Camp Darfur

Preparing for Camp Darfur and our tent was a big accomplishment for our group, we successfully finished the tent and half way accomplished our action plan. The action in most ways was a accomplishment we were able to get in contact with all the radio stations on the contact list but we were unsuccessful with the call backs, only three radio stations called back saying that they were unable to participate in Camp Darfur, although we were unable to have a radio station at Camp Darfur I was able to learn form the action plan. I finally understood why Coutney was bugging me on how important it was to get a hold of the radio station early…over all I am glad I was able to educate people about genocides. : )

not on our watch blog 3

Not on our watch chapters 7-9
Paragraph 3 page 211

THERES IS STILL TIME TO ACT TO END THE SUFFERING…I don’t know if it was the text that they used or the whole book that put this sentence in context for me… During the reading of “Not On Our Watch” the information that they let out was not all the time understanding some things here and there some things that only a politician would understand, but some of the information that they used to help ordinary people understand like myself was more up-lifting, it wasn’t all the words that wouldn’t make sense unless studding what has been happing in Darfur, It was all the information that proved or somehow gave the urgency to help just like the little words that said “there is still time to act to end the suffering”. As I was already informed about Darfur before reading the book I fill that it is a great way to understand a little bit more on the organizations and what to US is doing to help…or what there not doing.

Journal Entry (Not On Our Watch) 2

Chapters 4-6, on these chapter it didn’t surprise me on how they formatted the text. In the content they do make very good points like in chapter 5 when they explained the top ten U.S excuses for inaction. I though that these paragraphs were very thoughtful as far as what the US/UN hasn’t done to stop or could have prevented the genocide, but I also think in the text they have a lot of repeated arguments that they tend to go back to, but don’t get me wrong there is good information in the text that discusses what we have successfully done. And like I said before that a lot of the things that are in the book we have already learned so it’s more of a refresher on what we’ve went over. My main thought right now in the book is how their going to end it (the genocide/ the content).

Journal Entry (Not On Our Watch)

It seems that it’s taking a long time for me to get into it I am already on the 75 page and more or less I am egger to know how their going to end the book I think that all the information that their putting in the book is a lot about what we have already studied/covered, but enough of me reminiscing on the text. I think that a lot of their stories are well told, with their own lives to what they saw in Africa. One thing that I liked/thought it was funny was when Don explained all the people on the plane, their names, where they were sitting and whether or not they were democrat or republican by which only one on the entire plane was republican….that’s one thing that opened my eyes. As far as going into more detail about the book I think I need to read a little more to tell you whether or not I like it as much as I thought I would….

Thursday April 26, 2007

This day was worth waiting for, well for the most part… I would have to say that the night was the best part for me. I had a good time walking around Wilsher St. just looking around at the different places, for instance the museums but I wish we had more time to enjoy the insides as much as I enjoyed the out but don’t get me wrong I loved it. One thing that I would have changed during the day would be the amount of time we spent at the Architecture Museum I felt a little confuse as far as what Alderson was expecting form us…mostly what were we trying to get out of it…I think that could have been explained a little more. One thing from that day that will stay close to my heart would be the Holocaust Museum although I learned most of the things she was talking about I thought it was really interesting to hear it form a person that sounds like she’s been learning it her whole life. One thing that I do regret was not opening my mouth for the candle light visual that everyone went to. I just wish we could have gone…but o well there’s always other things. If we had another chance to do something like this I would for sure go with out complaining, just being happy that I would have another opportunity to go. So I say this loud and clear to everyone in our class that I thank CORTNEY for the greatest opportunity to see first hand on what ordinary kids/adults can do for American and the rest of the world. SO THANKS CORTNEY!!!!! : )

Journal Entry (Night)

In this book I believe that there has been more grief than any other book I’ve read. I enjoyed reading this book it has me think more and more about the holocaust and quote on quote war.

(Page 109 last paragraph)
One day I was able to get up, after gathering all my strength. I wanted to see myself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me.

In this reading this quote it went back into my mind everything he had been through the image in which happened to him and in many details that explains his own image as being a corpse. Losing his father mother and two sisters was more than enough, but yet he still has the strength to get up is enlightening.

Journal Entry (Night)

They had orders to fire on any who could not keep up. Their fingers on the triggers, they did not deprive themselves of this pleasure. If one of us stopped for a second, a sharp shot finished off another filthy son of a bitch.
(Page 81)
-Elie Wiesel

This quote in the book pointed me off in a different direction, the main focus in my mind was the words, their fingers on the triggers, they did not deprive themselves of this pleasure. At this point I was just thinking about the people being scared out of their minds whether or not it was going to be them next and just for any reason one of the SS could shoot them right then and there, and a question I had was, why weren’t they going to fight back if they were going to be shot just because the could not keep up with the other people? You were going to die anyways right? One thing I do understand that they have been through so much and the though of just like that letting them kill you for something that ignorant then why bother right? This is not out of any disrespect for them but maybe there is someone who could answer this for me.

"The Perils of Indifference"

"What is indifference?
the word means "no difference."

I think in this case Elie Wiesel is talking indifference between races of people I think it has a lot do with what happened in the holocaust and mostly reflects on his book Night. I think it has to do with moral philosophy. I think there can be a philosophy of indifference I’m most certain about it. I think what Elie did in his speech made a really good point. I think his point of view stuck in my head more than any other speech I’ve herd.

NIGHT: Dialectic Journal Entries

Not far from us, flames were leaping up from a ditch, gigantic flames. They were burning something. A lorry drew up at the pit and delivered its load-little children. Babies! Yes I saw it. (Page 30)

-Elie Wiesel

While reading this book I was thinking about all the stories I’ve herd about the holocaust, but right then when I read this part in the book all the stories became oblivious in my mind…and knowing that Elie as 14 year old kid was already familiar with death and more, seeing the bodies being burned and throne into a pit. This part that I read is going to stay in mind, but one question I have is, how does he survive?

AQOTWF

2. What images of the novel are lingering in your mind? Explain why these images made a lasting impression on you.

When we were talking about the book in our groups, one of the things that left a clear image in my mind was how Paul was in the front line and there was an injured soldier (Kat) Paul picks him up to try and save if life but in the mix of it all Paul gets to the hospital and never noticed that Kat got killed while he was trying to save his life. I think thats one thing that I will remember the most becasue Paul tryed too help him but nothing came out of it, nad he just let himself go.

Respondong to Nelson`s blog

"Today, during class we had a class discussion about All Quiet on the Western Front and war in general. We talked about different aspects of war, we talked about WWI, WWII, Desert Storm, and wars in general. After the discussion I came to the computer to write my reflection (about a subject that I already forgot) and Lucien told me that he was pretty annoyed about the fact that everytime we talk about war it goes back to past crimes and leaders. He told me that he was pretty annoyed about us not talking about wars NOW; it always goes back to Alexander, it always goes back to Hitler; WWI. Me, I believe he is right in the sense that war is NOT a thing of the past. War is currently waged in the Middle East, and in Africa, but for some reason we talk about Hitler and not Bush (or the US senate for that matter). We talk about the Holocaust and not Darfur, and even though the Holocaust was bigger, Darfur is present. And even though history is important; I believe that the present is more so.

"Do you agree or disagree???

I understand what your saying about how we need to take into initiative to think about whats happening around the world, but I also think if we don't look to what had happened the past then we wont understand how to change major things such as now... since war is mostly about the past, and personally I think its good to bring up the subject of the war in my mind,and i think if we could,we should have a discussion on different things around the world before we start class. Just to see what everyone else thinks about the war happening today.

do you think we should do it??

Socratic Seminar Reflection

I think in some ways the Socratic seminar was good, but there are many things that everyone needs to work on such as the interruptions that went on. I think that’s mostly the reason I didn’t say as much as I usually do in the seminars but I should have known to speak up. I though the topic was very understanding. It was easy to follow and put questions on everyone’s minds. One thing that I would have done differently would have been to make one specific question so that everyone could base there main idea off of it, because I noticed at times many people were going a little of topic, but over all I liked the topic and I would like to go over more things that some people never talked about.

Dialectic Journal Entry #2

I am very quiet. Let the months and years come,they can take nothing from me, they can take nothing more, I am so alone, and so without hope that I can confront them without fear.
(page 295 last paragraph)

1.Explain what the quotation means in the context of the text.
2.Why it is important/interesting to you.

It means that he is without fear,that they can take anything away from him.
One thing that makes this so important to me is that this text with only a few words could explain this mans(Paul) thoughts that he has no hope at all, that he has lost everything that he could just die,with everything that he has gone through,which I think is a stong message not just to people fighting in the war but people that have some hope and dont know which direstion to take so it think that this quote is powerful.

Dialectic Journal Entry

And this I know: all these things that now, while we are still in war,sink down in us like a stone,after the war shall waken again, and then shall begin the disentanglement of life and death
(page 140 paragraph 3)

1.Explain what the quotation means in the context of the text.
2.Why it is important/interesting to you.

This quote means that even after the war is done and over with them,that it will not have other effects such as struggles of either living or dieing,but i think it means much more then that. I think it means that even though there already done with the war and gone through there experiences with life and death.That even when they return home that a lot of the things have sanken into them.They will not forget about it but the disentanglement of life and death have untangled and is not longer with them and they are no longer scared.

Scene 1

It was raining ash, the sky was grey, and the sun was trying it’s hardest to peek through the smoke from the distant bombs. All the drafts were lined up along the dirt road, waiting for the sergeant to call out their names. The empty vehicles were parked, engines purring, waiting to be filled with the new drafts. The sergeant would shout the names of the young men waiting nearby and they would file silently onto the trucks.

[sergeant] “ Peacock! Livingston! Go fit yourselves into truck 7 over there” he nodded to the truck behind him.
The two young men walked silently over to truck 7, but were slightly confused, because the truck was already packed with soldiers.

[John mumbles to himself, not paying any attention to the young man next to him] “There’s no way both of us are gonna fit into that truck” He stands back at glances over at Truck 6, which appears to have enough room for the two of them. John walks over to the truck, still ignoring the other young man standing next to him. They both climb onto the truck and end up being squeezed together, shoulder-to-shoulder, without any room to sit down. The trucks begin to drive along the dirt road. Everything is quiet.
[five minutes into the drive, Eric begins to get jittery and decides to start a conversation] “Oh Boy, are there a lot of men in this truck! Too much testosterone for me, huh bud?” He laughs at his own joke and elbows John, who’s standing next to him. Eric looks up at John with a huge grin on his face and says “ How ‘bout you buddy?” John slightly turns his head to look down at Eric, shrugs his shoulders, and continues to stare at the splash of blood on the front of the truck behind them. Eric continues what he thinks is a conversation, and notices John staring at truck 7. The sight of the dried blood nauseates Eric and he turns to John.
“I already can’t wait until this all over. Who do you get to go back home to, bud?” John turns to Eric and says “ It’s not, Bud, kid, It’s John.”
Eric get’s excited that John takes notice of him and replies “ Nice to meet you John! My name’s
Eric.” He extends his hand for a shake. John half-heartily shakes Eric’s hand. “Whatever you say, Kid.”
Eric shakes out his hand and mumbles “Damn! That’s a strong handshake you got yourself, there John. What are you, a boxer or somethin’?”
John smirks and says “Huh, I wish. I’ve been workin’ in my dad’s blacksmith shop since I was 14, kid.”
Eric smiles and exclaims “Wow, I bet you get some real good pay!”
John smiles as the thought of his girlfriend crosses his mind, he fully turns to Eric and says with a smile, “Yeah, I’ve been saving up the money to-“ John’s stopped short by the sudden sound of a nearby explosion.
A wave of silence fills the air and a whistle sounds before the truck behind them is hit with a grenade. The men in the truck are struck by the impact and everybody is thrown backwards. John takes hold of Eric’s arm, making sure that his fragile frame doesn’t fall out of the truck as they speed away. He pulls him further into the truck and they both lay there in silence, staring at the burning remains of truck 7.

At that moment, John and Eric knew this was only the beginning.

Scene Abstract

**Keep in mind that this is a story about brotherhood, not focusing on violence.


Setting- It’s lightly raining ash because of the distant bombs filling the sky with smoke. The day is very grey and cold. John and Eric are in an army truck which has been “loved” by bullets, dirt, mud, and a few splashes of blood along the inside of the truck’s walls. They’re riding along with all the other drafts, but have never met before. The truck is in a line of many others, driving at a moderate speed. Everything’s quiet.

The Plot- Eric and John know nothing about each other, and have never met before. They are put into the same truck and they end up squeezed together towards the end of the truck, with a view of the front of another truck behind theirs. Because Eric is the more emotional one, he’s jittery and decides to start up a conversation with John to get rid of tension. Because John is very stiff and doesn’t talk much, he ignores Eric, but Eric keeps talking anyway. John decides that Eric will never calm unless he says something. John is given a vibe from Eric that they both don’t want to be here, so John develops a slight interest in Eric because they share the same situation. Just as John and Eric really begin a conversation, the truck behind them gets bombed. They immediately get the sense that they’re going to become comrades, so they stick together. They’re put through training, drills, front line battles, field battles, the trenches, cold barracks, and rough sergeants. They develop a very close relationship (or a brotherhood, if you will) without even knowing that this would happen. John and Eric’s personality rub off on each other (Eric becomes less jittery and strong willed, but still smiles and gets attached easily. John smiles more and becomes open and attaches to Eric).

Ending scene-John and Eric are together on the battle field where they had already dug a trench for themselves. As they were crouched on the floor looking underneath the smoke from the bombs that had gone off ahead. A grenade was thrown into the trench next to them, and the dirt from the explosion filled half there trench, leaving room for only one man. John and Eric stick together and realized that a line of grenades were being thrown and everybody was running for their trenches. John, seeing that there was only room for one man in their trench, decides to shove Eric against his will into the trench. A grenade goes off behind John and he ducks, but the explosion caught most of his back and he falls over Eric who is crouched in horror in the trench space that John gave up for him. After the line of grenades has finished, the smoke rises and Eric sees John lying on his stomach, unconscious, with a horrible wound from the explosion on his back. Eric regains himself from shock but is still horrified that his “brother” is badly wounded. As he’ carries him to the nearest medical tent he realizes that John saved his life by pushing him into the trench while the grenades were firing off. As he comes to the medical tent the nurses inform him that they are extremely low on medical supplies because the plane that was supposed to ship them was shot down over a battle field. Eric lays him down on a bed and tries his hardest to make him as comfortable as possible. The nurse attends to John, but realizes that the bandages she has wont stop the bleeding or keep his infection from getting worse. She tells Eric that John will most likely not live because of the bleeding and the infection. John barely lives for two more days and Eric visits him on the day second day. Eric talks to him about the adventures he’s having at battle, meanwhile: John is breathing his last few breaths and has flash backs of the good times he had with Eric. He awakes to the voice of Eric telling him about how bad the beef stew tastes, and there’s a sudden silence between them.Eric and John stare at each for what seems hours but only last for a few breaths. They’re both tearing and neither has the strength to say anything, but are both saying everything. Eric takes John’s hand and smiles while tearing, John smiles too and opens his mouth to say something, but instead lets out his last breath.

Character Bios (John Peacock &Eric Livingston

Character Bios John Peacock and Eric Livingston are our characters from Britain.

John Peacock is tall (about 6'2") he has dark, thick hair with small curls. Fair skin with hard and chiseled face features. He's young, about 19 and a half, has a very good build because he was a blacksmith for a few years before he got drafted for the sudden war. He's a very calm and well-respected man, who plans to get married to his beautiful girlfriend (who is 18). He's relaxed at all times, barely shows what's actually on his mind. Reserved, doesn’t have the “open appeal” so people tend to shy away from introducing themselves.

Eric Livingston is very tall (about 6'6") he has dark fair hair. He's lanky but has a wiry build; he has crowfeet next to his eyes because he's always smiling. He's 18, very shy but attaches easily. People like him because he’s easy to get along with, and doesn’t mind dropping what he’s doing to help others. Very easily amused (the small things make him happiest). He lives with his father and little sister, his mother died giving birth to his little sister (3 years of age).

All Quiet on the Western Front "Human Animals"

"At the sound of the first droning of the shells we rush back, in one part of our being, a thousand years. By the animal instinct that is awakened in us we are led and protected. It is not conscious; it is far quicker, much more sure, less fallible, than consciousness. . . . It is this other, this second sight in us, that has thrown us to the ground and saved us, without our knowing how. . . . We march up, moody or good-tempered soldiers—we reach the zone where the front begins and become on the instant human animals.

"Why would Paul characterize himself and his comrades as "human animals"?

I think in this summery he describes the soldiers as being “Human Animals” because there not seeing what’s happing on the battle field, I don’t think they know what to expect, and in I way I think they feel scared not knowing, and because of that they fell as if their an animal with the instinct that their being threaten but they don’t know how to react.
In one of the paragraphs that I was reading it explained how a man was walking through the fields where they were and in a blink of a eye he was down on the floor but not because he had been shot but because their were flies over him. So he really didn’t know what was over him but out of pure instinct he stayed down.

ramona

After Napoleon abdicates in 1814, the revolution is officially over, and Louis XVIII is crowned King of France. Can you believe it? The monarchy returns!!! In light of our investigation of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era, evaluate the legacy of the French Revolution. Do you believe it was a success or a failure? Your response should be atleast 150 words.

I do not believe that the French was a complete failure, I do believe that having Louis XVIII crowned after all of what happened during the French revolution was not completely understandable, and I do in some ways believe that it was a success such as when they went through the changes of the estates, successfully leading the third estate into having as much power as the second and first, under their own circumstances. Mostly the one thing that strikes me in this time period was that they fought so hard for what they believed in, for so long but yet almost thirteen years latter having Louis the XVIII crowned King of France was more like being ashamed because of all the hard work they did.

-ramona cervantes

RAMONA FIRST blog heheh