Dunkirk evacation

Dunkirk evacuation, (1940) in World War II, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and other Allied troops from the French seaport of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) to England. Naval vessels and hundreds of civilian boats were used in the evacuation, which began on May 26. When it ended on June 4, about 198,000 British and 140,000 French and Belgian troops had been saved.

The immediate context of the Dunkirk evacuation was Germany’s invasion of the Low Countries and northern France in May 1940. On May 10 the German attack on the Netherlands began with the capture by parachutists of key bridges deep within the country, with the aim of opening the way for mobile ground forces. The Dutch defenders fell back westward, and by noon on May 12 German tanks were on the outskirts of Rotterdam. Queen Wilhelmina and her government left the country for England on May 13, and the next day the Dutch army surrendered to the Germans.

The invasion of Belgium also began on May 10, when German airborne troops landed on the fortress of Eben Emael, immediately opposite Maastricht, and on bridges over the Albert Canal. On May 11 the Belgian front was broken, and German tanks ran on westward while Belgian, French, and British divisions fell back to a line between Antwerp and Namur.

The German invasion of France hinged on a surprise advance through the hilly and dense Ardennes Forest. On May 10 German tanks crossed Luxembourg to the southeastern border of Belgium, and by the evening of May 12 the Germans were across the Franco-Belgian frontier and overlooking the Meuse River. The next day they crossed the Meuse, and on May 15 they broke through the French defenses into open country, turning westward in the direction of the English Channel. German tanks were at Abbeville, near the mouth of the Somme River, on May 20, and on May 22 they turned northward to sweep past Boulogne and Calais. On May 24 German units were just crossing the canal defense line close to Dunkirk, the only remaining port by which the BEF could be evacuated, when an inexplicable order from German leader Adolf Hitler not only stopped their advance but actually called them back to the canal line. The Allies’ retreat to the coast now became a race to embark before the Germans closed their pincers. Evacuation began on May 26 and became still more urgent the next day, when Belgian King Leopold—his army everywhere in retreat and millions of civilian refugees caught in the “Flanders pocket”—surrendered his army.

Even before the Belgian capitulation, the British government had decided to evacuate the BEF by sea from Dunkirk, and the admiralty had been collecting every kind of small craft to help in bringing away the troops. As the troops had to be taken off directly from the beaches, it was a slow and difficult process.

The success of the near-miraculous evacuation from Dunkirk was due in part to fighter cover provided by the Royal Air Force from the English coast, but it was also due to Hitler’s fatal order of May 24 to halt the German advance. That order had been made for several reasons, chiefly: Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, had mistakenly assured Hitler that his aircraft alone could destroy the Allied troops trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk; and Hitler himself seems to have believed that Great Britain might accept peace terms more readily if its pride were not wounded by seeing its army surrender. After three days Hitler withdrew his order and allowed the German armoured forces to advance on Dunkirk. But they now met stronger opposition from the British, who had had time to solidify their defenses, and Hitler almost immediately stopped the German advance again, this time ordering his armoured force to move south and prepare to complete the conquest of France.

With Dunkirk, the disastrous defense of the Low Countries ended in a brief flash of glory for the Allies. Yet the brilliance of the evacuation could not hide the fact that the British had suffered a terrible defeat and that Britain itself was in dire peril. The BEF had been saved, but almost all of its heavy equipment, tanks, artillery, and motorized transport had been left behind. Britain was helpless in the face of a seemingly all-conquering foe that stood just a few miles away, across the open water of the English Channel.

Fatelessness chapter 2

Title: Fatelessness
Author: Imre Kértesz
Genre: Aautobiographical novel
Setting: Hungary, Budapest. His stepmother`s house and mother`s house
Historical context: WWII, the holocaust.

Author`s purpose: Here the author gives us an idea of Georg`s routines and also how he feels when his father leaves. He now has much more responsabilities without his father nearby. Also he gets closer with Annemarie.

Main idea: The important decisions and changes that Georg faces after his father leaves.

Theme:

Characters:
Protagonist: Georg
Antagonist: Nazi regime
Static character: Mr Sutto
Dynamic character: Georg

Literary devices: We have flashbacks during the story.

Tone: He is being straight foward.

Point of view: Georg`s point of view, as he is always speaking aboyt his feelings and emotions.

Conflicts:
External: The conflict between his mother that says that his place is with her and what his father said, that he had to stay with his stepmother. Also that his father is gone.

Internal: He is having a lot of thoughs and doubts that generates the internal conflict.

Literary terms and tone vs mood

Literary terms
Literary terms are words such as personification, simile, hyperbole, metaphor, and so on. They are used to describe various forms of writing by an author. (http://www.enotes.com/literary-terms/q-and-a/what-literary-terms-105199)

-Alussion: When characters or events stand for other events or characters of history.
-Alliteration: Repetition of the same sounds.
-Allusion: Reference to a person or event, literary or historically.
-Climax: The part of the story with greater intensity or suspense.
-Connotation: A mening that goes beyond the word, kind of using the word as a symbol.
-Denotation: Dictionary definition of the word
-Flashback: An abrupt and quick jump to the past.
-Foreshadowing: Clues of what will happen in the future.
-Gothic: Usiong of mysterious elements, also a kind of horifying places and supernatural events.
-Hero: A noble character.
-Hyperbole: An exaggeration
-Lyric poem: A melodic poem that describes an object or emotion
-Metaphor: A direct comparisson if two different things.
-Narrative poem: Aa story told in verse.
-Onomatopoeia: Using word that are similar to sounds.
-Personification: Giving human attributes to something not human.
-Plot: Sequence of events in the story, includes characters and a conflict.
-Point of view: The perspective in wich the story is told
-Setting: Where and ehn the story takes place.
-Simile: A direct comparisson without the use of "as" or "like"
-Soliloquy: A kind of monologue,  chracter speaks alone, reveals his thoughs
-Stanza: A group of lines in a poem.
-Symbol: Something that means more than what it is.
-Theme: An in sight about human life.
-Thesis: Tthe subject or opinion in an essay.
-Tone: The authors attitude towards the writing.
-Litote: When something says less than it was intended.

Tone vs Mood

The mood is the general atmosphere the author gives to the writing while the tone is the attitude the author haves towards the writing.

PEE and using quotation

PEE stands for point, evidece and explanation, it`s an effective way of explaining and validating your ideas of something. The point will be my idea, the idea I want to prove, the evidence will be a quotation or an extract from the text I`m using to prove my point and the explanation will be how I explain the extract of the text in order to prove and demonstrate my point.

Using quotations is a great way to prove our point, because we are using the resources we have to prove it. Wwhen using quotations we must put quotations marks. Also, if the quotation is short it can be included in your own sentence, but if the quotation is too long it will have to be put in a different sentence.

We saw these very interesting and useful tools in class, these strategies can be very helpful whenever we want to prove something, a point, an idea.

Narrative techniques

We learned about the narrative techniques, wich are the ways the story is written.
Basically we have 4 techniques wich are:

1) Point of view: Who tells us the story. Example: Georg Koves in Fateless.


2) Narration: Who is the narrator speaking to.

- Direct narration: To the reader

-Frame narration: Talks about someone else`s story

-Indirect narration: Not talking to the reader.

3)Speech: How do the narrator and the characters of a story speak.
-Direct speech: The characters speak for themselves.
-Reported speech: a narrator tells us what the characters said
-Free indirect speech: The narrator doesn`t tell us the characters thoughs, but he puts them as they are.

4)Tense: When did the events of the story happened. .
-Past: events occured in the past, the use of flashback and racconto.
-Present: What is happening now
-Future: What wil happen after



Other techniques:

-Flashback: Basically it`s a sudden and quick jump to the past, telling us about an event
-Foreshadowing Is a technique used ti give us clues about what will come next
-Third person omniscient: It uses first, second or third person. It communicates directly with the reader
-Dual narrative: It gives us two different perspectives



All these techniques are used in the writing of stories and novels, they are the key of it, they will define the wat the story will be told and it will be these techniques the main reason of us liking a novel.

7 jewish pillars

1. The Sabbath:
 Known as "Shabbat" in Hebrew and "Shabbos" in Yiddish, the Jewish Sabbath is observed every Friday evening from one hour before sundown until Saturday evening one hour after sundown. It is a day filled with prayer, Torah study, family, and peace that remembers the Seventh Day of Creation, on which Jews are bidden to imitate the Lord's own rest. It is an occasion for songs of freedom and social justice praising the Holy One for removing the Hebrew slaves from oppression in the Land of Egypt, and for abstaining from the 39 categories of "m'lacha", labor, which He describes in His Torah."Seven Keys to Jewish Life" invites you to spend a Sabbath with a Jewish family and to participate in the most important rituals this People has observed every week since the Exodus from Egypt.

 2.- Kosher
 is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food that may be consumed according to halakha(Jewish law) is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér (כָּשֵׁר), meaning "fit" (in this context, fit for consumption). Food that is not in accordance with Jewish law is called treif (Yiddish: טרײף or treyf, derived from Hebrewטְרֵפָה trēfáh). Kosher can also refer to anything that is fit for use or correct according to halakha, such as a hanukiyah (candelabra forHannukah), or a sukkah (a Sukkot booth). The word kosher has become English vernacular, a colloquialism meaning proper,legitimate, genuine, fair, or acceptable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher

3.- Mezuzah 
On the doorposts of every Observant-Jewish home, you will find a little rectangular case. Inside that case is a Mezuzah. It's there because the Torah commands us to affix a Mezuzah on each doorpost in our homes.
What is a Mezuzah? In brief, a Mezuzah is two chapters from the Torah written (in Hebrew, of course) on a piece of parchment. The parchment is then rolled into a scroll, wrapped in paper or plastic, usually inserted into a hard-plastic or metal case, and affixed to the doorpost. We will, with Hashem's help, discuss this more at length below. First let us discuss the meaning of this Mitzvah.
The essence of the mitzvah of Mezuzah is the concept of the Oneness of G-d. The very first verse written on the Mezuzah is the Shema: "Hear oh Israel, the L-rd is our G-d, the L-rd is One." When we pass a doorpost, we touch the Mezuzah and remember that G-d is One: a Oneness that is perfect and unique, a Oneness that is not one of many, nor one of a species. G-d is One without parts, partners, copies, or any divisions whatsoever.
Moreover, Hashem is our G-d, Whom we must love and obey, and Who protects us.
Every moment that the Mezuzah is on your doorpost is another merit in your favor, even though you are not actively doing anything!
http://www.beingjewish.com/mitzvos/mezuzah.html

4.-Ttefillin
are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, which are worn by observant Jews during weekday morning prayers. Although "tefillin" is technically the plural form (the singular being "tefillah"), it is loosely used as a singular as well. The hand-tefillin, or shel yad, is placed on the upper arm, and the strap wrapped around the arm, hand and fingers; while the head-tefillin, or shel rosh, is placed above the forehead. The Torah commands that they should be worn to serve as a "sign" and "remembrance" that God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefillin

5.-Shofar 
The shofar (שופר‎) is a Jewish instrument most often made from a ram’s horn, though it can also be made from the horn of a sheep or goat. It makes a trumpet-like sound and is traditionally blown on Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year.
http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/whatisashofar.htm

6.-Hanuka

Hanukkah (sometimes transliterated Chanukkah) is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and nights. It starts on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, which coincides with late November-late December on the secular calendar.

In Hebrew, the word "hanukkah" means "dedication." The name reminds us that this holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E.

http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/hanukkah.htm

7.-Tzedakah

 Tzedakah is fundamental to Judaism; it is at the very heart of who we are as Jews. Tzedakah is not a choice. It is one of the 613 mitzvot, or obligations, we live by. Many of our sages considered it the most important commandment.

The root of the Hebrew word is tzedek—justice, or righteousness. In the Bible, tzedakah means “righteous behavior.” We do not give to charity out of kindness alone. We perform acts of tzedakah as we seek to create a just world.

The commandment of tzedakah is so important that the recipient of our charity is considered to be granting us a favor by allowing us to fulfill our obligation. The poor must also give what they can, so that they, too, are able to perform mitzvot.

Acts of tzedakah are equal in weight to all the commandments. (Talmud)

http://www.hadassah.org/site/c.7gLFKYMJLnI2F/b.6036381/k.C1EE/Why_We_Give_What_is_Tzedakah.htm

Anne Frank

Anne Frank was a Jewish victim of the Holocaust most well-known for the diary she kept while in hiding which has since become one of the world's most widely read books.

Anne Frank was born in 1929 in Frankfurt am Main in Germany. In 1933, the anti-Jewish National Socialist Party led by Hitler comes to power. Anne Frank's Jewish parents Edith and Otto Frank perceive that there is no future in Germany for themselves and their children. They flee to the Netherlands in 1933. Anne is then four years old. Until she is eleven she grows up without a care in a relatively safer Holland. In 1940, the Netherlands is occupied by Germany and the protection that Holland provides comes to an end.

Anne's life is increasingly restricted by the anti-Jewish Decrees. Beginning in 1942, the first Jews receive call-up notices to report for the so-called “work” camp Westerbork. Refusal can result in being sent to a prison camp. The majority of Jews obey the call-up to report for the “work” camps. Fleeing the Netherlands is almost impossible because neighboring countries are also occupied.

To avoid deportation, Jews must arrange a hiding place with non-Jews. Such hiding places are difficult to find, but Anne's parents see the possibility of going into hiding in the annex of the building that houses Otto's business.

Otto and Edith Frank protect Anne from the danger that threatens them for as long as possible. Only a few days before going into hiding, Anne's father tells her that they are not going to a camp but are going to hide from the Germans.

On July 6, 1942, the family goes into hiding. Even though Anne sees hiding as an exciting adventure in the beginning, soon enough the hiding place becomes too small for her restless character. For more than two years Anne Frank describes her daily life in hiding in writing.

On August 4, 1944, the Secret Annex is raided by the Grüne Polizei (Security Police). Anne Frank and the seven others in hiding are arrested. What follows are long journeys to concentration camps in Holland,Poland, and Germany. Of all those in hiding, only Otto Frank survives the camps.

The eight residents of the Secret Annex are transported to Auschwitz on the last train leaving the transit campWesterbork. After a month at Auschwitz, Anne Frank and her sister Margot are transported to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where thousands of people are dying of hunger and sickness everyday. Margot and Anne both contract typhus and die within a short time of each other in March 1945, only a few weeks before the liberation

info from: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/frank.html.