The Strange Chicago Blog

One of my most valuable possessions are my Lokai bracelets. A lokai bracelet is a bracelet made of rubber and has a black and white bead. The white bead has water from the highest point on earth, Mt. Everest. The black beak has mud from the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea. The beads represent a meaning of balance, when you've reached a high, stay humble, when you've reached a low, stay hopeful. I love these bracelets because when I'm mad, happy, sad, angry, or anything I take a look at one of my bracelets and remind myself to stay balanced, and that balance is key. Overall, I really love these bracelets because they determinate   me on keeping my balance and remind me to be the best I can possibly be.

Fools Gold by Melody Carlson is about a Young Girl named Hannah who loses herself. She is a young girl from Australia and her parents are missionaries. She doesn't quite act the same and when her parents leave her with her uncle this summer, she truly realizes this maybe isn't the life she wants, or is it? In the book Hannah is faced with many obstacles and she really gets to see some natural ugly teenage drama. Throughout the book she is mortified numerous amount of times and for what? She then becomes face to face with a choice that can possibly really effect her in life. You have to read to find out the path she takes and if fitting in is worth loosing herself for. I really loved this book and thought it shared so many valuable lessons. Not only that but the book also displayed many issues and events that are so relatable and can effect you in a big way, especially if you're a teenager. I would give this book a 4 star rating out of 5 because I wish the ending had mor...

Freedom Writers was a great movie. It had everyone's attention and was very eye opening. The movie really made you appricieate life and what we have. For example  many of these kids were very articulate and would say nearly everything that came to their mind which was really hard at first. Another example in the movie is that almost all the kids showed some sort of problem in their home life wether it was violent, homelessness, or even having choosing between family members. The movie showed that it was hard no matter what the situation is and that no matter what it's always better to try your best rather than just give up like many though of doing. Overall Freedom Writers was a amazing book and was an excellent choice by the teacher to show it because of its many lessons.

The movie is very similar to what we've been reading because it shows a lot of the same events. For example in the texts we've read it says that there were gas chambers and Jews who were worked to death which was demonstrated  in the movie when the man found all those bones or when they told him about what they do to kids. Another thing that was shown in the movie that was also shown in the articles were when the Germans thought their race was superior and when the Germans banned Jews from certain places like at the party the dad was a waiter at and the girl was saying Aryian children are superior. These examples show that the movie did a great job of displaying the horrible acts of the Germans to the Jews during the Holocaust. Not only were the actions the same between the movie and articles but also were the emotions. For instance in many of our articles it says that the Jews felt helpless, overworked, tired, and hungry, in the movie all of these feeling were shown by the J...

"Forgotten" You wanton, quiet memory that haunts me all the while In order to remind me of her whom love I send. Perhaps when you caress me sweetly, I will smile, You are my confidante today, my very dearest friend. You sweet rememberance, tell a fairy tale About my girl who's lost and gone, you see. Tell, tell the one about the golden grail And call the swallow, bring her back to me. Fly somewhere back to her and ask her, soft and low, If she thinks of me sometimes with love, If she is well and ask her, too, before you go If I am still her dearest, precious dove. And hurry back, don't lose your way, So I can think of other things, But you were too lovely, perhaps to stay. I loved you once. Good-bye, my love!

This picture is displaying propaganda because it's trying to demonstrate to people not to bother speaking out and to just stay quiet instead. This picture is probably sending this message to the Jews, Gypsies, and Disabled people since they were the main targets during this time. For example on the website titled "German Propaganda Archive" to translate the poster it says,  “Shame on you, chatterer! The enemy is listening. Silence is your duty.” This shows that the Germans wanted to silence people and control them so much that they would be afraid to speak out. Overall this poster is a exmple of the Germans trying to control and silence the people by not giving them the voice they should have.

The Fiction book I read was I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson. I'll Give You The Sun was a realistic fiction book that was beautifully written. This book was about a set of teenage twins who are very different yet so alike in a weird kind of way. Ones artsy, quiet, and very in tact with his creativity, yet, the other is more sporty, loquacious , and popular. Then something happens unexpectedly and their world seems to turn upside down. Not giving to much away, overall, this is an amazing book written in two perspectives, both perspectives telling the same story in different times, to then come together to have big realization. I think I'll Give You The Sun was a great novel that really made me think about things in a very differnt way. This book had realistic problems that anyone can go through, these problems were so interesting and awful that you may have never even thought of them. Before reading this book I thought twins were pretty cool and that it would be awe...