies we saw, Anne's diary, and the bravery and courage of the Jewish people living through the Holocaust. Think about other times in the past when hatred has made people's lives oppressive, and about your own life today... and if YOU have the same human spirit that these people had.

Your Favorite Time of Year...

... FINAL EXAMS! Since I know you all LOVE this time of year so much, I made a special review for you for your Literature exam (hold the applause). I know you're excited, so here's a link to it so you can get right to work!
Everything I Need to Know for my 7th Literature Final Exam

AND here are the answers: 7th Literature Review Answers

Was Hitler a Terrorist?

Another powerful discussion in class today, with two important questions raised (by YOU!):
1. What exactly IS a terrorist?
2. Could we call Hitler a terrorist?

The first question was a great one, and even today, the world's leaders (United Nations, included) cannot really settle on a definition. If you go to this link on Wikipedia, you will see many different definitions of terrorism. Which do you think is the most accurate?

Gihad Ali, a Palestinian who had to live through the "War on Terrorism" going on in the Middle East, wrote a poem called "Eye to Eye" when she was a teenager. The poem was later made into a song called "Look into My Eyes" by Outlandish, a group based out of Denmark. (Notice the trend... writing by teens that gets their voice HEARD). Here is her definition of terrorism:

I'm terrorized in my own land
and I'm the terrorist?

You think you know all about terrorism
but you don't know it the way I do.
So let me define the term for you.
And teach you what you thought you knew.

I've known terrorism for quite some time,
fifty-four years and more.
It's the fruitless garden uprooted in my yard.
It's the bulldozer in front of my door.

Terrorism breathes the air I breathe.
It's the checkpoint on my way to school.
It's the curfew that jails me in my own home,
and the penalties of breaking that curfew rule.

Terrorism is the robbery of my land.
And the torture of my mother.
The imprisonment of my innocent father.
The bullet in my baby brother.

So American, don't tell me you know about
the things I feel and see.
I'm terrorized in my own land
and the blame is put on me.
(excerpt from: "Eye to Eye")

We discussed the primary motive of a terrorist: Is it just to "kill people"? From the definition above, and what we know of terrorist attacks, we can conclude that terrorists perform these acts to gain POWER. In the "Why War" post, many of you agreed that the war was primarily for our "human need/desire" for power.
What is the easiest way to gain power? MAKE PEOPLE TERRIFIED. This is how Hiltler and the Nazi party managed to control millions of Jewish (and Non-Jewish) people. Think about all the diary entries in which Anne wrote about her fear of getting discovered.

In current times, news reports are flooded with information about actual or attempted terrorist attacks, one of the most recent being the attempted car bomb in times square (NY Times: Police Find Car Bomb in Times Square). We even have a terrorist threat "meter" to tell us innocent civilians just how "afraid" we should be.


Since 9-11, the threat has remained "high" to "severe" basically the entire time. Why might this be, like Esteban said in class, to the advantage both of the U.S. government and of terrorists? Does it keep us terrified and therefore controlled?

Here is a link to 2 videos that give you information about a documentary made after 9-11 by Micheal Moore, called "Fahrenheit 911". Pay attention in the first video to what is said right in the beginning. The second video is Micheal Moore's "main idea" about terrorism.

1st video: Fahrenheit 911 Trailer

2nd video: Fahrenheit 911 Conclusion

Based on these videos, what we discussed in class, and the idea that in order to gain power over many people, you must make them afraid, who do you think is a terrorist?
Was Hitler a terrorist? Why/Why not?
Is Osama Bin Laden a terrorist?
OR...
Is the U.S. government just as guilty of terrorism as Hitler and Bin Laden?

Everyone Makes Mistakes

In the pages we just read, p. 224-228, we get to see Anne's "human" side... she makes a big mistake! Anne claims she is "a separate individual and doesn't feel the least bit responsible" (224) to her family, at age 14! We saw her father's response and Anne's realization that she'd committed a terrible error.

If you look at this photo of the Frank family, check the body language... notice how we can see the difference in Anne's realtionship with her father and mother, just by how she is standing!

What is your opinion of Anne's point of view towards her family? Now that you are older and more responsible, do you sometimes wish to be "a separate individual" like Anne does? Have you ever made a mistake like this with your parents?

Why War???

Today in class, we (mostly YOU) had an excellent discussion about Anne's observations on war from p. 222-224. Jennifer made a comment that Anne's ideas about war, its causes, and how to deal with it were "very mature" for a 13-year-old, because she has been through so much in the past 2 years. I completely agree with that, however, the discussion you had today as 7th graders was ALSO very mature for people your age... in other words, be PROUD of yourselves! You have grown a lot this year; at the beginning of the year we definitely did not have discussions like the one we just had today.

Many of you commented on what Anne wrote on p.223, and related it to today's world. She asks, "Why should millions be spent daily on the war and yet there's not a penny available for medical services, artists, or poor people?" (223). Apparently, we haven't learned from our mistakes, as most of you agreed that we can say the SAME TODAY.
Check out this website with a running tally of the cost of war in the Middle East. I recommend clicking "See the Tradeoffs" on the bottom of the page, to see what we are NOT spending money on due to the war:
Cost of War: National Priorities Project
This youtube video is also very informative and ends in similar ideas to Anne's:
GOOD: The Hidden Cost of War

What do you think? Are Anne's comments about World War II just as applicable to the war going on in the Middle East today? Why haven't we learned from past mistakes... or have we? I am opening this post for you to WRITE DOWN some of the comments you shared today in class (or didn't share out loud but had in your head). Your thoughts are too sophisticated to not be published (and this way I have evidence to brag about you, too)! Feel free to throw out a question and comment on what your classmates write, in addition to your own ideas. I look forward to reading what you have to say!

WAR and the Human Spirit

In the pages you just read, especially p. 186-194, Anne begins to talk about what the war has done to the people living through it. She writes, "Although I tell you a lot, still, even so, you only know very little of our lives" (p. 192). What do you think it would be like to live in the middle of a war?

1. Give details or examples of ways the war has changed people and their lives, as described by Anne in her diary. Please include the page number. (You can give the exact quote or summarize in your own words).
2. Then, think about and share a question you might have for someone who grew up in World War II, just like Anne, but who lived in the U.S.A. and practiced Christianity. Remember that this person would have a very different perspective from Anne's.

Common Ground

Going to the movies, going to the mall, hanging out with friends at the pool, beach or each other's houses... these were times I lived for as an adolescent, and I would imagine you do, too. What would you do if all of a sudden I told you that you must remain in your house with your family, for years? What would happen to your "teenage life"?

You all can speak from personal experience, as you are all there right now... in that "awkward" time between childhood and being a teenager... adolescence. This is a great time in your life, but can simultaneousy be confusing and difficult. Anne Frank describes many "adolescent" moments, thoughts and feelings that she has in her diary. Although she was a teeenager roughly 70 years ago in Holland, during World War II, we can still relate to her experiences with adolescence.

Look for textual evidence in Anne's diary about her adolescence, and tell us how it relates to your current life, or to the life of any adolescent in general. Please indicate the exact quote and the page you got it from, then tell us about how it relates to life as an adolescent. Hint: Anne begins focusing more on this change starting on p. 127...