Patricia Polacco's The Butterfly

There are many things that happened to Japanese-American immigrants during World War 2 that people in this time period aren’t really familiar with. A story from a Japanese woman, Jeanne Wakatsuki-Houston, who was born and lived in this era, with help from her husband, James D. Houston, explains and sheds some light during the times where internment camps still prevailed. The writing piece titled “Arrival at Manzanar", takes place during her childhood and the Second World War. In the beginning, Jeanne and her family were living a calm and peaceful life in a predominantly white neighborhood, until disaster struck the world and they were forced to move due to escalating tensions between Japanese Orientals and white Americans. At the time, Japanese-Americans, like Jeanne, were forced to live in an internment camp, which is a prison of sorts, due to the war with Japan. The text is being told through a first person point-of-view in which Jeanne herself tells the story through her experiences during the war. In that story, which contains only a part of the original text, much of the setting took place either prior to and during the time she was sent to the internment camps and describes her struggle with it. This story clearly states the importance of family and perseverance which is shown through her use of pathos, definition, and chronological storytelling.

“Day of the Butterfly” by Alice Munro is a story involving two girls and their short lasting friendship. In their sixth grade class, Myra does not socialize. She spends most of her time taking care and watching her little brother Jimmy. For the first time in years one of her classmates, Helen, feels slightly bad for her and makes an effort to connect with her. Right after their meeting, Myra is sick with leukemia and she becomes the most talked about person among her peers. They visit her in the hospital bringing gifts and kind words. Helen also brings a gift for her but feels that everything her classmates have given Myra are “guilt-tinged offerings”. They have similarities and differences. Myra and Helen are both are poor and

Japanese American families were sent to internment camps located at a desert in Utah almost in less than 24 hours during World War ll. It was supposed to be luxurious and a dream, yet it was the complete opposite. In the book, When the emperor was divine, Julie Otsuka describes each character and their stories through different points of views. She tells their story by recounting each of the main character's emotional experiences while showing the life of Japanese Americans and how they were labeled in others eyes. Otsuka writes not only about the venture of being taken to an internment camp, but how each character changes in the process. Through each person comes a story and why they changed into somewhat the opposite of their

Believing that there are things worth risking your life for is a quality that is well respected.

The Train to Crystal City, written by Jan Jarboe Russell, is a book about internment camps that were constructed in the United States during WWII to house people the U.S. government classified as “enemy aliens”. For years, these camps were home to people of various nationalities, most notably those of Japanese, German, and Italian descent. A majority of the book follows the experiences and lives of several families that were interned at these internment camps during the war.

Throughout Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki and Into the Desert by Nancy Karakane, the characters undergo physical and emotional injustice which shape who they later become. In Farewell to Manzanar we learn about a seven-year old‘s first hand view before during and after camp Manzanar. The Wakatsuki family and Japanese-americans along the west coast were taken from their home and put into relocation camps. In this book we endure her issues in and out of camp and also the injustice that not only does she face, but also many other Japanese-americans.

During our Holocaust unit, I chose to read Paper Hearts by Meg Wiviott. Paper Hearts is a non-fiction book about two Jewish girls and how they survive Auschwitz. While I was picking my book for our Holocaust unit, Paper Hearts got my consideration due to the book's plot. This book is good. I am not a big fan of books that are Historical fiction. Even though it was a historical fiction book, it was still easy for me to stay interested in the book because the book is in free verse. I like this book because it shows how their bond with each other helps them survive Auschwitz. Despite the fact that, both Frania and Zlatka has lost everything they still both discovered friendship with one another.

In a poem written about the calling of Japanese-Americans to internment camps during WWII, author Dwight Okita writes from the perspective of a young girl who sees herself as an American but is surrounded by those who cast her out. She does everything to prove that she belongs and justifies that by convincing the audience of her American qualities. “If it helps any, I will tell you I have always felt funny using chopsticks and my favorite food is hot dogs. My best friend is a white girl named Denise.” Okita’s use of this 14 year old girl adds power behind his words because the perspective of a child can humble a reader and bring them to a point of deeper understanding. In the poem, the girl is so young and understands nothing about what lies ahead, but she knows well enough to present herself as an American, as one who truly belongs. The pressure on immigrants to belong in the United states is imminent in this piece, and the fact that the young girl has picked up on this expectation is almost disturbing. The stigma around those who are different is also included in Okita’s

In the autobiographical excerpt from "Nisei Daughter" by Monica Sone called "Camp Harmony" and the novel Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, both of the main characters and their families are relocated to a Japanese internment camp in the western United States after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They experience extreme hardships while being interned at the camps due to their race, however, although faced with such austerity, the Japanese-American families are able to overcome it through years of suffering. Between the two autobiographies, Farewell to Manzanar and “Camp Harmony,” there are various similarities and differences sharing the pain and joy of living in these internment camps.

Within the novel, “In the Time of the Butterflies,” Mate, Minerva, Dede, and Patria had to create decisions to overcome obstacles that would transform each of their lives. Throughout the book, all of the sisters changed somehow. They all grew up, matured, and saw things how they never viewed before. While looking at these things at a different perception, they learned to make decisions that were sometimes brave and sometimes cowardly. Each of the Mirabal sisters had to choose whether or not to be fearful and give up, or be courageous and stand her ground, or make sacrifices to show her strength throughout the novel.

Once the family has been evacuated and are on a train to an internment camp, the daughter takes over as narrator and represents a different impression of the Japanese Americans. The

The Japanese-American author, Julie Otsuka, wrote the book When the Emperor was Divine. She shares her relative and all Japanese Americans life story while suffering during World War II, in internment camps. She shares with us how her family lived before, during, and after the war. She also shares how the government took away six years of Japanese-American lives, falsely accusing them of helping the enemy. She explains in great detail their lives during the internment camp, the barbed wired fences, the armed guards, and the harsh temperatures. When they returned home from the war they did not know what to believe anymore. Either the Americans, which imprisoned them falsely, or the emperor who they have been told constantly not to believe, for the past six years imprisoned. Japanese-Americans endured a great setback, because of what they experienced being locked away by their own government.

Mary Matsuda Gruenewald, Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese American Internment Camps

The United States of America a nation known for allowing freedom, equality, justice, and most of all a chance for immigrants to attain the American dream. However, that “America” was hardly recognizable during the 1940’s when President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, ordering 120,000 Japanese Americans to be relocated to internment camps. As for the aftermath, little is known beyond the historical documents and stories from those affected. Through John Okada’s novel, No-No Boy, a closer picture of the aftermath of the internment is shown through the events of the protagonist, Ichiro. It provides a more human perspective that is filled with emotions and connections that are unattainable from an ordinary historical document.

In Alvarez book the first two pages are filled with good comments and reviews of her book. This quote is one from a nationwide known magazine company that may be older than the U.S itself. “Full of pathos and passion ( Alvarez)”, that it is worldwide known magazine company that it is. The pages are filled with about 35 reviews all positive and praising to the author and her supposedly “haunting (Alvarez)” novel. All of them used to promote the book and give it a sort of certified feel to it, so many experts and magazines giving this book a thumbs up. “In the time of the butterflies (Alvarez) ” a novel that has done something that not many books can do, that is gain approval from large amounts of Americans. The sheer credibility would make