The Chosen (Ch 5-12) due Sun, Feb 21 by 8pm
Quote 2 particular lines or passages from within Chap 5-12: one that feels imp’t to the text and one that feels imp’t to you, and explain why they feel imp’t. End your post w/ a question. (Note page #s, make your post 2 paragraphs long, and skip a line between paragraphs.)
Also, reply to at least one student's post.
In chapters 5-12 of The Chosen, I feel that the second to last passage on page 98 is important to the text because Reuven describes how fortunate he is to have his vision, following his eye injury that could have resulted in blindness. Reuven returns home from the hospital and describes what he sees, as though this is the first time he has been in the brownstone apartment. He stood in his living room “for a long time, watching the sunlight and listening to the sounds on the street outside. [He] stood there, tasting the room and the sunlight and the sounds, and thinking of the long hospital ward… [He] wondered if little Mickey had ever seen sunlight come through the windows of a front room apartment… Somehow everything had changed. [He] had spent five days in a hospital and the world around seemed sharpened now and pulsing with life” (Potok 98). Reuven demonstrates how fortunate he is to have his eyesight by describing how he was “watching,” listening to,” and “tasting” the world around him following his discharge from the hospital. Reuven also shows a new perception of empathy and compassion as he worries about Mickey - a six-year-old boy that he met in the hospital who has lived most of his life in the hospital due to a strange stomach condition.
ReplyDeleteIn chapters 5-12 of The Chosen, the second passage on page 100 stood out to me because Reuven mentioned how his father’s health seemed much better after Reuven arrived home from the hospital. Reuven was sitting at the dining table with his father and noticed that “there was color now in [his] father’s face, and his cough had disappeared (Potok 100). In the previous chapters I thought as time progressed, Mr. Malter’s sickness would become more serious. With Reuven’s eye being fine and him home from the hospital, the relief and joy had a noticeable impact on Mr. Malter’s health.
Do you think Reuven will ever go back to the Brooklyn Memorial Hospital to visit Mickey, and show him parts of the outside world that he wonders if he has ever seen?
I think that Mickey was a character that was included to help Reuven see things from a different perspective. I do not know if the hospital would allow Reuven to take Mickey out, but I definitely don’t think that he will forget about his experience with the 6-year old. I don’t think I could have worded it better when you said “Reuven also shows a new perception of empathy and compassion as he worries about Mickey…”. I think that this was important because before then, Reuven seemed to be focused on mostly baseball, and you didn’t really see him thinking about anything else. But when he got hit in the eye, and he was sent to the hospital, it seemed to have put a pause on his baseball life, and allow him to see things from a different perspective. I think that Mickey unknowingly helped him appreciate the things he was able to do, and therefore was an important part in that realization process, but I don’t necessarily think that the author intends further use of Mickey, if that makes sense.
DeleteIn Book Two of "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok, the second passage on page 103 feels important to the text due to how Reuven's father describes their lives, discussing the point that they are not any different than those around them just because of their beliefs, they are still human like everyone else. As his father tells him the history of the Jews, he discusses who they are: "We are like other people, Reuven. We do not survive disaster merely by appealing to invisible powers. We are as easily degraded as any other people" (Potok 103). Now, this passage was indeed a reference to the history revolving the Jews, however, it also is a key idea in Book Two of "The Chosen." Throughout the events that proceed, Reuven finds himself in a place where he is seeing the world change around him, finding out what other's lives are like, seeing the world in someone else's shoes such as Danny with Danny's father Reb Saunders. As World War II comes to a close in Europe, there is a clear distinction of just that of what his father described, concentration camps behind enemy lines, degrading people for being Jewish. Following this was his Reuven's father's eventual heart attack, which truly puts into perspective that there are no invisible powers, they are all human, all the same, regardless of their religion or faith. You are not defined by what you believe, for everyone is mortal, everyone can be weak, everyone can be strong.
ReplyDeleteIn Book Two of "The Chosen," a passage that stood out to me personally was on page 119, Danny and Reuven are discussing Danny's fathers history, telling the story up to when Danny was born. Yet, as this conversation continues, Reuven says something that struck me personally:
"I can't understand how Jews can follow another human being so blindly" (Potok 119). This struck me because of how it relates to our lives in the modern day society, how for some people -- not me personally -- faith/religion is how they get up in the morning, the reason they strive to be a better person, yet I have never truly understood that, making this passage relate to me. The whole concept of it is something I have yet to understand fully, why people can follow something "so blindly" yet at the same time, feel so strongly. It is something I am still learning about, and is intriguing to see other people's beliefs, find out their core ideals.
Do you think that life would be better or worse if everyone saw each other as equals, no degrading or higher powers, would we even be alive today? What might change?
I think life would be better if everyone saw each other as equals. We are all humans and no one should be treated differently based on their race, religion, gender, or sexuality. I think life would be so much happier and less scary if everyone treated others like they want to be treated. However, I think life would be awful and chaotic if there were no higher powers, such as a president or government. Without higher powers there would be no due process or laws, and no consequences for horrible actions of prejudice which would result in violence.
DeleteIn Book 2, Chapters 5-12, there were many events that stood out to me. One that I think is important to the text is when Danny went to Reuven’s house, and brought him to his community. Danny was described by Reuven's father as someone who doesn't have many friends- at least ones outside of his community-. Reuven and his bond over that fastball to the eye seemed to draw Danny to Reuven, and his father seems to think that Danny trusts him now, and insists that he should be friends with him. On page 114, Reuven describes how he was aware of things around him, even when his eyes were closed. When he sensed that someone was watching him, he opened his eyes to find Danny. “...I opened my eyes and there was Danny, standing at the foot of the lounge chair, with his arms folded across his chest…”(Potok, 114) I think that the moments following this event were significant to the book because it shows how open Danny is being with Reuven, and how much he trusts him. He mentions how his father always wants to meet anyone he meets outside of the community, and because Danny knows this, and still chooses to tell his dad about him, it shows the level of trust that Danny has in Reuven’s friendship.
ReplyDeleteSomething that stood out to me personally was earlier in the chapter, when Reuven notices that his father seems to be getting better. I noticed how when Danny hit Reven in the head with the ball, and Reuven was determined to hate him, that his father seemed to be getting increasingly sick. But when they made amends, and became friends, his father seemed to not be so sick. Earlier in the book, it seemed as if his father's condition was not going to get any better and it was only going to be a downward spiral from there. One night, when Raven and his dad sat at the kitchen table, he notices that his father's face no longer looks so discolored and he seems to be doing better. “There was now color in… face, and his cough had disappeared.” (Potok, 100)
Do you think that the author internationally made his father’s condition alter depending on the relationship between the two boys? Do you think that this might be some kind of symbolism?
I also believe that an important moment to the text in chapters 5-12 was Danny bringing Reuven to his community. I also wrote about this passage but I wrote about the emotional aspect of it. The strangeness of finding a previously unknown world that does not resemble anything you had seen before. I agree that the passage is also very important to the text because it shows the great trust between Reuven and Danny. I agree that Reuven's fathers health might be symbolic, and also might relate to the boys relationship.
DeleteIn Book Two of "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok there were many passages and lines that were important to the text. Out of the many choices one of my favorites was when in chapter 12 page 187-188 Danny's father became extremely upset and shouted at Reaven after he brought up the sensitive religious topic of Zionism. I feel that none of the actually argument was important to the text and storyline but that the effects of the argument and the showing of Danny's fathers rage were the more important aspects. After the argument, Danny and Reuven discuss it and its ramifications. Reuven later thinks that he will always have to be on his guard around Danny's father and his many nightmares about Danny's father yelling that that he poisoned his son is proof enough about this events impact on Reuven.
ReplyDeleteA passage that resonated with me personally was on page 115 when Reuven had "the feeling of having slid silently across a strange threshold"(Potok, 115). This line describes the passage that begins after Reuven awoken and is led from his house by Danny to meet Danny's father. When he passes beyond what he knows he finds himself in Danny's world. A world composed of a tight knit community of people who dress differently. The street he finds himself on is different from his in age, plant life, cleanliness, "The liquid streams of racing children"(Potok,115) set it apart as the clustering of black wearing bearded men. In this quoted section we see that Reuven even regrets letting Danny bring him into this alien world. This passage connects with me because I can see how Reuven would feel this way when presented with a strange world, so different from your own. This section has great imagery that I appreciated.
My question is this:
How will Danny's and Reuvens advancement to college effect their relationship?
Both Danny and Reuven's advancements to college is not something that will likely affect their relationship in my mind. There may be some issues regarding conflicts between their beliefs, but other than that, I do not feel like they will be separated by college, most likely only growing to be stronger friends and reaching out to more people as well. It seems that Danny and Reuven are like the puzzle pieces to finish the puzzle in one another's lives, I don't think that will disappear. I might be wrong indeed, but it seems like they will find a way through it.
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