In the beginning chapters of the novel, Refugee, Alan Gratz introduces his characters, Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud, as well as their current situations in their homelands at specific time periods. Gratz specifically writes about Mahmoud blending in as a cloak of invisibility to help him survive his situation. He writes about Josef and those who wear the yellow Star of David armbands as being invisible and how the Cubans were unseen, forgotten and starving. How could it be positive and how could it be negative to be invisible in these situations?
Throughout the novel, Gratz writes about interactions between the Hitler Youth and Josef, Mr. Nasser and the Bishara family, and the Fernandez family, the Castillo family, and the tourists at the Bahamas. Why did Gratz include these interactions?
Dear Dr. Kunzelman,
ReplyDeleteThank you for blogging with us. Callie, Emily, Taylor, and I hope you are enjoying Refugee as much as we are. We love a good challenge, and we heard you do too!
Blog #1
Being invisible can be vital to Josef’s, Mahmoud’s, and Isabel’s survival. In the novel, Refugee, by Alan Gratz, he explicitly stated on page eighteen, “On the train, Josef and his family sat in a compartment labeled J, for Jew, so no “real” Germans would sit there by accident.” Gratz also stated on pages nine and ten, “Fidel Castro, the man who ruled Cuba as president and prime minister, wouldn’t allow anyone to leave the country.” Lastly, on page sixteen, Gratz explicitly stated, “And he had been beaten up as badly as Khalid.” Gratz further stated on pages fourteen and fifteen, “Assad made people who didn’t like him disappear. Forever. Everyone was afraid of what he would do if the Arab Spring swept through Syria. There was an old Arabic proverb that said, ‘Close the door that brings the wind and relax,’ and that’s exactly what they did; While the rest of the Middle East was rioting, Syrians stayed inside and locked their doors and waited to see what would happen.” This textual backs up our claim by proving how Josef, Isabel, Mahmoud, and the people around them must stay invisible to survive. One can infer that countless people tried to stay invisible during these times in order to stay safe. The refugees had two choices: stay quiet or speak up. If they spoke up, they were punished, but if not, their dictators would make their lives miserable. Common sense leads us to consider that the circumstances these protagonists are faced with will not make it easy to survive, but staying invisible could help their chances.
On the other hand, it could be negative to be invisible while being a refugee because they may lose their dignity. In the novel, Refugee, Gratz explicitly stated on page eighteen, “All the station attendants and other passengers gave them wide berth, flowing around them like water around a stone. The people chose not to see them.” Gratz also stated on pages seven and eight, “Her lunch hadn’t been much bigger than the cat’s, just a few beans and a small portion of white rice.” On page thirteen, Gratz wrote, “Mahmoud couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his brother laugh, or cry, or show any emotion whatsoever.” In comparison, in the novel, Unbroken, a story about Louis Zamperini, by Laura Hillenbrand, the author explicitly states a quote from the survivor from a Japanese prison camp. On page 141 of Unbroken, Hillenbrand states, “Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen. The stubborn retention of it even in the face of extreme physical hardship, can keep a man alive long past the point when he should have died.” This textual evidence backs up our claim by displaying that Josef, Isabel, Mahmoud, and their families lose their dignity because of the way they are neglected and discriminated by their dictators. Callie, Emily, Taylor, and I believe that the characters are emotionally tortured. Altogether, the refugees lost their self-worth and dignity. The dictators’ goal was to crumble the emotional well-being of the people; many times they succeeded.
What are your thoughts about the situation refugees are facing these days compared to the refugees’ circumstances in the novel? Callie, Taylor, Emily, and I look forward to your response.
Hello Team CENT!
DeleteA verb used mainly in the rock climbing and freeride mountain biking world, ‘send’ means to do something very difficult with style. And so ‘sent’ would mean you pulled it off. Your team name indicates your goal in this Refugee project.
I’m so proud of you for working hard on this project. In my opinion, reading, analyzing what you have read, and writing make up the most important parts of education, no matter what you end up doing in life. My favorite class was always math. But the most important were always English or writing or classes like that.
The first blog question contains an important restriction on our answers: our analysis must remain limited to the beginning chapters when the characters were still in their homelands. You used the word ‘refugee(s)’ a couple of times. When did they become refugees?
I like the way you divided your blog into two paragraphs which parallel the two parts of the question: How could it be positive to be invisible? And how could it be negative to be invisible?
You have three characters, all in their homelands. You need to show how invisibility was positive. And you need to show how invisibility was negative.
In the positive paragraph, you mention Josef’s family on the train, sitting in the compartment labeled ‘J.’ Were they invisible? There was a brief time on the train during which Josef’s Jewish identity was invisible (pp 20-22). What positive thing nearly happened when his Jewish identity was invisible?
What positive results occurred for Isabel and her family, or the neighbor family, when they called no attention to themselves? The answer is implied on pp 9-10.
DeleteYour reference from pp 14-15 accurately portrayed the positive side of invisibility in Syria. You also referenced p16 as part of your answer. But what you quoted from p16 was an example of being visible. Please look on pp 16-17 for examples of invisibility and the positive results it brought.
In the beginning of your negative paragraph, I again question the use of the word ‘refugee’ since we’re talking about their homeland circumstances. Also, in your first sentence, does “lose their dignity” accurately summarize the negative consequences of invisibility of all three characters?
Your quote about Josef’s family’s invisibility in the train station accurately portrayed loss of dignity – loss of belonging to society.
Your quote about Isabel’s near starvation correctly identified the negative result of invisibility. In this case, was it dignity that Isabel lost? And to whom were the Cubans invisible? Check out p8 and also ask your teacher where the part is about Cubans being “unseen [and] forgotten.” Who wasn’t seeing them? Who forgot them?
I like your example of Waleed no longer showing emotion. I assume you meant to say that this resulted from him practicing invisibility too long and too intensely. We could argue about whether or not such a young child can lose ‘dignity’ but he certainly lost something important. I would call it his personality.
I of course love the fact that you read the book Unbroken. However, we don’t need it in order to discuss invisibility and invisibility’s results in the lives of soon-to-be refugees.
I appreciate your concluding sentences. However, the neglect and discrimination came from many more sources than just the three dictators. In the words of an old, repentant Austrian man with whom I spoke in the city of St. Pölten in 1984, “We were all in on it.”
Your parting question for me occupies my mind a lot these days – more like the past several years. My short answer: same situation; different details. We struggle to comprehend the existence of tens of millions of refugees and soon-to-be refugees worldwide. Today. At this moment. Feeling invisible and forgotten. Starving. Dying. Losing dignity, health, and personality. All while I spend every waking moment concentrating on myself and my family and my friends.
I look forward to hearing from you, Callie, Emily, Noah, and Taylor. I hope you will decrease your screen time and concentrate hard on reading, analyzing, and writing. You won’t regret it.
Dr. Kunzelman
Dr. Kunzleman,
ReplyDeleteTeam CENT is thrilled that you wrote back to us! We love our team name! We have a question for you...Can we call you Docta K? We will try to decrease our screen time, but mean Mrs. Thompson is making us write all these blogs. All this screen time is messing up our eyes. Is it a coincidence that our whole group wears contacts? We think not. Thanks again for writing with us; we are so glad you are our community member!
Here are the answers to your questions:
1.When did they become refugees? The characters became refugees when they were forced to leave their homelands. Yes, you are correct. We were wrong to use that terminology. Thank you for pointing that out.
2.How could it be positive to be invisible? And, how could it be negative to be invisible? If the Jews would remove their armbands, they would blend in. But, as soon as they put their armbands on, everyone sees them as Jews, as people who are inferior.
3.Were they invisible? What positive thing nearly happened when his Jewish identity was invisible? Since the compartment was labeled ‘J’, Josef and his family were visible, but treated as invisible. Josef had a civilized talk with a person on the train while his armband was off. He almost received a piece of candy.
4.What positive results occurred for Isabel and her family, or the neighbor family, when they called no attention to themselves? The implication is if you did what Castro believed you should do, then you might be safe. Ivan could play baseball, and Isabel could play her trumpet. But, when people did not do what Castro believed, they were sent to jail or worse.
5.Does “lose their dignity” accurately summarize the negative consequences of invisibility of all three characters? Yes, this does accurately summarize the negative consequences of invisibility for all three characters. For example, after the Nazis broke Josef’s father, he was no longer present mentally. I guess you can say Aaron Landau did not come out of Dachau Unbroken! It is the same for Mahmoud’s mother; she is mentally distraught. Isabel’s father is very selfish, and it seems that he only cares about himself. He is there mentally and physically, but so far it does not seem he cares about his family, especially his pregnant wife.
6.In this case, was it dignity that Isabel lost? And to whom were the Cubans invisible? Who wasn’t seeing them? Who forgot them? Yes, it was dignity that Isabel lost. Imagine this. You’re starving in Cuba, and President Castro is doing nothing about it. Wouldn’t you feel like you lost your dignity? The Cubans were invisible to President Castro. The president had forgotten about them, and he was choosing to see them as invisible.
We look forward to your response.
Blog 2
ReplyDeleteHello Dr. Kunzelman,
Thank you for your response to our last blog.
Gratz included these interactions to show how the people had sympathy and/or empathy for the refugees. In the novel, Refugee, Gratz explicitly stated on page thirty-four, “ The boy thrust the armband at Josef’s chest. ‘Put that on, And don’t ever do that again.’” This textual evidence back up our claim by proving that not everyone in the Hitler Youth agreed with Hitler’s motives. Some joined to survive, not to support Hitler. Gratz also stated on page 177, “Soon the rest of the tourists were hurrying back and forth to the café, buying bottles of water and bags of chips and tossing them to everyone’s hands on the boat.” This textual evidence backs up our claim by showing how the tourists in the Bahamas cared about the Fernandez and Castillo families. They could have easily walked away and ignored these refugees, but instead chose to help them. Gratz stated on page 127, “‘You are Syrian, yes? Refugees?’ the man asked ‘I know what it’s like. I am a refugee too, from Palestine.’” This textual evidence backs up our claim by explaining how Mr. Nasseer is a refugee from Palestine, and he has been through the same struggles as Mahmoud’s family; therefore, he has empathy for the Bishara family. One can infer that the people who help these families have experienced their own obstacles, or at least understand what they are going through. All in all, the Fernandez, Castillo, Bishara, and Landau families have endured greatly. With these small gestures of kindness these people provide, this may mean the difference between life or death.
Hello again, Team CENT!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you and to read your responses. First some math. About 25% of middle school students have corrected vision. What’s the chance that a random group of four students would all have corrected vision? And I love that you pointed out the fact that this whole blog project represents screen time! True. You are sharp. I stand semi-corrected. Don’t decrease this blog screen time.
We disagree on a couple of points in Blog 1 but the most important thing here is that you gave the points serious thought and wrote out your opinions in understandable sentences. Well done! I feel like Isabel still had dignity even while not having a full stomach. And I feel like the rest of the world treated the Cubans as invisible, even more than Castro did.
You did a great job in Blog 2 choosing perfect textual excerpts to argue for your answer. I agree that Gratz wanted to show us that other people had sympathy and empathy for the refugees. I wonder if Gratz wanted us to extrapolate from these examples and consider possible conclusions we could draw regarding all people; or ourselves. What do you notice about the three circumstances illustrated? What did they have in common that might have allowed the people to show empathy and sympathy? What percent of humans have the natural inclination to show empathy and sympathy? How do circumstances influence whether we humans, including the five of us in this blog conversation, behave charitably or harmfully? I bet Gratz wants us to consider ourselves and how we might behave in certain situations. I really appreciated your last sentence and believe it applies to our real life, every day, right here in Crawford County in 2020 and forever.
I respect your efforts and continue to cheer you on from my laptop. This blog project is difficult but you are doing it with style. Keep it up and you will live up to your team name. Study hard and be excellent to each other.
Docta K (I love it!)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteBlog 2 Response
ReplyDeleteHey hey hey Docta K.,
Thanks for your response. Callie, Emily, Taylor and I noticed you used a semicolon in your response. Interestingly, we love the use of semicolons too! But, we thought there had to be a sentence on each side of the semicolon in order to link the sentence together. Are we wrong?
What do you notice about the three circumstances illustrated? In these circumstances, Gratz helps us to realize that the Hitler Youth, the tourists, and Mr. Nasseer could have followed society and ignored the refugees. Instead, they helped them in their time of need.
What did they have in common that might have allowed the people to show empathy and sympathy? The refugees were all worn down and in need of help. They were at their lowest points in their journeys to freedom and in need of a helping hand. Because the Hilter Youth, Mr. Nasseer, and the tourists have been around refugees, they have a realization of what these families are going through.
What percent of humans have a natural inclination to show sympathy or empathy? According to Psychology Today by Emma Seppälä, 26.5 percent of humans have the natural inclination to show sympathy or empathy. We are shocked! We thought it would be way higher.
How do circumstances influence whether we humans, including the five of us in this blog conversation, behave charitably or harmfully? Some people are more charitable when they can relate to others’ circumstances. Some people behave harmfully when they do not understand or relate to the way others are being treated.
Blog #3
ReplyDeleteHello Docta K.,
Callie, Emily, Taylor, and I enjoyed your last response. We hope you like ours as well.
The point that Gratz is trying to make his readers understand is that the tourists did not care about the refugees until they did something “wrong” in the tourists’ eyes. In Refugee, Gratz explicitly stated on page 214, “When they stayed where they were supposed to be-in the ruins of Aleppo or behind the fences of a refugee camp-people could forget about them. But when refugees did something they didn’t want them to do-when they tried to cross the border into their country, thor slept on the front steps of their shops, or jumped in front of their cars, or prayed on the decks of their ferries - that’s when people couldn’t ignore them any longer.” This textual evidence backs up our claim by explaining when the refugees stood out and made themselves visible, the tourists did not accept that. The tourists did not care about the refugees until they did something that affected the tourists' lives. Without a doubt, these tourists are egocentric people who only care about their experience in Greece without showing sympathy for these refugees. In fact, the tourists showed no pity for the refugees. The tourists may believe that the refugees are inferior to them because they are treated as the lower class. Gratz is most likely telling his readers that some people judge others too quickly without realizing what they have been through. As we mentioned in blog number two response, only 26.5 percent of humans automatically have sympathy or empathy for others. This is a very low percentile of the human population so we are not surprised by the tourists’ reactions.
Hello Callie, Emily, Noah, and Taylor,
DeleteThanks for the note about my semi-colon. I’ll have to check my grammar reference book when I get back home and see what I can (re)learn about the proper use of semi-colons.
I appreciated your thoughtful answers to my questions about circumstances and natural tendencies toward showing sympathy and empathy. You correctly pointed out that in each case, the refugees were worn down and in need of help. You correctly noted that in each case, help was offered. And you accurately described how some of us can relate to others and therefore might more likely help. What I noticed in each circumstance was this: no bad guys were around who could have wielded influence over the potential helpers. If people who have the ability to hurt us are there watching to see what we do, we may not choose to help. If the only people watching are neutral or at least have no ability to harm us, we may more easily choose charity. On a related note, my life experiences tell me that almost every single person has empathy and sympathy and charity within them. Sometimes these impulses get negated by the person’s own life challenges or the bad influences of others. I feel badly for Emma Seppälä. How depressing to live in a world where only 26.5% of people have a natural inclination to show sympathy or empathy. But I was happy to see that you used a percentage in your text. Not the percentage chance of four randomly-selected, vision-corrected middle school students ending up in a group together; but at least it was a percentage of some sort. Onward to blog #3!
You did well to focus your answer on the episode with the Greek tourists, since the question came from that scene. You did even better to quote Gratz describing the several different scenarios that create a pattern. You could probably form even broader generalizations about human interactions. Just as I believe almost all of us have good tendencies within us, I feel certain you would agree that almost all of us feel comfortable with people like us, who do things like we do, eat things that we eat, worship similarly, etc, etc. I read about the incredible charity of modern Germans, opening their country to many refugees who have no idea how to use a western civilization toilet and so they stand on our toilets and squat down. Our western toilets break when lots of refugees stand on them. And the bathrooms become wildly filthy because western toilets aren’t designed to contain the human waste well when you stand on them. Germans got irritated by this problem. The same Germans who realized the trauma these refugees had been through. The same Germans who were sacrificing their resources to help the refugees. When differences are recognized, very few of us refrain from noticing them. And when the differences inconvenience us, it takes a special person to just swallow that inconvenience and smile. I hope that Gratz wanted not so much to vilify Greek tourists as he wanted to point out universal human tendencies when confronted by behaviors dissimilar to our own.
If you and your family had saved for two years to go to Disney World and then got to your hotel to find the breakfast buffet area full of people who smelled bad, who were sitting in groups on the floor pouring milk into a bowl in the center of them, then dipping bread into it; if you found all the milk and all the bread was gone and you could barely walk through the dining area without stepping on someone; if you went to Disney World and found the entrance full of refugees begging for money and help, speaking strange languages and broken English, what would you do? Would you halt your vacation right then and there to help? Would you hand over all of your saved money that you needed to buy your meals in Disney World? Would you happily change all your plans that you had been making for the past two years? If you felt inconvenienced, would you qualify as egocentric? If you didn’t drop everything and help the begging people, would that mean you thought those people were inferior to you? I’m not sure Gratz was judging the Greek tourists. I have a feeling he wanted merely to point out the difficult realities when people from dramatically different human experiences cross paths.
DeleteKeep up your great work, my Group 8 Team CENT!
Docta K
Blog #4
ReplyDeleteLito is inferring that if you sit around and wait for something to happen, it will not happen until you do something about it. Lito wanted to make a difference and right a wrong. In the novel, Refugee, Gratz stated on page 188, “‘Mañana’ Lito said wearily, ‘Mañana.’ Suddenly, Isabel’s grandfather stopped bailing water. He sat up straighter, like he was looking at something in the distance. ‘Mañana,’ he whispered. ‘Lito?’ Isabel asked. Her grandfather blinked and his eyes found her again. He was crying.” This textual evidence backs up our claim by explaining how Lito feels that he needs to give Isabel and the other people on the boat a chance for tomorrow, because he could have given it to Josef but he did not. One can infer that Lito realizes he could have tried to help Josef and the others on the MS St. Louis. Lito can now empathize with the passengers on the MS St. Louis because he has been through similar circumstances. Common sense leads us to believe that Lito wants to give his family a chance for a better life than what he had. Lito still feels guilty about not helping the passengers on the MS St. Louis. He knows he could not live with himself if he did not help his family.
Hello Docta K.,
ReplyDeleteBlog #3 Response
If you went to Disney World and found the entrance full of refugees begging for money and help, speaking strange languages and broken English...
What would you do? Before reading Refugee, Emily, Taylor, Callie, and I may not have acknowledged the real crisis in the situation. After analyzing the novel and trying to analyze the refugee crisis in our world, we would naturally look at the situation differently. We would talk to our parents and try to help them make their situation a little better. We know we can not fix the problem ourselves, but we can try to help make it a little easier. For example, we would ask our parents if we could provide food or water similar to the way the Bahamian tourists did. Even if we could not provide something for them, we would at least give them a smile or a few kind words. Studying this topic has taught us not to judge people and to have compassion for others.
Would you halt your vacation right then and there to help? Emily, Taylor, Callie, and I would not stop our vacation, but we would try to make a positive impact on their day. We know it sounds horrible to say we would not stop our vacation, and we do recognize this is the problem, but it is the truth.
Would you hand over all of your saved money that you needed to buy your meals in Disney World? Emily, Taylor, Callie, and I would hand over as much as possible while still saving enough for our families and ourselves.
Would you happily change all your plans that you had been making for the past two years? No, Emily, Taylor, Callie and I would not change our plans. One of the members of our group is going on a cruise in April, so we really do understand what your point is. Most people will not change their plans. Most want to do what they want to do and not be bothered. But, we do understand that if EVERYONE did stop his/her plans in order to help, the refugee crisis may actually be solved. It tells us that this may never be fixed, but we, as children, can try our best to help, even in the smallest ways.
If you felt inconvenienced, would you qualify as egocentric? Callie, Emily, Taylor and I feel that we might feel inconvenienced, but that does not make us qualify as egocentric. We know people can feel one way and act a completely different way. The way you express those feelings is what matters. Instead of understanding what the refugees in the ferry were going through, the tourists just gave them dirty looks and talked about them badly. This is wrong because the tourists did not know what the refugees had gone through.
If you didn’t drop everything and help the begging people, would that mean you thought those people were inferior to you? No, it would not mean that we would think people who begged are inferior. Just because a person does not have as much, he/she is still human. We understand that everybody has different situations in life, but that does not define that person. That is why people should not judge before they know a person’s story.
Hello again, my fine Team!
ReplyDeleteWell, your Blog #3 Responses and your Blog #4 both meet the definition of your team name. You have analyzed difficult questions very well. All of what you have written makes it clear that you have given these refugee and humanity issues careful consideration. I have no follow-up questions or requests for re-analysis. Gratz and your teachers have provided you an excellent opportunity and you have seized it. Well done. Specifically, your interpretation of Lito's reflections and actions seems accurate to me.
One more thing: I read and studied the eight pages dealing with the semi-colon in my Harbrace College Handbook. Thank you for giving me a little correction on that topic. I look forward to your Blog #5!
Docta K
Greetings Docta K.,
DeleteThank you for the compliments! Taylor, Callie, Emily, and I all love reading and learning! We were geared up and ready to answer your questions, but we will save our energy for next time! We are happy to assist on the semi-colon correction.
Until next time,
CENT
Hello CENT!
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking of you a lot. I’m sure you have recognized that now we can all relate a little bit better to refugees, having become refugees ourselves, to some degree. I encourage you to stay six feet away from everyone at all times but also want to share the good news that pandemics always pass.
I wonder if you have heard this song “Orphan” by Coldplay, inspired by Syrian refugees, but playing in my mind over and over this past week: I want to know when I can go back and hang out with my friends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goyq7GDYEkE
The world will not end. You will be able to get back to being young again. Hold out for everyday life. It will return. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HmiFxqdgq4
Thinking of you while we work through this pandemic,
Docta K
PS I have never drunk a single alcoholic drink in my entire life and recommend that policy to everyone. But Coldplay didn’t check with me about their lyrics in Orphan so the lyrics turned out a little differently than I would have preferred.