I am the literary luminator this week so I will discuss parts I found to be important or made an impression on me. Feel free to comment. I found it very hard to read the beginning in that it was very sad to read of how such a young girl felt of her disability. "I was trapped in my silence, as if under a veil (pg. 7)." I immedialtely visualized a young child clothed in all black suffocating under a veil. I also, was impressed in how she invented her own sign language. "I put the palm of my hand on top of my heart and then pointed at my mother and father and sister and grandparents. That meant I loved them (pg. 12). I also was amazed and shocked at the same time when Old Marthe the town witch, poured HOT wax into her ears! What pain! If she wasn't deaf before then she was after that procedure! The term "racial hygiene" painted a horrible picture in my mind. I do not understand how the idea of "cleansing" a race would even be acted out by humans! "They wanted perfect people (pg. 21). When I read of Stephanie Holderlin I immediately made a connection to the verse in the Bible, "What the devil intended for evil, God will render good." In my mind she was Paula's angel; she took a bad situation and made good by teaching her sign language. A skill she may never have learned if not for T4.
I will stop here for now until I read other postings so that I know I am on the right track. ~Thanks!
1.Euthanizing was a large part of what many people know about the Nazis. The priest warns the family of the killing of people with disabilities. The US did similar things to Japanese after the attacks at Pearl Harbor. Why do you think that many thought this to be ok when we were fighting it across the world?
I believe that because American’s felt threatened they were willing to do anything to protect themselves without truly considering the damage they were creating. Nazis were killing because their leader wanted a prefect race, Americans were treating the Japanese, that lives in the US, as cruel as the Nazis. I feel the fear of another attack like Pearl Harbor caused panic and fear among our country. A few years ago, I visited the memorial at Pearl Harbor. I was shocked to see that many of the other tourists were Japanese. This made me think about the people who were in our country in 1941 and how their lives were changed tremendously because of the war.
2. Do you think that we still discriminate against people with similar disabilities as in the novel? How? If not, explain.
I do believe that we still discriminate against people with disabilities. I know as teachers we try not to discriminate against students with disabilities but I think that sometimes when we limit what we ask them to do, even when they can, I think this could be discrimination.
I am the connector this week and decided that I will make connections our world, as well as, Marcelo in the Real World. Paula, the main character in T4, was death because of an illness her mother had while she was pregnant. During Hitler’s reign in Nazi Germany he decided that all disabled people would be put to death because they made the race impure. Even though US citizens did not kill people with disabilities we isolate them from the rest of the world. Parents of children/adults with disabilities and their families tend to send them to group homes with others who are like them. Often the children/adults are sent to the homes and forgotten about. Even thought we do murder people with disabilities but we isolate them from others and hide them from the world. Is this far to them? I do not think so because they are human and people just like us.
Marcelo and Paula are similar characters because they both have a disability and have families who love and support them. Both characters have a special connection/bond with a pastor. I wonder what other connections these characters will have throughout the story?
I am the Investigator this week, and chose to find more information on the T4 program. Below are a few websites I found that I thought were interesting and ones I thought may bring a little more light to what T4 was. I also wanted to see how much of the book was based on fact.
I was astonished by how many people died, the people who with even the slightest disability were considered not fit to live, and how the German Nazis convinved the public that what they were doing was right through propaganda.
I hope the articles are as informative for everyone as they were for me.
Kristen: I liked how you used the connection to connect to a book we read in class. The more I have learned about T4 and the victims, the more I try to imagine something like that happening here in the present. How many people and students do I see everyday would be considered unfit to live and killed. Would Marcelo, or others like him, be those who owould have been sent to T4?
I am the literary luminator this week so I will discuss parts I found to be important or made an impression on me. Feel free to comment. I found it very hard to read the beginning in that it was very sad to read of how such a young girl felt of her disability. "I was trapped in my silence, as if under a veil (pg. 7)." I immedialtely visualized a young child clothed in all black suffocating under a veil. I also, was impressed in how she invented her own sign language. "I put the palm of my hand on top of my heart and then pointed at my mother and father and sister and grandparents. That meant I loved them (pg. 12). I also was amazed and shocked at the same time when Old Marthe the town witch, poured HOT wax into her ears! What pain! If she wasn't deaf before then she was after that procedure! The term "racial hygiene" painted a horrible picture in my mind. I do not understand how the idea of "cleansing" a race would even be acted out by humans! "They wanted perfect people (pg. 21). When I read of Stephanie Holderlin I immediately made a connection to the verse in the Bible, "What the devil intended for evil, God will render good." In my mind she was Paula's angel; she took a bad situation and made good by teaching her sign language. A skill she may never have learned if not for T4.
ReplyDeleteI will stop here for now until I read other postings so that I know I am on the right track.
~Thanks!
Discussion Director
ReplyDeletePages 1-25
1.Euthanizing was a large part of what many people know about the Nazis. The priest warns the family of the killing of people with disabilities. The US did similar things to Japanese after the attacks at Pearl Harbor. Why do you think that many thought this to be ok when we were fighting it across the world?
I believe that because American’s felt threatened they were willing to do anything to protect themselves without truly considering the damage they were creating. Nazis were killing because their leader wanted a prefect race, Americans were treating the Japanese, that lives in the US, as cruel as the Nazis. I feel the fear of another attack like Pearl Harbor caused panic and fear among our country. A few years ago, I visited the memorial at Pearl Harbor. I was shocked to see that many of the other tourists were Japanese. This made me think about the people who were in our country in 1941 and how their lives were changed tremendously because of the war.
2. Do you think that we still discriminate against people with similar disabilities as in the novel? How? If not, explain.
I do believe that we still discriminate against people with disabilities. I know as teachers we try not to discriminate against students with disabilities but I think that sometimes when we limit what we ask them to do, even when they can, I think this could be discrimination.
What are you thoughts on these questions?
I am the connector this week and decided that I will make connections our world, as well as, Marcelo in the Real World.
ReplyDeletePaula, the main character in T4, was death because of an illness her mother had while she was pregnant. During Hitler’s reign in Nazi Germany he decided that all disabled people would be put to death because they made the race impure. Even though US citizens did not kill people with disabilities we isolate them from the rest of the world. Parents of children/adults with disabilities and their families tend to send them to group homes with others who are like them. Often the children/adults are sent to the homes and forgotten about. Even thought we do murder people with disabilities but we isolate them from others and hide them from the world. Is this far to them? I do not think so because they are human and people just like us.
Marcelo and Paula are similar characters because they both have a disability and have families who love and support them. Both characters have a special connection/bond with a pastor. I wonder what other connections these characters will have throughout the story?
I am the Investigator this week, and chose to find more information on the T4 program. Below are a few websites I found that I thought were interesting and ones I thought may bring a little more light to what T4 was. I also wanted to see how much of the book was based on fact.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.life.org.nz/euthanasia/abouteuthanasia/history-euthanasia6/
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/t4.html
http://www.britannica.com/holocaust/article-9342909
I was astonished by how many people died, the people who with even the slightest disability were considered not fit to live, and how the German Nazis convinved the public that what they were doing was right through propaganda.
I hope the articles are as informative for everyone as they were for me.
Kristen: I liked how you used the connection to connect to a book we read in class. The more I have learned about T4 and the victims, the more I try to imagine something like that happening here in the present. How many people and students do I see everyday would be considered unfit to live and killed. Would Marcelo, or others like him, be those who owould have been sent to T4?
ReplyDelete