In chapter 5 of The Blue Sweater, which was written by Jacqueline Novogratz, Jacqueline was a good listener who drew my attention. Novogratz explains that the only way to create a good business was to listen to the people who work with you. Jacqueline was ready to learn from the Rwandan women by listening to whatever thing they had to say. “On the other, I began to understand that I could have listened better, for listening is not just having the patience to wait, it is also learning how to ask the questions themselves” (86).in order to make a successful bakery business, she went to a great depth to listen to the African women. After reading chapter 5 of the blue sweater, I remembered that I witnessed one event
Behind the Blue and Gray BY:Aayush Agrawal In the book,Behind the Blue and Gray, Delia Ray claims that life during the war was gruesomely difficult. Fighting and surviving was a lethal occupation. It didn’t matter what side you were on. Ray describes that some struggles during the war were camp life, rations of food, medical treatment, nature, worries about family, punishments, and life after the war. The book provides evidence to a soldiers hardships.
In “Between Shades of Gray” by Ruta Sepetys, the prisoners would have easier survived if they signed the NKVD papers. If they signed the papers they would have been able to send letters, they would’ve been treated better by the NKVD officers, and they would’ve never been held to a twenty-five year sentence hard work labor sentence. With these rights they would be stronger. They would be able to communicate with others and they would be able to trade to get what they needed. They would’ve been better off with signing.
“Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother’s was worth a pocket watch. ”(Sepetys 27) Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys is about a girl from Lithuania, and Night by Elie Wiesel is about a boy from Sighet. Both Lina and Elie suffered immensely, but survived through determination, hope, and strength and most people today will never have to go through that.
Many people have learned about the Holocaust throughout the years, but learning about it from a primary source is a whole different experience. A scary journey that turned out to be the Holocaust has been told by two individuals that survived. These two stories tell the reader what life was like and what they went through. Even though the conditions were terrible, both Eli and Lina were able to survive and break away through fear, horrendous experiences, and hope that lead them to surviving and leaving people they cared about behind.
Some of the most atrocious events in history were the genocides of World War II. However, stories of the concentration camps and genocides are quickly being forgotten. Night by Elie Wiesel and Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys illustrate the struggle and beauty of living in concentration camps during World War II. Night follows the story of Elie, a fifteen-year-old boy from a small town in Transylvania, and Between Shades of Gray follows the story of Lina, a fifteen-year-old girl from Lithuania. Even though in Night and Between Shades of Gray, the protagonists face similar struggles to keep their identities, the two books differ in the themes expressed in each book and how the protagonists change throughout the book.
In the story “Blue against White” by Jeannette Armstrong, the author is able to convey that over time, throughout the many cherishing moments, each moment serves as a step towards the pathway to acceptance within yourself. Furthermore, each step taken is a moment to reflect and deepen your connection to your true self. Although embracing acceptance is a door wide open to enter, the pathway towards it is the overwhelming challenge. Society is often a cruel murderer, unseen to the naked eye as it swiftly strips the identity of the unfortunate. Lena, being one of those engulfed by the pit of conformity.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys is a novel about a fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. In this novel, she gets taken away and gets deported to a small work camp with her mother and her brother. During the novel she learns to live with what she has and find peace and love in where she finds herself. You can learn a lot about the work camps and how it was back then. This novel has many strengths and should be a book on everyone’s reading list.
In the memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, a theme is dreams are achievable= despite obstacles. In the book, Jackie speaks about growing up with a dream to become a writer, but she has dyslexia and her family and friends try to gently steer her away from her dream because they don't want her to be heartbroken if she ever fails because of her condition. In Woodsons poem, “when I tell my family”, her mother states, “It’s a good hobby, we see how quiet it keeps you. They say,/But maybe you should be a teacher,/a lawyer,/do hair . . .” (Woodson 229)
It was hard at the beginning to understand the main point of classifying and dividing the points in “The Order of Things: What college ranking really tell us” by Malcolm Gladwell. While I was reading the essay, I was trying to figure how and why the author was moving for one point and example to totally different one? For instance, at the beginning of the essay, he started by the cars ranking and how they are classified into four categories. Then, he moved to the universities and how they are ranking depending on different factors.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys is a novel focusing on the life of a Lithuanian family being captures from their home and everyday lives by the Soviet police. I read starting from page 79 and read to the end of the story and was intrigued about the events that took place. I am not Lithuanian so I cannot relate to the culture of the story in that way, but the author of this novel is from Detroit which is a city I have been to many times and I know the culture of. In book log number one, I focused on how the characters of the story felt from the situations going on to them and the people around them.
Bella Young Mr. Baldridge English May 15, 2024 Between Shades of Gray Do you believe you could survive being deported and its awful hardships? The book Between Shades of Gray has three main characters: Lina, Jonas, and Andrius. All three characters go through that hardship, however, it is their characteristics of bravery, strength, and tenacity that get them through this difficult time. Lina, Jonas, and Andrius are all average kids.
The author uses real historical event from World War II to make the story more realistic. Sepety uses unfamiliar Russian vocabulary to make the reader feel like they’re in the story. For example, of the historical used in the story, In our first informational text, “Lithuanians by the Laptev Sea” by Violeta Kelertas it informs, “One after another overfilled convoys moved eastward transporting great masses of people,” In the novel it informs, “I counted the people- forty-six packed in a cage on wheel, maybe a rolling coffin.” Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepety is a emotional and mental roller coaster.
Throughout the novel Susan Hill creates fear around Arthur Kipps which gives a chilling sense to the reader that reflects the feelings that Arthur witnesses throughout his experiences. The three main creators of fear during the course of the novel are The Woman in Black, Eel Marsh House and the wind over the marshes. Hill creates the majority of Arthur’s fear during the time he spent at Eel Marsh House, ‘There were perhaps fifty old gravestones, most of them covered in patches of greenish – yellow lichen and moss’, Hill creates a sinister atmosphere that represents death over the period of time that Arthur stayed at the house. Furthermore, Hill uses hyperbole to heighten the sense of fear and isolation that Arthur is feeling as it suggests that he is surrounded by the supernatural by the use of the word, ‘Gravestones’.
Literary Analysis: The Color Purple Every individual learns something new or different every day, whether it is somebody’s favorite color or learning something new about yourself. Many people can either learn from their hardships and past experiences, while others may learn from other people’s past through stories or guidance. Throughout the novel, The Color Purple written by Alice Walker, the main character, Celie, learned how to love herself, that everyone makes mistakes, and face her fears.
