The stubborn Post that wouldn't Post

Given that in the last month I've bruised the elbow joint (muscle and bone) and fell and created a hematoma on my skull, still doesn't excuse the fact that I've fallen behind. So I thought I'd write about what we are doing and come back at a later date to catch up.
We have just finished Safe Area in Gorazde. This is not the first time I have heard of Bosnia. In 1992 a young girl by the name of Zlata Filipovic gave permission for her diary to be published. In 1994 I read this book, who told the world what was going on in Sarajevo and in Bosnia from a child's perspective.

It is interesting I'm currently writing an essay about perspective for this class. And adults perspective is very different than a child's perspective. I have to wonder as adults do we over run ourselves to the point that we fail to see what is truly important. I'm implied to say yes adults tend to complicate their lives. My suitemate Kaylette says "Life isn't hard, people make it hard." I guess for me it is the link to all survivors of war, they survive.

I don't mean survival in the heart is still beating sort of way but rather that that person's life still thrives, they continue. Maybe that is what made Gorazde so unique, these people were still there.

So to you dear reader, I encourage you to go out and read both Safe Area and Zlata's Diary.

Maus

Art Spiegelman wrote Maus as a way to tell his father's survival of the Holocaust Memorial. While presented in a comic form the story is serious, sad, and poignant. Each animal that represents a nationality was carefully chosen. For instance The Americans are dogs, French are Frogs, Germans are Cats, Polish are pigs and the Jews were mice. Part of that was a play on the propaganda the Germans had against the Jews by saying they were rodents. Mickey Mouse was even dismissed because of the fact it was a mouse and Jewish. I think all should read Maus and read about the Holocaust so that history does not repeat itself.

www.ushmm.org Is the link to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Time To Say Goodbye!

Well my dear Odd One Out groupmates, it's time to say goodbye for Miss Roseknight! This blogging project has definitely been an experience! I'm really not used to blogging, so I obviously wasn't very consistent about doing them, but I did try and get 10 full blogs in (one for each graphic novel we read). Anyway, thanks for all the awesome posts, and for the great ideas about each graphic novel! It's always great to meet and know others who have a love for manga/graphic novels as much as I do, and I love to read whatever has to say about them. I especially love to see how our opinions match up or completely differ with everyone else's. While I will drop in for the next few weeks to see how this blog turned out, I think I've blogged all I can on our novels. Anyway, thank you again for a great, and thanks to Doc Clemente for his "interesting!" (lols) discussions in class. Have a great finals week, and have a Blessed Christmas Break everyone!!!

P.S. So one last graphic novely thing for me to do! I

've included the names/pictures of some of

my favorite manga/graphic novels/comics. I hop

e that you guys might become interested to check them out!

Return to Labyrinth:

Fruits Basket:

Bleach:

Vampire Kisses:

DragonBall Z:

Fall Out Toy Works:

Batman: Death and the City

"Prisoner on the Hell Planet" by Art Spiegelman

So this never occurred to me until after I read over a section in Maus, but at the age of 20 Spiegelman suffered a nervous breakdown. It's mentioned in Maus (pages 100-103) in the comic-within-a-comic section entitled "Prisoner on the Hell Planet." It's very possible that Dr. Clemente mentioned something about this in class, but I was very surprised to read all of that... not to mention I was surprised to see his comic incarnation of himself look that old, although that was just a personal thing. Well I did the research, and Art Spiegelman went to Harpur College (now The University of New York) where he actually suffered from severe sleep deprivation and malnutrition (although his apparent trials of LSD could have had something to do with it) due to the free atmosphere of college versus his incredibly structured life at home (this is pretty dang evident just by reading Maus). Because of this he checked himself into a psychiatric hospital where he would often horde different items in his room. He later learned that this mentality was actually very common in Holocaust survivor children; the need to get as much as you can at that moment was almost genetic. So when he checked himself out, he was shocked to find that his father had found his mother dead in their bathroom; she had slit her wrists (supposedly) because her brother had just died. Anyway, in dealing with all that happened he wrote the very expressive "Prisoner on the Hell Planet," and moved on with his life. At the end of this blog I included the links to the various interviews, autobiographies, and general links I used to find all of this information. Feel free to take a look at the various information within each website. Well, I hope that this puts a little bit more in perspective!

http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/+10050

http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/holocaust/spiegelman.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/art-spiegelman

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article5205520.ece

Blog of the Fireflies

I haven't written in a little while. Two weeks ago I had to attend my grandmothers funeral, and then last weekend I was just very busy and didnt get to it. Now Im sick wouldn't you know. lol

Anyway lets get down to buissness.

Grave of the fireflies was the most moving film I have ever seen. It hit me especially hard because I am an older brother, and I have a very young sister that lives with my father. Katherine is about 11 now. The odds of something happening to my step family are fairly high because they are both older and don't live very healthy lifestyles. I felt connected to the character in the film Saita. The film blew me away. Im still awestruck with it.

Something in class came up, where we didn't know if Saita had died at the beginning or not, but upon doing some research I can confirm that sadly, he doesn't make it. The ghosts dancing when the credits roll are actually still part of the story. It shows Saita and his sister being reunited as spirits. Just wanted to clear that up.

The Devil's Arithmetic: A Tale of the Holocaust

So today in class (12-02-09) Doc Clemente mentioned the book The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolan. The story itself revolves around a young girl named Hannah who, while celebrating Passover, decides that her family is too traditional, and can't understand why they are so fervent in their beliefs. However, as she is performing a ritualistic task, Hannah is transported back in time to just before the Nazis enter and empty out her new village. From this point on, she must live the life of Chaya, a young Jewish girl who is taken to a concentration camp. This directly correlates to the graphic novel Maus that we have been talking about in class. Just as Art tried to determine what his father's part in the whole war, and subsequently the concentration camps was, whereas Hannah must learn about why her family celebrates their faith so fervently. I've attached a search link for the movie that came out about The Devil's Arithmetic starring Kirsten Dunst. I haven't actually seen this version myself, but I suggest to you all that you either read the book, or view the videos as a way to see an alternate version of the Holocaust.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&source=hp&q=The%20Devil's%20Arithmetic&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#