Lies, Deceit and Propagandas

World War 2, I never thought there were so many things that lead to Hitler's rise to power. How many lies he said, how many people he killed and the lives he ruined. But then you wonder, how did he get so many people to see what he saw? It was by the propaganda's! He made propagandas that showed Jew's in the worst that they could look. And the people believed the propagandas instead of actually looking at the real Jew's that used to walk the streets of their neighborhoods.

I decided to do a propaganda named 'The Eternal Jew' made by David Pinsk in 1937. The background is a bright yellow color, it represents Germany, all bright, happy and beautiful. Then there is the man in front of it. His skin a sickly gray color and his face covered in wrinkles. His dark clothes that look like they should be worn to a funeral. His arm stretched out as if saying he has money Germany's money and they don't! His shoulders are hunched forward as if he is slumping to show his laziness. He wants to bring Communism to Germany fromt he Communist sign on Germany. Also he has the whip it shows he is threatening. This picture screams out that Jews are bad for Germany!

Although I have been referring to this as a picture throughout my post so far it is actually a poster that was once decorating the streets of Germany, a book cover and a movie poster. I think they wanted to target all kinds of audiences. This must have been one of the early posters because it looks like they are trying to convince their supporters that Jews are bad.

This poster shows what Hitler wanted them to think of Jews. That they were threatening and bad for Germany. Like all the wrinkles on the mans skin and the gray skin. Also when he is asking for money that they are pathetic and just want money. That they don't even look like them with their brown hair and eyes. If I was a German then I would have been disgusted by the Jews. I would be thinking how could they have so many flaws? That they are infecting our beautiful nation. That's probably what most people thought when they saw this. But if I somehow made a time machine and went back into time then I would look at the propagandas then I would look at the real Jews then I would know that they were all lies!

This poster was very misleading! Because they showed a person who is obviously not exceeding in the beauty category and on top of that they are asking for money. They are also utilizing lies about what all Jews are! Maybe one or two Jews were like that but they told everyone that all Jews were like this. This poster obviously gives a negative opinion on Jews, they wanted everyone to think that Jews were pathetic ugly people when not all Jews were!

To Be Fair or Not To Be Fair?

We are about to start our World War 2/Holocaust unit in Humanities. So why are we studying The Treaty of Versailles? Well, The Treaty of Versailles played a big role in why Hitler started the Holocaust. What is The Treaty of Versailles you ask? Well in World War 1 or The Great War, the Europeans, U.S and France signed the treaty, it was like a peace treaty to try and ensure this kind of thing doesn't happen again. But their they blamed Germany for starting The Great War. Germany had to pay a big fine, was stripped of her military rights, all her oversea land was taken from her, she lost Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland and she had to give part of her land to Allied troops for 15 years! So here is the big question; was it fair or not?

This was definitely unfair! Of course some of the rules were fair, like Germany respecting the fact that Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland are independent countries now. But when they pretty much strip Germany's military rights to just about nothing that is just desperate! If they are already making Germany pay such a big debt that they are struggling economically and agriculturally then I don't see the need to take away most of their military. With them running so low economically that they will be able to support their military properly? They are pretty much trying to make them vulnerable!

Also since Russia also helped Germany in the war why didn't Russia have to help Germany in the reparations? If Russia and Germany were both on the wrong side of the war then why didn't Russia have to help with the reparations? That was also very unfair. They also didn't let anyone speak for Germany, and they didn't give Germany a chance to have a trial. This started World War 2. Also when the stories about the Jews backstabbing the Germans during the war, these stories started when the treaty was made. Since the treaty blamed the Germans the Germans also wanted to blame someone, they blamed the Jews. They didn't think about the future, they only thought of how to end the war momentarily!

Doodlers!

We did learning profiles in Humanities, again... I thought mine might change like my friend's has but it didn't, it still is J! I'm so happy because I love being J. I'm a HUGE doodler, all over my planner, my binder, some of my assignments. Sometimes when I have been doing something for a long time, I just start doodling and that calms me down and helps me concentrate more. Everyone thinks I'm a logic, but that is because they don't really pay attention to me! Just because I'm in advanced math does not mean I'm a logic person! I have always drawn things, random things. Things from school, like what we talked about in math, or what happened in humanities. When I found out I'm a kinesthetic learner all my friends didn't believe me. But what they don't know is I always tap my toes in my shoes, move my feet around, shake my leg or doodle.

There are some specific ways my profile types learn best. So, I learn best through movement and by focusing on the whole picture, context and emotional relevance to self. If I'm stressed out then I shut down. I would stare that the thing that stresses me out, stop communicating and get pretty clumsy. My biggest challenge as a learner may be to access information and put them into a logical manner, that I can communicate through. I know that is true because I have always focused on the big picture and not the details, that is why I'm not good at debating, they always use the small details I have over-looked against me!

I need to move around. If I stay still for too long then my mind just slows down and I get this weird feeling as if my mind was in slow motion and everything is super slow and weird. Then I get up and suddenly my head clears up and I don't feel like my mind is in slow motion anymore.

I would like my teachers to know that if I'm doodling when they are talking, I'm still listening to them! They always make me put my doodle sheet away and it always annoys me. When they have a visual presentation on then, yes they can get angry at me for doodling but when they are talking then if I doodle its like I'm taking notes, if they were talking about ex. Daedalus and Icarus. Then I would doodle some wings, the sun, the ocean, a hand trying to grab hold of the other. Just parts of the instructions, story etc... That I think are important or that intrigue me. That will be all over my planner so when I look at my planner to see what I have to do then I will see all my doodle about Icarus and Daedalus and when I doodle I get a deeper meaning of what we are talking about.

So there it is, more about me and my learning styles. I did this last year for the first time and now I know even more about about my learning styles. This just keeps gettin gmore and more interesting!

I Remember......

We had the honor of meeting the famous poet, Taylor Mali, in our Humanities class. He talked about his work. But then he talked about his memories. He talked about his early mother's memories, his brother's early memories and he made us all laugh with his funny faces. That inspired us to think about our early memories.

I remember making a makeshift hut with my bed, blanket and books, but it didn't work because the books fell on my head, when I was 5.

I remember helping my mom and my brother make red Thai curry except we had a little malfunction and it turned green

I remember on my 8th birthday a parrot asked for my rainbow ice-cream.

I remember waking up in the middle of the night and hearing my brother talk, I was still afraid of the dark then and I asked him if he could go and turn on the light so I could go to the bathroom. But I didn't realize he was sleep talking.

I remember my cousin picking me up from art class, when a pack of stray dogs started chasing us. They chased us all the way to my front door.

I remember playing on a make shift swing my father made for me. When I was high up, one of the ropes broke and I fell I had enough sense to duck before the swing came back and hit me.

I remember stealing mangoes from the kitchen, until my mother caught me and for my punishment I had to watch everyone eat mangoes while I had nothing.

I remember when I first came to KL, I had never worn short socks so I thought my parents had bought me baby socks.

I remember fighting with my cousin over a pink color pencil (our favorite color was pink!)

I remember crying when my mom told me we were going to move to Malaysia.

My Name

My name says a lot of things about me. My name is a mixture of the lightest of blues, purples and pinks, a very feminine name. My name is one of a kind. Some people say it is weird; some say it is beautiful. But I say it is me; everything about me is my name. In India my name was a beautiful name with the right pronunciation! But here it is a different thing altogether. It is distinguished into three different parts. In India or inside of my family it is one word, three syllables that come together as one to make my name. My name reminds me of silk. It slips out of my mouth. I’m almost used to correcting people with the pronunciation of my name. Very few people have got it right. Some of my friends just call me Nanda, my last name. But that is not me, I share it with my family; it is us, not me. My name is Pratiti.

I have been teased about my name. When I first came to Malaysia there was a big girl on my bus. I was in first grade and she was in fifth grade. She was a Korean and she made fun of my name, I could hear them laughing at the back of the bus, whispering and pointing at me. I still remember her long dark hair, pale skin and her tall frame. The funny thing was, I thought her name was weird! I had never been exposed to international schools so I thought her name was odd. But I had some manners and didn’t think it would be funny to make fun of her name. Other times when the teacher mispronounces my name, some people laugh at it. I laugh along with them, because I don’t take it as an insult, I find it funny.

My name means ‘belief’ -- it is a Sanskrit word. I think I’m very privileged to be named after such an important word. Isn’t it ‘believe’ that always comes before hope in inspirational speeches? “We have to believe there is hope!” Don’t people always say, “you have to believe in yourself” or “I believe in you!” My parents named me Pratiti for two reasons. My brother’s name is Pratik and they wanted my name to be something similar. The second is they believed I could do wonders. I’m going to prove them right! I will make them proud of me. I will make sure that I do wonders. My father wanted to name me Sabrina from a female protagonist in a book he was reading during the time I was born. He doesn’t remember what the book was called anymore since he read it about thirteen years ago! I have a nickname that only my family calls me: Munlee. My brother’s nickname is Leemun, so my nickname is his nickname backwards. But the ‘m’ and the ‘n’ change places and the ‘l’ goes before the two ‘e’s.

I love my name; I believe that it is unique. I mean how many people have you met whose name is Pratiti? I’m not saying that I’m the only one with the name but it stands out. I have always wanted to stand out and I think I do. My entire family is organized with everything. They have all graduated with good grades and they all love to do math, they are consistent in their grades! But me, my grades change from time to time, my room is always a mess and I enjoy reading about myths and history, I love setting my imagination wild and put what I’m thinking into words! It all adds up to humanities! It is true: My father is a marine engineer; it involves high level math! My brother is studying accounting and finance which also involves math. My mother is a housewife ,but cooking also involves math! But I want to study literature, I find it interesting, something that I can study without getting bored!

This is Me in 3!

Guess what I am doing right now? I am staring blankly at my computer screen trying to figure out the third thing that describes me! The first two came to me very easily -- all my books and my tennis racket. But I just can’t figure out what the third thing should be. A million things are going through my head right now but I have to find the perfect one, the one that will be the final piece for me that I will be sharing with you. Something that I love dearly and gives me love, joy, can bring back beautiful memories from the past and maybe even from the present! I know it, my big stuffed pink toy dog. I know it sounds silly but I love that dog and I have had him since I moved to Malaysia.

I love reading; everyone who knows me knows I love reading. When I really like a book I can feel everything in it. I feel as if I am in a new world, a new person! Sometimes I get so lost in a book that when my mom calls me, I can’t hear her (I get in trouble for that all the time!). I have only been in three countries: India, Malaysia and Singapore. However, in books I have been to England, Hogwarts, Elantya, Medieval times, Forks, dancing with the 12 dancing princesses, in the labyrinth with Annabeth and many more! As you can see I only like to read fantasy, fiction , romantic fiction (e.g., Twilight) and adventures. But all the non-fiction and biographies bore me. My parents try to make me read them but I don’t. I feel sleepy when I try to read non-fiction or biographies. When I walk into Kinokuniya, MPH or Times I feel like I am a five year old again and I get to pick out a new Barbie doll! Any place that is filled with books is like my own wonderland, a portal to many different worlds, like the library where they have plenty of books, it’s my favorite place in the school. I sometimes spend hours on the library catalog trying to find a good book to read!

My tennis racket is important to me because my brother is really good at tennis and I am taking lessons with his old coach. I hope to be as good as he is someday. I do lessons every Sunday. Sometimes when my brother coaches me I feel like he really cares about what I am doing and how good I am. He spends the whole hour we booked the tennis court for coaching me when he could be doing wall practice! I feel like he really cares about me. It’s like our special bonding time. I really suck at serving so my brother spent a half an hour trying to teach me how to do it properly! Thanks to him I am much better at service now. When I pick up my tennis racket, I tie up my shoe laces and make sure my water bottle is full then I turn myself onto alert mode. When I am running around hitting the ball on the court I feel alive, sporty and healthy. I feel strong when I really am not! The ball comes towards me and everything is slowing down: my pony tail bounces on my back, sweat trickles down my spine and head, my hands move in a circular motion and hit the ball with all the strength they can muster. That's what it feels like to play tennis, for me. I love it, it is a part of me and always will be!

My big pink stuffed dog’s name is Purple because she has a big purple nose . To me Purple is not a stuffed dog; to me she is a protector, a guardian or my very own archangel. Whenever I have a nightmare she is always lying there on my bed and I grab hold of her pull her close and fall asleep feeling safe! Do you ever get the feeling when you look at someone or something that you think will protect you for the rest of your life and always will be there for you? Well Purple is the dog who I wiped my tears on when I was upset about something. She was the dog I held onto when I woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible nightmare still playing in my head! She is very battered right now but she has all these good memories! Like the first time I ever scared my brother, he was about to turn the corner and I threw Purple at him: he was so surprised that he jumped back and almost toppled over! That was one of the funniest memories ever! Purple is a big part of my life I will never throw her away or do anything to her that will take her away from me!

My Awesome Bio-Poem

Pratiti

Who is surprisingly nice, devastatingly disorganized, consistently loyal and sometimes unpredictable

Who admires her brother Pratik, Loves her mom and dad and values all her best friends

Who reads only fiction books, spends hours on the Internet and stares at landscapes

Who feels dead tired after swimming, goofy after drama and hyper after a boring day of sitting around

Who is scared of all kinds of slithery snakes, pitch black darkness closing around her and saying good bye to people she loves

Who is very proud of winning her first bronze medal ever in breaststroke

Wants to see Paris, feel the cool snow falling around her and hear a mockingbird sing in it’s beautiful voice

Lives in KL, Malaysia, Asia, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy

Nanda