My thoughts on nypdl:
I thought the project was okay. But I wouldn't like to do it again.. There was way to many periods to do not much work.. We just did not enjoy it at all.When we were presenting it most of us were just mucking around..it was really messy..We had no resources to make our display, when we were done with our online work, causing us to wait longer.
How effectively have I used my time this week? I've used my time to do research, and come up with ways to help reuse rubbish for my group. How have I contributed to my group’s progress? I've gathered research and helped others come up with questions, but also corrected mistakes my group has made. Something that is going well in my project is how many ways we can get rid of rubbish by making energy from it, and reusing it for other things. Something I need to work on is how we are going to present it.
In John Boyne's novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, an important relationship is the one between Bruno and Shmuel. This relationship helped me to understand a key message, which is friendship and the tensions it can have.
At first, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel had a little bit of jealousy, because Bruno says, "It's not fair, me being stuck over here on my own, while you're over there playing with friends all day." The reason Bruno would've been jealous would be because he didn't understand why there were so many people on Shmuel's side of the fence or why they couldn't play with each other. Shmuel knew why they couldn't and why he was on that side of the fence with all the other boys, but he still chose to meet with Bruno at the same spot at the same time. This helped me understand that Bruno wasn't told the reason why all of the boys were on the opposite side of the fence and not on the same side as him. I realised that Bruno wanted to become Shmuel's friend after the first time they talked.
Later, the relationship is getting better between them. They are both glad to have a new friend that's the same age and they are also surprised to share the same birthday. Bruno was really trying to persuade Shmuel to play so much he even ended up saying to Shmuel, "Perhaps you can come and have supper with us sometime." Shmuel ends up saying, "I can't, can i?" because he knew he wasn't allowed to and even knew he wasn't meant to be sitting down or be next to the fence, let alone be talking to Bruno. This helped me understand that the boys had a lot in common, despite the things that separated them, such as Shmuel being skinny and sad and having to wear striped pyjamas. I realised that despite being separated by a fence and rules, the two boys were very similar and became friends quickly.
At the end of the novel, we see that their relationship is now stronger and they see each other as best friends. This is because Bruno says, "You're my best friend, Shmuel… my best friend for life," and squeezed his hand tightly when they were about to die. This helped me understand that the boys had a very strong relationship that developed very quickly. I realised that despite Bruno wanting to go back home he didn't because he didn't want to let Shmuel down after he had promised to help him.
Through the novel, the relationship between Bruno and Shmuel develops from jealousy to a deep bond due to having so much in common and their commitment.
This relationship helped me understand a key message in the novel, which is that some people are better to hang out with than other people, because they're more committed to the relationship and some people can be a bad influence. In my opinion, Bruno and Shumel's relationship has made me realise how good my friendships are.
