The both poem was pretty impressive to me. The first one is so descriptive that I feel it is beautiful. Even though it is not about my home country (Korea), its descriptive depicts remind my hometown. The second one is very interesting, realistic. Despite the awkward fact that it parodises the beloved, famous, nationalistic poem, its purpose makes me think that this poetic parody has meaning and purpose. Its realistic view make me learn more about Australia. From this, I also really feel helpful.

“My Country”   by Dae Won  Lee:

I love my cool, garbage country

A land of poverty, hopelessness,

Where people use cow as transportation

Just like the late 19^th century

While the pigs are crazy of war,

Civilians are crazy to move out of the country

Basically, no improvement, right, freedom

Just because of those attractive pigs.

I chose North Korea to make a parody of the poem, ‘My Country’.  North Korea is only country who has three generation of dynasty, despite their civilians’ opinion. They promoted themselves one of the best countries to live. In fact, their government is spending all their money on military, not any on the people’s convenience. I really would want readers to feel that North Korea should be criticized about their wrong actions and they need to be changed, in sake of the world’s peace.

In my family;

• ²  To be an academically good students
• ²  To be always healthy
• ²  Not to waste too much money, power such as electricity, water

In my school:

• ²  To support my friends
• ²  Not to violate any school rules
• ²  To behave well morally to teachers and staffs

In my city:

• ²  Fair voting
• ²  Not to violate any city rules
• ²  To self-control of actions that would bring damage to public facilities

In my country:

• ²  Fair Voting
• ²  Not to violate any country rules
• ²  To behave well as I represent my country especially when we are in overseas

In the world:

• ²  Not to waste too much resources
• ²  Recycle
• ²  Not to destroy the nature

Foreshadowing is a literary technique to provide clues, hint for the readers to be able to predict what might occur later on in the story. What may happen is something very dramatic, surprising, and expected or can be unexpected. One example in ‘The Boy in Stripped Pajamas’ is on the last page of chapter two when Bruno is frustrated about his new house and discovers a small window on his glasses. He approaches to the window and attempts to see what is on outside. Through the author’s depict, we can guess that he see something very strange and that thing give him a negative sense of future.

‘He put his face to the glass and saw what was out there, and this time when his eyes opened wide and his mouth made the shape of an O, his hands stayed by his sides because something made him feel very cold and unsafe.’ pg 20

            Innoncence, naiveness and purity all have same meaning. They means lack of guilt, free from evil or state of being unsullied by sin or any moral wrong. This term is often used to describe when person is innoncent of or not related to certain crime events. Also children are often described as symbol of this kind of terms. This is to mean that children is too lack of knowledge to know negative, unavoidable reality of society because it is considered that they are  not old and mature enough to understand those conflicts.

2.  Can adults be naïve? In what ways can they be naïve? What adults in the book seem naïve?

            Yes, some adult in our world may be quite naïve as children. Probably these kind of person are usually so ignorant, uneducated that they do not know much about reality of our life and in which way the world is flowing. They may likely behave things that they believe happiness is involved. They do not ever guess that people will do things will bring benefits only to themselves. Thus, these kind of people eventually are tricked by other greedy, bad people and often change themselves to evil, mad people (according to my observations)

This kind of character is sometimes depicted in story.

3. Can you give an example of a time when you were a young child and saw the world from a more innocent perspective?

            I used to see the government is to work to create better world for us and I really thought they would work with their honesty and hope to make our life better. However, the reality is the most government (of course, not European, Australian, American government) is full of unimaginable evilness: corruption, lying, illegal prohibition, irrational policy.

What are some examples of that?

What experiences helped you see the world differently than what you initially thought?

            Knowledge. I learn the truth of society and reality by reading books, newspapers, searching the internet. In Korea, the internet is well-developed and is really fast. Innumerable people express a great variety of their opinions and reveal out the hidden events of past. This really greatly help me to become more critical, rational person.

4. Although Bruno and his family have moved to a desolate place, Bruno continues to display his strong sense of adventure and creativity. What are some examples of this?

            One of examples of display of adventure and creativity sense is that his continuous rebel against his father. He really does not like the new place his family has moved to. Thus, he continuously asks his father why they need to live here and the possibility of moving back to their old house. Also, one example can be his unstoppable inquiry about the building that he could see through window despite his father’s advice of not to inquire about it anymore. Also he also shows his doubtful feeling about his father’s true job.

5. Can you give an example from your own life when your sense of adventure and imagination allowed you to escape from a sad or painful situation?

            I honestly think that I have try to some adventure to escape from a sad or painful situation. All I can remember is that I would rather accept those events are unavoidable. As I have been Christian, I prayed to god.

The holocaust is generally regarded as the systematic genocide of the European civilians by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. The term ‘Holocaust’ come comes from the Greek word holókauston, meaning an animal sacrifice offered to a god in which the whole (holos) animal is completely burnt (kaustos). The Jewish people were not only race to be slaughtered but any race that the Nazis considered them as inferior race (hatred feeling) were mass-slaughtered. This means the Nazis believed that they were exceptional, racially superior than other races. The total number of the Holocaust victim is at least 11 milllion people. 6 million victims were the Jewish people (two-thirds of the total European Jewish population) and the other at least 5 million victims includes Romani (Gypsies), Slavic peoples (Poles and Russian and others), the disabled, homosexuals, Jehovah’s witnesses and political and religious opponents with non German-ethnic origin. Especially the Jewish people are forced to live one certain area called ghetto. On this area, the Jewish people suffered from starvation and disease. Most of the Jewish people are forced to do slave labour (average 14 hours labour) in concentration camps until they would died of exhaustion or disease. If they survived for long times, they were systematically killed in gas chambers. One of the most well-known concentration camps is called Auschwitz. Eventually, as Germany lost at World War II, the Holocaust has been completely banned. Yet, this horrible event is recorded in history, has burdened to Germans and has fortunately remind us of importance of human rights.

Reference:

• http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143
• http://library.thinkquest.org/12663/

            Anti-semitism is intense hatred of, prejudice against or hostile attitude towards Jewish people. This leads extreme-discrimination to these people. Hostility feeling towards Jewish, Anti-Semitism started more than a century ago. Jews are exiled from their land (Palestine) when the Roman Empire ruled the Palestine. The Jewish people spread out to any lands they can live on especially Europe. The European people didn’t like the Jewish because of two reasons. The one is because of the fact that the Jewish killed Jesus Christ. The other reason is because the Jewishs did not proselyte (or change their religion) from Judaism (the religion they believe) to Christianity (the religion most European believe). It is due to strong belief that Jewish people believe they are chosen people by their god. This led hatred feeling and discrimination towards the Jewish began. The Jewish was not allowed to possess land, be employed in industry and commerce. They are forced to live in a certain concentrated place where only Jewish people could live. This place is called Ghetto. Even more, they are supposed to wear emblem that indicated the people were Jewish. Thus, the only work that Jewish people could do was financial work because landing money with interest is considered as sin for Christian. So when Europeans needed money, they would naturally ask to Jewish. This allowed Jewish to be richer and be more successful and eventually were able to obtain advantages from kings. The Jewish people eventually become powerful enough to control the economy of whole Europe. So the European’s hated feeling and wariness towards grew greater especially the aristocracy and socially high status class. Then Hitler, the extreme anti-semite brought people idea of anti-semitism and cause one of the most well-known and worst anti-semitism, the Holocaust. By the Holocaust, approximately 6 million Jewish died. This number figure is one third of whole Jewish people inhabiting on the world. In the Modern times, this belief violate the equal right of being humans and considered to be irrational idea.

• What are two questions that you have after reading this section?

-       What is the Bruno’s father job?

-       Who are those people with same uniforms that Bruno could see them through his room window?

• When and where is the book set?

The book is set in Germany during when Adolf Hitler and Nazi ruled Germany, thus probably the World War II (1939-45). At Chapter 1, the book begins with the setting in the Bruno’s old house in Berlin, Germany. From chapter 2, the book setting changed to the unknown, isolate region as Bruno family moved to new house because of his father’s new important job. There is no house, neighbourhood surrounding his house except a mysterious farm-looking place where most people are wearing the striped uniforms.

• How old is Bruno?

Bruno is 9 years old and he has older sister, Gretel who is three years older than Bruno. Bruno is often teased by her friends because of his smaller body (height) than his friends. They tease Bruno asking if he is only 6 years old.

• Where does he live, and with whom?

He used to live in Berlin where he thinks his life at there was happy. It is because he has friends at there, people at there are friendly and the environment was familiar to him. At Berlin, he lived with his grandparents, parents, his sister and her maid (Maria). His family moved to a strange, desolate region because of his father’s new, significant, unknown job. He live with his parents, Gretel, Maria and other maids. He is basically not happy about his new house because of unfriendly environment of houses.

• What impression do you get of Bruno?

My impression of Bruno is that he has an innocent, brave and honest character. Not only it is because of his young age but his actions, behavior, thoughts, personality gives feeling that he is symbol of innocence, ignorance and honesty. Especially conversation between him and his father reveals this character. I think the next story will depicts about his confusion between reality and idealism.

A fable is a tale that has a moral message for the reader. Traditionally, fables are tales featuring talking animals or objects which come to life; however, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a different kind of fable

            A fable is a traditional story expressed clearly and in a few phrase. It is a short story that do not mainly depicts about humans but mainly features animals, plants, nature expressed in personification (anthropomorphized). In other words, characters in the story (animals, plants, nature) are depicted like human such acting, talking like people. It has told to teach a moral lesson. The most famous fables were written by a man called Aesop. We know them as Aesop’s Fables, and he wrote more than 600 of them. Other well-known and important fable writers include Hans Christian Anderson. Notable and familiar fables that we include:

l  Fox and The Grapes

l  Tortoise and The Hare

l  The Lion’s Share

l  Lion and The Mouse

l  The Ant and the Grasshopper

l  The Earthen Pot and The Brass Pot

l  The Man and the Serpent

Reference:

l  http://ivyjoy.com/fables/

l  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fable

            I can learn that the book is about a boy in the stripped pajamas basically by looking at its cover. The book is written by John Boyne whom I have never heard. The book is published by David Fickling Books publisher. I think the book is set on past because the title is written in old-styled font. I could guess that the pajama is blue and white colors due to blue and white striped design of the book cover. Also, as the book cover design looks dirty and dark, I believe the story is quite sad, gloomy story.

What feeling does the book’s cover give you?

            The book’s cover gives blue, lonely, unfortunate feeling. I feel like the striped pajamas symbolises punishment and misery. I feel like this story is based on the real events happened in the past because the boy in the striped pajamas gives me feeling that it happened in the past. I feel like there are some clear objectives why the author chose this event to tell to us.

What do you think it will be about?

            I think it will about a life of one boy at unlucky era such as the World War I, the World War II, the Vietnam War, the America Civil War or the civil war in Africa. I think the boy wears the stripped pajamas as a punishment. I think the story would depict interaction between innocence of boy and the unavoidable reality of cruel society. I think the story would end with sad-ending like the boy will die from suffering or all their families is already dead when he returns to his home country.

What do you associate with striped pyjamas?

            I think the striped pajamas are the clothes that the boy should wear every day. I think wearing this type of clothes represent that the boy should be treated differently from others. Thus, the pyjamas represent conflicts and catastrophe for the boy that since wearing this, the boy suffered greatly and treated unfairly.