Sarah's Key, By Tatiana De Rosnay

Generally, when innocence is thought of, the first speculation recalled to one’s mind is the thought of pureness and the idea that the specific individual is free from moral wrong. On the other end of the spectrum is the term known as guilt. Guilt is the emotional notion in which one feels that they have compromised his or her own standards in a negative way. In the novel Sarah’s Key, Sarah frequently proves to struggle with both guilt and innocence. These specific themes are put on display when Sarah realizes she is not going back home, the scenario in which Sarah boards the cattle car to the camps, and the tragic event in which Sarah takes her own life.

“Hana’s suitcase”, written by Karen Levine, records a painful memory of a Toronto resident, Gorge Brady, to his lost younger sister in the World War II (WWII), Hana Brady. This memory is provoked by an unexpected package from Japan. Which tells him they are exhibiting his sister’s suitcase as well as her drawing photographs in Tokyo Holocaust Center for a purpose of education about the Holocaust to the Japanese children. And they hope to get more information about his sister, Hana Brady’s life. In the continuing communication with the Japanese children, Gorge gives them all the details about Hana’s short life, and what happens to her in the WWII.

The girls are taken in by an older couple, Jules and Genevieve. While under their care, Rachel becomes severely ill and requires medical care. The doctor is a Nazi, and he realizes that Rachel escaped from the camp. He reports Rachel to the officials, causing them to taker her away from Jules and Genevieve. Although she is helpless and near death, the German guards remove her from the home, “[Sarah] heard... Rachel’s thin scream all the way from the top of the house. Rachel torn from the bed by the Germans. Rachel moaning, too feeble to fight back” (129). Rachel is not only denied the right to be cared for by the doctor, but is also mercilessly dragged away from her deathbed to die in a concentration camp, simply because she is Jewish. Having this label, in the Nazi’s minds, equates to being subhuman.

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them”, says Maya Angelou, an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. This quote reflects to Sarah’s journey in the novel Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, since the main character, Sarah, faces events that affect her well being, as they make her both weaker and stronger. These events causes her to lose her innocence, makes her persistent, and then eventually drives her to be pessimistic. Sarah experiences traumatic events through her journey, which leads her to change both in a positive and negative way.

Pigsy, Rib of man, Piece of goods, Frail, Scupper are some of the many words that were used to describe over the last millennium, some of the words which are very offensive today. According to dictionary.com, Feminism means the advocacy of women’s right on the basis of the equality of the sexes. In The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Chopin expressed female oppression and feminism through Edna’s life, her choices and the people in her community. Chopin had many examples of female oppression and feminism in her novel, such as Adele Ratignolle’s life, how women were stereotyped in the society at that time, why women in the 1800s fought for their feminist rights,

For the past few decades, the development of technology and the expansion of the knowledge has enriched our life, especially for our childhood life. However, relatively speaking, kids now are getting less freedom than the past due to the world has more potential dangerous such as the increased rate of abduction. Dealing a complicated problem with a very simple violent way may result in a worse impact in the near future. Because of parents excessively protect their own children and outside world is too horrible to play alone, more and more kids lost the opportunity of touching the nature, instead they indulge in the virtual world created by electronic products. In the story “The Shortening Leash”, Jessica and Hanna give us a relatively accurate and unbiased information about the situation that kids now lost freedom a lot according to the board surveys and three statistic graphs. While they mentioned that we are not supposed to latch our kids due to over-protection. Otherwise, let children pursue free exploration is not equal to stop your ear to them.

Many women consider modesty to be an outdated principle founded on legalistic ideas and a promotion of chauvinism. Although this is the prevailing thought within society, it could not be farther from the truth. In “The Look,” a book written by Nancy leigh Demoss, she explains the misconceptions people have about modesty and explains what it truly is: an intentional representation of Christ through every aspect of our lives. I have had a fairly decent view of modesty growing up, and I have always held it in high regards when it comes to clothing, yet I failed to realize that it is a matter of the heart and not just about the clothes that I wear. Demoss’ book has provided me with a new understanding of modesty, as well as how to apply it. Through my reading, the most influential piece of information that I have learned is that God does care about a woman’s modesty in the areas of dress, intent, and appearance.

In a social setting where the presence of God is absent, love simply cannot exist. It is a common-truth that human beings require love; in a society where love cannot and does not exist, the void where that “love” would have existed becomes filled with deluded misconceptions of what love truly is. In Marie-Claire Blais’ Mad Shadows, Blais clearly illustrates what happens genuine love cannot exist and is replaced by misinterpretations, with the use of well developed character relationships. In many of the relationships (romantic and otherwise) displayed

Mrs. Fox, by Sarah Hall was published in 2014. Mrs. Fox is a short story by Sarah Hall about a woman who turns into a fox during her pregnancy, much to the dismay of her husband. Mrs. Fox describes a woman who is not satisfied with her life with her husband, Mr. Fox. They both remain detached thorough the story. When Mrs. Fox turns into a fox, Mr. Fox does not understand why his wife was not happy or satisfied in her human life. Sarah Hall does a wonderful job of displaying out an unusually intriguing setting, a breath taking characterization of the two main characters Mr. and Mrs. Fox, and she displays a dark and modern theme, rightfully earning the BBC National short story

Many are familiar with Anne Frank's diary and have even sat down and watched the movie The Diary of Anne Frank. With her diary we learn a lot about Anne and her family, as well as the tragic story of their life, and the lives of many other Jews. However, this is not the only movie that gives us an insight in the life of a young girl during World War II. The Book Thief is in many ways similar to The Diary of Anne Frank in which the viewer is provided the experiences of the war between two very different young girls that have to adapt to a new home and possess an increasing hunger for knowledge.

Claire Standish or “the princess” portrays the stereotypical popular teenage girl in The Breakfast Club. She is in detention with everyone else because she decided to skip class and go shopping, which also plays into the stereotypical teen girl image. It can also be assumed that she is spoiled and rich since her father tried to get her out of detention but failed, and she mentions to the group that her parents only use her to get back at the other one. She brings a fancy lunch of sushi while the other teens either have nothing or the standard lunch one’s parents might pack for them. There are a couple of times in the movie that she brings up her social standing and could even be considered as looking down on those who are not as popular as her. Even closer towards the end of the movie she informs the others that if they were to say hello to her in the hallway in front of her friends, she would have no choice but to ignore them. By the end of the movie, she has opened up to everyone else about her fears of letting her peers down and has formed a close relationship with Bender.

Kate Chopin’s controversial novel, The Awakening, ignited turmoil because of her blatant disregard of the established 19th century perspective of women upholding strictly maternal and matrimonial responsibilities. Edna’s candid exploration of the restrictions on women through her liberal behavior in a conservative Victorian society makes her a literary symbol for feminist ideals. Despite denunciation from other people, Edna chooses individuality over conformity through her veering from traditional obligations. Edna indulges in her love of art, which is considered to conflict with her expected singular devotion to her household. Exploring her sexuality rather than repressing any sexual awareness constructs her feministic mentality.

Sarah's Key contains some of the most powerful, heart-wrenching scenes ever filmed -- and this is not sensationalism, but truth. This film is important for making everyone aware of a particularly horrific episode in France during World War II and -- if you didn’t know -- what human beings are capable of, for ill as well as for good.

"On July 16 and 17, 1942, 13, 152 Jews were arrested in Paris and the suburbs, deported and assassinated at Auschwitz. In the Vélodrome d' Hiver that once stood on this spot, 1,129 men, 2,916 women, and 4,115 children were packed here in inhuman conditions by the government of the Vichy police, by order of the Nazi occupant. May those who tried to save them be thanked. Passerby, never forget” (De Rosnay 60). In the book Sarah’s Key, it begins with a young girl named Sarah Starzinsky, who is dealing with her family being removed by the French police and put into a camp. Before the family left, Sarah puts her brother into a closet and locks him in to where he will not come out until she comes back. However, Sarah and her family did not realize that they were not

The book that I have been reading is Anne Frank and me. It is about a girl who was in the same concentration camp as Anne Frank. The main character’s name is Nicole Bernhardt. She was also one of Anne Frank’s friends. When Anne Frank was writing in her diary Nicole was by her side the whole time. She was also trying to see if any of the concentration camp guards were coming. The concentration camp that NIcole and Anne were in was called Auschwitz, it was appropriate to the novel because you if you are a jew, Christian ,etc you were put in a concentration camp. Back then the only technology that they used was a burning chambers and poison gas. The whole book is about Anne Frank and Nicole in a normal world and then they were put in a concentration