Literary Assignment

Elliot A. Cantor

Slaughterhouse V

Final

“Well here we are Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment.  There is no why.”  This quote in Slaughterhouse V by Kurt Vonnegut singlehandedly explains the main theme of this novel and shows the ideas Vonnegut was thinking of as he wrote this novel.  The main theme in the text is Fate Vs. Free Will.  Billy Pilgrim believes there is no free will and that everything that happens was fated to happen and will always happen.  Also the novel shows how the concept of time is not steady and sequential as many of us believe, but that time is simultaneous.  Everything happens at once.  This is shown when the Tralfamadorians abduct Billy and they explain how they can see into the fourth dimension which is time.  This allows them to be in every moment and essentially be able to time travel.  Billy asks the Tralfamadorians how the universe ends and they say “We blow it up, experimenting with new fuels for our flying saucers.  A Tralfamadorian test pilot presses the start button, and the whole universe disappears.”  This is a prime example of a absence of free will as when Billy asks them why they can’t stop the pilot from hitting the button they say the moment is structured so that he will always hit the button and will always hit the button.  The Tralfamadorians also tell Billy how only humans even mention free will and that the idea is very illogical and is not based on anything at all except for an illusion.  It is shown in this quote “If I hadn’t spent so much time studying Earthlings I wouldn't have any idea what was meant by ‘free will’.”  When Billy becomes unstuck in time when he is hiding from the Germans behind a tree he shows how he doesn’t have free will, especially in all the times he travels too.  In the novel Billy believes in free will until the Tralfamadorians show him otherwise, but since he was unstuck in time he has always believed in free will and in fate at the same time because everything is happening at once.  When Billy goes to the moment where he gets on the plane that will crash he knows that it will crash but does nothing about it because he knows he can’t because the moment was structured that way.  Vonnegut shows how this book is an anti-war piece as well as science fiction when he shows the horrors of war in Dresden and how insignificant war is when the Tralfamadorians tell Billy how Earth is insignificant in the overall scheme of things.  The last main theme is how nobody deserves any dignity because there are so many people and that all of them are insignificant in every way so that there is no point to give them any dignity because they don’t matter.  

Billy Pilgrim who is the main character represents a sort of blank slate in the story, which Vonnegut uses to help develop his ideas and themes.  For example Vonnegut uses the irony of Billy being an optometrist who helps people see, but it unable to see into time like the Tralfamadorians to show how helpless and how little control he has over his life and what happens to him.  The Tralfamadorians are used by Vonnegut to help develop the more advanced ideas and elaborate on them.  Such as helping explain their concept of time and fate vs. free will to Billy as well as the reader so they can understand the novel in a more advanced way.  As mentioned before Billy represents a blank slate in a way as he rarely shows any complex emotions and he only becomes and turns into the person he became by becoming unstuck in time and learning from the Tralfamadorians.  Billy is unbiased as he just accepts everything for what it is and does nothing about it and barely even thinks about it.  this makes him perfect for introducing themes and ideas as none of the ideas or themes need to be distorted around a character’s biases which would make them less clear.  

The writing style and tone of the text is ever changing and steady at the same time.  For instance, many of the objects in the novel also show how nothing changes in full.  For example, Vonnegut writes “Somewhere a dog barked” when Billy is getting abducted by the Tralfamadorians, and when a soldier is getting surgery in a POW camp.  But most importantly the birds show the steadiness and unchanging world that Billy lives in.  Billy sees the birds tweeting when he was working as an optometrist in Ilium, and at the very end of the book after Dresden was bombed he sees a bird and it says “Poo-tee-weet?” just like the one in the beginning.  So the objects are still the same but the scenery is different which mixes the tone of the text but keeps the same style.  When the bird tweeted in Ilium it showed the calmness and the unchanging properties of his life and showed a melancholy tone.  But when the bird tweeted in Dresden it showed the calm after the storm, and displayed a tone which was like a horrific surprise, as nobody could imagine such wreckage.  The tone in most of the book would be blank and lackluster most of the time if it weren't for other characters like Roland Weary.  This is because Billy is such a blank character and not much emotion comes from him so that the tone needs to be developed by other characters.  Weary makes the tone very serious and dangerous as he is showing of his weapons and talking about killing and war, and how deadly he is.  Billies wife makes the tone very blissfully ignorant and innocent as she is very ignorant and just loves Billy and that is all that matters to her.  

The writing style relates the to the central ideas and the themes because as in the previous paragraph explained, the repeating phrases and objects in the story help show the idea of nothing changes.  The writing style of Vonnegut that makes his book very unbiased for or against something helps the reader make up their own mind about how the book is an anti war book when he explains the horrors of war with unbiased clarity which makes an  even larger impact on the reader compared to a biased anti war book.  This is because when people read a normal anti war book they already know what is coming and the book is usually preaching to the quier.  The writing style also helps with the fate vs. free will theme because if the story went in order Billy wouldn’t be able to show how he already knows what is going to happen but can’t do anything about it.

Lastly, Slaughterhouse V gives a unique point of view that changes the readers’ perspectives dramatically.  When the Tralfamadorians explain how time is simultaneous and free will doesn’t exist to Billy it causes the reader to actually analyze the topic as a legitimate idea and think about the idea in their own life and see if it makes sense.  This changes their perspective in a very meaningful way of time and free will.  Slaughterhouse V is a very deep and introspective novel that not only explains time and free will, but also uses tone and writing style to change the readers’ perspective while getting the message of anti-war out at the same time.       

Service Learning

Service Learning

   For my service learning project me, Anna, Ebba, Michelle, and Sarah went around town selling baked goods in a wagon which we all baked separately.  We made about $70 dollars during the 4 hours we spent walking around.  We could have made more money if it weren't for the slight rain.  We all baked for 2 hours.  We decided to donate the money to The Wounded Warriors Project to help veterans in need.  The money we will give will help veterans and their families that are returning home get the help they need to continue to live their lives.  This includes treatment for PTSD, and money to help the veterans get started, support their families, and find jobs.

Chemistry PBL Section

What Were The Weapons of World War II?

Elliot A. Cantor

Period 2 Chemistry

5/20/14

What Were The Weapons of World War II?

The V-1 Rocket or Flying Bomb was used by the Nazis from 1944-1945 as an early form of what is now known as a cruise missile.  The V-1 was one of the first successful pulse-jet powered bombs ever used in war combat.  It was originally used to bomb Britain and terrorize the English people.  When many of the V-1 camps were taken over by the allies the ones that were left focused on other European countries like Belgium due to their lack of targets that were in range of the rockets.  

The V-2 Rocket, also known as Vengeance Weapon 2 was a weapon used by the Nazis used to attack allied cities to show the power of the Axis and as a form of retaliation for the Allies bombing Germany and other Axis occupations.  The V-2 was the first long range ballistic missile ever built and used, as well as the first man-made object to get to the fringes of Earth's atmosphere bordering space.  These killed about 9,000 people over all, and impacted the development of things from nuclear weapons to the space program that got the first man on the moon.     

The M2 Mortar was an infantry artillery support weapon that was developed by the Americans in the early 1920s that was able to be carried around and fired without requiring very much man power.  This mortar was able to fire multiple types of ammunition depending on the situation.  It could fire high explosive rounds which were effective against light infantry targets.  White phosphorous smoke shells which were used for signaling and screening, and lastly an illuminating round which was used to illuminate the battlefield during night combat.

 The Mk. 2 Fragmentation Grenade was created in 1918 by the Americans and was used all the way through the vietnam war.  It was used to clear bunkers and provide a safe way to kill enemies without getting into direct contact with them.  It worked by packing explosive mixtures inside of the grenades and so when they exploded it would cause the sharp metal in the casing and the explosive mixture to sail off in all directions at blazing hot temperatures.

The M1A1 Flamethrower was a portable flamethrower developed by the Americans at the start of 1940 due to the need to attack fortifications in the jungle area as the flames would burn away all the hiding spots for the Japanese and make the American advance much more simple and easy.  It was not used very often in the European fronts though.  Some of the later versions of the flamethrower used napalm which is a gelling agent with petroleum.  It is a combination of naphthenic acid and palmitic acid.  The M1A1 was also getting replaced by the M2 Flamethrower by 1943, which was really just an improvement, but was very large as it increased its effective range three-fold.        

   

The M1 Bazooka was an high explosive anti tank warhead used by infantry to combat tanks or other fortified locations that were out of grenade or other conventional explosive ranges.  Invented by the Americans and first used in combat in 1942.  It was only used for about a year as it was phased out as more advanced versions were created.  Also due to lack of instruction very view Bazookas were used in operations such as the landings in North Africa.  America also gave some Bazookas to Russians for their use against the Germans.  The Germans soon found the Bazookas from both the Russians and Americans and Reverse Engineered it and created their own version.     

Little Boy was the name for an atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945.  It converted only about 700 milligrams of matter into energy which in turn created an explosion the size of 16 kilotons of TNT.  It was created using uranium-235 as it was fissionable, so the atoms inside could be split easier.  The uranium came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, but from a privatized company owned by an American who already had a large amount of Uranium in New York ready to go.  More than 60,000 people were killed instantly from the bomb and about another 60,000 were injured, with even more to die from radiation.  

The Panzerfaust was a German anti-tank weapon used in World War II that could be operated by a single soldier and was used from 1943 to 1945.  It was extremely popular is the German military as it was very cheap to make and had a disposable launch tube, so none of the materials were very expensive.  Due to this it was very efficient in what it did.  It was created with a 50:50 mixture of hexogen explosives and TNT.   

The M1 Carbine was the standard issue weapon used by the US Military in WW II.  It was favorited by many people as it was lightweight, simple, and semi automatic so it was easy to be accurate with it.  It was first used in 1942 by Allied Soldiers in the European Front.  Many people liked it in the jungles in the pacific due to how compact and lightweight it was but people that were fighting often did not like it very much as many people have claimed it was very weak and required a large amount of shots to take down one person.  

The BM-8 Katyusha was a Soviet rocket artillery vehicle used to fire off large amounts of rockets and still be mobile.  These were put on stationary platforms, trains, boats, cars, trucks, and even on some tanks.  They were invented by Soviet Scientists in 1939 and were used until the end of the war in 1945.  By that time over 10,000 of them were built.  They were first used by the Soviet secret police and soon after by the entire military.  The were not built very often at first but later they were put into mass production due to how efficient and cheap they were to create.  They were one of the main reasons the Russians defended the Germans somewhat easily when they were invaded from the west.      

Everyday Hero

Elliot A. Cantor

Period 4 English Honors 10

5/28/14

Do Gooders Page

In World War II the Nazis were committing atrocities against all different types of people including children of all races and religions, especially Judaism. Very little was done to protect these children from getting sent away to death camps and to never be seen or heard from again.  Realizing the full extent of the Nazi horrors Nicholas Winton set out to European countries to save as many children as possible.  Winton was a native to London and born into a Jewish family in 1909.  When he was in his late teens he attended night school while volunteering at a bank.  Later he went to Germany where he worked at some banks and then moved to France where he worked in the banking industry.  Eventually he moved back to London and became a stockbroker.  Finally in 1938 instead of going on vacation in Switzerland he went to the Czech Republic to help a friend in providing Jews places to go as refugees.  While in the Czech Republic he established an organization out of a hotel room that had a goal of aiding children in Jewish families that were at risk of extermination by Nazis.  Winton had to face many troubles when helping the children move out of the country.  For instance, the Netherlands were not letting Jewish people through to their border in fear of provoking Germany.  But Winton had a deal with Britain which stated that all children under 17 years of age could enter Britain if they had a place to stay and 50 pounds that would be used to return them to their country of origin when it was safe.  He ended up saving 669 childrens’ lives.  He would have saved another 250 children but the train was cancelled as Germany invaded Poland and started World War II so no trains could leave.  It is believed that these children perished in Nazi camps soon after the Wars beginning.  Nicholas Winton is a prime example of a do gooder as he dropped everything for no selfish reason to help children in a far away country.  He asked for nothing in return from anybody and didn’t even tell anyone detailed information about it for 50 years after he saved the children.  He was the exact opposite of a bystander and because of his will and determination he saved the lives of more than half a thousand children.  Some of the children even because great leaders in governments of countries.  Nicholas Winton is a do gooder beyond all measure due to his courageous act of going straight into hostile territory to save the lives of people he didn’t know or even meet yet.          

Historical Analysis

Elliot A. Cantor

5/20/14

Period 4 English 10 Honors

History of The Bombing of Dresden

On February 14th, 1945 through February 15th, 1945 the Americans and British allied forces bombed the seventh largest city in Germany at the time, Dresden.  Dresden was bombed using more 200,000 incendiary devices dropped from planes above.  This created an unstoppable firestorm which killed anywhere from 35,000 to 135,000 people by burning them alive and damaged more than half of all non-industrial buildings in the city.  The dead mostly consisted of civilians, and this caused much controversy throughout the world as many researchers believe that Dresden had no military significance and that the bombing was an attempt to terrorize the Germans and scare them into surrendering earlier.    

The Nazis had committed mass genocide on millions of people especially Jews and other “undesirables” as the Nazis called them.  The war was reaching its end and allied political leaders all wanted the war to end as soon as possible no matter how unethical and wrong the actions required would be.  It was decided to bomb Dresden in an attempt to speed up the Nazi defeat by destroying key military factories in the Dresden area and obliterating shelter for troops to take when they were moving through the area.  Incidentally  the secondary objective of this, which was agreed upon by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt was to show Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviets the power of the allied forces to deter him from straying from their already weak agreement.  This was because Stalin’s forces were going to be in Dresden soon and it would serve as a great poster child for the American and British super powers as they knew that Stalin was going to be a major problem as the war’s end neared.  Dresden was the last large Nazi controlled city that was unbombed and in good condition, and it was decided to begin the Bombing of Dresden on February 14th, 1945 until it was mostly demolished.

The aftermath of the bombing was horrific with charred bodies lining the streets with even more lining many escape routes in cellars that were filled up with smoke.  Due to the possible over 100,000 civilian casualties many of the distinctive leaders in charge of the bombing's planning and execution tried very hard to part themselves from this atrocity of human-kind.  This bombing was mainly unknown by many people as military leaders didn't want people to know about what actually happened at Dresden.  But when people did find out what happened many were furious.  Many were questioning the military significance of Dresden and some stated that even if all the of the American and British intelligence about the city were correct then why would they need to drop 200,000 incendiary bombs?  200,000 incendiary bombs was simply way too much firepower required to take out some important factories and destroy some housing for military personnel.  Most agree this attack was an attempt to terrorize the Nazis to end the war earlier and that it was very unethical and not necessary.  A small majority of critics even go as far as saying this was a genocide of its own and that leaders like Winston Churchill are war criminals and could potentially been proven to be war criminals.  People that oppose this positions claim that The Allies were at war with Nazi Germany and since Dresden was part of Nazi Germany it was therefore suitable for an attack of any size.  This bombing was forgotten not too long after the war ended as everybody involved was tired of war and didn't want anything to do with it anymore, and barely any people pursued finding out more detailed information for a long time.

The Bombing of Dresden showed the world how easy it can be for the evil in us to become present how laws are simply required in today's society to keep people from committing horrors such as what happened at Dresden those 69 years ago.  What happened in Dresden shows how tunnel vision blurs our side to side vision and causes us only to see the path to the end that is the shortest and simplest, not the path that is the most thought out and takes longer to accomplish.  Overall, The Bombing of Dresden was an atrocity that has a lot of controversy surrounding it do to its excessive use of incendiary bombs, that taught everyone how everybody is capable of evil.

Project Overview

Elliot A. Cantor

Period 4

5/12/14

PBL Overview

1. What I will be reading and focusing for the historical aspect of my assignment?

I will be reading Slaughterhouse V.  I will  be focusing on the Bombing of Dresden, and its correlation to victims of war.

2. What evidence of social injustice, tolerance, and propaganda will I look at? How does it relate to my studies of the Holocaust?

I will be looking into the victims of war as Billy Pilgrim (the main character in Slaughterhouse V) is a war veteran and had his life severely damaged by his experiences.  As well as the Japanese Internment Camps in World War II, and how anti-Japanese tolerance and propaganda turned all Japanese into bad people.   

3. Who are you highlighting as an everyday hero? For what reasons?

Kurt Vonnegut is my everyday hero who is the victim of war, as he has been through more than many of us can imagine.  He has important lessons to tell the world that can help us understand the nature of the world we live in, and realize the problems of war.

4. What will be your service learning project and how will it fill the 6 hour requirement?

I will be doing a bake sale with Ebba, Sarah, and others.  The money we generate will be used to give to a charity of our choice that helps veterans in need.

5. What is your literary assignment in terms of reading and focus?

I am reading Slaughterhouse V by Kurt Vonnegut.  I am focusing on the conflict that includes Free Will Vs. A Deterministic Universe, as it is brought up often in the book especially when Billy gets unstuck in time.