The following three quotes are ones that I think were really important to the rest of the novel in "The Ash Garden."
"Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce Major Thomas Ferebee, United States Air Force, the man who released the first atomic bomb over Japan.’ He stepped out from behind the curtain amid thunderous applause, grinning and walked stiffly across the stage floor and embraced Tanabe Yasaka with long, nervous arms. I saw the pained smile fall away from the reverend’s face and the sweat form on his forehead. He returned the embrace, and as he did so, arms only half raised, half raised, it looked as though he was going to be sick.”
This quote is from one of the most important parts of the book, where Tanabe Yasaka is forced to confront the man that dropped and atomic bomb on Japan on national television. For Yasaka to remain calm while standing face to face with a man that was responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths of his people and mass destruction within his country is a ridiculous request, let alone on television in front of an audience.
"This is Heisenberg's principle of insanity. It is the same with particle and neutron fields and it is the same with human beings. Tolerance is necessary to reconcile the man washing his underwear with the crying boy, and the man who destroys the world."
This quote is from Anton thinking back to what the scientist Leo Szilard, who had a large part in creating the atomic bomb, had said to him. Szilard realizes the damage that he has helped to create, and is telling Anton to learn tolerance, even to those who do something as terrible as dropping an atomic bomb.
"When the doctors conferred over him, I was able to see only their legs and shoes, because i could not lift my head. But my ears were among the few things that had not been damaged. I listened to their voices, and soon began to hate how they spoke when they discussed my brother. They said he was a lost case and that he would die. They wondered aloud what kept him alive. Every morning they seemed surprised that he had survived the night. There was no hope for him, they said.
This quote is taken from right after the bomb has been dropped and Emiko is lying in her hospital bed next to her brother. He has been injured far worse then she has, although both have sustained terrible, life-threatening injuries. The reason I chose this quote was because it was probably a similar situation to thousands of Japanese people who were affected by the bomb, and how terrible it must have felt for those who had to lie next to family members while they suffered and (in this case) eventually died.
Questions for Dennis Bock:
1) How many Hiroshima/Nagasaki survivors have you ever met (if any)?
2) Did writing this book require a lot of historical research for you?
3) Did you ever meet anyone involved in the making/dropping of the atomic bomb?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
We Are the Weathermakers
Chapter 4: Ice ages and Sunspots
Why doesn't the Earth retain all the heat it receives from the sun? On the other hand, why doesn't all the heat escape into space? The sun does not warm the atmosphere, however the reflections of darker objects do. Many scientists wonder what causes the Earth to heat and cool, although in 1941 Russian scientist Milutin Milankovich published what he believed to be the cause of ice ages. Milankovich stated that there are 3 cycles that determine the Earth's climate. The first is the planet's orbit around the sun, which is more so the shape of an oval than a perfect circle, whose shape changes every 100,000 years or so. The second cycle has to do with the tilt of the Earth's axis, which determines where most of the radiation is located. This cycle takes about 42,000 years to complete. Finally, the third cycle takes about 22,000 years to run its course and deals with the wobble of the Earth's axis, which determines the intensity of the seasons. Although these cycles only alter the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth annually by .1 of a percent, that can cause the Earth's temperature to change up to 5 degrees celsius. According to Milankovich's cycles, the Earth should be getting colder, although human pollution has caused the Earth's temperature to increase. With the help of these cycles, climatologists have continued to study why the Earth's climate has varied over time. In the early 1600's, Italian astronomer Galileo, with the help of one of the first ever telescopes, noticed dark spots on the sun. Although these sunspots are slightly cooler than the sun's surface, the Earth seems to warm up when there are more sunspots. The impact on the entire climate of the Earth may be too small to measure, although the variations of solar radiation and greenhouse gasses do have a large effect. Solar radiation affects the upper stratosphere, while greenhouse gasses warm the troposphere at the bottom where the concentration is highest. The stratospheric cooling and tropospheric warming are caused by the ozone hole and greenhouse gasses, respectively, as sunspots can not be responsible for either phenomenon. Finally, fossils can help us determine climate change. Due to the shift of steady climatic conditions, scientists have determined that these shifts have moved entire species from one side of a continent to another.
Questions:
1) What effect can sunspots have on Canada's climate?
2) Which of Milutin Milankovich's cycles has the greatest effect on climate change?
3) Since the Earth should be getting colder, what effect has human pollution really had on the Earth's temperature?
Why doesn't the Earth retain all the heat it receives from the sun? On the other hand, why doesn't all the heat escape into space? The sun does not warm the atmosphere, however the reflections of darker objects do. Many scientists wonder what causes the Earth to heat and cool, although in 1941 Russian scientist Milutin Milankovich published what he believed to be the cause of ice ages. Milankovich stated that there are 3 cycles that determine the Earth's climate. The first is the planet's orbit around the sun, which is more so the shape of an oval than a perfect circle, whose shape changes every 100,000 years or so. The second cycle has to do with the tilt of the Earth's axis, which determines where most of the radiation is located. This cycle takes about 42,000 years to complete. Finally, the third cycle takes about 22,000 years to run its course and deals with the wobble of the Earth's axis, which determines the intensity of the seasons. Although these cycles only alter the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth annually by .1 of a percent, that can cause the Earth's temperature to change up to 5 degrees celsius. According to Milankovich's cycles, the Earth should be getting colder, although human pollution has caused the Earth's temperature to increase. With the help of these cycles, climatologists have continued to study why the Earth's climate has varied over time. In the early 1600's, Italian astronomer Galileo, with the help of one of the first ever telescopes, noticed dark spots on the sun. Although these sunspots are slightly cooler than the sun's surface, the Earth seems to warm up when there are more sunspots. The impact on the entire climate of the Earth may be too small to measure, although the variations of solar radiation and greenhouse gasses do have a large effect. Solar radiation affects the upper stratosphere, while greenhouse gasses warm the troposphere at the bottom where the concentration is highest. The stratospheric cooling and tropospheric warming are caused by the ozone hole and greenhouse gasses, respectively, as sunspots can not be responsible for either phenomenon. Finally, fossils can help us determine climate change. Due to the shift of steady climatic conditions, scientists have determined that these shifts have moved entire species from one side of a continent to another.
Questions:
1) What effect can sunspots have on Canada's climate?
2) Which of Milutin Milankovich's cycles has the greatest effect on climate change?
3) Since the Earth should be getting colder, what effect has human pollution really had on the Earth's temperature?
Gratitude Fan Letter
Dear Mr. Kertes,
I am writing this to compliment you on “Gratitude,” a book that my entire school just finished or are currently reading. It was good to hear your thoughts on the book, as it was obviously a difficult topic to write about. Your descriptions of Lili and her family seemed to portray those of many Hungarian Jews during the end of the Holocaust.
Obviously a lot has been written about the Holocaust and World War 2, although I’ve never read a book like this one that tells the story of a family and what those who were forced to hide from the Nazi’s had to endure. I also liked how the book talked about what others did to help the Jews that were trying to hide from the German forces. Lili, being the only survivor the day that her family is suddenly taken away by the Nazi’s, is a good character because she probably had the same sad story as many other children during the Holocaust.
I am glad that the book was written by someone who was so close to the Holocaust, and that you were able to effectively portray the lives of those trying to escape the German forces. The book is long and very detailed, so those who read it have an easy time understanding the characters and the situations which I found very useful. You were able to write the book in a dramatic and powerful way, and obviously knew what you were talking about when it came to this topic which is something that not everyone can say.
I have been taught a lot about the Holocaust at school, and find it very interesting, which is why I’m thankful to read a book that details the horror that some of the victims had to deal with upon capture or in hiding. I think that you are doing the world a favour by publishing works about the Holocaust, because it’s important that people understand what happen and that it should never happen again.
Sincerely,
Charlie Deacon
I am writing this to compliment you on “Gratitude,” a book that my entire school just finished or are currently reading. It was good to hear your thoughts on the book, as it was obviously a difficult topic to write about. Your descriptions of Lili and her family seemed to portray those of many Hungarian Jews during the end of the Holocaust.
Obviously a lot has been written about the Holocaust and World War 2, although I’ve never read a book like this one that tells the story of a family and what those who were forced to hide from the Nazi’s had to endure. I also liked how the book talked about what others did to help the Jews that were trying to hide from the German forces. Lili, being the only survivor the day that her family is suddenly taken away by the Nazi’s, is a good character because she probably had the same sad story as many other children during the Holocaust.
I am glad that the book was written by someone who was so close to the Holocaust, and that you were able to effectively portray the lives of those trying to escape the German forces. The book is long and very detailed, so those who read it have an easy time understanding the characters and the situations which I found very useful. You were able to write the book in a dramatic and powerful way, and obviously knew what you were talking about when it came to this topic which is something that not everyone can say.
I have been taught a lot about the Holocaust at school, and find it very interesting, which is why I’m thankful to read a book that details the horror that some of the victims had to deal with upon capture or in hiding. I think that you are doing the world a favour by publishing works about the Holocaust, because it’s important that people understand what happen and that it should never happen again.
Sincerely,
Charlie Deacon
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