In English, we have been studying Heros and Superheros. A task that we had to do was to pick a Hero or Superhero that we knew a bit about and write a bit about the hero's story and how most heroes follow a similar path. I chose Spiderman as I have watched all his movies and I really enjoyed watching them too. Here is my Hero's Journey. :)
Which steps of the speech unit did you complete? I completed the communitcation self reflection, What makes a good speech, Reviewing speech techniques, Post a short video on your blog about speech techniques, Ask the questions, Research your topic, Communitcation self reflection 2 and after I post this I would have done the unit reflection posted on blog.
Which steps did you not finish? I did not finish the Writted speech and submitted. I only got halfway through that and ran out of time to finish it. Speech video sumitted, speech video or speech posted on blog.
How well did you manage your time in class and at home? I'm very busy at home so all the free time I had I would try and make the most of it by working on my speech. In class I can sometimes get distracted but most of the time I'm focusing on my work.
What have you learned from this process? I have learn't a lot about the topic I was writing about which was Princess Diana. I have also learn't the stages of writing a speech is really importanat especially the reasearch about your topic.
For our next unit, which is the NCEA static image/poster assessment, what are your goals in terms of the learning process, managing your time, and achievement? Getting all my work done and submitting my assessment for it. I would also like to get it least a merit or excellence.
Reflection on the Night Unit
1. What did you learn about Judaism? I learnt that Judaism is a religion for jewish people.
2. What did you learn about the Holocaust? I learnt how bad it actually was and how so many innocent people lost their lives.
3. Do you think you increased your own empathy, integrity and compassion, and how? No I don't think so as before we started learning about that I already had those skills and a lot of empathy, integrity and compassion.
4. Which activities did you enjoy the most? I really enjoyed the empathy map and Writing the essay.
5. What recommendations do you have for Mrs Torley to change anything if she is teaching this again next year? Not anything to be honest. I think It was really well taught!
This is my video reflection of what makes a good speech.
This is my essay I wrote about the memoir we read Night.
The Holocaust. 1933, the year it all started. An event that changed the world. 10 million people lost their lives from something that never should have happened. My class has been learning about the Holocaust. We have been reading a memoir called Night, a non-fiction memoir written by Elie Wiesel. It is based on Elie Wiesel who is a survior of the holocaust and his experience through it. Some of the techniques Wiesel uses in the book are metaphors, short sentences, single sentences and also dialogue. Some of the techniques are very upsetting and the impact on me made me feel worried, angry and disgusted.
An event that had an impact on me was on the first night at the camp when Elie was watching living people and children getting thrown into a fire. He wrote, "A truck drew close and unloaded its hold, small children. Babies!" The technique he used was a short sentence and single word sentence. The two word phrase "small children '' followed by a single word sentence "babies" emphasises the young age of the victims. The use of the exclamation mark after "Babies!" shows how shocked he is to see how young they are. These techniques made me respond emotionally: I was disgusted because they were doing this to innocent young children and babies that still need to and deserve to grow up and experience life. I was also very sad as a lot of humans lost their lives.
Another one of the events in the Holocaust that really impacted me was when so many people were squished together in a small railway carriage traveling to one of the camps with one bucket for the toilet, a little air hole, no water and no food. They were travelling for days and hours too. A woman named Mrs Schachter spoke in the carriage. My technique was from what she had said, "Look! Look at this fire! This terrible Fire! Have mercy on me!" This technique is dialogue. They have an impact because she is shouting, and adding stress to the other passengers because she could have been having a vision. It made me feel disgusted because they were treated like animals. I was also worried as Mrs Schachter could have predicted something, which she actually did.
There have been so many events in this memoir that have impacted me but one more that had the most impact on me was when at the end they were doing the death march, which was running and not being able to stop otherwise they would get shot or trampled. It was freezing temperatures and they had to be constantly running for over 45kms. The technique that I chose for this one was the metaphor, "Faster you tramps, you flea-ridden dogs." The SS officer is calling the prisoners dogs, comparing them to animals. I felt angry and disgusted, no one should ever be called an animal. I think the SS Officer is also taking advantage of them, thinking he can just do that, when people should never get treated that way.
This memoir that we have read has shown me a true understanding of what the Jews had been through and how every survivor has a different story. I have learnt to not take life for granted. All the techniques that were used gave me a better understanding of the events and situations that went on in the Holocaust. All the quotes together made me feel very angry and disgusted. I can't imagine what the prisoners had to go through. This is a really important event in history. It should never be forgotten about, as so many people lost their lives from it. As a world we should learn from our mistakes and make sure nothing ever like that will happen again.
