Vocabulary
sunt lacrimae rerum (dedication): latin for "these are the tears of things"
umlaut (7): the diacritical mark placed over a vowel to indicate when an earlier vowel takes on the sound of the second vowel.
yizkor (21): Jewish tradition of remembering family members who have passed away annually
Three Appeals
"Of this Shmiel, of course, I knew something: my grandfather's oldest brother, who with his wife and four beautiful daughters had been killed by the Nazis during the war" (7). Although this statement in itself is a logical appeal, because it is simply stating information, it alos has qualities of emotional appeal. The matter-of-factness in which it is proclaimed, along with words like "of course" give it the feeling of something very integral to Daniel's family. As well, the subject matter itself (the murder of the Jews by the Nazis during WWII) is a very emotional subject.
"Given the existence of this eyewitness accoun of events taht are so distant from anything I could ever have experienced, and which therefore I have a difficult time "imagining" or "envisioning", I perefer to avoid paraphrase and instead will simply cite his description" (51). This quote has an emotional appeal, as we want to know what could be too horrible for him to imagine or envision. It draws us in.
"At the moment when my mother said Herman the Barber I realized I could be wrong, that traces of those six might still remain in the world, somewhere" (73). I think that this statement is an emotional appeal because it invites us to wonder what Daniel could find out about his six lost relatives; what he was going to do about this mystery.
Quote
"So this is what my grandfather had been carring around with him, all those years. The letters Shmiel had been writing, in the last desperate year while he could still write, when he thought he could find a way out... It had been there, right in front of me, and I hadn't seen a thing" (61). This quote is significant for two reasons. First of all, the fact that Daniel's granfather has been carrying around the letters indicates that they are extremely important to him, and implies that there is something unfinished regarding Shmiel's demise. Additionally, Mendelsohn brings up the idea of something being right in front of you which you simply don't look carefully enough for. I think that this might become a recurring theme.
Theme
One must take advantage of every oppurtunity one has, and not let chances pass one by.
1 comment:
Well Sarah, you sure posted some very interesting questions on my blog, some of which I shall answer. First of all, I think there are many different reasons why the people of Coalwood don't concern themselves with the outside world. The most obvious is the fact that they are indeed isolated, physically by mountains, from the rest of the cities/ state. Another reason is because it could be the way they were brought up. Coalwood families depend on the mine and by keeping the mine alive, you are embracing the honor of being a true Coalwood person. I think it's mainly nurture, and the way they were raised. You also brought up an interesting point about whether or not leaving Coalwood is the "honorable" thing to do. Personally I think it is. Mostly because Homer has no life in Coalwood. His father doesn't even think enough of him to give him a job in the mine (he would be working as a desk clerk if he got a job). But Homer wouldn't be leaving just for himself, one could argue that he also does it for his mother. She's basically stuck in Coalwood, but she wants something better for Homer and that's evident through the way she tells him how he's not like his father (relating back to the quote!).
Now, onto your book. Before I begin my analysis of your view points, I would just like to know exactly what your book is about. Maybe a summary or a brief synopsis could help. Anyway, I really thought the theme that you brought up in your quote section was interesting. There are so many times in life when something is right in front of you, and you just don't see it. I feel like it happens to me all the time. For example, when I'm building something with legos, the piece I'm looking, but just can't seem to find, is always, for some reason, right in front of me! Not only is it infuriating, it's a very true metaphor for life itself, don't you think? It does sound sort of cliche, but it happens so much. Just something to think about that relates to real life. I bet you could think of at least one instance where that exact situation has occurred, or maybe not. Who knows?
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