Share a favorite quote from the book and explain why it stands out. Please write in paragraph form and include the quote in the paragraph. Some guidelines to consider: A direct quotation should not be the first sentence in an expository paragraph. Include the page number after your quote. Do not use the same quote that someone else has already posted. Use specifics from your selection in your explanation. This post is due Thursday, January 17 by midnight.
3 Comments
1/16/2019 06:20:44 pm
Confidence in times of danger can change a situation in someone’s favor. One day, while the Warsaw Uprising is going on and the Red Army is getting closer to helping the city, a group of Russians starts ransacking the zoo. Antonina walks up to the leader, holds her ground, and shows her authority by speaking loudly to him. Afterward, in an attempt to touch the soldiers heart, “ … she placed her hand on his shoulder, he looked surprised, and she saw the manic fury draining from his eyes, his mouth relaxing, as if she’d smoothed the fabric of his face with a hot iron” (Ackerman 283). The soldier demands the rest of his men to leave all they have stolen, and they leave. Antonina knew that if she acted cowardly, she and her family could have been injured and had all they own stolen from them. She knew that she would not overstep her bounds by showing such confidence, and her gentleness earns the soldiers respect. He goes so far as to even give her some candy and a ring, and her family is kept safe. In a time where cowardice rules all, a little bit of gentle confidence touches even the hardest of hearts.
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Joey Travis
1/17/2019 06:37:06 pm
When mass destruction is occurring, discrimination becomes a thing of the past to an innocent bystander. When Jan and Antonina are first helping out the Jews and keeping them in hiding in the zoo, they start to find Nazi racism inexplicable and devilish. Jan seemed to have a loyalty to the Jews from his troubled past and the friendships he has made, personally. Jan would always play his humble card and say things such as "...I don't understand all the fuss. If any creature is in danger, you save it, human or animal" (Ackerman 113). Antonina also shares this impartial view towards society and they both do their best to be humanitarians throughout their lives. They don't look at people as separate races, religions, etc. or animals for that matter, they see them as all creations under God's watchful eye.
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Presley S.
1/17/2019 08:56:59 pm
This book, obviously, is the story of the selfless acts of a couple trying to do their best to save the lives of innocent people. This is shown very early on in the book and it explains how they would hide jews in different animal exhibits and they would keep a cycle of family and close friends in the zoo so when they mixed in Jews they were helping, the new set of faces every time wouldn't create a cause for concern by the Germans. These acts of selflessness are constantly putting Antonia, her husband, her son, and any other people on board with their plans at risk of execution if they were to ever be caught. A really important fact stated in the book is when the statement "The idea of safety has shrunk to particles-one snug moment, then the next" (Ackerman 99), is said after Germany had invaded their homeland. At this point in the book it has not stated yet that they are helping to hide and save Jews, right now they are scared for their safety because they know that even their own lives aren't safe in general because Hitler has the power to wipe out any groups of people he wants to if they don't fit his standards. I chose this quote however, because I think it almost foreshadows the rest of the book and it can relate to the rest of the book because the story being told to us is how selfless they were when saving these people,while constantly risking their lives.
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