Ramzi’s Academics in Eighth Grade

In our class we had to either create a movie of Anne’s voice or a monument in her honor. The paragraphs below are about images, symbols, sounds and how they are used in the presentation along with how they influence and appeal to viewers. The paragraphs also talk about ESLR’s used, our overall grade and what each member of our group had done.

The symbols we had used were a train, chimney, radio, diary, bare wire, bar code, Star of David, Gates to camps and
Iwo Jima.

The train represents how all the Jews were taken away from there families by force and sent to a miserable camp where they were to die. Most of the Jews that were transported died before even reaching the camps which turned this symbol from just transportation to death to actual death.

The chimney was a sad symbol because it represents how the Nazi’s burned all the Jews. It was a way of eliminating Jews. Of course it was no the only means of extermination but to us it was the most brutal.

The radio was like our modern television or computer, it was in fact they only way of knowing about the outside world for Anne. Since she was stuck in the secret annex with no way to escape to the outside world she had to relay on this old but effective way of communication to learn about the war and the outside world.

Anne’s diary is a major symbol which represents the hope people have for their life, family and the world. It also shows that every one needs someone who they could express their feelings too. Even though she had all the essential things like food and water she didn’t have anyone who she could talk and who would listen to a teenager since everyone living there was a bit moody.

The bare wire was a sign of containment and a sign of no escape. Since the borders of concentration camps were either lined with walls, bare wire or fences. I thought that the barb wire was the most effective item to display to show restraint.

The bar codes were written on each prisoner for labeling, it represents how their identity and individually were taken away as soon as they arrived in the camps. The Star of David is a symbol that represents the Jews, but we had used this star with our own custom animation to help make the symbol represent the prisoners of Jews. Every one who was a Jew had to wear they particular star to distinguish their race.

Gates to the camps were the imaginary border line from life and death. Even on the outside world you will be dragged into the inside of the gates. Most likely the people who were dragged into the gates would probably never get out. The camps had given little food so the only way for them to not starve to death is to communicate or get through the grates.

The last symbol is the
Iwo Jima this symbol is a statue that represents the victory in World War Two. There are many statues of this which represents the amount of countries that were affected and the number of countries who tried to stop this horrible event.

The symbols will be influential on people because when ever they see the sign they will remember the power point which is much easier to memorize then a bunch of words. Symbols are also more appealing to viewers like images so it would grab their entire intention.

The images that we had used were basically about Anne Frank and the Holocaust. Anne Frank pictures were about her form a baby too about 17 years old because she didn’t live any longer. Some of the pictures were also of the secret Annex. The picture of the holocaust had included the before and after pictures of the war. I choose these pictures to make people viewing it more emotional. I thought that the starving children were a good picture for this. Images are influential because you get to see with your own eyes what the results of some actions are. It is also more appealing to people to see visuals because they are visual learners.

We had only used one sound because if we had added more the effects might have taken more of the excitement away from the visuals which to us is the most important. We had chosen this particular song because it had a smooth and easy flow of rhythm which makes it very effective for this type of power point. The smooth violent sound made it a lot sadder and more influential on all the viewers. Sound effects give written and visual presentations more appealing to people and influences them to take action.

Text didn’t play a major role in this power point presentation but if we hadn’t used it, it might not have been as effective, the reason being that text helps the viewers know what you are trying to say, what you are trying to build up, and also to let the viewers get ready for the next images.

I overall think that the three major aspect (symbols, images, sounds and text) when put all together can be very influential and appealing to viewers especially if it is a major problem happening right now.

The most important aspect of this essay is the main messages that it unleashes to the world which aren’t in word form. Symbols are the most important things to help people remember and stop awful event like this to ever happen again. To see which symbol is overall the best you have to know every ones role in the power point, the war and the book or Anne Frank. To our group the most powerful symbol is bar code because it talks about how the Jews weren’t treated like a human but more like a product, while I feel that the most powerful and meaningful image is the picture of the children that were starving and how you could se their misery and their ribs.

The biggest ESLR to me and my group is effective communicator because we are warning the outside world of the past disasters and though they can’t change history they can change their actions and the present.

We made a PowerPoint presentation but we made it look like an iMovie because that was the original assignment so we demonstrated our creative talents to convey ideas and we incorporated technology as a tool for communication because were trying to bring over a message about Anne Frank. We listened respectfully and asked questions to achieve insight, not just to the teacher but also to each other. When ever we had questions or comments we would always express them. We demonstrated the skill of effective collaboration by dividing up the work and by helping each other complete our parts of the project when ever they needed help. We had to collaborate with each other to achieve group goals because that was one of the major points of this project, to make us collaborate and work with each other. We had to understand the written, oral and visual information in our project to make the project sensible. We also demonstrated awareness for the role of the audience in the sense that we didn’t used to explicit images and texts from WWII so that if by any chance WWII victims would see this PowerPoint they won’t get hurt or offended also we had chosen some cruel and nasty pictures to show our class how to change the future actions we take.

Some other bullet points we did that weren’t an effective communicator is we build meaning and understanding by using prior knowledge and new information because we did it about Anne Frank and the WWII so we had to do some research and we had to learn about WWII and Anne Frank to successfully complete this project. We demonstrated the skills and ability to work both independently and collaboratively by doing most of the work together at school and everything what we couldn’t finish we did at home. We also used a variety of sources like the internet and books to get our information from and we used technology to creatively and efficiently complete our project. We demonstrated responsibility in active decision making and awareness for the right of others and interacted respectfully with people of diverse cultures by looking at our content and audience during active decision making and interacting respectfully with ourselves (members in our team).We accepted responsibility for our own learning by taking on the tasks we (members of our team) had given us, took creative risks in developing untried ideas by doing a PowerPoint rather than an iMovie or a memorial and we demonstrated competency in goal setting, time management and organizational skills by setting our personal goals within the group, managing our time in and out of school and organizational skills by organizing this project.

In this project, we divided our job into three so that everyone has to do something. Firstly, Ramzi found images, made first draft of the power point, described the symbol of each pictures and reflected the ESLR’s in this project. He was the hardest worker in this group, and I think he worked as a leader to finish this project. Secondly,
Milos found the music, and made the power point look like a movie. He was technologically advanced and helped us so much. He was very supportive, as well. Then, I found images and wrote, “Who did what” part of this essay. I think I worked well, and was corporative. Overall, we did such a great job, and we always worked together very hard.

At the end of all our work we had not just created a power point that will just play one day and that’s the end but it will stay with the entire class for years to come. We had created a piece of the war that we will never forget or let ever happen again. My group and I had thought overall that the finish product was a great success. The entire group had felt that our final grade would be excellent, the reason being that we had thought hard and long for the perfect songs to be able to place in our power point. We would give our grade for the entire final project a B or a B+.

I thought in the beginning we would not be able to accomplish this task but in the end it was worked out nicely. The entire process of setting this entire project was quite simple because if you had planned and organized every ones tasks you can easily accomplish the project with commitment. In the beginning we had decide dot make a power point. Then we had found all the sounds and images we were going to use. After that we had made a story board and we had planned all the images, text and sounds we were going to use for each slide show. At last we created the power point. Once we had finished the power point we had split the responsibility of the written part of the essay. Through out the entire procedure we were organized which allowed us to do every thing fast and efficiently.

In our class we had to write a paragraph about a section in the book Anne Frank (Page 43 November 7, 1942. The chapter discusses how she has to live everyday life compared with her sister and being treated like a child. 

I believe that I along with hundreds of viewers in the outside world can relate to Anne feelings, emotions and reaction to the event very closely. After reading this passage you can see what I mean by the similar relationships between your parents and siblings. I have my own set of opinion of Anne’s ideas. They maybe different but they are surely similar in some ways.

I feel I can relate with Anne in many levels. When I read her entry I realized that when she stated that her parents compare her to her sister I can relate because my parents don’t really compare us but, when ever something terrible or exciting comes my parents always listen to my sister more because of her age. Overall I think that Anne’s parents compare her more to her sister because of this quote in the book “now Margot is just the pettiest, sweetest, most beautiful girl in the world”. My parents don’t compare me towards my sister as much as Anne’s parents did which I am thankful for.

Another similarity that I share with Anne Frank is how I relate better to one of my parents then the other. Don’t get me wrong I love both my mom and dad greatly but, some how I get along better with my mom. It’s different from Anne’s point of view because she closer to her father but I’m just the opposite.

A difference I realized I had with Anne is that my dad doesn’t just go on my sisters’ side no matter what the event. Like in the passage it says “it’s obvious that mummy would stick up for Margot; she and Margot always do back each other up”. In that quote I could understand now why her relationship with her mom wasn’t very sturdy and close. I feel it’s because her mom takes side with Margot which I really think is unfair especially for a parent. Not because Anne’s mom didn’t always back her up it’s just that her mom didn’t give them both a chance to express their side. This might because her mom is unfair or that Anne was just exaggerating the event in her diary.

A fascinating difference I discovered is that when Anne said “I’m not a baby or a spoiled darling any more, to be laughed at, whatever she does. I have my own views, plans, and ideas”. From this single quote I had seen a great dissimilarity because my parents now treat me as an adult with my own responsibilities and dreams instead of Anne’s parents. My parents let me have the right to speak and express my opinions and they will reflect on them with consideration.

In the book we read Anne Frank, she had to leave her home, cat and friends to go into hiding from the Nazis. While she could only bring a few items she said this quote “But I’m not sorry, memories mean more to me than dresses”. These paragraphs will talk about items I would personally bring if I were in Anne’s shoes and going to an unknown place. The question “Memories or dresses” is related to the book we reading Anne Frank.  

I agreed with Anne Franks quote above and to me memories are much more valuable than material items such as cloths. Even though they are nice and comfortable they don’t last long for you to remember it. The first items that came to my mind is my laptop and my phone so I can connect the outside world and learn more through the internet but, realizing that the location I am going to may not have any electricity or internet excess so I thought of news items I will bring such as writing pads, stationary items, school albums, puzzles and board games. I choose these items because even thought I know that I am going to leave all my past memories I can create new and happier memories with my family through events.

Writing pads would be my first items because being isolated in a room will create boredom so using paper you can play games with your family such as hangman. Writing pads are also useful by letting you write your feelings if you don’t want to express them out loud. Creative writing or journal entries can also help you get through the hard times and record your happy moments in a dreadful location.

Of course with out stationary items such as pens, pencils, color pencils and makers writing pads would be useless. Pen and pencils help make writing pads useful while color pencils and markers brighten your surroundings and create a more attractive presentation of your work. Erasers and sharpeners are also essential for these items so I would not just bring a pencil or two, I would bring containers full of them and along with a supply of sharpeners erasers and maybe rulers.

School/ personal albums store and remind you of past happiness which will help you move forward and thrive more through out our entire experience so that once you have achieved your goal of hiding you can enjoy your friends and teachers again. People might say that keeping past memories can only cause pain but from the past memories they can remind you of past lessons learnt with the new knowledge you know now you can combine them so you can survive your daily life.

Puzzles and board games can fall into the same category because they both not only keep you entertained but, they allow you to achieve a better relation ship with the people around you. Puzzles such as crosswords or Sudoku help stimulate the mind and remind you of your school learning’s. Board games like Chess, Life or Risk can help you connect between people and can help you learn their personalities and strengths along with their weaknesses. 

So these are the items I would bring with me if I were in Anne Frank’s shoes and going to a mysterious and new environment and way of life.

Courage is a word that means many things. Courage is basically the same as bravery. I personally think that courage is not some thing that someone can give you because to have courage you have to make sacrifices no matter what the event is. Courage can’t be bought or sold it has to be earned. Living life without courage is still possible but it will be boring because you limit yourself for what you can do. Some people say that courage is dreadful because of the risks you have to take and how unsafe it can be but if you believe this you can’t obtain complete courage because part of being courageous is to face your fears even if you have to give up the thing you want most. Courage is the ability to achieve a greater standard above your fear even if you do really fear it. Courage isn’t that you can get rid of your fears it is that you can confront them. Courage may seem very difficult especially when it’s talking about your fears but once you overcome it you will have courage. To be courageous you don’t have to be strong or fast but you must have will power.