SF



I nterview
Monday October 6th - 6p.m. - I waited for Dr. Joseph F to walk through the den door of my house. It was already 6:15 but I assumed he was stuck in crazy Monday night traffic from his office in Hackensack. I had to reassure myself by saying not everyone is like me, who gets to places twenty minutes before I have to. Dr. Joe F is a pediatrician with two offices, one in Hackensack and the other in Wyckoff. A few days ago, I had talked to him about the subject of our interview and the time and date it would be; I also asked him a few basic questions so we could dive right into the interview. I was excited to interview Joe because he was the perfect interviewee on the topic of the [|Vietnam War]. Most of his early life, from the age of eleven to twenty-seven, was during the Vietnam War.

He walked through the kitchen door looking fatigued. His hair was a bit messy and in the few minutes he had been home he had untucked his shirt from his pants. Joe looked like he desperately needed to relax. He walked up to the fridge and took a long "sip" of his diet coke. "Just tell me when to start; I'm ready and waiting." Joe stated. He had also said, "I'm a little tired; I'm just warning you."

Though it was 6:40, I smiled graciously and then said, "Okay, let's begin."

Joe F, living during the time of Nam, had grown up in New York City - a hotbed of politics. Given that New York is a major world city I assumed he must have been greatly affected, but I was soon informed that he did not see many riots occurring in the area where he was living: the Jewish part of the Lower East Side. "There was not much turbulence. I also did not know many people who were drafted. Thank God I was never drafted!" Whether one was [|drafted or not] depended on the individual’s birthday. Out of the draft numbers he had lottery number 323 but his brother, who was two years his junior, had lottery number seventeen. "Every day I was scared shitless, you never knew what was going to happen. Sometimes I even had nightmares; it was a real mind game." I was interested to know what he would say about the topic of draft dodgers, since my English class recently had a discussion about the issue. "You know, I have never heard a story of someone in my area who [|went to Canada], I did know people who escaped the draft by going to rabbinical school. Would I ever do it myself? No. I would fight for my country." Joe is a real patriotic American, though he might not agreed with everything America was doing during that time - he supported it. His parents were saved by America. They had come to America after surviving concentration camps during the Holocaust; they had the American dream and accomplished it. After hearing about his parents, my grandparents, I had to shift the interview back to the topic we were originally on: the draft. "Luckily," he stated with a sigh of relief, "I was the first year of med school students who didn’t have to sign a document ([|The Berry Plan]) saying that they would go into the army after their residency. Some people signed it anyway, good for them."

Since Joe said he would never dodge the draft, I began to wonder if he truly believed in the war; most people at that time did not. After I had asked this question Joe sighed, and took a long pause while looking at the ceiling. The first thing he said was, "It's complicated." I gave him a puzzled look as he continued. "When the war started I was naive about many things because I was only eleven years old. At that time I couldn't believe anyone could go against America regardless of what the government was doing. As the war continued, and I became very interested in reading the paper and watching the news, I began to realize it was a pointless war - it was tearing the country apart. [|Thousands died]. Do I think it was worth it, not at all." As he went on he kept repeating the phrase, "the country was [|torn apart,]" it seemed to still haunt him over thirty years later. I guess he wanted to move on from the topic because he began sifting through the mail that was sitting on the kitchen table. As Joe picked up a medical magazine on the kitchen table I realized I wanted to discuss how his medical school experience was [|impacted] by the Vietnam War. "In the first lecture I attended there was a slide show, shot in Vietnam, of body bags and limbs in buckets. Those images are still with me today. Med school taught us how to treat trauma extremely well, that was actually one of the first things they taught us, it was probably in case a few of us were drafted. You were witnessing a future that could happen to you, and that made it much worse. Also, in previous wars doctors were treating the patients that they thought had a chance of surviving, in Vietnam doctors began treating all patients." While Joe was telling me this story he had a somber expression on his face, and his hands were not flailing as usual. It was a serious topic for him.

Joe told me he had a conference call in twenty minutes so we had to conclude the interview. One of the last memories I wanted to explore was what event he remembered the most. Besides the body bag lecture he immediately responded by saying the [|Kent State Massacre.] The Kent State Massacre, May 4th 1970, was when the National Guard killed four students and wounded nine, for protesting the war. "It hurt my faith in the country- it affected the entire nation. People were just voicing their opinions. That’s why I think so many people were drugged, free loving hippies. They wanted to live in the moment because NO one knew what the next day would bring." As the interview came to a close, Joe had to take his conference call in the other room. This interview was an eye opener for me. I had always known that my father had lived during this time, but I never really took the time to talk to him and ask what life was like back then. I had always read war stories, but I had never heard them from a civilian’s point of view. There was no mud, no heat, no face to face combat for Dr. Joe Fruchter, but there were mental scars that he still carries with him today.


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__1984__
Lesson Plan: Book One

__Title:__ BIG BROTHER TODAY



__Standard:__
 * 3.D.2. Demonstrate command of a variety of wring genres such as: persuasive essay
 * 3.A.3 Discussion – Support a position integrating multiple perspectives

__Expectations:__
 * Students will see, as well as discuss the Big Brother like actions taken by their own government
 * They will be able to understand what it would be like to have a controlling power of The Party
 * Like the Party, the students will persuade people to join their side
 * They will discuss their feeling towards totalitarianism and if it could be possible in this day and age

__Materials:__
 * Computer
 * Pen and Paper

__Opening:__ Students will read [|this article](discussing how 1984 is in our near future) and discuss how Big Brother is present in today’s society. Do the students feel threatened by these changes?

__Middle:__ Today the government is taking more control of our society. The concept of Big Brother is when that power of the government reaches too far, that they have ultimate control over anything. If students could work for the government I would like to see what aspect of Big Brother’s power would they choose to posses and why? Based on these thoughts, students will write a persuasive article (only a short paragraph) to Americans today about why their Big Brother Initiative is critical to society. [|HANDOUT]---

List of Big Brother Power based on Handout
 * seeing all
 * hearing all
 * erasing/modifying past
 * vaporizing
 * limiting people in: food, clothing, etc
 * military power
 * control any info the people recieve
 * control lifestyle (when and where they do something)
 * control transportation
 * relationship control
 * control thought (thought police)

Steph's Speech based on Handout: "My people of America! As you all know, we are striving towards a brighter future. This future will be one of equality and prosperity among all men women and children. In order to accomplish this, I ask you all to band together as one nation and accept your fellow citizens as your equals in every respect. This should not be too much to ask for a nation of forward-thinkers and advanced individuals. Equally simple to accomplish should be this next task. In order to physically and literally establish every American citizen as equals. In order to do this your government will be imposing a ration system on all goods and food products. This system will provide equal food, clothing, goods, etc to every American citizen and provide it in abundance. My people of America, I know that you are all as enthusiastic and happy about our wonderful new system as all of us in the government are. Let us go together into a bright future."

__Ending:__ Students will read their articles to each other. To conclude we will also discuss whether they feel a world like 1984, a country where the government has complete and utter control, will ever be possible in today’s world.

Lesson Plan: Book Two

__Title:__ PARANOIA – WHO’S WATCHING YOU?



__Standard:__  __Expectations:__ 
 * Media Literacy 3.C.3 - Recognize that creators of media use a number of forms, techniques, and technologies to convey their messages.
 * Students will be discover how paranoia is a key element of 1984
 * Students will try to put themselves in Winston’s paranoid world and discover how they would live their life under the constant eye of Big Brother

__Materials__: >  __Opening:__ The students will be taking a [|short quiz] on their level of paranoia. After they have completed this, they will discuss their results with their other classmates in the group. After this is completed they will begin brainstorming how this ties into 1984.
 * Computer
 * <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Comic book
 * <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Photo Booth

__Middle:__ Paranoia is a key element to 1984. It leads to Winston’s fatalism – he always is thinking about his predestined death (due to Big Brother and the Thought Police). Student will use comic life to create a few scenes in where first Winston is paranoid. Their second task is to create the scene where his paranoia is realized and he is actually being captured by Mr. Charington and the military. They will share these will their fellow classmates. Students could even incorporate themselves in this project (they could become Winston) by using Photo booth. --- [|HANDOUT] ---

__Ending:__ Student’s will end class by discussing what pressures Winston must face 24/7. He knows death is inevitable. They will ask themselves if they were in Winston’s place would they take the same risks that he did (Julia, room provided by Charinton, and talking to O’Brien).

<span style="color: rgb(255, 5, 5);">Lesson Plan: Book 3

Title: BRAINWASHING!!!



__Standards:__
 * 3.A.3 Discussion – Support a position integrating multiple perspectives
 * 3.d.2 Writing - Demonstrate personal style and voice effectively to support the purpose and engage the audience of a piece of writing

__Expectations:__
 * Students will learn about brainwashing techniques throughout history
 * They will discuss possibilities of a massive brainwashing today, and if BB could happen today

Materials:
 * computer

__Opening:__
 * Today we believe a world like the one depicted in __1984__ could never happen. Unfortunately, there have been successful brainwashing on the small scale (Jonestown) and on a large scale (Nazi Germany). Students will discuss the reasons why these groups were so successful in brainwashing their citizens and why some people (outsiders or inner members) only realized it was madness in the end.

Middle:
 * Students will read the article title "[|How Brainwashing Works]". This will enforce the ideas that students researched in opening of the lesson plan. There is even an example of __1984__ - (2+2= 5). The students will also answer a Socratic seminar question on whether they feel brainwashed by today's society and if they don’t feel brainwashing, will they ever be susceptible to it?

Ending:
 * After researching and discussing brainwashing the students will click on [|this website] and take a quiz to see if they are an expert on brainwashing.

Honors English 4
The last period of the day Stars at 2:04

Computers galore Wikispaces and YouTube Great Technology

Sitting next to me Is Marisa McCullough Can she change her seat