Thursday, May 3, 2012
Character History (periods 8&9)
1.
David Malter on history: Danny shares with Reuven something Mr. Malter told him: "Your father said I should read Jewish history. He said the first important step in anyone's education is to know your own people."
What do you know about your family's history? (Only share details you are comfortable sharing with the class.)
2.
After reading Graetz's description of the Hasidim (the plural for Hasidic Jews) as "vulgar and disgusting," Danny says: "It's awful to have someone give you an image like that of yourself."
Have you ever read something shocking written about the culture, race, religion, etc. you identify with?
3.
This is an amazing lecture given by a young Nigerian author, Chimamanda Adichie, on Ted Talks. She discusses her experiences growing up in a middle class family in Nigeria, and studying at an American university. She discusses the "danger of a single story."
"The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie )
If you are having trouble answering any of these questions, I think this video may inspire you.
Feel free to also post any additional comments that you didn't get to discuss from today's class.
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1.My family history came from China's city named Fuzhou. My grandpa was a famous Otolaryngologist in Fuzhou, and he performed many surgery. My parents are also from the city Fuzhou and moved to Hong Kong for a job. Later, my family moved to New York.
ReplyDelete2.I have read something shocking written about the culture, race, religion, etc. I had been identified with. I read an article about China's Tiananmen square massacre, I was frighten by the Chinese government's leader.
1. My family come from the city of Puebla in Mexico. My family members were mainly farmers. My family became poor when my grandfather made bad deals when selling crops, buying certain animals , and just spending money in general. My family originally was Catholic but when coming to the United States, a small part of my family converted to Pentecostal Christianity. Part of my family which came to the United States came to New York. The other part went to Illinois.
ReplyDelete2.I remember reading in an article in a Mexican newspaper about there being a lot of violence currently in Mexico and a bunch of groups just killing other groups as well as innocent people. There was case in a casino where a gang just killed everyone including an innocent pregnant woman who was killed along with her child in her wound. This really shocked and scared me to see what certain people in my old country have become. I'm frightened because this isn't just like a few people or a small group but large groups with many people.
1) my families history is coming from Russian. My grandfather was a heavy weapons manufacturer. He was also in the military and blew up enemy Cossacks. It was very dangerous but he survived. My grandma worked at a vodka factory and long hours for low pay, but she got free vodka. This was good since vodka was her favorite drink and when the prices rose, she could still drink it because it was free (for her). My grandpa first met her by buying vodka at a shop were she was distributing it!
ReplyDelete2). Something shocking that I read about Russia was that 2 explosions went of in Makachkala. This killed 12 people and injured 20. The same thing happened a month ago also killing many people. I am shocked that terrorism is spreading to Russia and some of my relative may potentially be killed. I hope that there will be no more conflicts like this and that no people will die from attacks like this.
1. If I were to start from a long time ago on my fathers side of the family, sometime between 1000-500 B.C.E., there were six main tribes in Saudia Arabia, and my family part of one of the six: Al Gassan tribe. This group of people, all related, were very wealthy and powerful and considered a very noble family. One day, the main prince of the tribe, Prince Al Gassan, slapped a slave. This news passed to the main ruler of Saudia Arabia at the time, and the ruler made the prince go to court for in Islam no one was supposed to be better than others, except in religious purity. The main ruler asked him to apologize in public to the slave, and he would be forgiven, or he had to leave Saudia Arabia. By the morning the Al Gassan tribe had left Saudia Arabia and migrated to northern Syria and western Iraq of today. When they were in these areas, the people noticed that the people of the tribe all had much food, and were chubby compared to the skinny, hungry people of that area. That is when the the Al Gassan name changed to Malouf, meaning well feed. Also this is when the crusaders came our family converted to Chirtianity. The Malouf family then migrated to Lebanon, and became one of the seven major families of the city Zahle (a highly concentrated Catholic area). Many, many generations later, my dad was born and moved to America ( a story for another time). Less information is known about my mother's side of the family. All that is really known is that my Great, great grandfather (who is still alive) came from Greece, and migrated to Zahle as well.
ReplyDelete2. Since most people don't even know Lebanon exists, so I have never really read about it, but I have read about the Middle East. Whenever people talk about the Middle East I often hear a negative conotation. Though Lebanon is vastly different in culture, religion, and even language, from other countries in the Middle East, in most texts, Lebanon is not even acknowledged.
Please post the blog assignments a tad earlier Mr. Shellhase
ReplyDelete*A lot earlier...
Delete1)My family originates from Bangladesh. Specifically, my mom is from Dhaka and my dad is from Chittagong. My grandfather worked in the government and my grandmother was a housewife. My parents came to America in hopes of more opportunities for my brother and I.
ReplyDelete2)I comfortably and publicly identify myself as a Muslim. Very often I hear and read inaccurate comments which relate Islam to terrorism. It greatly troubles me how ignorant and cruel people can be. To my dismay, even people I know seem to share those opinions. I hope that one day, people will no longer categorize and base opinions of people by their race, religion, or culture.
1) My family is from Bangladesh. My mom’s family and earlier generations always lived in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Her family was middleclass people and my grandfather was a driver for a Brahmin. My mom’s side of the family rarely crossed any social/economic problems, although there were tragedies in my grandfather’s life. When my grandfather’s dad died early, my grandfather along with the family struggled a little to earn enough money until my grandfather’s big brother became a teacher/principal and earned money while educating my grandfather until his death. Now, my mom’s family is richer since there are doctors in the family. My dad’s family had always lived in the village and has been poor (although they had enough to eat) until my uncle (my dad’s big brother) moved the Dhaka and started banking business, which earned him a lot of money. Only my mom, dad, my aunt, and uncle migrated to New York. The rest of my family are in Bangladesh and in India.
ReplyDelete2) I never came across Hindus in modern times committing slaughter. The only horrifying slaughter event I could think of is when Asoka of the Mauryan Empire lead a bloody war in Kalinga (100,000 soldiers were slain and even more civilians perished). However, I read a book called Ethnic Cleansing, which took place in Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War. This novel documents real life incidents that took place during this time in Bangladesh. There were large scale atrocities on the Hindus, including inhuman acts against Hindu women. Hindus were being driven out of eliminated. This book revealed events that were so horrifying that I don’t feel comfortable talking about it.
1) My family is from Alexandria in Egypt. My parents moved here after they got married, along with my uncle. I was born and raised in America, but I visit Egypt every Summer where we visit family and places that my parents lived their whole lives in. They came to America for better job opportunities for themselves, along with better education for my brother and I.
ReplyDelete2) I have read many shocking things about Muslims. For example, after 9/11, there were many blogs and websites talking about Muslims as a whole, saying that EVERYONE that followed the Islamic religion was a terrorist and should leave America. I think this is very offensive and shocking. It disappoints me when people talk about how "Americans" should have more rights over immigrants in America, while there is really no such thing as an American. We are all blends of different backgrounds.
1) My family comes from Europe and Japan. Where you met Helen. In Europe, my family lived in Germany and England. During World War II, my great grandfather came to America from Germany because though he was Christian, he did not want to fight for the Germans. He met my great grandmother, whose parents came from England. In Japan, my family lives in Tokyo. My cousin participated in sumo wrestling and was rather well known before retiring. My grandparents moved to Hawaii shortly before having children. My mother and father met in California. Much of my family still lives in Japan. They visit on occasion.
ReplyDelete2) In modern times, nothing particularly horrific has been happening in the countries my family came from. I know in the past the countries my family is from have done horrific things, specifically during World War II. Japan and Europe are rather strange, but aren't doing much damage to the world right now.
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DeleteI'd tap that.
DeleteI really like your fern, by the way.
DeleteYou're mural is goergouse!!! did you make it urself
DeletePPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Delete1) My family is from China. They lived in a village called Chung-Lai in Taishan, China. My maternal grandparents were from wealthy families. My grandpa owned a automobile shop. However, when the Communists came, they took it all away and my family had to depend on farming themselves for a living. They were very poor. My family did not earn more than five dollars a week. Both my parents were from the same village. When my parents got married, my father's cousins moved to San Francisco while my parents chose to move to New York.
ReplyDelete2) A few months ago, there was this news about a Chinese-American soldier from Chinatown. The news said that the soldier was always teased by other races because they didn't like Asians. It also said that the other soldiers did not like Asians because they said that Asians were cowards. Their bullying made the Chinese-American soldier kill himself. After reading about this, it made me sad that Asians were being viewed as cowards. What made me feel even worse was that the dead soldier's family came from the same village as my parents. My family and the soldier's family were great friends. After hearing the news, my parents were very sad and my mom even cried.
Oh! My mother told me about that news story! :D
Delete1) MY mum's side of the family came from China and they were seriously dirt poor. My grandma and grandpa worked in the fields and my grandpa would occasionally use a sling shot to shoot birds for dinner. His sister got married and they came to America. They had a stray dog as a pet but they had to leave it behind so I guess it died. I don't really know much about my dad's side, since he doesn't talk about it much. I know he grew up in Hong Kong and that my grandpa was pretty well off from stocks. This allowed my uncle to go motorcycle racing and my dad and my aunt to come to America.
ReplyDelete2)On Youtube I saw this video about eating octopus (because we eat a lot of weird crap, like dogs.) and everyone was like, "Ewww Chinese people are so GROSS!!!!" I just thought they were all stupid cause I rather eat an octopus than starve to death. I also read on the news about someone getting mugged in Chinatown and a whole bunch of people just glanced at him and walked away. It just pissed me off because the Chinese people at the crime scene were stupid and didn't help their fellow villager.
1. My dad was born in Hong Kong and my mom was born in China. They met through a matchmaker and the rest was history. My grandparents came to America from Fuzhou and they traveled a lot. Like, almost all over the globe a lot. So what happened was my youngest uncle and my dad were both born in Hong Kong and my second youngest uncle was born in China. My grandfather was a cook on a warship and my grandmother stayed in America to work and earn money to raise her three children.
ReplyDelete2. Something that I found incredibly shocking was the United States Chinese Exclusion Act. This is because I love this country for the rights that we, as citizens, receive. But than I learn about this act and it really scares me that this country, that I love so much for its rights, would actually have gone through with this act and kept it going for such a while before finally pulling the plug on it.
1) My family is from Taishan,Guongdong in China. Much of my relatives moved out of Goungdong, which the house there is vacant to family in my mother side. My father side came from a farm. My grandfather and grandmother (from my father's side) lives in NY. My grandmother (from my mother's side) lives in Hong Kong, near my aunt but she frequently hops around to Macao to my uncle's place where he has a pharmacy. My grandfather (from my mother's side) past away before I was born, when he died from an accident in his occupation of shipbuilding. My uncles and aunts (and my cousins) from my mother's side still live in Macao and Hong Kong, respectively. My uncles and aunts (and my cousins) from my father's side currently lives in NY and Philadelphia.
ReplyDelete2) A really sad story I watched twice was a documentary called Nanking, which talked about massacre of the Chinese by the Japanese during the Second World War. Not to be too graphic but it showed of how the Japanese raped the Chinese women right in front of her husband and then the Japanese soldiers would kill them. The Japanese would round up the Chinese people and kill them. I was tearing when watching it, even though my family is not from that part of China.
My family is form Jamaica and there is a very long history that I will not say. My dad was born in Hanover and came to America when he was about 17 and my mom was born in America. I am happy to say that I have all of my grandparents and they are all from Jamaica. My grandfather is from Eastern St.Mary's and my grandmother is from Kingston, Jamaica( St. Mary's is in Jamaica). The both lived in Jamaica while it was under British rule and were there to see when Jamaica got its independence in 1962. On my dad's side I have a lot of family because his father (my grandfather) married twice and had MANY children. I have a grandfather and a step-grandfather (if that even exists)
ReplyDeleteIve read things about my race having to do mostly with slavery and racist groups like the Kuk Klux Klan. I always found it appaling how they had a hatred for people of my kind (African-American) and also how the slaves were treated as if they were nothing and were sold as property instead of being treated as a human being. I havent really read anything on Jamaica though that I identify with.
Being both Dominican and Guyanese... I will explain both. Okay.
ReplyDeleteMom's Side:
My mom is Guyanese. She moved to America at the age of 16. Guyana is located in South America. It was under control of the British at one time, and many people from the Indian subcontinent and Africa migrated here during the slave trades and many other things. There are three types of Guyanese people: British-Guyanese, Indo-Guyanese, and African-Guyanese. My mom's grandmother (from her mom's side) is British, therefore I have some British in me. My mom's grandfather (from her mom's side) was Indian. Both moved to Guyana, where they met. I'm not to sure about my mom's father. I believe that they both were born in Guyana. From my mom's side, I can say that I am British, from some place in the Indian subcontinent, and Guyanese.
-Dad's Side:
My dad is Dominican. He moved here when he was 2 years old. From what I know, one of my dad's grandfathers was a wealthy landowner in the Dominican Republic many years ago. After his death, the family failed to uphold his lands. Like my mother's side, my dad's side of the family is quite complicated. My dad's grandmother (from his mother's side) is African. My dad's grandfather (from his father's side) is Italian. The other grandparents were born in the Dominican Republic. Therefore, I can say that I am Dominican, Italian, and African from my dad's side.
In all, I mainly say that I am Guyanese and Dominican. However, looking further back, I am much more. I am British, African, Italian, Dominican, and Guyanese.
2. There aren't many stories about Guyanese or Dominican people that I hear about. I guess its because not much people know about Guyanese people. Okay, I guess I will just tell my story then. On the first day of school, when talking to people, I was asked if I was Bengali by almost everyone. Then, when I said I'm Guyanese... they asked me if it is the country in Africa, Guiana. -_- . No, it is not.
1. My family is originally from Pakistan. My dad came here once he was 21 and lived in Kansas and went to college over there. He then lived here for about 25 years. My mom was also born in Pakistan and then moved here to go to college. My mom and dad got married in Pakistan but then moved back over here.
ReplyDelete2. I don't hear stories about Pakistan but i do hear a lot of stories about terrorism and how people associate it with Muslims as a whole.
1) My dad was born in Hong Kong and they were poor. My grandfather came to America working as a cook on a ship and later on, he brought the rest of the family over. My dad was fourteen when he arrived in America. My mom was born in America and lived on fourteenth street. Her family was doing well, but still struggled. My mom worked hard and it payed off because now we are doing well.
ReplyDelete2) There was a Chinese article about a Chinese soldier that was bullied and committed suicide a while back. This shocked me because this man was in my sister' class in elementary school and this act of bullying was immature and viewed Asians as weak.
1. My grandparents from both sides of my parents were from China... (somewhere off in the country)My great-grandparents from my mother’s side owned restaurants and businesses and were well off. As with many people, the Japanese laid siege to the area they were living in. My great-grandparents were attempting to escape but the Japanese came too soon. My great –grandfather made his wife and kids to run before him. The saddest thing was that when a bomb fell on his legs, my grandfather looked back but he told my grandfather not to do so… (His corpse was never found)Then, my grandfather’s family went to Burma where they faced discrimination from the Burmese natives. I guess I never really knew what happened then or even about my grandparents from my dad’s side. Still…they had a happy life in Burma after creating new businesses.
ReplyDelete2. I saw someone write graffiti that the Burmese were poor people needing charity after Hurricane Nargis struck Rangoon. I was appalled back that act. 1. It was racist. 2. So what if they needed charity after a natural disaster devastated lives? It’s already enough that Burma is suffering from a harsh government rule. I was also furious at how no one from Burma could actually ask for help from other nations (I read in the news that Burma’s government put a careful watch on their actions) just because the government didn’t want to expose other countries to the poverty of Burma. That’s just not cool…
1. My family comes from the western part of Pakistan called Baluchistan. People from Baluchistan originated from Persia (modern day Iraq). My family today lives in Karachi, the naval capital of Pakistan. My father was once a sailor because of this and my mother was a kindergarten teacher. My parents moved here to America a couple of months after I was born in order for their children to have a better life than they had.
ReplyDelete2. I have read countless articles that have bashed my religion, Islam. These news articles pop up around the anniversary of one of America's worst tragedy's, 9/11; sadly, the actions of the maniacal men at that moment have impacted the lives of Muslims around America. Many articles depict Muslims as men and women who's only goal in life is to kill others in the name of religion. It hurts a bit because I feel as if people who have no idea about Islam are deterring others from trying to accept the fact that Muslims are regular people like everyone else.
1. My parents are from a northeastern part of Bangladesh called Sylhet. Both my parents were in the lower middle class. My dad first came to America at the age of 28 because he was the oldest son and he needed to support his family. Then he went back to marry my mom and brought her to America along with my older siblings.
ReplyDelete2. I have read many articles that state hatred and inaccurate statements towards Islam. A common inaccurate statement was that all Muslims are terrorists. Due to the actions of some crazy people, a whole group of people are suffering. It troubles me when I see websites and blogs that state Muslims as a whole are terrorists.
Mr. Shellhase,
ReplyDeleteGrades were due today, and I reminded you about the grade for the Independent Reading Share on Wednesday. I forgot to remind you about it today. So, if you can, could you change the grade.
Thank You.
My dad was born in Ukraine, where I was born. My mother and her parents were born in Moldova. My grandma was born in Russia. My grandfather was born in Usbekistan. My grandfather was a big-known engineer in Russia. My parents were born when the Soviet Union was around. When they became adults, my father decided to move to America because America allowed religions to be practiced there, and freedom of speech. They brought me with them to America, and we found an apartment in New York. My grandparents also came along. My aunts and uncles stayed in Ukraine.
ReplyDeleteI did not read anything about by race that had negative comments, but do hear, here and there, jokes about Russians.
1. My family is from the GuangDong province in China. Both of my parents were of different social classes. On my mother's side, my grandpa was a teacher in a high school and he taught mathematics. My grandma was a student of my grandpa. Also, my grandpa's brother was a famous doctor in China and had many medical books written. He was also the healer from Chiang Kai-shek. Overall, my mom's side of the family was poor until my grandma married my grandpa. On my dad's side, they were country people. At the age of 12, my dad would go bring the cows to the lakes and to the plains to graze. later, my dad became a business man and married my mom. Then they became really rich until they decided to come to America and give birth to me.
ReplyDelete2. to be honest, i've heard many negative comments about my race. Many are offensive but i tend to laugh them off. I, myself sometimes tend to joke about these things too.
1. My family members, mom and dad, were both born in the guangdong province of China. My parents were both from the same social classes until a point in their life. On my mom's side, she started outed out poor. My grandpa was a teacher at a local high school and he taught mathematics. My grandma was the student of my Grandpa. That was how they met and got married. When my mom was born, they were rising in wealth due to my grandma marrying my grandpa. Also, my grandpa's brother was a doctor for Chiang Kai Sek. On my dad's side, they were a country styled family. my dad would tell me how when he was my age, he would be in the fields with cows and watching them graze. Then my dad became a business man and he started to make a lot of money. Then he met my mom and the got married and they were rich. Sadly, they gave up all that just to give birth to me in america so i would be a citizen.
ReplyDelete2. To be honest, i have heard many negative comments about my race/culture. many times, i tend to laugh it off and get a good laugh out of the joke. Sometimes, i would even joke about it myself.
1. Both of my parents were from Pakistan. They both came to America at such a young age. However, they officially settled in New York shortly after they got married. My parents came from a high class family. Both of my parents are travelers because of not only work but of passion. I am part French but that history goes all the way back to my great-grandparents. My great-grandfather had actually fought in WWII but I don't know much about him.
ReplyDelete2. As a Muslim, I am affected by all of these comments about them. I see a lot of terrorism in media such as the news or in paper. I think it is absolutely pathetic seeing people blame an entire race because of one group. I try to ignore these comments because they are ignorant and inaccurate.
1. My parents were born and were raised in Thailand. My paternal grandparents had a Thai background, while my maternal grandparents had a Chinese background.Although some of my family is in the US, most of my family is in Thailand. In Thailand, my family lives mixture of Thai and Chinese culture.
ReplyDelete2. I haven't really heard or read anything shocking about the culture in identify with. My only concern is that people confuse Thailand with Taiwan. There's a big difference in culture and location, and I think people should be aware of that.
1. The most I know of my family’s history comes from my grandfather from my mother’s side of the family. He told me that he lived in a small town in Ukraine. When he was about seven, he moved to Russia because of the Hitler’s invasion. After the war, his father moved back to Ukraine to find a job and a place to live with a family. He worked in a trolley storage facility and lived in a tenement house with other people going through the same thing he was. My grandfather eventually moved back to Ukraine when my grandfather’s father found an apartment that was shared with one other family. (This was not an uncommon thing to do at those times. As a side note, the conditions in these types of tenement houses were very good compared to those in New York during the industrial revolution.) Eventually, my grandfather graduated high school and got a job as the man in charge of the trolley storage facility. In 1990, my grandfather’s son, my uncle, followed my aunt to New York City. After my uncle and aunt were settled in New York, they helped the rest of my family immigrate to New York.
ReplyDelete2. Since I speak Russian, even though my family is not from Russia, I consider myself partially Russian. This is why Joseph Stalin pertains to my culture. I have not only read, but heard accounts of Joseph Stalin. I was shocked when I heard how he convinced people living in Russia that the rest of the world was living in horrible conditions, while the Russian people themselves were not living in good conditions. Many people had barely enough to eat. And a freshly baked piece of bread was more valuable than a Gucci shirt is today. This shows how the values of people in Russia during Stalin’s rule were very different from the values of the people living during Stalin’s time in the U.S. Also, this shows how poorly Stalin treated the citizens of Russia and how he ruined many people’s lives from my culture.
Thanks Josef. This story mostly focuses on one person, your grandfather, but I think I learned a lot about many others in your family. I get the sense that this story is frequently told among your family. It seems to explain a complex identity, being Ukrainian, but living in a Soviet satellite country, identifying with Russian language and culture, then moving to the US, and adding another layer. (Forgive me if I'm making too many assumptions about your family and identity.)
DeleteI didn't ask students to focus on individuals (mainly because I wasn't sure what I was looking for), but I think the most successful posts from your classmates did this too.
I'm confused by your side-note: "As a side note, the conditions in these types of tenement houses were very good compared to those in New York during the industrial revolution." I think you're implying that 19th century NYC tenements were not good. And that 20th USSR tenement houses were better in comparison. Does that mean that your grandfather's tenement was just above very bad?
-Mr. Shellhase
I was trying to give an idea of how my grandfather lived because I feel it is important to mention that my grandfather was not in a difficult housing situation, meaning he lived in reasonable conditions. This is important information because it gives an essence of my grandfather's state of mind.
Delete