Bridging – All My Sons

Arthur Miller's life was very comfortable. His father owned a garment factory. A turning point in his life had occurred, his family lost everything in the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and Miller's life changed dramatically. He went from living a wealthy lifestyle to delivering bread every morning before school to help the family make ends meet. From the information I'm given about Arthur Miller's life, I can understand the main points and the central theme in his creation "All My Sons", and why he chooses to present those main ideas and central theme of the play.

After reading the play "All My Sons" and the information about Arthur Miller I can understand that the issues in the play concentrate on pressure from the family and from the society. I can understand that the main theme he is talking about in his play is the importance of personal and social responsibility and the danger of moral corruption caused by materialism and greed. In the play the importance of personal and social responsibility and the danger of moral corruption caused by materialism and greed are represented by the characters Joe Keller and his son Chris. Joe owned a factory, in times of war he shipped a supply of machine parts to the army. In the play Joe did a terrible thing, he let his factory ship cracked cylinder heads to the army and those cracked cylinder heads caused 21 men to die in the war, their planes crashed.
When that was discovered by his son Chris, who didn't share his father's thoughts,  Joe started to make excuses about the motives for his action. Keller believes that he is only answerable to his family and that his war crimes should be excused because he did it to save his family from ruin. Joe was afraid to lose his contract with the army so he decided to ship those cracked cylinder heads rather than to lose his contract. Chris, on the other hand, believes in social responsibility, that we must care about our society and that we are responsible for the well being of all members of the society. The materialism corrupted Joe's mind and caused him to commit a crime, it made him indifferent and made him hurt the people he cares about, his family.

The issue of pressure from the family is presented by the character Kate Keller. Kate Keller is the mother of Chris and the wife of Joe Keller. I think that her role in the entire play is to pressure Chris and his decisions. All through the play she tried to pressure Chris not to marry Ann. Ann was the girlfriend of Chris's brother Larry. Larry was reported missing in war and his girlfriend Ann wanted to continue with her life. Ann and Chris wanted to marry but Kate didn’t want them to marry and believed that they should wait for Larry to come back. In the play she makes excuses and says things to Ann and to Chris so they didn’t marry, she is pressuring them and she decides what will happen.

Arthur Miller made a wonderful creation, he managed to bring his own life perspectives and events into the play. His ideas and thoughts are represented in the play through the characters. I enjoyed reading the play, I could really connect with the events and the characters in the play.     

(100)

Daphna

Write a proper title here

  78 Homa And Migdal st.

                                                             Holon
                                                                                                          96185

November 2, 2013

 Mr. Michael Nike 
 manager 
"Cley Zemmer" store.
106 Chamber Road
Los Angeles, California
96184

Dear  Mr. Nike,

I write this letter to complain about the latest raise of the prices of the music instruments and the music CD's in your store. All the prices were suddenly raised by more than 30 % presents, I think that the prices are too high. I am a regular costumer, I love to buy CD's  in your store and I bought my first musical instrument in your store.

I hope it is a mistake and that the prices will be as the way they were before. I bought some CD's of my favorite band and then I realized that it cost me twice than the usual price. I really love your store, it has a big variety of music and a big variety of musical instruments. 

I always love to come to your store and to try the musical instruments and listen to music so I can decide what to buy, but because of the raise of the prices I need to find another store for music. I really don’t want to look for another store, so I am writing this letter to suggest you lower the prices by 15 % from the current price.

If however you don’t want to lower the prices, at least offer some deals.
You could sell two items in a higher price, you could sell musical instruments with music sheets with the 30% higher price. You could sell music albums at a higher price but give the second album for free.

I don't want a refund but I hope you'll take my letter seriously and that you'll make me want to continue buying in your store.

Yours truly,

Tom Potter Jones.


Much better. Well done!
(93)
Daphna

(תיקנתי)

Written Presentation - Page 12 - write a proper title

Nowadays our generation is seen as irresponsible, indifferent and lazy. People believe that our generation has no values and rules, that we think only about ourselves and won't help others in need. I object and personally I think that being involved and helping other people in our communities is a beneficial thing to us and to others.

There is a variety of ways that students could be more involved in their communities. Students could raise money for poor families or sick people in the society. They could encourage other people in their society to join them to clean their city or make it safer. Students could volunteer in youth movements and organize activities with the community, like happenings or events in the city, involving the communities.

All the events and the happenings I talked about won't happen if the schools in our communities and the students communities don't raise the awareness and emphasize the importance of being involved in the community.Schools need to have lessons about community service, teach values and help the students to choose their own path to be more involved in their communities.

To conclude, I think our generation can be helpful, we can make a difference in our communities.
We can change our and others' lives  for the better.
We just need help and the right push to do it. We can be helpful but we just need to be motivated.   

Much better. Very good work!
(90)

Daphna

(תיקנתי)

All Of Her Years - Post Reading

I have changed, I'm not the same man as I was before the incident. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a regular Sunday, I woke up from bed and I started to prepare myself to the big test I had to do in math. It was a big test and I wanted to get a good grade, it was very important to me because it was the final exam of the year. I was confident because I studied a lot and I had no fear from failing or getting a bad grade.

It all began when I entered the class.
I sat at my table, waiting for the teacher to hand over the test so we could start the test. She gave me the test and she returned to her table. I opened the test and suddenly I felt a strange feeling.
I began to be less confident and I feared I might fail.

I went over the math questions and I felt a great confusion and I started to be nervous. I tried to answer the questions but I couldn't. Next to me sat my friend Tom, who was a genius in math.
I was so nervous and I didn’t know what to do, so I tried to ask him to help me with the test. I didn’t think twice, all I wanted was to get a high score. Tom managed to help me with some of the questions  until the teacher noticed me and Tom cheating. She stood up and came towards us, she was very angry and she took my test and Tom's test and she failed both of us.

At that moment I understood that I failed my friend and myself. I felt terrible about the test but more about my friend Tom who failed the test. From that moment I started to be more responsible for my actions.
I was selfish, I didn’t think for a second about what it will do to Tom.
From this day I started considering my actions and their outcome.

Very Good work!

(100)

Daphna

Poem from the parent's prespective

Our wish is that he will clean his room.
Our wish is that he will clean the dishes.
Our wish is that he will throw the trash.
Our wish is that he will finish his meal.
Our wish is that he will not complain.
Our wish is that he will listen to us and go to sleep right away.

Good!

A Letter To The Editor

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       78 Homa And Migdal

                                                             Holon
                                                                                                          96185
                                                                                                                                    September 9, 2013

The Editor
Eiton Haaretz
106 Chamber Road
Los Angeles, California 
Holon

Dear editor

I must say I enjoyed reading your article " Israel suspends standardized tests"
As a former student I have done all the meitzav exams through the years, I remember myself and my teachers trying to achieve the highest grade on that test.
I studied hard and my teachers were giving us a lot of practice so we could get the highest grade and make our school successful.
I think that suspending the meitzav tests or the standardized test is a great choice, I hated doing them and I remember that all the hard work preparing for them took a lot of our time, time we could have used to study more material and advance in our studies.

What I'm trying to say is that I agree with Shay Piron the minister of the education to suspend the meitzav test because of the damage they cause to the education in our country. Exams are made to test the student's  knowledge at the material he is learning in his class.
But if the exam is concentrating in compressing him(ww.- not clear what you mean) to another student it won't help him to improve and learn from his mistakes.

"In a world based on cooperation, teamwork and creative thought, we’ve enslaved our children to endless memorization that ends with them sitting alone in front of the paper and hoping to get better grades than the person sitting next to them"( you have to write whose words these are, that’s how I felt, instead of enjoying my studies and be interested in what I learn I was forced to learn my material for one cause and that's to succeed in the meitzav exam.

Today if you are not interested in what you are learning you are like a machine, you work hard but you don’t feel that you connect with material. I think the students needs to do more workes and  projects about things they love and understand.
It will be essential and easier for the student because they will learn and enjoy but also work hard to achieve the grade they want to have.

I hope I shed a new light on the subject of your article.

Sincerely yours,

Tom Potter Jones.   

(82)
Daphna

(לא הבנתי את התיקונים שאני צריך לבצע כאן)

Bridging Text and Context – As I Grew Older

Bridging Text and Context – As I Grew Older

The information we are given is about Langston Hughes and about the African – American artistic movement which is trying to improve the life of the African American people.

The information we are given about Langston Hughes is that he is a writer and a poet.
It tells us about his goal to achieve equal rights and freedom for the African American people. He tried to deliver the emotions and the voice of the African American people through his writing and to motivate otherAfrican American people to react towards the reality that is forced on them. He expressed pride in his blackness so others could rise and resist.

The information above is reflected in the poem. In the poem I can interpret that he has a dream that he wants to accomplish, and that dream is to get freedom and equal rights to the African American people. He wants to break the "wall" that prevents him and his people from being free and accomplishing their dreams. His fight against the laws of segregation is also reflected in the poem in the words "break through the wall!" he wants to encourage others to resist the segregation laws and fight for their equal rights in life.

As its says in the information, Langston in the poem "As I grew older" tries to motivate the African American people to believe in themselves and not to feel weak or inferior because of the color of their skin.
On the contrary, he wants them to believe that they can change the situation with their bare hands, he is trying to motivate them through the words "My dark hands break through the wall find my dream help me to shatter the darkness" with those words he tries to motivate his people to fight for their rights and for their dreams.
Using their hands also suggests creative artistic work, that is done with their hands.

Based on the information, I think that the speaker is the poet himself.

In the information I was told that he was a writer and a poet and that he wanted to express the African American emotions and voice through his writing, so I can infer that the speaker in the poem is also the Langston that is trying to tell his story and the story of his people. I think that the best way to deliver his message is to give a personal example from his life.
In that way, African Americans could identify with his idea of giving them the freedom and the rights they deserve. 

Better. Well done!
(93)
Daphna 

(תיקנתי)    

Post Reading – Introduction to Poetry

Introduction to Poetry – Post Reading

In Introduction to Poetry Billy Collins, the poet, is saying that students and teachers should learn and teach poetry in a way they can both enjoy and experience the way to the understanding of the poem. He wants the teachers and the students explore the true meaning of the poem and not teach it by the book, he wants the teachers and the students to understand it on their own way.

I support Billy Collins' way of teaching poetry.

The way that  students and teachers make towards understanding the meaning of the .poem is the most important part in poetry and in many aspects of life

They change their way of thinking so they can understand the poem and as a result they open their minds and think more creative. 

Moreover, I think that in order to understand the meaning of the poem each student and teacher should make their own interpretation of the poem, in that way they can gain the best from the poem. I think that when poetry is taught students learn the teacher's interpretation of the poem.
The teacher is trying to make poetry easier for the students but actually he hurts the students by not letting them express their own feelings and their own thoughts about the poem.

To sum up, I think that each student needs to learn poetry on his own way and that he needs to find the clues or the words that he can relate so he could understand and interpretate the song by himself. Teachers need to be more open with the different opinions from the students towards a poem they teach them. If teachers want the students to open their minds and to be more creative in poetry, they need to let the students express their feelings and thoughts.

(תוקן)    

This is much better, but still needs work.
(77)
Daphna

 A Summer's Reading Reflection page – 49
1. I enjoyed reading the story, because I learned that lying can cover the truth

George lied him picking up his education, it made him feel bad about himself, about the lie he told Mr. Catanzara.At the end he raised about those feelings and he started to pick up his education.

2. Learning about the skills of Explaining Cause and Effect and Uncovering Motives influence my understanding of the story, it helped me understand the character's behavior and their intention in the story.

The Uncovering Motive helped me to understand why Mr. Catanzara helped George and not told that he lied, why he covered his lie by another lie to help him.

I uncover the intention of Mr. Catanzara to help George improve his life.

The Cause and Effect skill helped me to understand why George had to lie about him reading books.

He wanted people to respect him and treat him as a big boy, but he knew that he had to lie about something that will make him seem as he grew up and not the little boy, immature that drop out from school.

3. The characterization of character will add to my enjoyment of the story, because it helped me the characters in the story, their role in the story and how they affect each character in the story.

With the characterization I could predict the character's behavior and what they will do in the future.        

 A Summer's Reading Post reading page – 49 option 1

June 15, 1920

Dear diary,

Today I told Mr. Catanzara that I'm(gr.-was) planning to read a hundred books in the summer, so I could pick up my education. Of course I lied to him, I wanted him to respect me and treat me as a big boy.

I hope he won't tell anyone in the neighborhood about our conversation so no one will ask me questions about it and discover that I lied.

June 16, 1920

Dear diary,

Today, when I went (out) to the street for my regular walk at night in the neighborhood, something strange happened.
The shoemaker on the next block stopped me and said that I'm(gr.) a good boy, I thanked him and continued my walk across my neighborhood.

After a few moments, I realized that Mr. Catanzara had told the shoemaker about me picking up my education. Now that the lie had been told(gr.) it won't cause any trouble.

June 17, 1920

Dear dairy,

Today, when I woke up, my sister Sophie behaved very strangely, she was kind to me and she gave me a buck instead of a few nickels.

I realized that she also heard about the lie that I'm(gr.) trying to pick up my education and wanted to support me.

I think the lie about the books helped me, it helped me gain the respect of the people in my neighborhood, and they started to treat me as a grown up.

June 18, 1920  

Dear diary,

Today was not a good day. I went again for my nightly walk, when I saw Mr. Catanzara

I noticed from his walk that he was drunk, so I thought I could pass him without him noticing me, but I was wrong.

Mr. Cattanzara noticed me and started to ask me about the books I was reading. I was calm but inside I was crumbling, I feared that he discovered  that I had lied about the books and so he would be angry at me and that he is(gr.) going to tell everyone that I was lying  and they are going hate me.

I didn't say much about the books, instead, I pushed him aside and I ran from him.

The next morning I was walking in the street and people were treating me kindly and they told me they were proud of me.  I guess that Mr. Catanzara told them that I had finished reading all my books.

I thought that the lie is be(gr.) a good solution for my life but I realized that it hurt me, so I learned that lying is bad. So now I'm going to the library and I will start reading some real books so I can pick up my education. 

Much better. Well done!

(94)

Daphna

A Summer's Reading - Bridging

Bridging Text And Context page – 49

The background information tells us about Bernard Malamud, the writer of the story "A Summer's Reading". It tells us who he is, what he is writing about and what is the message that he is trying to deliver through his writing. The information says that the main subject of his writing is about characters that are often awkward and isolated from society. In "A Summer's Reading" the main character, George, is searching for hope and meaning within poor urban settings.

Like the background information about Bernard Malamud, the writer of the story "A Summer's Reading" choose(gr.) to write about George, (Start a new sentence) his age is close to twenty, (he is) a loner, with no job and education, he is poor, he doesn't communicate with the people in his neighborhood and he is searching to improve his life.

In "A Summer's Reading" George lies about him trying to pick up his education,(New setence) he lied because he wanted to impress Mr. Catanzara so he wouldn't think that he was a lazy, dumb person who wasn't doing anything with his life.

In the story "A Summer's Reading", education is very important, if someone has education it makes it easier to get a job and money, George didn't had(gr.) (an)  education so he didn’t had(gr.) a job so(מיותר). he felt the need to lie so no one will(gr.) think he is(gr.) lazy.

George felt embarrassed in front of Mr. Catanzara, who was his only friend, (new sentence)he wanted him to respect him so he lied to him and told him that he was reading to pick up his education.

The moment that George had to lie to Mr. Catanzara is the awkward situation in "A Summer's Reading" of Bernard Malamud, it is (also) the starting point of the change in Georg's personality and in his life.
The information helped me understand the purpose of each event in the story between each character(phr.), it helped me understand George's character, his difficulties and the reason for his actions in the story.



 

It's better.Good work.
(90)
Daphna