Holocaust Hero Reader Responses on this page, in order:
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Reader Response Entry Parameters/Rubric
Assignment Objective :
To increase your understanding of our book and help you make sense of a devastating act against humanity known as the Holocaust, you will complete reader response entries weekly throughout your reading. Note: These are NOT designed to “test” your comprehension of the reading material! Guidelines:
• typed, double spaced, (or NEATLY written); no page requirement • No demons (however, “you” is acceptable) • Rules of Formal Writing do NOT apply • Refer to a specific event in the chapter to illustrate your point • Include at least one direct excerpt from the book with page number cited. Excerpts should be connected to your response and not haphazardly placed without comment. • Examples and excerpts must be taken from the designated chapters. Additional examples and/or excerpts may come from previous chapters, if desired.
The weight of these responses toward your grade is significant . A five-point penalty (per entry) will be applied to all late submissions. |
Grading:
Papers will be assessed on thoughtfulness of response and adherence to assignment parameters. Although these are my focus assessment areas, please do your best to employ proper mechanics.
Responses will be graded on an “excellent, good, OK” scale.
• To be considered excellent , your response must be thorough and insightful, and it will follow all requirements noted above.
• To be considered good , your response must be fairly complete, following most of the requirements noted above.
• Those responses with very little thought and effort, lacking many of the requirements noted above will receive an OK rating or less. |
| LIST OF READER RESPONSE ENTRIES – See Syllabus for deadlines
Reader Response #1 – Everyone must complete this response.
In general terms, what’s your reaction to the reading so far? In your answer, consider including: • Personal connection to your own life • Questions the reading provoked • Emotions the reading evoked • What would you have done differently in a similar situation?
To support your position, refer to a specific event and include at least one direct excerpt. (Cite page number of excerpt.) DO NOT simply react to the atrocities of the Holocaust in general .
For the next three responses, you may choose from the following list, selecting a different option each time:
Option A What, do you feel, is the most prominent virtue the Holocaust hero possesses? Cite at least two events in the book to support your belief. Remember to include at least one direct excerpt with page number. See if you can go beyond the obvious answer of “courage.” Reminder: the virtues are: courage, humility, generosity, diligence, fidelity, forgiveness, honesty, reverence, purity, and patience.
Option B: What qualities and characteristics of the Holocaust hero are most like/unlike you? Cite an example from the main character’s life and your own to support your connection. Remember to include one direct excerpt from the book with page number.
Option C: Compare the Holocaust hero to a character in literature, fiction or non-fiction. How are their situations, reactions, characteristics, and more similar? Include a specific example from the hero’s life (with direct excerpt from the book and page number) and the character’s predicament. Go beyond the obvious connection to the myriad other people in Holocaust literature. Note: an excerpt from the other literature to which you are connecting is not required.
Option D: How does the Holocaust hero follow the path outlined by Joseph Campbell’s monomyth? Rather than attempting to connect to the entire journey, consider exploring only one (or two) of the stages thoroughly. (separation, initiation, return) Refer to the Campbell packet for details. Remember to include one direct excerpt from the book with page number.Option E1. “I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are really good at heart.” 2. “There is a destructive urge in people – the urge to rage, to murder and to kill.”
Consider these two quotes by the famed Holocaust diarist, Anne Frank. Each is a different commentary on human nature. Which of these quotes would your Holocaust hero most often believe? Include at least one specific example and a direct excerpt from the book to support your point (with page number). (DO NOT say she would believe each at different times – that’s a cop out!). |
Sample Reader Response -- Alicia
At first, I thought this book was going to be a little boring because the first chapter gives a lot of background and Chapter 2 talks about Russian and German occupation, which I didn’t really get. But then so much starts to happen to this girl, that I wanted to read more just to see how she would survive.
The main character’s love for her family is so strong it is amazing. When she was pushed out of the train, she was covered with many bruises, but she still kept going. She was only 11 years old! I can’t imagine myself doing that now, never mind doing it at 11! My little sister is 11 and if anything like that happened to her, I would be horrified. Later, The main character developed a fever and still made it back to her house, surviving on only her love for her family, “Finally, choking on tears, I told him that if I hadn’t loved and worried about my family so much, I would have never made it home.” (page 35). This excerpt of The main character talking to her brother Zachary, made me really feel her love for him. What a mature girl to think of her family at a time like that.
I do have some questions. For example, what really happened to the father? Is he dead? I wasn’t sure I understood the reference to thunder. And why did Moshe have to go back to the school in Russia ? How can those soldiers just take him away against the parents’ wishes? When I read this part of the book, I was confused, but also very angry. I still can’t believe that Hitler got away with all this. I am so frustrated sometimes when I read, that I want to scream and throw the book! I hope she finds a way to get back at them all. |
Sample Reader Response The Cage Students, please note: This entry is really too brief to be considered "excellent," but this stuent's use of excerpts is effective, as is the opening and closing. Devastated. That is the only word I have right now. I’m not even sure how to explain my feelings about this book. I didn't like the beginning chapter very much; it was too slow moving. And when the author talks about having nightmares in her adulthood, I thought, “Yeah, I guess it must have been pretty bad.” But it didn’t take long for me to realize that “pretty bad” doesn’t even come close. I can’t even imagine my friends betraying me like that. I mean, we get into fights and things, but in the end they would support me no matter what. I think. When Riva’s mother was defending Harry and she said, “You would have to kill me before you touch a hair on his head,” (10) I was so happy. Then the kid and his mother completely turn their backs on her and Riva’s family. That is just rotten.
One connection I can make is that Riva doesn’t have a dad. My parents are divorced so I really don’t see my dad, but at least I know I can call him. My mother has a hard enough time raising 3 of us – I don’t think she could do 7! I do have some questions. Why did they just let people come into their house and take their things? How about when that old Mrs. Gruber takes the fur coats? I think I would have punched her out. And how come the Grubers get to go live somewhere else? At least Riva and her family can stay in their house, but I don’t think they’re going to stay there very long the way the Nazis are pushing everybody out. She just has to remember those words of her mother, “Be brave, my child, be brave.” (18)
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