Malana Smith

Observation Assignment

Early Childhood Development 

Professor Gay

11-21-13

   
It was an eventful day at the UCO Child Study Center as 16 children played among the numerous activity stations and toy bins across the L shaped daycare center. Bright colors marked every feature of the child center and the fast paced movements of the excited children to each different station created an electricity in the air that was almost tangible. Six adults, five female and one male, assisted the kids, shuffling them to and fro and making sure they were safe and happy. 

With wispy curls that framed his face, a young blonde boy in a blue shirt runs behind a slightly larger boy wearing a straw cowboy hat. Dodging kids left and right, the larger boy (we'll call him Boy 1) leads the smaller boy with curls ( Boy 2) to an plastic orange play station. The orange play-station is shaped as a cube, slightly shorter in height than Boy 1 who stands about 3 feet tall. On the sides, it has large circular openings, big enough for children to come in and out as they please. Within the cube is a worn yellow pillow in which Boy 2 goes and sits on, a shadow concealing most of his hat and face. Boy 2 tries to follow by entering through an entrance on the left side, but found there was not enough room. Boy 2 then bean to make a "meow, meow, meow" sound toward Boy 1 while on his hands and knees, his hands inside the cube and his knees outside. He was moving his body forward and backward with each new "meow" as Boy 1 laughed. 

A female adult walked to the orange box and inquired to the boys as to which they were up to. Boy 2 began to meow once again, but the teacher asked him if he was a puppy. "I'm not a puppy! I'm a cat!" replied Boy 2 in an amused tone. Adult 1 acknowledged Boy 2's imiation and then proceeded to focus on another set of children a few feet away. 

Annotated bibliography

Malana Smith
6th November 2013
Professor Matt Cherry

Vel' d'Hiv: France's Role in the Holocaust: an Annotated Bibliography

Fischel, Jack. The Holocaust. 1st ed. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Company, 1998.     Print.

Known as one of the leading experts within this subject, Fischel tells of Nazi Germany political aggressiveness within World War II in pushing the program of the Final Solution- the movement that would lead to a mass genocide of the Jewish Nation. Through narrative essays, political documents of the Adolph Hitler, firsthand accounts of survivors and biographies of both survivors, Nazi Jews and spectators, Fischel gives the reader a depiction of what led up to the Holocaust, what occurred during and the aftermath of this horrible event in history.

"Life in Shadows: Hidden Children of the Holocaust." The Lupin Foundation. United    States Holocaust Memorial Museum, D.C.. 28 08 2003. Museum Exhibition.

This exhibition discusses the lives of Jewish children who were forced into hiding in order to avoid placement in concentration camps during the Nazi Germany regime. Children were forced to hide in cellars or attics if they did not have Aryan physical characteristics. This would cause them suffer from lack of human interaction, loneliness, fear and anxiety. Some would even hide under a different religion. Years after the Holocaust, most of the parents of the hidden children were deceased, causing more emotional turmoil, depression, and apathy. Some children spent years trying to discover the outcome of their family members who were not able to go into hiding as well.

Kelly, Tara. "Cecile Widerman Kaufer, Holocaust Survivor, Recounts 1942 Vel d'Hiv Round-Up in Paris Stadium." Huffington Post [New York City] 17 07 2012, n. pag. Web.  <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/france-vel-d-hiv-70-anniversary_n_1678941.html>.

Holocaust Survivor, Cecile Widerman Kaufer recounts her story of how she and over 13,000 foreign Jews in France were rounded up and forced to stay in the Vel' d'Hiv Stadium in Paris for days without food, water, or places to use the restroom. Due to the fact her mother had tuberculosis Celine (along with her baby sister) were allowed to go with their mother as she went to the hospital. There her mother sent a woman from Normandy to collect Cecile and her sister and place them in hiding. 

Lazare, Lucien. Rescue as Resistance: How Jewish Organizations Fought the Holocaust in France . New York City: Columbia University Press, 1996. Print.

Though to some it may not have seemed impactful, the rescuing of Jewish children in France was actually a beneficial force against the anti-Jew laws within France. Citizens of France would volunteer to hide Jewish children within their homes as their parents were sent to concentration camps. This saved thousands of children during World War II and brought resistance against the French Government’s involvement with Nazi Germany. Lazare gives firsthand accounts of children rescued during this period and the reaction of France to this act of resistance.

Levy, Claude, and Paul Tillard. Betrayal at the Vel d'Hiv. English. New York City: Hill & Wang, 1969. Print.

Levy and Tillard collect information on the Vel d’Hiv roundup where Jews in France are sent to a sports arena to await placement in concentration camps. With conditions comparing to that of the Superdome after hurricane Katrina, Betrayal at the Ve d’Hiv discusses how the French police arrested Jews of Paris and the surrounding areas unexpectedly as neighbors looked the other way. Including first-hand accounts of the event, as well as eyewitness accounts from non-Jews, Levy and Tillard dig deeper to discover the horrible reality of what occurred on July 16^th 1942.  

Mora, Mirka, Joseph Kogan, Eva Gluckman, Cecile Kaufer, and Marcelle Bock. "The Vel d'Hiv Roundup." Yad Vashem. 2012. . Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRN15hAspJE.

Survivors tell of their experiences within the French Roundup of Jews in 1942. From escaping, to being warned by sympathetic policeman to actually going to the concentration camps, these survivors open up to what they saw, felt, heard and was told by others who were also forced to stay at the Vel d'Hiv until sent away to Auschwitz. 

Sayare, Scott. "France Reflects on Its Role in Wartime Fate of Jews." New York Times [New York] 29 07 2012, National Edition A12. Print.

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the infamous Vel' d'Hiv round-up of the Jews within France, the French stand together in unity as they remember the injustice served to the Jews during the Holocaust. Those who survived shared their accounts of that day, as well as those citizens of Paris who looked away and did not stand up for the people of Israel. Once a shameful thing to talk about, this celebration is also an apology for the events that occurred so long ago that led to the deaths of over 13,000 Jews of France. 

Weisberg, Richard. Vichy Law and the Holocaust. 1st. New York City: Routledge, 1997. Print.

Weisberg discusses the French government’s (known at the time as “Vichy” France) involvement with the Nazi Germany’s anti-Jew policies. He brings the idea that the above-and-beyond compliance of Vichy France in accordance to orders given to France by Nazi Germany to implement the anti-Jew policies as an excuse to exercise the disapproval of the Jewish religion due to their Catholic roots as a nation. Weisberg discusses the exploitation of these anti-Jew laws by private lawyers and how this fueled the institutionalized anti-Semitism within the nation’s government.

The Devil's Arithmetic

Malana Smith Book Presentation 10-21-13 The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen When my father forced me to read this book in the fourth grade, I can honestly say I was not the least bit interested. For one, the title The Devil’s Arithmetic was a turn-off in of itself and I had never heard of its author, Jane Yolen. Since I was homeschooled at the time, my father chose this book as one of our reading assignments for English so it was non-negotiable- there was no I could have avoided it. Even though I literally judged the book by its cover, I came to find that it was one of the most enlightening and influential books within my childhood. It opened my eyes to the events of The Holocaust and showed me to appreciate what it was like to be someone of the Jewish culture. During the novel, The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, a young girl named Hannah is drudgingly attending a Passover Cedar with her family as she is asked to open the door and call for the prophet Elijah, a symbolic ritual within the Jewish practice of the Passover Cedar. When she opens the door, she has found that she has been transported back in time and now embodies the life of a young girl named Chaya. Though she keeps persisting that she is not Chaya and is, indeed, Hannah from Rochelle, New York, she is dismissed by her care takers, Gitl and Shmuel- the guardians of Chaya. Due to Cholera, Chaya’s family had apparently passed away, forcing Gitl and Shmuel to take care of Chaya, so they saw Hannah’s claims as hallucinations coping from the survival of cholera and the death of her family. While attending a wedding of family friends, Nazis arrive and demand that they go with the Nazis to be relocated. Hannah tries to tell Shmuel not to go with them because Hannah knows they will be sent to concentration camps. Even after Hannah’s objection, they agree to go with the Nazis and are sent to a concentration camp called Bergen-Belson. Hannah goes through many of the common traumatic events of entering a concentration camp such as the shaving of her hair and receiving a tattoo. She later meets a girl named Rivka who gives her advice on how to survive within the concentration camp. Throughout the rest of the novel, Hannah (now known as Chaya), watches many of her friends die and experiences things that no one would want to experience, giving a gruesome, but realistic view of what would it would be like to be a teenager in a concentration camp during World War II. At the end of the book, four girls, including Hannah (Chaya) and Rivka are standing by a water pump and talking as a Nazi comes up to them and tells them he needs three more girls to go to the gas chambers. He chooses everyone but Chaya and, in desperation, Chaya runs after Rivka. Chaya (Hannah) then takes Rivka’s red bandana off of her head and places it on her own and tells Rivka to hide, telling her that the Nazi will not know the difference between one Jew and another one (pg. 159). As Hannah and the two girls enter the entrance to the gas chamber, Hannah is then transported back to the future to the door she opened for the prophet Elijah. She then sits down at the table and sees a tattoo on her grandmother’s arm. Hannah then realizes that her grandmother’s tattoo matches that of Rivka’s and asks her grandmother about where she got received it. Her grandmother explains that she was in a concentration camp as a child and her life was saved by a girl named Chaya. Her original name was Rivka and, when she came to America, she changed her name. Once I had finished this book, I came to find that I honestly enjoyed it and thought that it an ingenious concept by the author. The idea that Hannah had saved her grandmother’s life and through that made it possible to create the opportunity for her own birth astounded me. This book has always stuck through me throughout my life and made me even want to be a great writer like Yolen to be able to impact a reader in such a way. The reader needs to be of a mature age to read this novel. Even though I found it absolutely interesting and a fantastic read, it is not for the faint of heart. I know I cried- a lot. Many young adults may find it an easy read, but it’s more of a moderate reading level for younger teenagers who are interested in a historical fiction piece. Many teenagers may like this book because it is an easy, interesting read, but also it is quite relatable. Hannah is of a younger age where she is rebellious against her parents because she feels like they do not understand her. Because of her age, she in the position that her parents decide what she does, which angers her because Hannah thinks she knows best. The book humbles the readers to realize why parents ask their children to do certain things and that it is for their benefit. This book also places the reader in a position to experience the Holocaust from a perspective they can understand. Since Hannah is younger, she has other people making decisions for her and, even though she was so young, the Nazis were no respecter of age or gender, which is a surprise to most kids who are so used to being stereotyped and addressed by their position or age. I am so grateful to my father for making me read this, even though I had such a bad attitude starting out. I love this book very much and have even learned to appreciate some of the Jewish aspects in my life, such as Passover, in order to celebrate how much Jews have been able to live through. It gave me a better perspective of what Jews really had to go through during the Second World War and how important it is to know the reality of the things they went to and appreciate the life I have.

Outline left hand of darkness comp II

Malana Smith

Comp II

Outline 2

10-16-13

Thesis: The Left hand of Darkness is not a piece of feminist literature.

-Definition of Feminism: the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities -Webster dictionary 

-Definition of feminist literature: fiction or nonfiction which supports the feminist goals of defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women.

-Definition of Gender Theory: Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study and academic field devoted to gender identity and gendered representation as central categories of analysis. This field includes women's studies (concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics), men's studies, and LGBT studies.

-Why most believe that LHD is feminist literature:

·         It takes the gender apsect out of the social equation.

o   makes gender discrimination impossible

·         Abstract way to get readers out of the normal way of thinking about roles in society. 

·         Shows that a society can still be balanced if there are not specialized gender roles.

-Why it is not feminist literature:

·         Not enough perspective of female Gethenians

n  There was no type of situations that would evoke a reaction from the reader that was seen as an injustice due to a discrimination of gender. 

·         No type of activism or struggle for equality except for Genly Ai's humanity in comparison to the alien Gethenians

·         Though Guin takes gender out of the equation, it does not make it feminist literature, but rather gender theory in general. 

n  Addresses the idea that to be only male or female is looked down upon, not to be a woman by itself because a woman may be seen as inferior to the male, ect.

·         The plot of the book leads the reader to believe the lack of gender is due to the adaption to the climate in order to survive.

n  Lack of sexual orientation is not by choice.

n  Even without gender, societal dynamics are still the same:

§  Hunger for power, deceit, discrimination of class or differences in beliefs

§  seems as though the novel is really just about a whole bunch of males who become female for a short amount of time to procreate and further their species.

n  The characters are too easy seen as masculine

§  Not enough feminine characteristics expressed to show they are also part female.

·         May even be seen as an insult to feminist readers because even in a novel that is without gender, masculine characteristics  are still dominant, especially in a rough environment.

n  Guin even admits that she was unable to include everything she should have to bring the other gender perspective out. 

-How could have Guin made it more feminist? 

§  Exemplified more feminine gender roles within characters

§  Possibly written it from a female's point of view

§  Changed the climate and recorded the possible reactions of the asexual society.

-Where the real feminism took place: within Guin's life and future books:

§  --she realized she did not have to write like an honorable man in order to be respected.

§  --began to use more female characters in later novels.

Resources: 

-The Left Hand of Darkness
-swarthmore.edu interview of Guin
-websters dictionary 

The Dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet