A Celebration of Poets

So I’m sitting in class - the computer lab to be exact; slouched down in the cheap green school chair, I decide to write a poem. Writing has become a healthy way for me to get out my emotions and express myself. I have always enjoyed writing - ever since I was a little kid I used to make up stories about my favorite little stuffed animal monkey. She would go on adventures with her best friend named Marshmallow, who was a little stuffed animal bunny; and ever since then I’ve grown as a writer and so has my love for it. I recently just created a tumblr because of the craze over it and posts from it I’ve seen on “Instagram” and “Twitter” it seems like a cool website. So here I am writing a wholehearted, but short poem in class, the words flow out and drip onto my phone like water spilling from a flower vase. Then, feeling satisfied with my poem I decided to post it on tumblr, and to my surprise it got over 400 notes! Wow! I was so shocked that so many people liked it! The poem got so many likes that I decided to enter it into the “Celebration of Poets" Contest. Here is my poem titled “Falling”.

I don’t understand myself.

One day I'm as happy as can be.                                                                                                

Like I’m floating on a cloud.

Then the next day ill fall.

So deep beneath the ground.

Taking days to dig myself out of the ever so deep hole.

 

To my surprise, my poem was selected to be published in the “Celebration of Poets” book! I have already had a poem published in this book before called, “If I Ruled the World” (I think it was called that, I wrote it 2 years ago so don’t question me on that) but this was an honor, because I had written this poem on my free time and It is emotional and enduring. This poem has also been entered in the final contest where you win money I think, so I really hope I win. If not I am still proud of my achievements and I hope to become a famous poet/author one day! This is just one small step into the road of success for me.

For more information go to www.poeticpower.com

To order the book go to http://www.poeticpower.com/order1/index.php?type=poem

Liesel Meminger Character Development

The main character of the book I am reading called The Book Thief is Liesel Meminger; I have mentioned her several times in my past blog posts. She is a curious, smart and creative young German girl who lost her brother at a young age and got sent to a foster family in Munich. They become her family and when she first arrived she would have nightmares each night about her brother’s death at the train station. She was unable to read or write. She was held back because of this and in a class with kids much younger than her. Each night when she awoke from her nightmares,  Hans (her papa) helped took her down to the basement and he would teach her how to read and write. Liesel felt this was a significant part in her learning’s. A quote from the beginning of the book is, “But it was not so much the school who helped me to read. It was Papa. People think he’s not smart, and it’s true that he doesn’t read too fast, but I would soon learn that words and writing actually saved his life once,” (Zusak 64). So the teachings of Hans Huberman were a significant part in the book and to Liesel and her foster father’s relationship. This was one of the many things that shaped Liesel into a strong dynamic character.

I am towards the end of the book now; on part 10 and I found that a lot of events have been revealed and Liesel has gone through so many hardships that have forever changed her and left scares in her heart. First, Max has to leave and Liesel sees him in a parade of Jews through the town. Max writes her a book called The Word Shaker; it’s about Max’s life and his encounter/relationship with Liesel. She recites words from the book to him and since she is talking to a Jew she gets in trouble. Both her and Max are whipped and Liesel tries to run after Max but Rudy stops her by tackling her. She then goes on to talk to the Mayor’s wife and she tears of pages of one of the Mayors wife’s books. She writes an apology letter and soon the Mayors wife visits Liesel at her home and gives her a journal. She tells her that the letter she wrote was well written and that since Liesel decided she was going to stop taking and reading the Mayor’s wife’s books she should write her own. And the book Liesel writes soon to become known as The Book Thief itself. So I found it peculiar that I was reading the book that Liesel wrote. It described it divided into 10 parts and one significant line was the last one; “I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right,” (Zusak 528). It leaves a whole in my heart because Liesel goes on to describe how words give Hitler power and without them he was nothing. If words didn’t exist then Max wouldn’t be marching off to a concentration camp and the war wouldn’t be happening. Liesel is now well educated and an author of her own. She probably is smarter than most kids her age because of how many books she has read.

Connections to The Book Thief

I am currently on Part Seven of “The Book Thief” and many things have occurred. Liesel’s foster family is still hiding a Jew and bomb scares litter throughout the city of Munich. While the Jewish man named Max continually stays hidden in the basement of Liesels home. He passes the time by tearing out pages of his book “My Struggle” written by Hitler. He then coated the pages in white paint and began writing his own story. This reminds me of the book of Anne Frank’s Diary. She was a Jewish girl hiding out during the treacherous World War II. Max and Anne’s struggles are the same and Anne Frank’s story still amazes me to this day. I read Anne Frank’s Diary a while back and the line that captures my attention and touches my heart the most is, “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.” ― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl. Max is like Anne because he still believes people are good because Liesel is his friend and she is there for him. Max is inquitive, creative, thoughtful and kind. And so is Anne Frank.

The Book Thief in general reminds me of slavery in America because this book is dated back when people persecuted Jews and we did the same to African Americans by working them to death and forcing them into slavery. Africans were taken away from their homes, stripped away from their families, and starved to death. These same things happened to the Jewish people and I don’t think many people realize that we did the same to the Africans as we did to the Jews. Slavery was a big deal and is the same level of horribleness as The Holocaust. I think some people weigh the Holocaust as more terrible because its so well-known and slavery was tolerated back then and thought of as ok. Even in this book that I am reading the narrator who is Death itself thinks the piling up of Jews is horrible. In the book death describes its experiences with picking up every dead body, “Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listen to their last, gasping cries. Their vanishing words,” (Zusak 350).  In history class I learned that Jews were sent into showers and instead of water, poison leaked from the shower head and Jews desperately tried to cling to life as they scratched the walls of the shower. I even saw some images of them. It was horrific and in this book Death goes on to explain how many souls he picked up. Its crazy, if anyone is reading this please do not allow history to repeat itself. Ever,

Krista Ramsey Columns

I chose the column called Reading teacher wants students to pass test, love books. It’s about a third grade language arts teacher believes that each and every student has the right to properly learn how to read and write and be good at it. No matter how much work it takes this teacher is willing to help until the student fully retains how to read and write because; she does not want her students to be retained in the third grade. Below is a hyperlink to the article.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/03/15/krista-ramsey-third-grade-reading-guarantee/6475723/

There are a lot of well written lines throughout this column; most of them are dialogue since the third grade teacher is being interviewed throughout the column. Although the line that stuck out the most to me was, “Meanwhile, Ernsthausen has generated a sea of data on each of them. They take weekly and monthly assessments, and, after each book they read, they take a test Ernsthausen created that’s modeled on the OAA.” It really shows some interesting figurative language that the author uses and shows the teacher being interviewed feels so strongly about her students passing and really knowing the material. Metaphors and symbolism is used in this line, the metaphor is “a sea of data on each of them,” and what that symbolizes is all the new information that the students who need help are practicing and learning. It really shows and accurately describes the determination of this teacher and I think the symbol shows how much information is put onto these students just so they know how to read and write accurately, not just to pass the OAA. The diction in this line is a little more elevated than the rest; which is one of the main reasons it stood out to me. For example the author uses words such as, generated, assessments and modeled. The sentences are short and to the point, not much detail is added into them mostly because the article is in interview form. The syntax is very informal and lots of dialogue is added into sentences because the teacher’s response is added into the column. This makes the column more interesting to read and more accurate.

Ramsey’s writing style is very informative and detailed while backed up with facts. In the first column called For better vision, kids need time outdoors, the author first describes/introduces the topic in detail then backs up her claims with facts. “But before parents claw back the iPhones, experts say the problem may not lie in the technology itself, but the amount of time spent on it, the environment in which it’s used and the activities it’s replacing. For years, researchers have wrestled with what’s behind a worldwide increase in the prevalence of myopia, or nearsightedness. In the U.S. alone, the percentage of people ages 12 to 54 who are nearsighted – meaning unable to see things clearly at a distance – rose from 25 percent in the early 1970s to 42 percent now.”  As you can see Ramsey describes the problem/topic then adds in informative facts to back up her claims. This sense of writing style is really repetitive in all of her columns. In the second column I read called, Super Bowl QBs score points for great style, “The amazing thing isn’t that two super jocks know how to dress well, but that they actually seem to want to. It’s a hopeful sign in a nation that now accepts flip-flops and jeans as appropriate wear for weddings, graduations, awards banquets and funerals. At work, “Casual Fridays” have morphed into sundresses and golf shirts every day.” Again, the author introduces the topic and gives a short but detailed enough explanation then backs it up with facts. In the last article I read called, Reading teacher wants students to pass test, love book, “For her students, the stakes couldn’t be higher: Pass the 2½-hour Ohio Achievement Assessment or be retained in third grade, at least for language arts. But their 27-year-old teacher clearly feels the pressure as well. “I keep hearing in my head, ‘One test determines if they’ll be held back,’ ” Ernsthausen says.”  The author’s style is very factual and detailed, just like how she included information about how you have to pass the OAA or be retained in third grade language arts. Then she added the teacher’s opinion and determination. All of her sentences range from short and sweet and long and detailed.

Lastly, three questions I would ask author are, first I would ask: where do you get your ideas from?  I would ask this because I find that her columns range from current events to other events such as ones that people haven’t really heard about, like the last article I read about the third grade teacher trying to get her students to pass the test. Which I found was interesting because I didn’t know about that, but the other two are more talked about commonly. The second question I would ask the author is where she went to college at. I really want to know what colleges are best for journalism because I am very interested in that field of study. I also don’t know what school I want to go to so I think it would help me to decide if I knew where a columnist went. Lastly I would ask her how much a columnist gets paid. Just because I am curious on what the regular journalist salary is since I am considering studying that in college.  I think it would be really cool to be an author and have my stuff published like Krista Ramsey.

The Book Thief (Continued)

I am currently about halfway through The Book Thief and a lot of new characters have been introduced. For example this character is known as “the new Arthur Berg” because he replaced the former leader of Liesel and Rudy’s stealing clan. His name is Viktor Chemmel, a ruthless, snotty and greedy rich boy is named the new leader of the fruit stealing boys; plus Liesel of course. Viktor refers to Liesel as “whore”, for example he says things like; “He then turned his casual focus on the girl. ‘Who’s the little whore?’” (Zusak 273). Just from that simple phrase I completely dislike this character. The author then goes on to describe him more in comparison to the old leader, Arthur Berg. “Last year, she knew that is she was stuck in a tree, Arthur would come back for her, despite claiming otherwise, This year, by comparison, she was instantly aware that Viktor Chemmel wouldn’t even bother to look back,” (Zusak 274). So Viktor is nothing but a selfish little devil, in my opinion at least. Stealing has become a fundamental part of survival for Rudy and Liesel; times were rough and they both are starving. So it’s important that they get enough to eat. However, they only get one apple to share between the both of them, and Rudy argues with Viktor so he kicks them both out of the little stealing group.

As Rudy’s death is still foreshadowed I am waiting achingly for the moment to come. Will he starve? Will he get beaten to death? Those are just some of the questions I’m asking myself as I go on to read about this marvelous character Rudy Steiner. He goes to a place called Hitler Youth and always gets in trouble so his teacher makes him do extra work. Hitler Youth is kind of like a military school so basically like a gym class. He comes back with cow poo on him and that’s the last straw for Rudy Steiner. He claims that he needs “a win” which means he needs to steal something. Liesel decides that they can steal from the mayor’s house. The mayor’s wife did fire her mama and Liesel was so furious about this that she yelled at the poor mayor’s wife. This was a huge turning point in the book and for Liesel’s character. It shows the round character she was become. She says, “’You think you can buy me off with this book?” then later she goes on and says, “its about time that you do your own stinking washing anyway. It’s about time you faced the fact that your son is dead. He got killed! He got strangled and cut up more than twenty years ago! Or did he freeze to death? Either way, he’s dead! And its pathetic that you sit here shivering in your own house to suffer for it. You think you’re the only one?’”  (Zusak 262). The mentality and brutal words that spread out of Liesel’s mouth is unlike anything I’ve ever heard her say before and it really shows how she has changed and developed emotionally as a character. She used to be such a sweet, quiet, innocent girl and now she is yelling at an adult who let her read and kept her secret of stealing books. What is to come of her next? What will happen if someone finds out she has been hiding a Jew?

The Book Thief Predictions

        So far the book has been through some quite twisted tales, an unexpected stranger is let into the Hubermanns house and hidden within the walls of the basement. He and Liesel connect with their love for words and atrocious nightmares. Rudy's fate is revealed and Liesel is open to a world of books in the Mayors house. What I find most interesting about this book is that it is narrated by death itself. It’s the first book I’ve read that wasn’t narrated by a person but a thing. For example it says things like, “It was exactly when I knelt down and extracted his soul, holding it in my swollen arms. He warmed soon after, but when I picked him up the boy’s spirit was soft and cold, like ice cream,” (Zusak 21). As you can see there is a great use of figurative language such as similes and personification. Death doesn’t have arms! Death might not even be described as a thing; it is more like a fate. However all through the book this ‘Death’ tells The Book Thief’s story. In such a creative way and interesting way, I predict that something tragic will happen at the end. Like maybe they will get caught hiding the Jew or he will die. What I would like to happen is for the war to end and for Jews to be saved to live their life again! But death isn’t so kind, I don’t think it would waste it’s time telling a happy ending story.

The Book Thief

I have currently started reading this fantastic novel about a young German girl named Liesel Meminger is ripped away from everything she knows of a family. Her brother dies and her mother can no longer take care of her. She is sent to a foster home with this two strangers names Hans and Rosa Hubermann, its 1939, and World War II is on the rise. Hilter has gained full power over the German people. You wont go a day in Germany with out hearing the words "heil Hitler" from all the Nazi citizens. Liesel finds her first book in the snow soon after she finds out her brother is dead. I am at the part in the book where she steals a book left over from the fire. All Nazi's burned every Jewish thing in this fire."They began to leave the scene of the crime and the book was well and turly burning her now. The Shoulder Shrug had applied itself to her rib cage," (Zusak 122). Liesal has just stole the book from the fire and it was still extremely hot. It shows the risks she is willing to take to steal books and how she feeds off of this knowlege.

Hans and Liesel have a special kind of relationship, Hans finds out that Liesel stole the book from the fire. "Listen Liesel.'. Papa placed his arm around her and walked her on. This is our secret, this book. We'll read it at night or in the basement, just like the others-but you have to promise me something.' 'Anything, Papa.' The night was smooth and still. Everything listened. 'If I ever ask you to keep a secret for me, you will do it.' 'I promise.'" (Zusak 127). The trust and comfort in their relationship is far more dynamic than any other characters relationships in the book. Hans trusts Liesel to keep a secret if he asks her to and he promises to keep hers. He has been taching Liesel how to read and they read in the basement every night and she learns new words to catch up withthe rest of the people in her class. She has less of an education than the rest of the kids because she never went to school before she came to her foster family. Hans helped her to catch up and be in the correct grade level.

I am very excited to be reading this book and I look forward to seeing the movie. I predict that the secret her papa (Hans) will ask her to keep is the Jewish man they decide to hide in their basement. The family is not part of the Nazi party and Hans dislikes Hitler. I predict that they will keep the Jewish man safe but will go through a lot of stuggles and Liesel will find comfort in books and her learnings. I know that times are rough since this is during the war and Hilter is killing Jews and other types of opposing people to build a "Pure Germamn Society". I love to see Liesels family defy the rules of the society and keep the man safe. This book reminds me of the Anne Frank Diary i read a while back. They are both set at the same time fram and include Hitlers mass genocide of Jews.