All Quiet on the Western Front Project: Paul Baumer Character Analysis

Paul Baumer is the central character of the book, All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque. Paul Baumer is also the narrator of the novel. Through his narration, he helps us to understand what life was like during the First World War. Paul Baumer is against war. He also changes throughout the novel. “...it has transformed us into unthinking animals in order to give us the weapon of instinct-it has reinforced us with dullness, so that we do not go into pieces before the horror, which would over-whelm us if we had clear, conscious thought.” (273-274) The war causes Paul Baumer to stop thinking and base his actions on his instincts. When he get the privilege to go back and visit his family and his old life, he even starts to struggle. Paul Baumer is a central, changing character in the book All Quiet on the Western Front. His emotions lead us and introduces us to the life style during the First World War.

 

MISSION: YELLOW SUBMARINE

Today was SMASH DAY, the day in science class where we have more fun than usual and perform tasks related to science. In today's mission, we were to create a periscope-like device that would allow us to see inside a castle on land from a submarine under water. (That is, to see inside a cardboard box on a table from underneath the table). We were given 10 sheets of scrap paper, a piece of cardboard, four tiny mirrors, and tape. 

Our group came up with only one plan and stuck to it. We started to put together our periscope, which took more time than we expected. We didn't have time to try the device out. It was only during the "spy time" that we realized how difficult it was to use our periscope. The structure of our periscope wasn't strong enough, and so the device "bent" easily, making the slightest change in the angles of our mirrors which would mean failure. Soon after discovering this, we made a sudden change of plans, and completely changed our design. The communication that we had to decide this modification was rather simple. "CHANGE OF PLANSSS!!!", and we squished our entire paper device into a long rod, attempting to simply look inside from only one mirror that was at the very end of our periscope. It was a really funny scene actually. We really should've planned more carefully at the beginning of the mission, and try to think of different alternatives. 

I do have a few tips and suggestions for those who would like to try this out. Firstly, YOU MUST TRY YOUR PERISCOPE OUT BEFORE YOUR ACTUAL MISSION (especially if you are making it out of unstable material like paper). Secondly, you must remember that sometimes the best solution is the simplest one. It is also very important to keep ideas coming in as you perform the task.

Treaty of Versailles: Germany's Allowed Military Structure

http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Germany%27s_Allowed_Military_Structure

This article provides documents from the Treaty of Versailles, which dealt with the military structure that Germany was allowed after the world war. This part of the Treaty includes three tables. The first table talks about states and establishment of army corps headquarters staffs, and of infantry and calvary divisions. The second deals with the tabular statement of armament establishment. The last table talks about the maximum number of stocks authorized. Each of these tables include details and numbers of the amounts of weapons and divisions allowed.

This document greatly influenced the situation of Germany after World War I. Military structure is one of the most important aspects to the sustainability of a country. The limitations weakened Germany as a whole. With a limited amount of military defense and structure, Germany's original power in the world lowered. Without many weapons and soldiers and much structure, its ability to defend and fight also became much weaker in comparison to the Allies countries. This document symbolizes Germany's defeat. With the Treaty of Versailles signed, Germany, in a way, "agreed" that it has been defeated, and that the war has ended. Germany's people would face humiliation, and the nationalism and patriotism towards the country would be effected. Weakened nationalism weakens the country itself, not only in military terms, but also cultural and economical. This document symbolizes a great change and event in Germany' history.

In class, we have been been split into groups and each group was given a topic to research and explore. Our group's topic deals with the overall picture of the events of World War I.  This document relates to our topic in a cause-and-effect way, as it is the result to all the events of World War I. It was only after all the events occurred, that the Treaty of Versailles was signed and Germany's military structure was limited. You could also consider the Treaty of Versailles to be one of the many events that happened in the first world war. The treaty was the final event that put an end to the war, and changed Germany as a whole.

Hallucinations and Caffeine

tWhat causes some people to see things that are not there, and hear sounds that others can't? 

A recent BBC article reports UK studies on the connection between caffeine intake and hallucinations. The Durham University Team surveyed 200 students, and found a possible link between high caffeine intake and hallucinations. The human body releases a hormone called cortisol when it is stressed. Caffeine intake increases cortisol release in the body, and could be the cause of hallucinations. 

The article is unbiased in that it also provided the perspective of people who doubt the results to the research. However, I found it a little hard to believe because it did not tell us how the students were surveyed. I cannot think of a way to measure and compare hallucination accurately. However, the article was significant. I found the information very interesting and definitely proposed a new view towards the causes of hallucination.  

Read the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7827761.stm?lsm

Current Event: More Than 1000 Killed in Gaza

On January 14th 2009, the BBC reported that the deaths of the Gaza crisis has passed 1000. The conflict started about 19 days ago when Israel, specifically the Hamas, attacked the Gaza strip, Israel claimed in a campaign that the attack was to end Palestinian rocket fire into Israel.

Egypt is currently making efforts in negotiating a ceasefire. The article includes many statistics about injuries and deaths in the Gaza. Out of the 1000 deaths, more than 300 are children, and about 78 are women. There has also been about 4500 injuries, of which 1600 are children, and 678 are women. The article also talks about the humanitarian concerns towards the crisis.

This article is significant, as it provides many statistics and numbers to make people more aware of the Gaza crisis. The article contains very little bias, almost all of its content is information and numbers. However, there is always bias in an article, as it cannot include every perspective involved in the issue. I feel that the article didn't fully explain the Hamas' motives, but this may not be because of the author's bias. It may simply be the lack of the information.

To read the article on BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7828884.stm

Taiwanese Teenager Ping Pong Player Wins a World Competition!

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/081215/4/1b6je.html

This article speaks about Jian-An Chen, a 17 years old Ping Pong player, winning a world-wide competition of teenage competitors. It is significant because Taiwan is a rather small country, and it is quite an accomplishment to win a competition WORLD WIDE! This event is most significant to the athletes of Taiwan, and those who pay extra attention. It gives them hope and anticipation to future developments in Taiwan's sports.

This article provides many facts, including quotes from Chen himself, and also his competition scores and the names of athletes who he played against. However, there are still some bias within the article. The article commented and claimed Jian-An Chen's victory to be the "biggest victory" in Taiwan's Teenage Ping Pong History. This could be a widely accepted opinion. 

DongMen Site Reflections

For Dance class, we worked on a few choreographs, and filmed them at the DongMen market site. Here are some of my reflections to the filming.

• How did the site of DongMen alter the choreography that you created in the classroom?

We were told in the classroom that there were going to be clothing lines on the roof. He created cool ideas of draping clothes over the clothing line, and our dancers dancing in between the line with repeating "dead-looking" movements and gestures. We also planned to suggest the art class to film us with the camera going in between the clothes, making it look like a maze. However, there weren't any clothing lines on the roof, and we had to cut out that part of our choreography. 

• Now that you know this site better; If you were to go back to Dongmen what would you add or subtract from your choreography to make it stronger?

I feel that the students don't really fit into the "old and dirty" mall, because we are all dressed in clean clothing. Of course, that would be okay if the role of the student was, a student. However, it would be great if students costumes fit into the setting better. 

I also thought that our movements were a bit too small for the wide and big rooftop. I would make movements bigger, if we were to film it over.