Amazing year!

I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to be part of such a great class. I give thanks to the English Department, specially Mr. Calderón and Ms. Lydia for their support in everything. Debate was an excellent chance for improving my skills, making me feel proud of having participated in it, and also, making friends. Also, I liked very much how do the classes focused the literature, teaching the historical context of the novels and how to read between the lines. Of course, everything ended with the History Channel event, that was really awesome. It was a pleasure to participate so many activities during this year, and hopefully I can repeat this during the next year and learn as much as possible. As Ms. Pizarro said once, "Heaven is the limit". And I won't stop, till I reach it.

Fatelessness - Chapters 8 & 9

Now, I'll answer some few questions about these two chapters, the final ones.

1. What was the setting in this Chapter ?
A Revier (similar to a hospital) in Buchenwald. The mood could be caring/taking care of the people in there.

2. How was  George’s treatment  when  he was recuperating ?Were the medics and nurses kind to the prisoners?
They treated him as if he wasn't a prisoner. They were kind with most of the patients, I'd say.

3. Why do you think that the author concentrated this Chapter in George’s treatment?
It must have been an important part for the author, during his life. He might have realized things that he hadn't realized before.

4. What were George’s feelings when the camp was liberated?
He felt free - for the first time in all his life.


5. What were the people reactions in George’s hometown when he came back ?
Mainly, curiosity. They asked about the exterminations and all the bad stuff that they knew that had happened in there.

6. When  the journalist offered George a job of  confessing what he had seen  in the concentration camp, how does it relate to the authors life ?
The author ended in writing a book, telling his story to the world, just the same as what the journalist wanted to do.

7. What did  George  realize at the end of the story? 
That it wasn't a bad experience to be in the camps. He made his best friends in there, and probably, it was one of the best moments of his life, at least, until then.


I really enjoyed this book, altough it was much more difficult than the last novel we read ("To Kill a Mockingbird"). But the difficulties are just part of the reading, but the important thing is to enjoy the book, and keep reading. And that's what I made, so I'm very pleased with it. It was a great experience to internalize some aspects of the Holocaust that I'd never thought before.

Fatelessness - Chapters 5 & 6

As usual, I'll start analyzing these chapters, with some quotes and a brief explanation of them:

1. "We'll soon be getting some hot soup" (Page 103). 
This was a rumour that circulated through the concentration camp, in which we can clearly appreciate the sense of hope that people still had.

2. "Clothes do not make the man" (Page 103). 
This was said because Georg saw a guy that, at first sight, was clearly a well-dressed guy, probably a person that was taking care of people, but then he realized that he was there just because of his way of thinking.

3. "We learn from life not school" (Page 113).
Georg said this, when he realized that nothing that he was taught in the school was necessary in real life.

4. "It's obvious that you must have been tied to Mummy's string up till now" (Page 134). 
Bandi Citrom told Georg this, after a naive question that he made about a particular object. This means that he was never left alone to do things by himself.

5. "We are becoming split up all split up" (Page 142).
Bandi Citrom also said this, in allusion to what he felt: there were no recognizable faces for him in Zeitz. They were all being split up, as he said, perhaps, because big groups may cause some trouble.

And now, I'll answer a couple of questions, also very brief answers, to help you to have an idea of what happened in this chapters.

1. What are the settings in these two chapters?
At first, he was at Auschwitz-Birkenau, then was transferred into Buchenwald, and finally, into Zeitz. Of course, the mood wasn't a happy one, but I could say that in the first one, he was probably better, in some sense only, because he knew some people in there. But when he was transferred, he had to "start" all again, and then had to make new friends.

2. What were the feelings of the main character when he arrived in the extermination camp?
He was shocked because of the gas showers that killed some people. He felt that school hadn't taught him anything of real importance.

3. What was his reaction when he found out what was done to the prisoners in the camp?
He felt sadness and astonished for people that he had saw some minutes ago alive, and now were dead; people of his own religion and culture.

4. How was Georg's relation with his companions in the camp?
I'd said that it was mainly a good relation with the people that he knew. But when he was transferred, he wasn't that sociable with everyone.

5. Was there a twist of mood when they changed concentration camps?
Yes. First, in Auschwitz-Birkenau, he felt hopeless. In Buchenwald, comfortable, and in Zeitz, lonely.

6. What was Georg's reaction when he was rejected for not speaking Yiddish?
He felt as a nonperson, as thin air, and nothing more. He tried to get accepted, but they didn't let him. 

7. What evidence of discrimination can you find between the groups of prisoners in the concentration camp?
When he didn't speak Yiddish, or the Muslims' discrimination.

8. Explain, from what you read, if Georg had the capacity to overcome the hardships, for example, hunger or when a guard beat him.
When he dropped the sack, he was beaten by the guard. But he realized this mistake, and never committed it again. Also with hunger, he saved a piece of bread, in case he didn't have food afterwards. 

9. Why do you think the Rabbi did The Kaddish (Prayer for the dread)? What kind of emotions arose in Georg after hearing this prayer?
Because, often people in situations like this, are too vulnerable to anything that happens, and they need to trust in God, that He will save them. For Georg, in one part of him, he felt the necessity of praying, perhaps because of the emptiness he had. But, in the other hand, he said that no matter any prayers, they couldn't do something: to provide him food.

10. Explain in your own words what "values" did the character and prisoners learned in the concentration camps.
I'd say that he was perseverant, as when he was alone, he had to continue living and working. He is a great example of a person that doesn't surrender never.

Fatelessness - Book Trailer

We did it! It was a tough day, but finally we could record and edit magnificently the Fatelessness video trailer we wanted to do! I want to thank Mr. Gré and Mr. Reynolds for their performances and ability to edit the tapes. It was really an incredible experience, and a better result!

Mankind: The Story of All of Us

That's right, the title you can see above is the name of a History Channel show. But I'm not trying to steal the name or something like that. I just want to post that it was an incredible job the live show they did. Ghana and Pakistan where just a couple of all the countries they video-taped. And of course, Chile! And not any place in Chile, but our school, The Mackay School! It was really marvelous to be in the show in live, with Miss Lydia, and my friends Thomas Reynolds and Mingi Park. It was something very fun to prepare, even if I got a little nervous. Having contact with real, specialist people that were the ones that practised and helped us to do a perfect job, was really entertaining. Finally, I think we did a great job, and for that, I wanted to thank everyone that was present, specially the people of History Channel that made all this possible, and of course, Miss Lydia and my friends!

P.S.: In the next link, you can check the Mackayzine post, that will allow you to comment and also it will lead you to the History Channel webpage, were you can watch the show!

                             Mackayzine - History Channel

Rationale

I chose to write a diary, because it's the best way to acknowledge how a character really is. As Georg is quite an insensitive and not expressive boy, he would have never told his feeling to another person. That's why the best type of text to analyse this particular character, is through diary entries.

About the context, I wrote about the yellow star that Jews were compelled to wear, the Nazi soldiers walking through the strees, providing "security" to the city, and also I mentioned very briefly about some Jewish traditions. In what I wanted to focus, is the personal idea I've got about Nazism. They are shown in History books as the worst of the worst, the most evil regime in thousands of years...But what I believe is that their leaders must have had magnificent oratorical skills. Their power of persuasion was probably the best they had. I propose this because such a powerful country needs to have the maximum support possible. And for that, the leaders must be charismatic and very persuasive. Their success is mainly based in approbation and backup of their people. As during the war, people stopped their support, Germany finally lost. For all of this, I decided to explore this aspect in the written task: how would a boy like Georg interpret the situation about Nazism; how would this affect him and what would he want to do. 

People who like to read about the Holocaust, but don't like those structured and always-the-same texts, should be really interested in reading what I've wrote. The purpose isn't and would never be to support Nazism, but just to give a different perspective of what could have happened

About the title, "Georg Kovés: Naive Nazi", it means that he's really an innocent boy who was trapped by the forces of the Nazi persuasion.

Georg Kovés: Naive Nazi

                                                      Diary Entry 1:  "Nazis aren't that bad"

On my way home, after showing a note on the school that let me go out earlier, I saw a strange-looking guy wearing an uniform and a symbol that I've seen in many other parts...how do they call it? Nevermind. That morning, I forgot to wear my yellow star, even though its use was compulsory for us, the Jews. While I was walking towards my home, this officer approached me and asked me for my papers. I got scared, I have to say it. All I could think in that moment, was to take out some papers out of my school bag. When I was doing this, I threw them to the soldier, and then just run for my life. I knew those streets better than anyone, so it wasn't too difficult to deceive him. I entered some dark passages, untill I lost him. It was really a tense moment for me, but when I arrived home, I didn't tell Father, so that he doesn't worry more than how he is. It's really weird, because he is acting awkwardly with me since he received the letter that notified him that he must go to the labor camp. He tells me that he loves me and all that girlish stuff. I don't care really what he says, but he's bothering me a lot. In the other hand, Mother is, as usual, telling me that she doesn't care if I don't love her, and that she will love me no matter what. But I can see in her eyes that she's not happy about me. I've had bad marks at the school, and a worse behaviour. But that kind of thing are not important. As a matter of fact, life is a lost of time. That's why I'm starting to agree with Nazis: they are really doing a big favour to all of us, to all the people, to mankind in general.

Other thing that I dislike are visitors. Today, many friends and relatives of Father and stepmother came by to farewell him. Uncle Lajos, brother of stepmother, is really annoying. He started talking with me about the importance of myself in the family, for his sister specially, when Father goes away. He spoke about religion and faith, but I wasn't really listening nor interested in the conversation. Why should I care about Yahvé or Jehová? Why should someone compel my beliefs? Nevermind, it's not important. 

I'm tired now. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Thanks for nothing Father, you better go...

Diary Entry 2:  "What's happening to me?"

Father has already gone and I have to write about something that happened to me today a few days ago. From the moment he left, I kind of...kind of miss him. But the weird thing was something that I've never felt before. Something that hurted me, deep down in the chest. So I looked at my body, searching for scars and bruises, but I didn't have anything! It was a huge pain I couldn't stand for anymore. I just rested till I was used to it, but I have to say that I was really scared that it could have been, perhaps, a heart attack or something even worse. Nevermind, it wasn't something important, even though I got frightened because of it. Maybe pain is necessary after all...

Diary Entry 3:  "Aryan Force"

I don't remember very well why I stopped writing in this diary. As a matter of fact, the last entry was about two or three months ago. Maybe I didn't continue on writing because people told me that it was girlish to have a diary, and they bothered me for that; though they stopped doing it when I beated them. I gave them what they deserved. Stupid Jews...Who do they think they are? I'm in fact a Jew, but I dont share with them anyone of those useless traditions like Hannukah or if something is or not Kosher. In fact, I'd say I only continue the tradition (in my way, of course) of the Sabbath: the day for resting. Apart from that great day, I'd prefer to be Aryan. Look at them! They are doing an amazing job in controlling the entire continent.

Today, I had a discussion with one of the Steiner's daughters. It was about being Jewish and all that stuff. I didn't want to fight with her because I like Nazis, so I prefered to stay quiet. But that doesn't mean I'm not supporting them. What I like more of them, is their power. If they move a finger, the whole World trembles. Homosexuals, negroes and mainly Jews should be extreminated from the Earth's surface. I've listened many times that we are all here for something; that everyone of us has got a goal in his life: and that objective, in my case, is to help the World by cleaning it. 

All what I want to do, is to get quickly out of my house and start this divine work I've been assigned. 

Diary Entry 4:  "Auschwitz: a cool place"

Everything is going according to the plan. I've been sent to a labor camp, one of the best centres in Europe to clean this whole dirt: Auschwitz-Birkenau. In here, I'll be able to fulfill my desire. It will be tough, but the reward will be worth it. From now on, I'll not write anymore in this diary. So this will be my last entry...

From now on, History will be written with blood...

End of year: Debate

Last Friday, as usual, we met with Ms. Lydia for the debate class. But this wasn't a common class, as we were supposed to bring some food, to have a good time. This was very fun, as we talked and talked more even than while debating! That's why I want to thank Ms. Lydia for cooking a United States popular reddish cake, which was really delicious, and of course for spending time with us during the whole year. I had a great time!

Quotes of Interest - Chapter 3

I think it would be a great idea to, instead of analysing step by step the Chapter 3, as with Chapter 2, I'll choose some important quotes of the piece of text, so that you collect the most important parts of the plot.

1. "When the bus braked very suddenly, and then I heard from outside snatches of a voice issuing orders (...) to the effect that any Jewish passenger who happened to be on the bus should get off" (Page 40). This situation impacted very roughly the Jews that wanted just to go to work and continue with their routine. As they were stopped, we can see how did everything started, since stopping that bus was much more than what Georg could even think would be.

2. "I once asked him what he found so great about smoking so much, to which he gave the curt reply, 'It's cheaper than food'. I was slightly taken aback, since such a reason would never have occurred to me." (Page 42). This is a very short, but very interesting and sad moment. Georg is narrating the episode when he asked "Smoker" about his addiction, as he saw him in the incident with the bus, and he wanted to tell us more about him. This makes us think how did everything was for the Jewish people in those moments. It's sincerely sorrowful that a teenager has to become an addict of cigarettes because he doesn't have money to eat, and Georg could notice that, as he says "I was slightly taken aback", which gives more power to the sad atmosphere. 

3. "They led us into a maze of gray buildings, before we suddenly debouched onto (...) some sort of barracks parade ground." (Page 56). After they were stopped in the buses, they were led into this strange place. This is when finally they arrive to the 'maze', to the 'labyrinth with no exit'. This is were the story really begins.

Seven Pillars of the Judaism

Just as any other culture/religion, the Judaism has got many important things that characterise them. That's why, as I'm analysing the Holocaust and its components, I found very important to get closer to the Jewish culture. In this post, I'll make a brief summary of the most known components of the Jews, that without question, characterises them. 

Mezuzah: it's a small piece of parchment put on the doors as a sign of their faith and compromise with the Jewish. It has written down some biblical passages of Deuteronomy that reaffirm the faith and trust in God.
Tefillin: small black leather case with Hebrew Scriptures worn (on the forehead and left arm) by Jewish men during morning prayer. 
Shofar: a ram's horn played by ancient Hebrews during ceremonies. Now played in the synagogue during Rosh  Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Hanukkah: also called Feast of Dedication, it's a Jewish eight-day festival that conmemorates a past important victory of the Jews.
Kosher: it's a word that means that the object that we are talking about is fit to the dietary words. Kosher meat, for example, means that that meat can be eaten according to the Jewish religious laws.


Tzedakah: it's the religious obligation to perform charity.
Sabbath: it's the weekly day of resting for the Jews in the whole World. 

Teachers' Day + match!

Friday was a short (we finished at midday), but with many activities day. First, it was the teachers' day, so we had an assembly to congratulate them for their amazing job. They are really one, if not the most, important works of all in a country. They educate the future of this country, of the world. They have in their hands the power to create or destruct a person's future success. And that's why it should be a well-paid and honourific job. That's why in the assembly, Year 11s chose and delivered some prizes to important people for them. The most punctual, the most sympathetic, the most technologized... But everyone of them should have received something in recognition for their hard labour. 


After the celebration of the assembly, it came a match between the First XV vs Headmaster's XV. In the last one, teachers and former students met and organizated to win the match. Also, as in the football match, I got surprised by Mr. Nathaniel Sprague, who was a very good rugby player. In the end, the Headmaster's XV won by many points above the First XV. It was a really great match that we could appreciate. I hope it repeats next year with even more enthusiasm and hopefully another great surprise!

Year 12s' Day + Match!

On Wednesday, continuing with the activities of the school's anniversary, it was planned to be the Year 12s Day, a tradition that has got many years. As the new law of anti-bullying has already been accepted, they can't have a list with people they don't like and make fun of them, as in the past years. So what they did, was a much more interactive event with the students, with water games and all that stuff. 

But everyone was really expecting the "Year 12s vs The Remainders" match. In "The Remainders" people from Year 11 and a small group of Year 10 participated. To recognise that small group, the older ones cut off the younger's hair in strange shapes and figures. I want to congratulate them all, but specially Mr. Reynolds, for his performance in the game. It was really a tough play, but it was pretty exciting for everyone. 

Sports Day!

On Tuesday, the school was crowded of buses: they were all going to the Sports Day Event, in Mantagua. This is a once-a-year event that, as the name says, tries to promote the practise of sport. In this ocassion, it was the athletics turn, in a new date of the Interhouses Competition. In our category, we should select 8 participants, who must compete in long jump and in shot put. Half of them, also should run 100 metres, and the other half, also 800 metres. Finally, 4 of them should run 4 x 100 metres relay. 

The other part of the day was the match between Year 12s and the teachers. It was a fun match, in which the teachers could demonstrate us that they are not just teachers but also good players of football. Sadly for them, they lost 7-2 against a magnificent Year 12's team. But the teacher's team had a great player that I'd like to congratulate: Mr. Nathaniel Sprague, whose permorfance was clearly the best of the match.

Literary Terms

Have you ever tried to read an analysis of a piece of literature and you don't understand nothing? Words like allegory, onomatopoeia or foreshadowing got you confused? Then this is the post you will like and -hopefully- appreciate for you entire life!.

Literary Devices:

Allegory: stories that stand for symbolic ideas. Ex: Plato's allegory of the cave.
Alliteration: repetition of the same sound at the beggining of the words.
Allusion: an implicit, brief reference to a famous character or a historical moment.
Hyperbole: exaggeration of something. Ex: "I'm so hungry that I'd eat an entire cow".
Metaphor: an implicit comparison between two (very) different things.
Onomatopoeia: use of words that imitate sounds. Ex: "hiss".
Personification: human attributes are given to an object.
Simile: direct comparison between two things, using the words "as" or "like".
Understatement/litote: says less than intended. Opposite from hyperbole.
Oxymoron: a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect. Ex: “cruel kindness”.
Irony: the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.
Pun - A word is used which has two meanings at the same time, which results in humor.
Analogy - the comparison of two pairs which have the same relationship. 


Important words:

Plot: sequence of event of a story, that include characters and a conflict.
Climax: the moment with more intensity in the plot.
Setting: time and place of the story's action.
Tone: the author's attitude towards the story and the reader.
Mood: general atmosphere created by the author's words. Feeling that the reader gets.
Theme: an insight of human life that is revealed in a literary work. What is the text about.
Thesis: the organizing thought of an entire essay or piece of writing and which contains a subject and an opinion
Soliloquy: a long speech made by a character who is alone in the stage, revealing his thoughts and emotions.
Connotation: associations and implications that go beyond the written-literal words.
Denotation: dictionary definition of a word.
Symbol: something that means more than its literal interpretation.
Flashback: scene in which the character(s) go to the past, to tell us more about the context of the plot.
Foreshadowing: hints and clues that the story gives us to create an idea of what will happen.
Gothic: use of mysterious elements in literature. Dark and gloomy settings.
Hero: character whose actions are inspiring or noble. 
Stanza: a group of lines in a poem, that should be a unit.
Narrative poem: tells a story in verse.
Lyric poem: a melodic poem which describes an object or emotion.


Of course, there are many more literary devices and terms, but in my opinion, this are the ones that you should compulsory know. Comment if you think there are other ones I haven't mentioned!

Fatelessness - Chapter 2 Literary Analysis Worksheet

Title of selection: Fatelessness, Chapter 2

Author: Imre Kertész

Genre: Autobiographical Novel

Setting: Budapest 1940s, in Georg's neighbourhood

Historical context: WWII. Persecution of Jews. Air raids in Hungary. Antisemitism.




The author wrote this piece to: (author’s purpose): 
To inform us about the psychological aspect of Georg, after his father left.

The main idea of this piece is: 
Make us (the readers) feel that Georg can't have feelings for another person, as he finds excuses to tell that he has some sort of girlfriend. As he says, it was "just because of the bomb" and nothing else. It reafirms the idea that he doesn't feel emotions like everybody else. He's in transition between being a boy and becoming suddenly, an adult.

The message (or theme) of this selection which the author would like us to “take away” is: 
People's problems can make their "brain" or something, to "turn off" their feelings and emotions. Other message that it may try to deliver is the fact that everyone has different perspectives and observes the situations from his point of view, but this shouldn't be a problem for us.

Characters: (Major)
Protagonist(s): Georg Koves

Antagonist(s): Perhaps the older Steiner daughter, that is against what Georg believes and they discuss. Also, it may be the mother of Georg, as she is trying to get him back, or even, as a symbolic antagonist, we could say it's the Nazi Regime.

Static characters: older Steiner daughter, because she doesn't understand nor changes her way of thinking. Mr. Sütô also would be a good example, as he maintains his promise of providing money and food to the family, no matter what.

Dynamic characters: at the end, the only one that changes what she feels is Annamarie.

Did the author use any special literary devices in this selection such as: personification, metaphor, simile, foreshadowing, suspense, flashback, imagery, irony, humor, poetic sound devices such as rhyme, etc... List and give specific examples:
Most of the literary devices used in here were to compare different situations or make allusions to some abstract ideas through a story. The perfect example of allusion in this case would be the story of a prince and a beggar that looked very similar, and once they changed their places and nobody noticed, being transformed finally into the other one. Georg tells this when they are discussing about being Jewish and all the, apparently, disadvantages it has. He tries to explain that life is almost just luck. "She had somehow been swapped or got mixed up with a child from another family(...) it would now be the other girl who would perceive the difference and of course wear the yellow star" (Page 37). In the quote, we can appreciate clearly that he's putting the Steiner's older daughter into an hypotetical case, so with this, he can demonstrate that the superficiality of people is such, that they wouldn't care as they do now, if she was Jewish (by blood), but has been swapped and raised by a, lets say, Aryan family.

What was the author’s “tone” toward the subject/person/idea he wrote about? 
The author's tone is very excentric. I'd say maybe informal, but it's more than that. It makes the readers feel just as if they are listening to a youngster's mind. 
"This evening too I was with her in the other room to look at the Fleischmanns' ornamental fish, because in truth we have frequently been in the habit of looking at them at other times anyway. This time, of course, that was not quite the only reason for us to got here. We made use of our tongues as well" (Page 33). He is very directly in telling the situation, just as a teenager. He tells what he feels, no matter if that's correct or not.

What “point of view” was this piece told from? List word clues that indicate this. 
As the whole text, from Georg's perspective. It's a quite unusual boy that doesn't appear to be able to feel. He describes what he is passing through with a peculiar tone that makes this novel unique. There's no need to quote, as the entire book is in first person, and the narrator is the same as the protagonist (Georg).

List the conflicts in this selection (internal and/or external):
There's one main external conflict, that is the discussion of Georg with the Steiner's older daughter, about being Jews. She feels uncomfortable because people in the street "hate" her, because she's Jewish, but for Georg it isn't really a problem. 
"Still, there was something in her line of thought that somehow exasperated me; in my opinion, it's all a lot simpler" (Page 36). As we can see, for Georg, this isn't really much of a problem, because he thinks that, if people don't even know her, they can't hate her, right? Also, he adds that it's just something superficial, as he thinks if she wasn't wearing that yellow star band in the arm, they wouldn't even notice she's Jew; therefore, it's just a matter of luck (of borning Jewish, Aryan or Nordic). This is the climax, in which she starts crying, because she realizes that life isn't just a matter of effort and hard work. That if she, unluckily borned being Jewish, will have to bear this for her entire life, and will be discriminated for that with no reason at all.
The internal conflict that may be found in this chapter is the dilemma that Georg has after speaking with his mother. He doesn't really know what to do, but as a good teenager, he'll probably go on what he wants and reject what his mother is telling him.
"I came away feeling rather troubled: naturally I could not allow her to go on supposing that I didn't love her, but then on the other hand I could not take entirely seriously what she had said about the importance of my wishes" (Page 31). This was said after his mother told him that "love is proved by actions, not by words". He is really in a great struggle, as he doesn't know if he should or not continue with his idea.

Interhouses: General Knowledge

Today, we met once again for the General Knowledge Event, celebrated every year in the school's anniversary week.

It consisted in one student of each house representing every year (class), from 5th to 12th. There were 4 categories, each one of two grades: 5th & 6th, 7th & 8th, 9th (supposedly) & 10th, 11th & 12th. In the case of the 9th grade participants, they are nowadays in the Chilean Northern Trip, therefore they couldn't join us. But year 10th had to call another contestant, to fulfill the requirements of two people in every group. In my case, I'm in the Mackay house, and my partner was Mr. Oporto, also from 10th grade. 

There were many subjects you could choose, and they would make everyone (of that specific group) the question. Subjects varied from science and spanish, to music and sports, so that you needed to have a wide knowledge. I ought to say that in most of the questions, Mr. Oporto managed to answer them correctly, so I must give thanks to him. 

Mackay's Mascot Vicente Gómez

It was a tough competition, but luckily we could handle the situation and achieve 50 points for our house, with the triumph. I am completely satisfied with the results, and I hope it repeats next year, just as most of the past 4 or 5 years we have been winning.

The Mackay School's Anniversary

155 years of Tradition, Honour and Values. 
Happy Birthday Mackay School for harbouring
many great persons in all its history.
More than academic geniuses, the world needs
people with morality, with values such as 
respect, integrity and passion for what they do. 
And that's exactly what this school is pointing to: 
All Rounders. 
Maybe they are not so intelligent, 
maybe they don't have good marks in everything, 
but they are respectful,
they do have integrity,
and they do act with passion in what they love.
And that's where real success is based. 
Thanks for all Mackay!

Fatelessness - Chapter 1 Questions

In this post, as the title says, I'll answer some questions about the first chapter of the novel Fateless. Hope you like the answers and don't forget to comment!

1.  What characters are introduced in this chapter?

Georg Koves (protagonist), his parents (divorced), stepmother, grandparents, many uncles (Lajos is one of the most importants, for his advices to Georg), the baker and his wife (he hates Jews), Annamarie (neighbour), Mr. Sütô (employee of the family that will be in charge of valuable things).

2. Choose two characters and select a quote to describe them physically or psychologically.

Georg Koves:"I too spoke a few words to Mother, though I no longer remember what. I think she may have been annoyed with me because I was obliged to be a little short with her, what with Father being there" (Page 4). In the quote, we can have an approach to Georg's attitude of life. He doesn't remember what he spoke with his mother, making him a careless boy. Also, the problems with the divorce of his parents have made him to be closer to his father and don't demonstrate warmth with his mother.


Uncle Fleischmann: "was utterly unnoticeable beside him [Uncle Steiner], being a diminutive man of immaculate appeareance, with white hair, ashen skin, owlish spectacles, and a perpetual slightly worried air on his face" (Page 23).  It describes him as an unnoticeable, old man, that is constantly worried about what's happening and what could he do to fix it.

3. What is the narrative technique? Provide evidence

Point of view: protagonist narrator (first person) "I didn't go to school today" Page 3.

Narration: indirect narration (not to the reader) "By then, I was dead tired anyway. All the same, I thought, at least we were able to send him off to the labor camp, poor man, with memories of a nice day" (Page 26). He is just telling what he feels, not necessarily to the reader, but just to himself.

Speech: free indirect speech (characters thoughts/speeches are told by them. The rest by the narrator). "Still, he appealed to my judgment, rather than the law, and to the difference between my stepmother, who had 'created a cozy family home' for me, and my mother, who had 'deserted' me" (Page 25). The narrator tells the story and quotes what the other characters have said.

Tense: past tense (the story already happened) "I didn't go to school today" Page 3.

4. Describe the setting of this chapter

The story takes place in Budapest, capital city of Hungary. The WWII is going on, and that's why the boy needs to wear a yellow star in his arm and gets bothered by the air raids. 

Narrative Techniques

Before I start analysing Fatelessness, I found important to make a quick review of the narrative techniques. 
There are four components, which are listed below. Each one of those components answers to a specific question.

1. Point of View: it answers to the question "who tells the story?". It can be either the narrator (first person), the reader (second person) or an outsider that's looking inside (third person).
2. Narration: it answers to the question "who is the narrator speaking to?". It may be a direct narration, in which the narrator speaks directly to the reader; a frame narration, that could be somehow of direct narration, but that includes also third person; or it could be an indirect narration, in which the narrator is just telling the story, not to the reader.
3. Speech: it answers to the question "how do the narrator and/or characters of a story speak?". It can be direct (they speak for themselves), reported (the narrator summarizes what the characters have said) or free indirect speech (the characters' thoughts are explicit and direct).
4. Tense: it answers to the question "when did the events of a story happen?". It may be past (narrator can choose to focus on important events, because it already happened), present (narrator is just as surprised as the reader) or future (the story is about something that will happen).

Apart from this primary components of narrative techniques, there are many other ways to make the reader feel amused by the writing skills. These may include the following:

1. Flashback: it consists in making a scene where it goes to the past to remember something that happened. It usually helps to understand the context of the narration.
2. Foreshadowing: it gives clues of what will happen in the future. 
3. 3rd person omniscient: using an omniscient narrator makes for it possible to tell many characters thoughts.
4. Dual Narrative: it tells stories from two different perspectives, so the reader has got a better point of view of what is happening.

Fateless' Author

In this post, I'll analyse briefly some questions about the author of Fateless, Imre Kertész. Hope you enjoy them!

1. Before the interview, the presenter visits a monument to the Holocaust created by the American artist Peter Eiserman. Considering the shapes, architecture and general design, in what ways do you think he represents the reality in the concentration camps?

I think that it may be pretty similar to what people felt, the vulnerability, the not knowing if you'll survive, the not being able to think.

2. Which is the paradox the presenter mentions regarding Imre Kertész and the place where he lives?

He lives in Germany, as it's the only place where he feels free; paradoxically, this was the country that wanted him dead.

3. Refer to antisemitism before and after Auschwitz according to Kertész.

Antisemites before Auschwitz didn't know really how could it be to torture and slay millions of Jews. But the antisemites of the present, already know this and want it again: that's why it's worst than everything else.

4. In what way do reminders of the past in historical books make us "much richer"?

Richer in the sense of knowledge, of knowing what would happen in a certain situation. We will not repeat the same atrocities, unless we forget what happened. That's why it's important to remember.

5. Which metaphor does Imre use to exemplify the effect of FATELESSNESS on its readers?

If we don't know about the Holocaust, it will be like a box in your soul, that eventually will come free and start those atrocities again and again.

WWII Timeline

Here I let you my WWII timeline, that will help us understand better the historical context of Fatelessness. Hope you enjoy it!

Fatelessness' Historical Context

As in every single book I've read before, I need to analyse the historical context of it. And in this case, it's the Holocaust.

Everything started with the Versaille's Treaty, in which Germans were obliged to resign. This made some people to feel that they have violated their rights; people like Hitler, that would take their honour back, whatever they needed to do. Adolf Hitler was a racist militar, that wanted to "clean" the world's surface of Jews, homosexuals, "negroes" and everyone else that interposed in his way. When he raised to the power as the Chancellor, he started his project. He burned books of anyone that didn't think like him, from Jack London to Albert Einstein. He wanted to demonstrate the whole world that the Aryan race was the only one that deserved living. That's why he wanted to exterminate the Earth's surface of Jews...and he almost did it. What he did with Jews, was to put them in labour camps, an eufemism for torturing-concentration camps. And that's what happened to Imre Kertész, or Georg Koves in the novel. 

Anne Frank is another great example to illustrate the historical context of this years. As you probably know, she is a Jewish girl, who had to hide with her family from the Nazis in Netherlands. She, as perhaps many girls do, had a personal diary, in which she wrote about her life and feelings. After some years, she got caught and sent to Bergen-Belsen labour camp, and passed away in that same place, little before the war finished. This is really a sad story, that we have the opportunity to read in her words. Remember always, that you can't forget what passed, or you may repeat it again...

Here I'll let you a crude, emotive video about the Holocaust. 
Caution: Extremely Graphic video.

That's what the novel is about. I hope this helps to understand the context better.
I'll start reading!

Fatelessness Review

For this post, I'll answer some questions about a review about the autobiographical novel made by a Hungarian, Jewish author, called Imre Kertész.
Below, you can find the review link, which I'll answer some questions of.

                              Fatelessness by Imre Kertesz

1. Which perspective (positive or negative) does the author of the review have towards FATELESSNESS? Provide evidence.

It's a mix between an interesting book and a harrowing read. However, as I understand it, it has got a great reality that can be read through the lines of the novel. "Fatelessness is a harrowing read, though it never sets out to shock": there he says explicitly that it's a dreadful book, but in the other hand, he starts saying that "the writer elevates this form to another level", making me understand that, maybe in some parts it's a monotone narration, but in between lines it's a great book.

2. According to the review, in which ways does FATELESSNESS make readers empathize with the main character of the story?

The best of this book is probably its similarities with life. As it says, "Life takes you where it goes, irrespective [of all] (...), One makes of life what it presents (...). It's the detail along the way that makes the journey.". And that's just what the book makes you feel. It's life, nothing else. 

3. In the second paragraph of this review, we are presented the plot of the story. Is this enough information to engage you as a reader? Does it provide an effective invitation to read "FATELESSNESS"? Justify

I think it may give more than what is expected. It tells the end of the novel, and that's a terrible mistake when you are telling the plot of a book. However, as it's an autobiographical text, you may have already know that Imre Kertész got out of the labour camps, and this doesn't make it less interesting. It's similar to what happens with the Socrates' Apology book. Everyone that reads it already knows that he will eventually die, but even that, they read it and get surprised by the narration of the facts. That's why, I think it doesn't matter it tells too much, it will still be a great novel.

Holocaust's Image Analysis

The next piece of literature I'll be analysing will be "Fatelessness", wrote by Imre Kertész. And I think that it would be pertinent to analyse an image, so that my ideas about the Holocaust, the historical context of the novel, get a little bit ordered. For that, I'll answer some general questions that probably will help.


1. What do you see in the picture? 
There is a person, probably a man, that's trying to escape through the barbed wire fence.

2. Based on what you havbe observed, make three inferences.
a) Germans took out freedom from people, just because of their race.
b) Human beings don't have limits.
c) Everyone's desire is to be free, but usually one doesn't realize it until you lose it.

3. What questions does this image raise in your mind?
How could it be possible for a person to deprive other ones' freedom and torture them just because of their race?

4. Describe the mood of the image. 
It's a mix between sadness and hopeness. Sadness because the person has been tortured and it makes me remember the Holocaust atrocities; hopeness because you never lose the faith to be free.

5. What information do you already know about the Holocaust?
This happened in the WWII, where Nazis believed they were better than everybody else, and every time this happened in History, it's a disaster for mankind. Jewish were tortured and killed by millions.

Men or women?

Have you ever thought how would a person of the other gender react in a specific situation? Well, this is maybe one of the motifs of some authors for writing their main characters of the other sex. 

Examples of this are Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary", "Her Body Knows" of David Grossman or Amos Oz's "My Michael", being all of them men that wrote novels with female protagonists. In the other hand, we have Iris Murdoch's "The Black Prince" or Josefina Vicens' "The Empty Book".

The question now could be, what are the benefits and limitations of writing their characters of the other gender? Mainly, I think, as said before, it's an opportunity to know how would a woman/man could act in front of a particular situation. About the limitations, I think that if we are speaking of literature, there aren't restrictions: the Heaven is the limit. How could it be better than practising the knowledge of the other gender than through literature? It's a magic world, where anything can happen, so it's your choice to believe in it or not; but I recommend you to believe in it, so you could eventually become a writer!

Atonement's Context: Dunkirk Evacuation

One of the most shocking parts of the novel/movie is when they show the Dunkirk Evacuation. What's this? You may be asking yourself, so I'll put a brief summary of what was this action. 
It was 1940, in the middle of the Second World War, and Winston Churchill was in charge of the British troops. He decided to retire the military forces from the small town of Dunkirk, France, because the German army cut off the British, French and Belgian troops. 
Here is a video for you to learn more about the Dunkirk Evacuation.