Swing Kids Continued

Lesson:
We watched the remainder of Swing Kids. If absent, you will probably want to rent this and view the final part before our next class when we finish the film. You can also see this film in clips at this website.

HMWK:


SOUTH ONLY: Read "The CHildren's Story" and answer questions on the assignments page.

SHELDON ONLY:Answer three of the six response questions regarding the movie.
Response Writing:

Write well-developed and supported paragraph answers to the following questions. Write your answers on a separate sheet of notebook paper. You may type or word process you answers.

1. The Swing Kids all strongly believed that they were immune to Nazi propaganda, and refused to believe that Emile, a former swing kid, had actually become a Nazi. Explain at least two strategies the HJ used so successfully to transform both Emile and Thomas into authentic Nazis.

2. Identify and explain three or more values and beliefs in the Swing Kid subculture which truly were dangerous to Nazi discipline, values and ideology (belief system).

3. Related to the proceeding question, there was a segment in the film where there were several images of Nazi torchlight rallies, the powerful uniforms, the steel-toed boots, and finally a short clip of Adolph Hitler making a speech are followed immediately by a clip showing Arvid playing his guitar. In another scene we move directly from shots of marching Nazi boots to a wild frolic of dancers and swing music in the club. Overall there were several scenes in which the mood went quickly from great fun to serious danger. Why did the film’s director/producer arrange so many of these glaring juxtapositions? What effect do they produce in the viewer? What ideas are highlighted?

4. Peter was ambivalent (having contradictory feelings/thoughts) about his father. Much of the early part of the film deals with his questions about whether his father was a good, courageous man or an irresponsible fool for defending the rights of persecuted Jews. Compare and contrast the father/son relationships might possibly have influenced the eventual decisions made by the boys. Use quotations and specific details to support you analysis.

5.Attack or defend the following assertion: In order to keep his little brother from getting into trouble with the Nazis (prison, torture, death), and thereby also saving his mother from losing her last remaining family member, Peter should not have acted so defiantly in the last scene. Rather, if he truly loved his brother and his mother, he should have encouraged his little brother to go along with the Nazis.

6. Peter and Thomas are obvious contrasts. What is Arvid? How does his character act as a catalyst for the action in much of the last half of the film? What does his character represent?

12-14/ 12-15 2009 Hitler Youth and Resistence

Lesson:
We talked about how the Nazi party rose to power after the elections. If absent, see me to get an alternative reading.
We then watched the first 60 minutes of Swing Kids. If absent, you will probably want to rent this and view the first part before our next class when we finish the film. You can also see this film in clips at this website.

HMWK:

Holocaust Vocab Day one and two

12-11/12-12 2009 The Rise of Nazi Germany

Lesson:
If you were absent, please pick up a copy of the chapter title, "Why Germany?" to get the information discussed in today's lecture. You need this information as background to our next novel.

HMWK:
Read "The Master Race" reading
Answer three questions off the question sheet found on the assignments page

12-8/12-9 2009 Turn in papers/ Japanese Internment

Lesson:
We turned in our final Samurai's Garden essay along with the rough drafts and outline. If absent make sure this gets to me next class.
We watched a short video clip on Japanese internment and talked about how this related to our book. If absent please check out this website and answer four of the following questions (due when you return)
# Just before leaving for the internment camp, Yumi Kataoka burned her family's Japanese books, letters, calendars and certificates from a Japanese bank. Why? If you had to destroy the possessions that identified your cultural heritage, what would you choose? How might you feel?

# At the farewell breakfast she prepared, Mrs. Perkins refused to allow Nee and Sox to help serve the meal. She told them that it was her turn to serve them. What did this symbolize? How did Mrs. Perkins continue to show acts of kindness to the Kataoka family even after their internment?

# What effect did the camps have on Japanese American family life? Describe the conditions of the camps, including living quarters, food and climate. How did Japanese Americans build a sense of community in these difficult conditions?

# During World War II, the United States was at war with Germany and Italy as well as Japan. Why do you think the government treated Japanese Americans differently than it treated German Americans or Italian Americans?

# Some Japanese American men refused to pledge loyalty and fight for the U.S. until the government released the internees. Were they justified in their protest? Why or why not?

# Write a journal entry in which you imagine you have 30 minutes to gather a small suitcase of important belongings before being sent to an unknown place for an unspecified period of time. You may not take any electrical or battery-operated items such as a Walkman or hair dryer. What items do you choose and why? Describe how you would feel about being forced to leave your home.

# Should the government attempt to provide financial compensation to the ethnic and racial groups it has discriminated against? If so, how can the government arrive at a dollar value for these injustices?


HMWK:
Return you copy of The Samurai's Garden to the textbook window.

12-2/12-3 2009 Rough Drafts!

Lesson:

We started class by practicing writing an assertion paragraph. Here are some tips:

Well-organized paragraphs have four components that work together to produce a coherent, unified product. Think of each paragraph as a mini-essay endeavoring to prove one aspect of your thesis statement. That is, each paragraph should:
* make a debatable claim (assertion/ topic sentence)
* provide proof for that claim (the evidence or support)
* show how the evidence supports the claim (the analysis)
* contain effective transitions both within the paragraph and between paragraphs so that the reader can follow the logic of the argument (transitions).

Next we worked on introductions
Your first paragraph for this paper should include:
A way to grab your reader that fits your paper.
An overview for your reader.
Your thesis and blueprint.

Here are some good ideas for attention getters:
Introduce the subject with…
 Interesting background information
 A telling quotation
 An illustrative story (keep it brief)
 A series of questions
 Move from general to specific (zero in on your specific topic just before stating your thesis)

Introductions to avoid:

 Using obvious or worn-out expressions:
“I would like to tell you about…”
“According to the dictionary…”
 Using say-nothing sentences:
“World War II was a huge war…” (duh)
“Uncontrollable forest fire devastate the landscape.” (tell me something I don’t know)
 Asking an opinion question that your audience may say “no” to.
“Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be an astronaut?”
Make sure your attention getter is closely related to your thesis. If it is not, it will not pull your reader into your topic.


Tips on writing an intro:
Write the intro as the next-to-last part of your paper (Title is last)
For a 3-5 page paper, make your intro 1-2 paragraphs. Put your thesis as the last sentence of your intro
The most important sentence of any paper is the first one. Make the reader want to go to the second sentence!
Do not start with dry facts, figures, or statistics such as dates of birth
Do start with sensory details, a story, or whatever works to intrigue your reader

Here's an example of a good intro:
Imagine being thrust away from your family because of an illness. Picture yourself trying to heal in a strange, new environment. Now, imagine that this environment is another country, engaged in a brutal war with your own country during a time where reports of terrible massacres are occurring on a regular basis and your family is under threat by the very people you are living with. One can imagine the cultural conflicts that would arise. This is exactly the case for the main character, Stephen, in The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama. Throughout the book he is recovering from tuberculosis in Japan while war ravishes his homeland, China. In the novel The Samurai’s Garden, Stephen is able to overcome cultural conflicts to form strong, lasting bonds with the people his country are at war with, however, he is unable to connect with the girl he loves the most due to his conflicting culture.

Then we practiced conclusions. They should include:

 Transition and echo of the thesis
 Re-cap of three main points (do not simply repeat the words)
 End interestingly with an application for reader


How do I end interestingly without sounding like a 4th grader?

 Suggest a solution to the problem
Say how info. You have presented can affect the future
 Put your ideas in a wider perspective
Move from the specifics to the deeper concerns
 Raise further questions or implications
State the limitations of your format to explain the idea
Circle back to your attention getter to show how you have developed the idea.

All we need to add now are transitions between each assertion. This can be as simple as
First of all….
Secondly…..
Finally…..
Great authors go further with these and make sure they help the paper flow together.
See me for a sheet of good transitions:
Here are a few:
first
next
finally
although
therefore
similar to that
in addition

They can also be more complicated and tie everything all together: Metaphors (red thread)
Like an eagle the authors words soar across the page,
But, like this majestic bird, the author sinks her talons into the subject and won’t let go....

HMWK:
Rough Draft of your Samurai's Garden Theme Paper
You can find an outline on the assignments page if you have not done one yet. This MUST be done before the rough draft,
You can find the CIM grading sheet on the assignment page as well.