The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Pages 203-262 quick sum up. On 203, Dr. Henry is still trying to connect with his son but only succeeds in making him angry. While his son runs off, Dr. Henry destroys the picture of his wife with the man that she cheated on him with. Then it's a new chapter and Dr. Henry's son is with his friend. They nearly get killed by a train, all by their own doing, and Duke, Dr. Henry's son's friend, decides to get Paul high. Paul loves it and they go back to his house and invite over a bunch of older guys. They all get high and the boys ruin Dr. Henry's picture room, where he develops all the pictures. Dr. Henry finds his son there the next morning and makes him clean it up all by himself. Then Dr. Henry sends the nurse a note saying he wants to see his daughter, making the nurse extremely mad and she refuses. Then there's an accident meeting and that's where I left off.

I learned the term silverfish. Silverfish is actually a type of goldfish, and in my book, it was used in likeness of dizziness. You know how some people see spots, or fairies, or something like that when they get dizzy or something? That's what this person was experiencing, except they see silverfish. I thought that was interesting because silverfish are so strange.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Okay, pages 173-202 quick sum up. Page 173 starts in July 1977 when the kids are around 13 years of age. Basically, Dr. Henry, his wife, and his son are on a beach on vacation and Dr. Henry is filling up his days by taking pictures of his wife in different poses. Norah is sick of him acting like nothing has ever happened to their family and decides to cheat on him with a man she met while on vacation. Her son and Dr. Henry both discover this but neither say anything so Norah continues to do so while Dr. Henry and his son try to connect. It isn't working very well.

I learned the term terrazzo. Terrazzo is flooring material made of chips of marble or granite set in concrete and polished to give a smooth surface. Terrazzo is the type of floor they have in their condo while on vacation, and I must say, the pictures depict it as very nice, but I feel like it would be freezing cold.

Vocab

third reich-Nazi dictatorship under Hitler
Treaty of Versailles-Treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers
propoganda-biased or misleading nature
chancellor-a senior state or legal official
dictator-ruler with total power over a country
Gestapo-secret state police in Nazi Germany
compulsory-required by law or a rule
annex-add to a document
ghetto-restrict to an isolated or segregated area/group
labor camp-prison camp in which hard labor is enforced
extermination camp-used to kill millions of people
The Final Solution-Nazi policy of exterminating European Jews

Helmuth's View As a Child

Helmuth could not figure out why everyone hated the Jews. He could find nothing wrong with them and even managed to name off three who he knew and liked. Helmuth didn't agree with Hitler and everyone else about the Jews, but he still wanted to fight for Hitler.

The Boy Who Dared Vocab

SS/SA soldier or officer- Nazi soldiers
Kristallnacht- a.k.a. the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom against Jews through Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on the 9-10 of November. 
Fuhrer- A ruthless ruler
rationing- a fixed amount for one person
Jungvolk- A youth organization in Nazi Germany for boys ages 10-14 and was part of the Hitler Youth program.
censorship- The practice of officially examining books, movies, etc. and suppressing unacceptable parts. 
Aryan- used in Nazism to designate a supposed master race of non-Jewish Caucasians having Nordic features
informers- someone who informs on another person to police or other authority
black market- an illegal trade in officially controlled commodities
shortwave radio- Radio communication using the upper MF and all the HF portion of the radio spectrum
People's radio- Range of radio receivers
National Socialism- Political doctrine of the Nazi Party of Germany

WW2 and Holocaust Questions

1. Determine the root cause of the Holocaust and WWII happening. -Hitler hated Jews and other groups of people. World War II may have happened when Japan invaded Manchuria, economic issues, and nationalism as well.

2.  Describe the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.- Helped create the conditions responsible for Hitler’s rise to power Lose territories, army reduced, lost weaponry, pay money

3.  What does reich mean?-  nation or realm

4.  How did Hitler gain his power?- Hitler became chancellor in January. What strategies and examples did you notice?- He made up laws for about anything you could of done.

5.  What are some examples of how Hitler abused power? -He made laws for the simplest things such as sitting on a park bench or owning a pet dog. He made Nazis boycott people.

6.  What do you think were the most notable events throughout the Holocaust?- When Hitler committed suicide in 1945 in his bunker, the bombs dropped on Japan, and Japan surrenders.  Why?- It was notable when Hitler committed suicide because he was finally gone and his horrible reign ended. It was notable when the bombs were dropped because they're bombs and they killed many many people and helped ensure the Japan would surrender. It was very notable when Japan surrendered because that marked the end of WWII.

7.  Describe what led to the fall of Hitler's Nazi regime.- Hitler committed suicide and U.S forces came into and helped.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter (pages 130-173)

    Norah has just found out that her daughter Phoebe died moments after birth. Or that's what her husband told her. At least her son, Paul, is beautiful and fine. Caroline, nurse under Norah's husband, has taken Phoebe and ran away from her small town, unbelieving that Henry wouldn't want his wife to know their daughter still lived. Now they live separate lives and neither are coping very well.

    I learned the term patchouli. Patchouli is a species of of plant and was used for oil in my book. Patchouli is said to be highly relaxing and is now used as a perfume for women.

Days of Blood and Starlight

    I started a book called Days of Blood and Starlight, the second book in a series. Karou went off to find the demon/angel world and found it in ruins with the angels as tyrant rulers. She finds the demons who raised her dead and wants nothing more than Akiva's death. She finds the old king of the demons, the White Wolf, and he takes her to meet the other demons who have survived. They all hate her, but they need her so they can bring back the population. The White Wolf tricks Karou into helping them and later on tries to rape her. She kills him and becomes scared for her life. Her only friend at the little camp sacrifices himself so she can put his soul in the White Wolf's body so it looks like nothing happened.

    I learned the fun word tumult. Tumult means a state of commotion, noise, and confusion. (Much like most houses with little children.) Tumult breaks out when Karou brings her human friends to safety at the demon hide-out. It is the White Wolf's job to keep everything sane and he wasn't doing a very good job.

The Death Cure

    I recently started The Death Cure. It's the final book in the Maze Runner series, so of course Thomas, Minho, Teresa, Aris, Brenda, and Newt are all back. In the beginning, Thomas is all alone for Phase Three in a white padded cell for three weeks. At the end of the 26th day, a man from WICKED arrives and tells him it's all over. Thomas is skeptical, but forgets his worries when he's reunited with his friends. The next few chapters are about the man telling them they have a choice. They can either regain their memories or they can wait in another room. Thomas, Minho, and Newt decide they don't trust WICKED with their brains and wait in another room until they can escape while everyone else undergoes surgery. I ended with Thomas, Minho, and Newt being reunited with Brenda and her friend Jorge and escaping.

    A term that I learned while reading was laconic. Laconic means brief and to the point. This paragraph is an example of laconic as it is effectively cut short. Thomas wanted the man to make his speech laconic so he could suffer in peace and quiet without lies being spread about.