aubrey

I really enjoyed reading Nectar in a Sieve.  It really made me think about how lucky us americans have it.  We complain all the time, and yet we have sufficient money, clothes, shelter, and freedom.  I cant imagine what it would bo like to live like Rukmani in a tiny mud made hut in a small village in india.  Also, the idea of getting married to someone that you dont even know at such a young age is unimaginable.  It seems like people here take everyday luxuries for granted.  No one really knows the true meaning of work like the indians did.  They actually had to build their own houses and grow a lot of their own food.  So they had to work all day just to survive with the bare minimum.  its so weird to think about it. their whole lives depended on it.  if they decided to not work, then they would have to suffer for it with meals, or their lives.  its also very interesting to think about the death rate then too.  if you think about it, almost all of Rukmani’s family either died or left for good.  its hard to imagine how hard that would be to be around that many deaths.  most people havent even experienced a family member dying, and if they have, then they were most likely in their old age.  it really almost seems as if this book is a fictonal story because it doesnt feel like things could really have ever been like that.  But overall, i really liked this book.  It made me think about all i have and i realize that my problems really arent that big of problems.

My favorite post while blogging on All Quiet on the Western Front would have to be my photostory.  i really enjoyed making it; finding all the pictures and music and incorporating it into the theme of the book.  And its also really fun to be able to watch it after its finished and see the result of all the work.

My least favorite post is post 6 about Paul coming in contact with the women.  The whole post is very vague and i didnt expand that much on it.  it didnt really seem like i was in the right frame of mind when i was writing it.

I have learned a lot from blogging and doing all the things pertaining to edublogs.  It has helped me a lot to interact with other people and get different view points or ideas about a similar topic like a book.  It also helped to know that i could post questions about what i was having trouble with and other people could help me out.  It was also very fun to design my own page and modify what went on my site and how it was displayed.  All in all i learned a ton from this and i enjoyed everything that had to do with it.  It was a nice change from normal, handwritten assignments and gave me the opportunity to learn something new.

aubreys PhotostoryThis is my photostory.  This is how i imagine All Quiet on the Western Front.  Its gloomy feel reflects the sadness of the war. please comment!

this poem by Thomas Hardy makes me think of how Paul must have felt after he killed the enemy~

Had he and i but met                                                                                                                     by some old ancient inn                                                                                                               we should have set us down to wet                                                                                         right many a nipperkin!

but ranged as infantry,                                                                                                                and staring face to face,                                                                                                                    i shot at him as he at me,                                                                                                            and killed him in his place.

I shot him dead because–                                                                                                     because he was my foe,                                                                                                              just so: my for of course he was:                                                                                            thats clear enough; although

He though he’d ‘list, perhaps,                                                                                                      off-hand like– just as i–                                                                                                             was out of work– had sold his traps–                                                                                      no other reason why.

Yes; quaint and curious war is!                                                                                                  you shoot a fellow down                                                                                                          you’d treat, if met where any bar is                                                                                            or help to half a crown.

 Thomas Hardy

  In reading this book, i noticed how much Paul disliked every minute of the war.  He remarks constantly about how it has no purpose and how horrible it is.  Although i agree with him at some times, i also disagree with him a lot also.  While im sure war is a dangerous and scary experience, it seems as though Paul should be thinking about how he is serving his country.  He seems almost selfish in a way, to be always harping on the negative aspects of war, when he could be focusing on how much he is helping his people and how heroic and brave he is. 

In chapter 9, Paul stabs an enemy soldier and then bandages him when he is not dead.  It makes me think of how it is so easy for Paul to kill someone when he is faced with danger, even though he earlier remarked on how it was so strange to think of the Russians as the enemy.  But again, the animal instinct as was mentioned earlier came out again and he did what anyone would do when put in hat situation, which is fight for survival.

In chapter 8, Paul sees the Russians.  He looks at them and doesn’t see the enemies that they are made up to be.  It makes me realize how all the people that are enemies in war are also human beings too.  It makes me wonder if there is anything that allows anyone to be killed justly, even if they are bad.  It makes me think of how hard it must be for soldiers to just go out and kill people.

In chapter 7, Paul sees women on the other side of the river and wants to communicate with them.  It makes me think how fascinated he must be with them because he hasn’t really seen any women for so long.  It’s actually quite strange to think about how it would be to have that little contact with someone of the opposite sex for that long of a period.  It just goes to show another example of how much people are affected by war and how much it changes a person.

In All Quiet on the Western Front, all of Paul’s friends one by one die in war.  Aside from the harshness of war and the difficulties that brings, he has to watch everyone and everything he holds dear, be taken away from him.  And in the end of the book, Paul dies as well.  This is thought of as bad, but is really a happy and joyful thing because he will now be with the only people who understood how it was to go through what he did and they can rejoice in that similarity.

I love how in chapter 4 as the men are fighting in battle, it says how they are transformed from soldiers into human animals.  It talks about how natural instincts take over when put in danger and we do things that we didnt know we could ever do.  This is so true because a lot of times, things will happen and you just start doing something that you never thought possible before.  Its so cool to be able to experience that.