Book Review: A Night Divided By Jennifer Nielsen

Over the summer I read a really great book called Legend by Marie Lu. It follows the lives of two very different fifteen year olds who live in The Republic, a dystopian city constantly at war with its neighbors. Day is the country’s most wanted criminal and lives in the slums, while June is from a rich family in the wealthy sector. The only thing these two have in common is a perfect score on The Republic’s test that determines where you will go in life. Everyone is fine and living their lives just like they have since they were born until something goes wrong; June’s brother Metias is killed and Day is the prime suspect. The two set out focusing on completely different things but end up discovering the great lengths their home country

The book “A Night Divided,” is a great book. It is about a girl named Gerta and her family. She has an older brother Fritz, a brother Dominic, her father (papa) and her mother Frau Lowe. The Berlin Wall had just gone up after the Second World War separating East and West Germany, and her and her family live in the West. One night her brother Dominic and her father decide they need to get through the wall for work without guards noticing because the consequences could be deadly. Her brother and Father make it across but they cannot find a way to come back because the wall has been added on and is even more dangerous now. Gerta ends up not being able to talk to her father or brother for at least 4 years. One day Gerta was walking to school with her best friend Anna when she see’s her brother, Dominic on the other side of the wall and waves. She eventually ended up seeing her dad to but then she got caught by an officer by the name of Officer Muller. She ended up getting away from the Officer but she knew he would be watching her every move from now on. But everyday when she goes to school she see’s them on the platform and her dad is doing a dance that he always did for her as a kid when they were little. But, he continues doing the digging scene from the dance trying to give her a signal that he wants her to do something or he is going to do something. But if Gerta tries to cross that wall it could be deadly and we don’t know what would happen.

In What Night Brings, the author creates the character of Marci as this young girl with a very curious mind, which as a reader one could see that her intuition about life and the way people respond to her make her question honesty and the way adults try to hide things from children. This leads her to discovering the reality and the reasoning behind why adults act the way they do. Carla Trujillo writes this novel using a first person view, using the voice of Marci, who is an 11 year old pre lesbian, catholic. The author takes the reader on a journey of Marci’s development in discovering her sexuailty, to what her beliefs are, and the despise she has towards her father. Not only does the author express these feelings, she also indicates how

In John Perry’s Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality, in “The Third Night,” it starts with Cohen continuously questioning Weirob’s firm stand and opinion of what personal identity is. This opinion is of whether or not a person is identical to their own body. Weirob personally believes that when ones own brain is transferred to a completely different body in the attempt of survival, it has in fact not truly survived. Weirob argues that a person whose brain is in another person’s body; it is no longer the person involved. The person that had owned the body before the other brain was transplanted into it, is the one who is really in control.

My book report is for A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen. I chose this book because it describes the life of a twelve year old girl during the Great Berlin Wall. This book is about a young girl named Greta who is separated from her father and brother because of the Berlin Wall. One day Greta gets a message from her father. She thinks he wants her to start digging a tunnel. Greta finds and old abandoned building where she starts digging. Greta and her brother Fritz work long, tireless, never-ending days digging. One day there was someone of the other side of the tunnel, it was Papa. Once the tunnel was completed they set through it, escaping the treacherous East side, to the colorful bright West.

Most curriculums being taught to students withhold a mass amount of history. Some may do this because they feel some events do not have the same importance as other topics being taught. Such topics for example would be the rape and sexual exploitation of thousands of African American females during the time periods where racism and segregation was the norm. It is important for people to be educated about the horrific events that these women went through without justice. It is also essential because it shows the amazing activism Rosa Parks took part in. Most people are often just taught about Parks’ actions on the bus. At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire shows how Rosa Parks and many other dedicated their lives to receive equality not only for themselves, but for all African Americans in the south. Danielle L. McGuire’s work is an amazing way for people to not only learn more of Rosa Parks story, but to get a better understanding of what all African American woman had to deal with during this time period. The realism of sexual violence and its dominant impact on the African American women was one of the many events that helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. McGuire wrote At the Dark End of the Street in order to resolve the negligence of this reality.

The Memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel, is about a young Jewish boy, Elie and his father going through the concentration camp. Throughout the book, Elie faces many challenges and unfair inhumane treatment through his experience at the camp and fights to survive as well as fighting for his father and others to survive. Sadly, his fighting for others was not enough in some cases, like when his father passed away from dysentery. However, Elie pushed through and continued to fight even without his father and eventually was rescued from the camp after about 2 years. Wiesel uses motifs and characterization to show how in difficult situations people reveal their true selves, change their morals, or adapt their morals when necessary.

A shiny, crisp red fruit hangs enticingly off a lush verdant branch; a sly, seductive serpent and a woman in the nude converse under the sacred tree, and then Eve tentatively reaches up and plucks the juicy crimson fruit, a look of panic only reflected on her face once she realizes the gravity of her decision. She picks the forbidden fruit and her ignorance is ripped away from her like a newspaper on a windy day, and this single act started a trend of succumbing to temptations throughout human history. Even in the novels The Hours and The Awakening, the characters are tempted by someone else or a different idea; however, some of these characters exhibit strong self control and avoid their demise. The fine line between success and failure when it comes to avoiding temptation is most obviously demonstrated by Edna Pontellier and Laura Brown, and these two women showcase the destructive power of seduction and the strength of will it takes to deny the enticement. The allure of the unknown is not exclusive to the female sex either, many men in the novel also suffer from it, namely Robert Lebrun. The secret snare of temptation is interwoven throughout the stories, and the sliver of thread can be glimpsed between the inky words.

"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in the camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never." (9)

In the article, "Talking a stranger through the night" written by, Sherry Amatenstein, writes about her experience being a holocaust survivor that influences her to work for the help line services which, requires her to answer phone calls from people encountering depression along with suicide thoughts. Although she received harassment calls, she also got a call from a woman contemplating suicide that was able to get help from Sherry. Her listening to the woman's life story made the woman feel better as if she was okay to go on her way. In result of helping that woman, Sherry realizes that she loves her job and continues to help souls in need.

The story called “Night Women” by Edwidge Danticat and the story called “The Awakening” by Crystal Wilkinson portray womanhood in different ways. However, both stories are very interesting and convey powerful ideas to the readers. Although the portrayal of womanhood is different, they share some similarities.

The Metropolitan Community Church located in New York area is founded in 1971. At a first glance, with the limited sight I have, I thought the outside seemed to look like a nursery school with different colors and a flag hanging by the door. However, once someone pay more attention, the building was actually painted with Christian symbols using rainbow color paints, symbolizing gay pride. As soon as you entered the door, on your left was a narrow wooden stairway. On the first level, on the right was an entrance, where they conduct the ceremony. By the door, there were ushers waiting and greeting everyone with a smile, shacking everyone's hands and handing out the program for the month of November until the first week of December.

“Big Brother is watching you” (Orwell 2). Orwell’s simple phrase in his novel, 1984, has become the backbone of modern-day conspiracy theorists’ discussions. While Orwell may have been writing this novel for cautionary purposes, he is far closer to reality than he might have thought with his prophesies of the future and what would come of the government.

Night by Elie Wiesel was one of the best books I have ever read. Night is the story about Elie’s horrible time spent in Auschwitz and Buna the death camps. This story impacted me the most because all of this is real. Elie’s mother and sister were murdered as soon as they arrived. The story goes on telling his unimaginable experiences with his father in 1944 during the Holocaust.

Literature is defined as written works published on a particular subject. Literature can also be viewed as witness, because it can be a source of proof based on the events it was written on. Literature as witness allows readers to get a deeper understanding of the issues that have happened based off of what the books are about. Those who read literary texts such as historical novels, memoirs and novels are witness to historical events. These texts can be viewed as witness because the events mentioned are based off of true life events. Some may argue historical fiction is not real and therefore could not be viewed as a reliable source. Even though historical fiction is made up of fictional characters, the conflicts that are mentioned are based