"On Ethnic Definitions" is one of the shortest poems in Eleanor Wilner's anthology Reversing the Spell, but it is arguably one of the most powerful. In "Definitions," Wilner addresses issues of Jewish identity. As the title implies, she defines the Jewish people in ten lines. The nature of her definition is not immediately obvious, however. At first, readers unfamiliar with Jewish theology may believe that Wilner's definition is a bleak one that centers around death. It does at first appear that Wilner is saying that the very definition of the Jewish people is their death and burial, their destruction. However, after a brief explanation of the Jewish theology behind the poem, readers will see that Wilner's definition of the Jewish people is by no means a sad one, but rather a definition that includes hope and a future.
Wilner begins by establishing the poem's setting with the first two lines: the small Jewish ghetto in Prague during World War II. Readers must, of course, be familiar with some Holocaust history to realize what Wilner is writing about. Then Wilner describes the way that the dead were buried standing up for lack of room, calling it the "underground / train to Sheol..." (5-6). In ancient Jewish theology, Sheol represented the underworld, or the afterlife. It was a place to which everyone went, no matter how one had lived one's life. Continuing with the train imagery, Wilner writes that the Holocaust was a "rush hour of ghosts" (7). But all hope is not lost; one day, the final train will arrive and "the final / trump [will sound]" (8-9). In the same line, Wilner lets readers who are familiar with Jewish theology in on what she is writing about. When she writes that "the Saved dead will rise" she is alluding to the coming of the Messiah, for Jewish theology asserts that the dead will be resurrected at that time (9). Then, in the most important line of the poem, Wilner states when the Messiah comes the dead who were buried standing up can "at last lie down" (10).
In these few lines, Wilner has gone through the entire Jewish life cycle in the early 20th century. Jews live in small, cramped ghettos; they die at the hands of Aryan oppressors; they are buried in a way unbefitting their religious traditions; and they go to Sheol. The first five lines of the poem focus on the death and burial of the Jews of Prague.
Many themes exist in Night, Elie Wiesel’s nightmarish story of his Holocaust experience. From normal life in a small town to physical abuse in concentration camps, Night chronicles the journey of Wiesel’s teenage years. Neither Wiesel nor any of the Jews in Sighet could have imagined the horrors that would befall them as their lived changed under the Nazi regime. The Jews all lived peaceful, civilized lives before German occupation. Eliezer Wiesel was concerned with mysticism and his father was “more involved with the welfare of others than with that of his own kin” (4). This would change in the coming weeks, as Jews are segregated, sent to camps, and both physically and emotionally abused. These changes and abuse would dehumanize men and cause them to revert to basic instincts. Wiesel and his peers devolve from civilized human beings to savage animals during the course of Night.
...urvivors crawling towards me, clawing at my soul. The guilt of the world had been literally placed on my shoulders as I closed the book and reflected on the morbid events I had just read. As the sun set that night, I found no joy in its vastness and splendor, for I was still blinded by the sins of those before me. The sound of my tears crashing to the icy floor sang me to sleep. Just kidding. But seriously, here’s the rest. Upon reading of the narrators’ brief excerpt of his experience, I was overcome with empathy for both the victims and persecutors. The everlasting effect of the holocaust is not only among those who lost families÷, friends,
The Holocaust was a tragic event in history which instilled fear and sorrow in so many. This time can be seen as one without order, because the law at the time said the actions taken were just (epigraph translation). A poet was able, however, to take such a chaotic time in history in the poem The Book of Yolek, and create a more personal attachment (for the reader) to the topic. The poet Anthony Hecht has taken the Holocaust (more specifically the moving of Jewish orphans to a concentration camp) and made it simple and nostalgic, taking a more calm approach to the subject ("5th August 1942: Warsaw Orphans Leave for Treblinka"). By using the form of a Sestina (very precise form difficult to properly do), along with the images, rhetorical use of grammar, and the tone portrayed throughout the piece, Anthony Hecht demonstrates a peaceful outlook can be given to the most chaotic moments in human life (Strand et al. 20). However, he also demonstrates the need for emotional attachment when referring to an occurrence (in history) of the past.
The Holocaust survivor Abel Herzberg has said, “ There were not six million Jews murdered; there was one murder, six million times.” The Holocaust is one of the most horrific events in the history of mankind, consisting of the genocide of Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, mentally handicapped and many others during World War II. Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany, and his army of Nazis and SS troops carried out the terrible proceedings of the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel is a Jewish survivor of the Nazi death camps, and suffers a relentless “night” of terror and torture in which humans were treated as animals. Wiesel discovers the “Kingdom of Night” (118), in which the history of the Jewish people is altered. This is Wiesel’s “dark time of life” and through his journey into night he can’t see the “light” at the end of the tunnel, only continuous dread and darkness. Night is a memoir that is written in the style of a bildungsroman, a loss of innocence and a sad coming of age. This memoir reveals how Eliezer (Elie Wiesel) gradually loses his faith and his relationships with both his father (dad), and his Father (God). Sickened by the torment he must endure, Wiesel questions if God really exists, “Why, but why should I bless him? Because he in his great might, had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death? (67). Throughout the Holocaust, Wiesel’s faith is not permanently shattered. Although after his father dies, his faith in god and religion is shaken to the core, and arguably gone. Wiesel, along with most prisoners, lose their faith in God. Wiesel’s loss of religion becomes the loss of identity, humanity, selfishness, and decency.
Wiesel recounts the cramped living conditions, the Jewish life and the design and purpose of the Sighet ghettos from its conception to its liquidation. His recount demonstrates the hardships and the dehumanization experienced by the Jewish people starting with their isolation and containment within the
World War I and II brought the worst of times for some people; loved ones were lost, families were separated, homes were destroyed, and innocent lives were taken during this time. There are many ways to deal with these hardships; Jewish poet, Avrom Sutzkever, used his hard times as inspiration for his writing and as a way to deal with the war and survive it (INSERT CITATION). This part of history also resulted in other great works of art as a way to deal with what the war brought, during and after the war was over. Avrom Sutzkever wrote his poem “Frozen Jews,” using such dark and depressing imagery, connotation, and diction because of his historical and biographical background.
6. Yoder, Kevin A., Les B. Whitbeck, and Dan R. Hoyt. 2003. "Gang Involvement and Membership Among Homeless and Runaway Youth." Youth & Society 34:441-467.
“From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me never left me” (115). It is important to note what the author tries to get at here. Every time he sees himself, he remembers that he had died. The experiences, the brutality, the inhumanity feel as if he should have been killed. Another example of this is when he first enters Auschwitz. “The beloved objects we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and with them, finally, our illusions.” (29). This quote not only foreshadows a loss of hope and a near end, but the words Wiesel uses in this paragraph really are responsible for its insinuation. He tells readers that, at this point, nothing they had brought with them could keep them from the truth; the truth they were about to
In his article, “Can You Be Education from a Distance?”, James Barszcz effectively weighs the pros and cons of online education compared to the traditional method, while effectively supporting his position with factual information and statistics. While distance education proves to be convenient for students, Barszcz asserts that it eliminates valuable experiences necessary in order to get the most out of the material being learned.
Lyons, William L. “Teaching the Documentary Hypothesis to Skeptical Students.” Roncace, Mark and Patrick Gray. Teaching the Bible: Practical Strategies for Classroom Instruction. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005. 133-134. Web.
A proper classification method removes the guess work for diagnosis. It serves as a guide to reach a precise diagnosis. Diagnostic criterion helps the clinician to make an interim diagnosis and clarify it in further assessments.
O'Malley, John, and Harrison McCraw. "Students perceptions of distance learning, online learning and the traditional classroom." Online journal of distance learning administration [Online] 2.4 (1999). Web. 10 Jan. 2014
There have been many critics that strongly advocate against the use of distance learning in elementary schools. With the increased availability and choice of new technology, comes many new concerns about the quality of instruction and the threat it may pose to the already established methods of teaching. Many believe that this new teaching method may replace the existing classroom all together, and won’t give students the adequate face-to-face contact they need. Most critics fear that “ineffective face-to-face teaching methods could be made even worse when they become technology based” (Truell, 2001, p46). The computer and internet have become dominant distance learning technologies, and hold the potential to take away from the human aspect of learning, so students do not learn the proper social skills they need to develop early on. Children need to learn to interact with one another, and function properly in a social setting, they learn this primarily within the classroom, and if these classroom settings are altered by distance learning, then they will no learn how to function in the normal social school setting. Many critics also say that all schools do not have the appropriate technological support and infrastructure to make distance learning programs effective for students. Since all schools do not have the tools and financial means needed to establish and support effective distance learning programs, they would not be able to keep up with the advancing technology in education, and therefore their students would not receive the same advantages as other students in the schools around them (Ravaglia & Sommer, 2000). Greenwood (1998) states that schools using distance learning are just contracting out their educational responsibilities and that such courses result in the elimination of teaching jobs. He feels that by using distance learning to teach students, they are minimizing the teacher’s job of actually teaching the students and designing lesson plans, and therefore slowly eliminating the need for teachers in the classroom at all. It is thought that there is more emphasis being placed on teaching than learning, and as a consequence schools are using distance education as merely a means to extend the classroom walls . While the critics of distance learning feel that this is just a way for schools to educate students, and relieve themselves of their responsibilities, there has been even more substantial evidence that these programs improve the elementary curriculum, rather than replace it altogether.
Online learning, also known as distance learning or online learning, has become a new and successful means of receiving an education in a highly technologically enhanced environment (Regan, Evmenova, Baker, Jerome, Spencer, Lawson, & Werner, 2012). Kaymak and Horzum (2013) defined online learning as using Internet technology to gain knowledge and skills through the use of synchronous and asynchronous learning tools. Allen and Seaman (2013) stated that about 6.7 million students attending colleges and universities across the United States were successfully enrolled in at least one online course in 2011. There is an increased interest in online learning that continues to grow as a result of the amplified demands from the work place and the escalating availability of nontraditional educational options and providers (Allen & Seaman, 2008).
Distance learning, sometimes called e-learning, is a formalized teaching and learning system specifically designed to be carried out remotely by using electronic communication. People could find out distance learning on the internet or searching form the school, sometimes teachers would introduce the best or the most credibility distance learning web. Such as class.com and University of Phoenix, etc. Distance learning is less expensive and is not constrained by geographic considerations; it offers opportunities in situations where traditional education has difficulty operating. Students with scheduling or distance problems can benefit, as can employees, because distance education can be more flexible in terms of time and can be delivered virtually anywhere. Under the unified leadership of the distance learning education, the modern distance learning education work gradual increase the number of school has now reached a certain scale. However, not every school or any distance learning education has clear idea for the modern education. Many people have differences understandings and it formed a big deviation. It can be said, for the purpose of developing the distance learning education and the hopes has not formed a consensus, which leads to very often difficult to form in the actual work force.