Reflections on Genocide Project

1- What is the most beneficial/most important thing you have learned throughout this project? Explain.

       The most important thing that I have learned throughout this genocide project is how easily people can look away when something awful is happening. Throughout learning about these genocides I saw how they went on for months and even years while others knowing what was happening did nothing to stop it. This goes for smaller scale things also. When there is a fight going on at school people are getting hurt. Most of the people standing by and watching it do nothing. They don’t try to break them apart for fear of hurting themself. They don’t tell a teacher usually because they just don’t care. Those bystanders aren’t the ones being hurt so why would they care? If there is just one person standing up they can make a small impact. But people need to stand up together to end the bad things that are happening. During genocides people would be scared to stand up. This is why genocides continue to happen. I hope what I’ve learned during this genocide unit will help myself and others stand up and speak out.

2- What connections have you made between the different genocides you have researched and learned more about through presentations. You are to focus on two different connections, taking evidence from your notes to explain and elaborate.

       The first connection I made was between the Cambodian Genocide and The Holocaust. This is because during both of these atrocities people were being murdered because of their physical appearances. During the Cambodian genocide they killed those who were “elite” meaning those who were capable of overruling them. But the way they determined this was from their features, even though many intelligent people didn’t have the glasses and soft hands that they looked for. When they found someone like this they would send them away and kill them. During the Holocaust they killed Jews who didn’t have blond hair and blue eyes. They shipped away those who didn’t fit their “superior” aryan race to concentration or killing camps. These and many other genocides targeted certain people based on things they can’t control.

Another connection I made was between the Holodomer/Ukraine Genocide and the Armenian genocide. This connection is based on how much time it takes for genocides to be recognized as genocides. This can be said about almost any genocide but these two genocides are strong examples of it. The Holodomor genocide ended in 1933, 87 years ago. All this time after the thousands of people in Ukraine starved and died and it is still not considered a genocide. The Armenian genocide ended 103 years ago and the country of Armenia is still denying it happened. People’s denial of genocides is one of the causes of them happening over and over again.

ACC Book Club Blog - Unlikely Warrior

Focus Question: How does Georg’s experiences during the war change him as a person?

The first change I noticed throughout the book was how Rauch’s bravery changed. In the beginning of Unlikely Warrior Georg Rauch’s personality was very timid. In the beginning of the book before Georg had begun fighting on the front line he was very nervous about the whole situation he had been forced into, being a quarter Jew. He planned to meet with the Poppinger to try to convince him that he shouldn’t be drafted since he has Jewish blood. “I shined my boots to a mirror finish and polished my belt buckle. Then I rubbed gasoline on a tiny grease spot I had noticed on my uniform jacket. I was nervous. … My heart thumping faster than usual, I left the barracks at five minutes before nine and marched across enormous exercise grounds toward one of the administration buildings.” (Rauch, 3) At this point Georg is cautious about sharing how he shares with Poppinger that he is a Quarter-Jew. Georg has had a mostly good life with a caring and protective mother, a good school to go to, and general safety. Compared to the events that had happened previously in his life this is one thing that seems like it would be scary. 

In the middle of Unlikely Warrior George’s personality became brave instead of his old timid self. The pressure to survive the war brought out a new bravery in Georg. George began to use his fear to figure out what to do in stressful situations. George was with his friend Konrad after being told to “dig themselves in” by their sergeant. They were digging a hole for both of them to hide in when the text says, “ … ‘Is this the area where the large tank concentration was reported?’ He [Konrad] nodded apathetically. … I hated tanks! They made me feel so utterly powerless… I remembered something that we had been told back in officers’ training regarding tank strategy and defense. ‘Dig a hole as narrow, short, and deep as possible. Make it large enough to contain one man, so that the tanks can roll over it if necessary.’ … I picked up the spade and began.” (Rauch, 194) Georg barely hesitates when he needs to do something important like he did in the beginning of the book. In the beginning of the book Georg wasn’t the bravest of the soldiers and he thought of going to speak to the Poppinger as a hard task. But once Georg had experienced the Russian winter, the sickness, the stress of fighting and sending out secret messages he became brave and almost immune to fear. Georg was now able to cope with his stress and jump up to his duty as a soldier and face life head first.

At the end of Unlikely Warrior Georg seems to have reversed his bravery and become fearful again. Georg had finally snuck his way onto a train taking him home after the war was over. Even through all the brave moments he had he was still scared, though. As the text says, “ My heart hammered even more rapidly than usual in the recent… A whistle blew; the train gave a jerk. That was the only thing that counted, the moment the train actually began to move in the direction of home. No one could now come and say, ‘You’re on this train by mistake. Get down.’”(Rauch, 289) Rauch had been becoming more and more anxious hence his heart pounding. He was starting to make himself believe that this all couldn’t be happening and someone would come yell at him. Georg has different reasons to be nervous now after all the yelling and shooting of the war. He was used to strict commanders and enemies so he was now nervous that his previous terrors weren’t yet over.

Another change I noticed in George was his morals. In the beginning of the book his morals included no killing people. At the start of the war Rauch and the other soldiers were sent to look for partisans who were hiding in an evacuated village. Searching the houses Rauch found a young man hiding in the attic and turned him into the officers. As the text says, “I brought the man to Hauptmann Winter… then I received the order I shall never forget. ‘Go with the man over there and shoot him. He is a partisan.’ I stood paralyzed. ‘Well, what are you waiting for?’ … I marched away with him, not knowing where I was going or what I should do. I knew I couldn’t shoot him.”( Rauch, 70-71) At this point Rauch still thinks of everyone as their own person who has their own life. He can still put himself in their shoes and feel their fear. Even though he is sent there to kill people he can’t yet bring himself to take the life of one person. 

 By the middle of the book Rauch develops a sort of immunity to seeing the value of 8ndividual life, allowing him to kill people easier. This change was bound to happen to Rauch since all of the soldiers were forced to kill or be killed. Once Georg’s time in the war had been going on for many months he thinks, “If I am still in piece by then … all of us shoot fast enough and aim well enough… if there are too many throw hand grenades, and whoever yet comes closer can still be stabbed with our bayonets… we can split the Russian’s skulls with our spades. Jewish blood in my veins or not, that’s exactly what I’ll do, because I want to live.” This passage and the earlier passage would seem to be written by two different people. Yet they were written by the same person who had gone through the terrors of the war. The part where he says “We can split the Russian’s skulls with our spades” is part of a saying by an officer that he never believed and never lived by until now. The war has caused Rauch to care of only protecting himself due to the fear that is taking over him. I also notice that in this later passage Rauch calls the Russians “they” like him and the Russians have nothing in common unlike in the beginning when he couldn’t bring himself to take the life of just one person.

At the end of the book Georg has come again to having empathy on others and not wanting them to be killed or tortured. When Georg was in the hospital recovering from his diseases he began to work on his secret mission as a Russian spy. His mission was to find any Nazi patients amongst him. While evaluating the different possibilities he left out the very sick or old because he didn’t want them to suffer. Then when he realized that his friend there was likely a Nazi he decided he shouldn’t turn him in even though it could get Georg in trouble. This analysis that Georg is doing for people he hardly knows and putting himself in their shoes reminds me of Georg in the beginning of the book. He cares what happens to people and risks himself for them.

Berlin Memorial

      The Berlin Memorial Activity made me realize that Jews were discriminated against and tortured long before the mass killings began. When I think about the Holocaust I think of Jews in concentration camps suffering and dying. But what I learned during the activity is that Jews had been suffering mentally and physically for years while the rest of the world watched silently. I learned that Nuremberg laws began with simple things like removing Jews from groups and activities but over the years went to things like not allowing Jews to buy meat, milk, and eggs. These hateful acts against the Jews made life harder and harder for them until they were killed. I had heard of The Nuremberg laws and The Nuremberg trials but hadn’t fully understood what they were and how they impacted World War II. 

       The Berlin Memorial was probably built to remind people of what happened there from 1933-1945. They don’t want people to forget the awful things that happened to Jews and make the same mistake again. If people forgot The Nuremberg Laws and how bad they made life for Jews people may not learn from history. This can apply to anything that happens. If it is forgotten it might happen again. The monument represents the troubles the Jewish people faced during these times and the people that put this torture onto them. The memorial is also a way to respect the Jewish people and tell them that what had been done to them will never be forgotten.

       One thing I noticed was that based on the information we have from the activity the years 1938 and 1942 had the most laws passed. These groups of laws had things that linked them together. The year 1938 seemed to be the start of many of the main restrictions. Many of these laws prohibited Jews from entertainment, occupations, and freedom to go where they want. These laws seemed to be set to take away everything that let Jews live happy lives. By 1942 though they wanted to take away the things necessary for Jews to live. They also heightened the previous laws and took away their sense of freedom altogether. This was the point of no return for Jews where they could no longer flee.

       The restriction that I would have the most trouble dealing with would be the restrictions prohibiting Jews from owning radios in 1939 and Jews not allowed to buy newspapers or magazines in 1942. These items were previously their only source of news and ability to know what is happening in the world around them. If I was a Jew during this time I would want most of all to know what was happening in the world around me. Without a way to know what was going on in the world you would never know who was your friend and who was your enemy. You wouldn’t know how close the war was to ending or what was going to happen next. In addition to this the radio, newspaper, and magazines would also be a form of entertainment since all other forms had already been taken away. Although there are dozens of other laws that I would have trouble with overcoming this one would probably be one of the most difficult.

2nd Quarter Reflections

In English Language Arts I think I made my biggest improvement with annotating and being able to explain my thoughts out loud. For example, I improved a lot on the Socratic seminars for Of Mice and Men, which deal a lot with this skill. Last year when I did Socratic seminars I only contributed to the conversation once or possibly twice. But this quarter, I talked four or five times during the seminars. This is an improvement that I planned out as a goal for myself. I worked at getting my thoughts together in a way that would make it easy for me to push them into the conversation. I met my goal and improved with the Socratic seminar itself, as well as my grade for it. To do this I had to have more thorough annotations in my book. I improved with the quality of the annotations in my book. When I think of the annotations I made last year, they seem like they were slightly vague and didn’t have much to do with the blogs that we wrote about the book later. But this year it seems like I dug deeper into my reading and understood my book further. I could tell that I improved when I was writing my blogs. Previously I would have to reread parts to find the information that I needed, but this year I could flip to the spot and there would likely be an annotation giving me the information or an idea that I needed. This likely helped me additionally improve on my blogs, but I mainly improved on my annotations.

        The most challenging part of 2nd Quarter was probably writing essays and blogs. I would always sit or zone out because I couldn’t think of what to write. When I did this I would likely need to do these for homework and I also procrastinated with that too. But, I started making sure that I was in a quiet place when I did my work so that I could focus and be able to do my best work. This ended up working and I have been able to get all of my work done.

       There have been many different strategies that have benefited me for different things. One strategy has been annotating in all my books. Even when I am reading a personal reading book that isn’t being checked and I’m not going to have to write something about, I have found myself annotating just so I have a better understanding. With doing this, I don’t need to reread parts and I have a better overall understanding of what I’m reading. Another strategy that has helped me is asking other people for their thoughts on what I have written. This helps me see another point of view on my writing and be able to make improvements on it. My final strategy that I have been using is asking the person sitting next to me for help when I need it. Whether it’s an instruction that I’m confused about or a certain word I can’t remember, asking the person next to me helps a lot. In the past I have just sat silently being confused, but now I always know what to do.

I commented on Delilah’s blog, Ava’s blog, and Yolihuani’s blog.

Exploring Nonfiction Reader Response- The Diary of a Young Girl

In June 1942 Anne Frank began writing a diary about her life as a Jew during The Holocaust. In her diary she talks to Kitty, an imaginary friend about what is happening in her life and what she is experiencing. As the foreword of The Diary of a Young Girl says, “Initially, she wrote it strictly for herself. Then one day in 1944, Gerrit Bollestein… announced on a radio broadcast from London that after the war he hoped to collect eyewitness accounts of the suffering of the Dutch people under the German occupation.” Anne decided to do this which eventually made it possible for readers to follow the sufferings of The Holocaust Anne experienced. Anne watches as her life is turned upside down when she had to go into hiding to avoid being possibly sent to a death camp. But even before the call, life for Jews had been becoming increasingly worse for the past two years. Nazi’s anti- Jewish laws restricted them from being in cars, owning bicycles, being out after 8pm, or going to any form of entertainment. Now in their hiding place in The Secret Annex hidden by a door and a bookcase they must be as careful as possible to not be seen.

The whole of Anne Frank’s diary I have found interesting so far. It’s weird to think of someone actually having to go through these treacherous things as a child. One of the passages that has a large impact on me is when Anne’s friend Hello left and was going to come back later. Anne was waiting for him as the book says, “At three o’ clock ... the doorbell rang… I was out on the balcony, lazily reading in the sun. A little while later Margot appeared in the kitchen doorway looking very agitated. ‘Father has received a call up notice from the SS.” This passage of the diary shows how suddenly things could change for people during The Holocaust. One minute a thirteen year old girl could be sitting in the sun reading peacefully waiting for her friend to come over. The next minute she could be hurriedly packing up her favorite belongings to flee the fate of going to a concentration camp. This is why I find this passage interesting. I can feel myself start to step into the shoes of all of the people who suffered during The Holocaust.

I have learned many things about The Holocaust through the life of Anne Frank. Some of these things will stick with my for the time being due to them being either horrific or being something that allows me to put myself in their shoes and get a hint at what they were facing. One of the passages in Anne’s story stands out so far more than others. The text states, “It’s sweltering… I have to walk everywhere. Only now do I realize how pleasant a streetcars is, but we Jews are no longer allowed to make use of this luxury.” In my own life I think about if I wasn’t allowed to be in a car and it seems like it would be very difficult to do. It’s absurd that Jews wouldn’t be able to drive a car or even get a ride from others when the weather is bad.This is another reason why it will stick with me. Something else from Anne’s life that will stick with me is how early Anne’s parents started moving their furniture to The Secret Annex and how the parents hid their planned move for so long. I never really thought about this before reading this book and now I have been thinking about it recently. The facts and information I got from The Diary of a Young Girl will stick with me for a while.

Conflict in ‘Of Mice and Men’

One conflict that I would like to elaborate on from Of Mice and Men is about Carlson insisting on shooting Candy’s dog. There was a conflict with Candy against the rest of the men in The Bunkhouse prior to the old dog finally getting shot, but I think the afterword problem is far more important to the plot. After Candy’s old dog was brought outside to be shot by Carlson, the text says, “Candy lay rigidly on his bed staring at the ceiling” Once Candy’s dog is killed, Candy is all alone. The old dog was his only family, since most people during this time seemed to lose touch with their family as soon as they went to find a job. Candy also feels useless since he is old and is missing a hand. As he lays on his bed, feeling empty inside, he knows that he will probably be fired soon, with nobody to be with him and nowhere to go. After Candy lay on his bed some more, listening to George tell Lennie once again about their dream, Candy says, “ ‘… Tell you what——‘ He leaned forward eagerly. ‘S’pose I went in with you guys… ‘“ Due to the old dog getting shot, Candy was all alone, which caused him to want to help Lennie and George fulfill their dream, as long as he could be in on it with them. Candy then offered to help them by putting in his three hundred and fifty dollars, which would have taken Lennie and George such a long time to get on their own. Now that Candy offered to help, Lennie and George’s dream started to become more and more real. So, the conflict with Candy, Carlson and the old dog actually had a positive effect on the plot.

Another conflict that had a large impact on the plot is with Curley. Curley thinks he is superior to all of the other men on the ranch because he is the boss’ son. He wants people to know that he is stronger than them and feels threatened by people just because he thinks that they might be stronger than them. In the beginning of the book, when Curley first meets Lennie, he dislikes him a lot. We then learn from Slim that this is because Lennie is big. Curley hates big people because he is a smaller man, and feels like they think that they are better than him, even if they don’t. This part was the beginning of the conflict which would have an impact on the plot. On page 62, directly after Lennie, George, and Candy had been talking about their dream life, the author says, “Lennie was smiling with delight of the memory of the ranch. Curly stepped over to Lennie like a terrier. ‘What the hell you laughin’ at?’ Lennie looked blankly at him. ‘Huh?’ Then Curley’s rage exploded …” The building up anger towards Lennie, only because he’s larger than him is the conflict that Lennie and Curley have. This one smile of Lennie was the last straw for Curley, even though Lennie didn’t direct it towards him. This anger that is filling Curley finally blows and Curley starts fighting Lennie, which ends with Lennie crushing Curley’s hand with his massive strength. Due to Lennie crushing Curley’s hand, Curley’s wife likes Lennie even more. I predict that this will cause an effect on the plot in the future, but in regards to the effect that it has on the plot so far, there is something. Now, Curley knows that he can be beat and it brings his power down a little. This is how this conflict between Lennie and Curley affect the plot.

Of Mice and Men Chapter 2

Describe the atmosphere of the ranch and bunkhouse. Be sure to include characteristics of different characters that were formally or informally introduced to us in this chapter. Support your choice with textual evidence and interpretation.

The atmosphere or mood that I get from the bunkhouse and the ranch is hopelessness. I see this in the text even before George and Lennie arrive there. On page 17, as George and Lennie are still on their way to the bunkhouse, the text says, “The bunkhouse was a long, rectangular building. Inside, the walls were whitewashed, floor unpainted… small, square windows… solid door with a wooden latch.” These few descriptions show the uninviting feel the place has, with no paint, little sunlight, plain white walls. This bunkhouse is a prison, being locked into the job, never knowing if you will ever leave. George and Lennie often talk about their dream of one day owning a farm of their own, and this job may be one of their only chances.

The characters that appear in Of Mice and Men also affect the atmosphere of the ranch. For instance, when a character that is friendly to Lennie and George, like Slim is, the atmosphere seems lighter and happier. There seems to be some hope when there is someone that they George can talk to and trust. “‘Course he ain’t mean… he gets in trouble… Like what happened in Weed—-‘ He stopped, stopped in the middle of turning a card. He looked alarmed and peered over at Slim. ‘You wouldn’t tell nobody?’... ‘You wouldn’t tell?... No, ‘course you wouldn’t.’ ” At this section George puts some of his greatest trust on Slim, this character that he just met. This trust brightens the mood and makes the ranch seem like a trustable place. But, the same thing can happen the opposite way. There are some characters that are not trustable, like Curley. Curly makes it clear that he doesn’t like George and Lennie, which makes a darker and less happy atmosphere of the ranch. These characteristics and other help to strengthen the atmosphere, one way or another.



Why doesn't Curley's wife have a name? What message, if anything, is John Steinbeck trying to send by not giving her a first name? Support your choice with textual evidence and interpretation.


Steinbeck might’ve chosen to not give Curley's wife a name to show how she is just an object to people. When men see her, they see her how she looks, not how her personality is. When George and Lennie first sees her, she asks them if they’ve seen Curley, thrusts her body forward to them, wearing tons of makeup and a cotton dress. According to the novella, “ Lennie still stared at the doorway where she had been. “ Gosh, she was purty.” He smiles admirably.” Steinbeck knew that if there was a woman who seemed to care only about looks, most people wouldn’t care about her name. Also, since the 1930’s was a time when women’s rights were changing, Steinbeck probably knew that there were still men who considered women as their property, and not having a name is a great way to dehumanize someone, so he gave Curley’s wife no name. Another instance where Curley’s wife is thought poorly of and talked about as if her looks were everything is on page 51. The text says, “ ‘Seen the new kid yet?’ He asked. ‘What kid?’ George asked. ‘Why, Curley’s new wife.’ ‘Yeah, I seen her.’ ‘Well, ain’t she a looloo?’”. A “Looloo” is an attractive woman. In this conversation, Whit starts it out by references Curly’s wife as “the new kid.” This seems like a term that is bringing someone down, not thinking of them as an adult. Then, they think of only her attractiveness and that is all Whit has to say about her. These may not have been Steinbeck’s intentions, but these are relevant anyways.


What are your overall impressions of Of Mice and Men thus far? Support your choice with a proper explanation.

Overall I am enjoying Of Mice and Men thus far. I have anticipated reading it for a year now, and I can barely stop myself from reading ahead. Of Mice and Men tells about a fictional journey of two men during The Great Depression in Salina, California. This novella is interesting because it tells you about how life was like during that time, but at the same time it also keeps you wanting to know what will happen next. Of Mice and Men tells about two men, George and Lennie, who are migrant workers during The Great Depression. migrant workers were a big part of The Great Depression, so it was a good idea for Steinbeck to include this. Steinbeck also gives small hints about other aspects of The Great Depression, such as lack of food, etc. This small way that he does it gives me a good overall impression of the book.