STALINGRAD, 1942
there is smoke and
rocks and
why am i on the ground?
why is mr. alexandrov laying
next to me? And
he’s not moving
why isn’t he…
oh god
he’s
NO
what has happened
people are screaming and
blood and
i can see the courtyard where klara and i
played but
its rubble and
there’s mrs. lebedev
and she’s bleeding and
where are her legs
i can’t breathe
i’m coughing everything up and
my hands are scratched and
bloody
i’m positive i’m going to die
all i see is smoke
there’s blood and guts and
so many are dead
oh my god
i need to get up
i need to get going
this wasn’t supposed to happen
(i’m going to be sick)
the smoke is clearing and
i see bodies
and babies
clutched to their bleeding mothers
and
is
that … rumbling?
anoth-
BOOM
more screams
i’m back on the ground
i need to get out
i can see the old bakery
could it be shelter
but
something has my leg
and
oh god,
it’s klara
my baby sister
she’sbleedingandohgod
there are rocks
crushing her tiny body
she whimpers
i can’t leave her she’s
my little klara
I MUST BE STRONG
but look at her, broken
she was so whole
what is on the horizon
the screams are getting louder
there are soldiers
i’ve got to leave
but
-klara-
i cannot stay
i’ll leave her
save myself
she’s about to die
she would tell me to save
myself
but her
hands
on my leg
sosmall sofragile
oh god
BE STRONG
i cannot i will not leave her
so i must stand strong
there is a shovel
i’ll protect her
with mywholelife and
they’regettingcloser
can i do this
i’ve got to do this
i am
STRONG.
Artist Statement
My poem began as a free write of a sort. During our poetry project we studied surrealism, which is a form that they write in order to just get everything down onto the page. In doing this, I noticed that the words on the page became a stream of consciousness. I also had recently read a book called The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, which was written from perspective of the main character’s thoughts. When I reread what I had written, it reminded me of a movie clip we watched in class from the movie The Enemy at the Gates. This movie is based on the Battle of Stalingrad, during WWII in which the Germans invaded the city. The setting of the movie, which is of a city in shambles, reminded me of my poem.
My form of inspiration was e.e. cummings. I have always loved his work, and with the jagged, confused state of my poem’s mind, the blend of enjambment and poetic license blends beautifully. The specific poem I used for my inspiration was “if everything happens that can’t be done”. I like the tone his poems create that leave more to be shown. You read it once, think, “Oh yeah! I totally know what this is about!”, but when you read it again, it has an entirely different meaning.
My performance inspiration was pictures I have found over the Internet depicting WWII. The picture that really inspired me was this one of a group of soldiers, covering their ears while letting off artillery. This photograph reminded me of Enemy at the Gates, and assuming that movie is correct, I hoped I could make something similar that will put people in that time and place. I’ve had many ideas to show this; I decided to talk to Lori, and we decided on working with a collage of pictures. The pictures will follow the poem with scenery and faces. This collage has grown in my mind and I’m glad I chose it for my presentation.
Poetry Reflection
This project had a poetry medium with the content being any subject we studied in class. The topics ranged from historical topics to psychological concepts. We were allowed to choose any poetic form to write. This project allowed us to work any topic and form into it. It was quite a free project, and it was an amazing experience.
I chose to try use a surrealist technique called a free writes. In this technique, you don’t focus on anything and just write. After looking at what I had wrote, my mind correlated the words on the page to the movie Enemy at the Gates. I learned about surrealist work and how much I enjoy the whole surrealist idea.
I have learned how to write using figurative language to enhance feelings like enjambment to feel panic. If you work with words correctly you can make the reader feel many different emotions. For example, if I compare those words to starving, struggling slaves, bent over in the sun, dying due to your vindictive whip, pushing them to make your prose, you might feel compassion.
Language and performance reflect the writing, but they add emotion and depth to the words. As we have learned in this technological age, communication is not the same. Writing does not leave the same connotations as speaking. I have learned and am working on adding emphasis and grabbing the theme and being able to put it into the present and visceral plane. It changes the poem when you speak it and breathe it.
We Had Our Cake And Ate It Too
Emma Donharl
Humanities
We Had Our Cake and Ate It Too
People tend to think that as we are in the civilized 21st century, that we don’t slaughter people by the thousands. Unfortunately, people have taken to the idea of “out of sight, out of mind.” If we don’t see it burning in front of us, it was never on fire. During World War II, the war was fought on two major fronts. There was the European Front, which is highly concentrated on, and there was the Pacific Front. Unknown to most people was the Nanking Massacre. The Japanese had invaded China and were pushing their way to the new capital, Nanking. On December 13th, 1937, the Japanese invaded the city, which was filled with refugees. The soldiers were given a free reign to do what they pleased. The Japanese started killing civilians and refugees and kept murdering, raping, and torturing for weeks. During and after the war ended, the Japanese completely denied the occurrence. What was mentioned was lies and utterly downplayed, such as claiming that they only killed Chinese soldiers. I decided to focus on the Nanking Massacre because I had heard a little about it, and I wanted to know if what I had was true. My U.S. History teacher touched on it briefly as he explained the two fronts. He never went into detail, but it sparked my interest.
The research that focused my project was the fact that I had ridiculously hard time finding information that wasn’t completely biased or made sense. For example, I ran across a YouTube video that claimed that “[Chinese war] *funding from Hollywood which is Jewish funding, in other words global funding.” (Expose the Fake Nanking Massacre... 3:12). This video was of Japanese men in press conferences blaming the massacre anything that they could. They bring Google and AOL into it for some unknown reason. If you compare this video to Professor Ikuhiko’s essay, where he refutes and endorses claims about this tragedy. An example for assessment is this quote from Ikuhiko’s essay: “[talking about death counts in Japanese and Chinese logs] …if one reads their works carefully, one discovers that they do not completely deny the occurrence of atrocities; rather they deny that it was a massacre, admitting only that some of the soldiers committed individual crimes.” This research was difficult. I lost focus on what I believed and on why I was doing this project. There are people on both sides of this matter that sound completely bonkers and some that make you wonder why you’re on the other side of the debate.
On the other hand, when I wasn’t looking at crackpot theories and such, I found a couple slightly more reliable sources. I found numerous articles about Japan’s denial and one or two essays from professors. This article called “Japanese Views of the Second Sino-Japanese War” that correctly identifies as to why they cover the massacre up: “… the sheer quantity, wide variety and high quality of evidence available today that attests to the massacre makes it more difficult than ever for anyone with intellectual integrity to dismiss or minimize it.” This article actually inspires me. The fact that this Japanese source has held their middle ground is astounding. I base most of the information on this article and one other by Professor Ikuhiko, mentioned in the paragraph above.
The main idea I want people to take away from my project is that a large scale slaughter took place and Japan underwent one trial, in which 28 men were convicted out of thousands. This trial was called the Tokyo Trial, and out of the 28 men accused, 7 got the death sentence, 16 to life imprisonment, 2 got out with inferior sentences, and two died of natural causes before conviction (CND Pamphlet). Out of thousands of men who raped and slaughtered, these men were the only ones to pay. All of the Massacre veterans are at home, or dead, living without consequences.
The symbols in my project include a sword, representing the Japanese and the slaughter of the victims. After an epiphany in class, I decided on the common saying, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” This represents the incredulity that the Japanese paid very little for the slaughter of innocent beings. The blood flowing out of the cake shows the pain and suffering the victims and their survivors felt then and now. There are very little accounts of people actively speaking out against this crime; if you look between the lines though, you can feel it in your stomach what they’re screaming out.
I have always loved the idea of cooking and baking, but I never was really good at it. I’m obsessed with good food; even if I don’t it eat a lot. I knew that I wanted to make a cake, but I was wondering how to incorporate genocide into it. I’ve always been a more visual person, even though I love to read. I knew that I wasn’t going to write an essay and I was in a baking mood. The cake it was. How to convey a brutal massacre while still visually appealing? I planned on making little men and have them fighting, but after outside ideas, I decided on a sword plunging into the cake’s juicy red flesh with thick, red jam pouring out. This still doesn’t incorporate the cake. The Japanese massacred an entire city and paid with 26 replaceable men.
Sources Cited
“YouTube – Expose the Fake of Nanking Massacre Made in China and USA.” YouTube – Broadcast Yourself. 16 Oct. 2010. Web. 08 Dec. 2010
< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKQCQqvWZAc>.
Ikuhiko, Hata. “The Nanking Atrocities: Fact and Fable.” Redirect to Wellesley College Web Site. Aug. 1998. 07 Dec. 2010.
< http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/China/Nanjing/nanjing2.html>.
None. "Nanjing Massacre and the Tokyo War Crimes Trial." My China News Digest. Sept. 1993. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. <http://www.cnd.org/njmassacre/nj.html>.
Emma Donharl
Genocide Project Reflection
When I think about this project, I am the most proud of the cake. I worked ridiculously hard on it (way more than I should have). It looked really good and tasted even better. I didn’t expect it to turn out the way it did; my expectations for it at the beginning were extremely high, and during the process of baking they reached an excessive low. This is the best project I have ever done, and reflecting on it, I realize how proud I am of it.
If I had one more week to work on this project, I would have made a third cake and decorated the edible cake. People burned through the first cake within the first 30 minutes. If I had made another cake, I wouldn’t have had to cut the other one. On the other hand, I would’ve had an entire other cake. I suppose I could’ve given it to Hank, since he came back for fifths. I also would’ve worked harder on making the cake before the day of the project. I ended up throwing away about 10 cakes since I couldn’t get the recipe right.
I believe my project ranked the highest in Audience Engagement on the rubric. How much more engaging can you get than eating your project? It was bloody, it was yummy; it attracted all the things humans care about. I was completely blown away by how well the jam worked, as I never used it before and I didn’t know how it would turn out. Without the jam, I wouldn’t have had the effect that I wanted. I think it brought the whole piece together and kept it there.
I think that my project ranked lower on the rubric in all the other categories. The reason I think it ranked low in Professionalism is that I had to frost it a mere 30 minutes or less before school and for the other cake about 20 minutes after school. The frosting was sloppy and all over the place on both. I also forgot to take the second cake plate after it was finished and Jake had to remind me. I was pretty embarrassed. In the Connections category I don’t think I explained the genocide and the how the cake connected to it very well; I got mixed up and stumbled a lot. I should’ve made the sword more Japanese and had the letters legible. The second category I think I did the best in was Focus. It was better than Professionalism and Connections, so it becomes the second best. Again, I think that it should’ve conveyed the Japanese-ness of the sword. I think that the message was foggy, and I had to explain it to everyone.
In the Professionalism category I believe that I scored a B. In the Connections category I think that I got a C. Likewise for Focus, I think that I scored a C. Finally, in Audience Engagement, I earned an A. For my Overall grade, I think I got a solid B. I needed to explain more, and I should’ve made it clearer about the symbols and writing, etc. with the scores in the other categories, I think that would’ve been a B-, C+; but the interaction pulls it up. When people looked at my project, it was animal instinct to go over and look at it. I know that that was the strongest part of my project, and I hope to do something like this again.
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Emma Donharl
Emma Donharl
Humanities
September 29, 2010
The first project in humanities was to create a propaganda poster for World War I. In doing this, we are able to fully understand how propaganda works and how it influences us. For my poster, I created an octopus with the British flag as its color, slowly attacking the German country. I got the idea from a poster that I saw by Julius Klinger. His piece was a serpent with eight arrows sticking out of its body with the text “Krigsanliehe” beneath it. This represents the 8th war loan for the Germans, hopefully to defeat Britain. I thought that this was a pretty fun project.
In my second draft of the poster, I had the octopus orange and the sea blue, etc. After the peer critique, people recommended that I define the countries, as the couldn’t understand what country my poster was from. I took this idea and ran with it. The main continent became a German flag, the octopus and Britain became a British flag, and the ocean became water. They also had an issue with the positioning of the octopus, so I moved it to the upper corner. On my analysis essay, I needed to describe and tell more about my last paragraph, which I had no issues with. I think my revisions well, and it helped my poster out a lot.
I really like my poster. I think that it flows well, and it gets the message across without shoving in your face. You need some background information to fully understand that, and I’m hoping people will ask or go out and research it to figure out what it really means. I had a little issue with the positioning of the poster; it just didn’t feel right. It still doesn’t, but I enjoy it anyway. I really enjoyed researching and creating this poster. I think the final product works really well.
The main ideas and lessons I have taken from this project are the techniques and ideas of propaganda and how they affect us. I also got to learn more about WWI. I have already taken this class freshman year, but I got to expand on it. Mr. Janowsky only really explained the main causes and America’s part(it was U.S. History). It was nice to hear other perspectives on this matter. I got a lot of information out of this project.
If I could do one more revision or start over again, I would’ve added more detail/redraw my poster. I don’t think that it had enough and was really plain, and I think I could’ve worked on my size and placing of the countries. There is a huge gap in the upper left hand corner that just bother the heck out of me. I think I could’ve worked harder and more efficiently on this poster to make it look cleaner and prettier.
____________________________________________________________________Emma Donharl
Humanities
September 23, 2010
Buy War Loans Today
War loans are an essential part of keeping wars going and alive. In my propaganda poster, it’s trying to coerce the German people to buy loans and protect their country. I used multiple propaganda techniques in this. The octopus, a greedy creature, is representing Britain at this time in history. It is supposed to be threatening and demonic, as the piece uses demonizing the “Enemy”. Demonizing the “Enemy” is making individuals seem subhuman, immoral. It also uses fear; as mentioned above, the octopus is threatening their country. They want to buy war loans to help defeat the evil “Serpent.” Fear is a very simple technique. It wants you to protect yourself and the things you care about, so you go out and buy war loans to do just that. Another technique is direct order; simplifying the decision; telling the Germans to buy the war loans, or they will lose their country. Many, many other techniques are used in this poster and every single day.
My poster fits into the historical context of World War One by using the symbols and techniques used at the time. Britain was often referred to as the “serpent”, as it controlled many territories. There was a saying, “The sun never sets on the British Empire”, and it was true. The sun was always touching a part of one of their territories; it spread all the way across the world. Britain stretched her tentacles across the world to grasp and feed her growing appetite. Britain entered the war thanks to the alliance with Russia and France. Due to her massive supply, this little country was able to continue and thrive during the war. I also used a word that I found on a propaganda poster by the Austrian-Hungarian artist, Julius Klinger. His artwork was featured on pieces at that time. If I found my poster while searching the internet, thanks to the content I could possibly believe it was from that time.
I personally don’t like propaganda. The idea of influencing other people to do your bidding just freaks me out and makes my stomach ache. However, it’s essential. If everyone thought for themselves and acted upon their thoughts, we would have total chaos. Propaganda helps address this by unifying people. Without it, we have anarchy; everyone believing the first thought that crosses their mind. Although we are fed that we are all individuals and that we each have our own unique thoughts, we are all in reality the “sheep”. No matter how special we think we are, our subconscious reverts to playing it safe and following the crowd. It’s the way humans have survived for their time on this planet. I don’t believe propaganda is the best way to influence people, though. We get so much stuff with people telling us what to feel and what to think that we can’t do it ourselves. If the companies were honest, it would be sink or fly for their business, but our minds would be less corrupted. It would make people more trusting, I think. If a celebrity told you that carrots are poisonous, wrote up a scientific looking document, and got someone to vouch for them in a white lab coat, people would believe it. It happens every single day. But what if it was something worse? Something that hurt people? Using propaganda in a way to prevent horrific events is justifiable. I think that now, more than ever we need positive propaganda. When your country doesn’t trust their leaders and are split so dividedly, propaganda is needed to unify us. I despise the thought of controlling people for all the wrong things, but when used correctly, propaganda is a useful tool.
Works Cited
British flag. Digital image. Hardcasual - British Sales Charts - January 2009. 29 Feb. 2009. Web. 24 Sept. 2010. <http://hardcasual.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/british-sales-charts-january-2009/>.
German flag. Digital image. Huge Mistakes - Fake German Cops Rob Elderly. 28 Feb. 2008. Web. 24 Sept. 2010. <http://hugemistakes.com/2008/02/28/fake-belgian-cops-rob-german-el derly/>.
Very Calm Ocean Water. Digital image. June 2008 - Cruise to Alaska. Web. 24 Sept. 2010. http://krisbialowas.com/alaska2008/.
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Propaganda Poster
Propaganda Poster
