Identify a particular image that stood out for you in Chapter 1. Describe in detail what you envision and why you think it struck you. End your post w/ a question. (Skip a line between paragraphs.) Also, reply to at least one student's post.
An image that stood out for me in chapter 1 was when the other team first came up to the field before the game. I think this stood out to me because of the detail in which the contrast between the two teams were described. I imagine the "away" team all walking in, dressed alike, knowing that they will win because of Danny Saunders and it showing on their faces. Reuvin's team will look around at each other and for the first time become aware of their disorganized look, the only common thing about them the small black cap, a sign of their religion. I think that this moment is also important because it shows the differences inside religions, and how hate and disrespect for one's beliefs can come from not only people who are of a different religion as you, but people of the same religion who have some different beliefs. Do think that this game was kind of played belief vs. belief instead of team vs. team?
I really liked the image you described, and I agree with the excellent points you made. To answer your question, I think that although it began as a simple ballgame, it quickly turned into a battle of beliefs. Once they started to throw insults and threats at each other, it became a lot less about a baseball game and more about who was right and who was wrong. People began to get angry, and it all ended with Rueven getting hurt, which shouldn't have happened.
I really like the way you wrote this and described the image you saw. In reading your response, I found that I had a lot of the same ideas and opinions as you did. To answer your question, I definitely think that the game kicked off as team vs. team (with a little tension) and eventually lost all purpose on the game front and resulted in being a religious belief war.
Your description was really good, and I found it interesting how it was different and same the the image that I got for that scene. To get to the question, it seemed that while it started as a good and fun game of baseball, the away team brought with them a sort of attitude of hate with them that morphed the atmosphere, making things increasingly hostile leading up to when Reuven got nailed.
I really enjoyed the first chapter overall. I like how it introduces us to what the Jewish communities and cultural background are like. I think it helps get a sense of what the atmosphere is like in the streets of Williamsburg in order to be able to understand the things that transpire in that community. I think that the image that struck out the most to me was towards the end of the chapter when Reuven Malter is pitching against Danny. This moment really stood out for me because by this time, the tenseness and religious rivalry between both teams is at its highest. Throughout the game, both teams but specially Danny and Malter have a personal rivalry because of their fathers different religious views. As the game progresses, it stops feeling like a competitive fun match and turns more into a war between two different Orthodox Jewish sects. I think that all of these aspects added to this final moment when Malter was pitching to Danny. Another aspect that makes it more intense is that Malter’s team is one out away from winning the match and most importantly it is the leaders of both teams facing off against each other. In this section I can clearly envision how nervous and quiet the opposing team is including their rabbi who throughout the game felt so confident that he was just reading a book. I can also envision the deep, stern look Danny gives to Malter as he waits for each pitch. Sort of like if he is trying to intimidate Malter so he would choke the final inning. I think that this image struck me a lot because of the tenseness that was built up to this moment. I wonder what will be Malters dad's reaction when he finds out what happened to his son? Will it create an even larger rivalry between both sects?
This is a very well written response, and I definitely agree with you. I really admired how you talked about your image of the team rivalry in beliefs, yet also talked about a later spot in the chapter which was similar to your first. This really helped get your point across. But to answer your question about the rivalry growing between each sect, I believe that it will, eventually, stop. But in order for them to reach that point it definitely will grow and become somewhat worse than it is in this chapter.
Throughout this first chapter an image that stood out to me was during the warmups of their baseball game. This scene stood out to me mostly because of how Reuven's team was mistreated and taken advantage of because of their lack of ability and beliefs based off of their religion. On pages nine and ten this scene occurs when they are told to get off the practicing field before the game due to the other team feeling that they should have the field to themselves. Their reasoning was because they didn't feel that they could be seen practicing together. Mr. Galanter was trying to defend his team by telling the rabbi that they too can practice on the ball field. Yet, what made this scene most important to my image was how they were told that their differences were too great. And that these two teams couldn't be seen practicing at the same time, on the same field. They said "We cannot practice with your people on the field. Tell them to leave the field" (10). The boys had to be explained to that the opponents wanted their own time on the field, just five minutes by themselves. Although this wouldn't have seen like a big deal for the boys to get off the field and keep practicing off to the side, it was the meaning behind why they were practicing separately that was most significant. The image that I saw here was separation based on beliefs and appearances.
Do you think that the impressions will change farther along in the book as the team's see past their beliefs?
I definitely agree with you on the importance of the image that you chose. I think that the quote you chose perfectly captures your point. To answer your question, I think the these two groups will eventually be able to see past each others beliefs, but it will be hard for them to reach that point.
While I do agree with your overall message about how the two sides seem to have an underlying dislike for each other, that was not the sense that I got when I read your quote in the book. I think the rabbi was just kind of being a wise-guy saying that there is only room for one team on the field, and in order for them to get their practice, then their team would have to get off the field. I definitely think that there are other examples that show your point, but I do not necessarily think that is the case in this instance.
I think that this chapter was really interesting to read. One image that stood out for me was when Rueven caught Danny Saunders's hit. It was so descriptive and I was able to picture it like I was there on the field. I though this was a really important moment in the chapter—and the baseball game itself—because Rueven's miraculous catch seemed to boost the moral of the entire team to the point where they were almost able to get the upper hand in the game. I think they would have, too, if Danny's next hit hadn't clocked Rueven in the face, effectively putting him on the bench. However, I noticed that the camaraderie and commitment that Rueven's team seemed to have built into their ranks was really powerful.
Another thing that stuck out for me was the how different the two teams were from each other, even though they practiced variations of the same religion. There was a tangible divide between them, and they used their different beliefs to bully one another during the game. Do you think that the tension between them will dissipate as the book progresses?
I highly doubt that the tension will dissipate. In fact, since the tension between the different Jewish groups is so apparent so early in the book, I think that it is going to become a big part of the story and that it will only escalate before the book is over.
It was a very interesting chapter overall, and it was very enjoyable. An image that particularly stood out to me was when Malter had two strikes on Danny Saunders and Danny just stepped out of the box and grinned at Malter. I can clearly envision a tall limber boy just grinning in his uniform beside the batters box. Then the scene right after that is him lining a ball right at Malter's face, which makes his apperiance right before that even more creepy and menacing. Why do you think Danny was grinning at Malter? Was he just trying to throw Malter off balance or was he grinning because he realized how to hot Malters curve ball? Or was it something much more sinister?
I really liked the image you picked because it was also the one I chose to write about. In my opinion I think that Danny was grinning at Malter in order to intimidate him and at the same time show that he was not nervous. The reason I think that he grinned and showed conceitedness in this moment was also to show that he was not nervous at all that he was one strike away from loosing the game.I also guess you could relate his look as sinister because it does seem like he has the intent of intimidating or frightening Malter.
Something that really stands out to me in this chapter is the rivalry and competitiveness between these two baseball teams despite their circumstances. In most ways it makes sense that they would be competitive and even a little argumentative. However, it seems not to be solely about the game, but about something else. They are competing beyond the outcome of the game, and onto the subject of religion. The image that formed in my head while reading this chapter was based on how different the two teams appear to be despite having the same religion. The opposing team came in dressed in their religious uniforms, while the home team didn’t. I personally think that it is very interesting how they would wear their Jewish clothing for a baseball game. I picture one team dressed in normal baseball attire and the other team all dressed in their religious clothing. By way of the reading, it seems as though the opposing team’s religion is more intense than that of the home team’s. As the game progressed, it increasingly lost all fun and became a war between the two slightly different beliefs within the same religion. The yeshiva team (the opposing team) comes across as angry at the home team, calling them “apikorsim” yelling for them to “burn in hell.” This supports my opinion stating that the yeshiva team is more intensely religious than the home team. This chapter was very interesting, and I liked how it started off with a brief explanation of the religion and some general facts about Jewish schools and communities.
Shouldn’t the coaches and the kids themselves be trying to develop a connection as they are all struggling as Jews in world war 2 to preserve their faith and find their place in the world among the hate and criticism from other religious groups? Couldn’t they find a way to play a competitive game against each other without calling each other murderers, making fun of their clothes and even their religions and turning on each other, when they should be working together in the bigger picture?
I thought overall that it was a very good chapter, and I liked how it kind of laid the groundworks for a potentially much thicker and deeper plot, but still using an interesting and engaging baseball scene to set the stage. You kind of got a little sense for what Malter's life could have been like back then. One particular part that I found interesting, was on the bottom of page six when Malter says, “But to the students of most of the parochial schools, an inter-league baseball victory had come to take on only a shade less significance than a top grade in Talmud, for it was and unquestioned mark of one’s Americanism, and to be counted a loyal American had become increasingly important to us during these last years of war.”(6). Before he talks about his family and social group, being very academically driven, and an education was a very big part of their lives. Even though his education is in English, his studies about his religion in particular are a very big deal to him and his family, so I find it interesting when he says that baseball is just under that education, because they want to be more American. As bad and ugly as war is, it has in inept ability to most of the time (not always) to bring and bind nations and countries closely together. This is particularly true for WWII as in America as well as countless other nations they were all fighting one common enemy, one common evil. At that time it was very important to people to feel as though they were part of the effort or team per se that was fighting against the evil. I wonder if Malter would have enjoyed baseball as much if he didn’t live in the wartime setting, and didn’t want or feel the need to be “extra American”? And if he did still feel the same way, I wonder if his father would have let him play baseball, and not just made him focus on his studies?
The thing that stood out the most in that chapter was near the end of the chapter, when Danny Saunders was standing there grinning. The description makes it sound like a serial kill was there, not a kid playing baseball. The image of someone with so much concentrated ill intent on one person, and the grin that it seem like he’s absolutely lost it. When I read that part, I got chills, and is why I think it stood out to me.
Why do you think it would be accepted that Danny’s team show such open resentment towards them because of a disagreement of religious practice?
Totally agree. That image was hard to forget. Maybe the reason why resentment is so easily accepted on Danny's side is because it was a form of learned behavior? It had been seen before, so why change it? Just a thought, we'll find out more later on in the book I suspect, but when we see something wrong happening, we may not always know that it is wrong because we have seen it happen before. Humans are magnetic to familiarity.
Chapter one started off with the discussion of Danny, and how he had apparently lived nearby in the first fifteen years of their lives. Without of course, knowledge of the other person's existence. Throughout the chapter, the tension of the baseball game, the challenge of balancing human value, and human decency, we all share the need to search for meaning. For a deeper understanding. But I think that this chapter might be a reflection of overall human-capacity. How capable are we of considering that our own personal belief is not the single-most important, or only belief that exists? How capable are we of showing empathy, and putting ourselves in someone else's shoes? The difference in basic religious core is enough to make people feel separated, distanced somehow. But there are people who are different than you everywhere. They could live down the street, or next-door. They shop at your grocery store, they listen to your music, they want to live their life the way they intend on seeking happiness: careless, proud, and free. Imagery of distance really struck me. We are not far from one another, we all have one thing in common: and that is life. Life is the single most important thing that we will ever do, that is what I took away from chapter one. My question is, why did the author leave so much up to interpretation? I read this chapter once, then twice, then a third time, trying to make sense of my thoughts but each time I came away with something different. I wonder why that is? Could it hold some greater meaning that is meant to touch readers? (I requested an extension on this assignment due to absence. Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts).
An image that stood out for me in chapter 1 was when the other team first came up to the field before the game. I think this stood out to me because of the detail in which the contrast between the two teams were described. I imagine the "away" team all walking in, dressed alike, knowing that they will win because of Danny Saunders and it showing on their faces. Reuvin's team will look around at each other and for the first time become aware of their disorganized look, the only common thing about them the small black cap, a sign of their religion.
ReplyDeleteI think that this moment is also important because it shows the differences inside religions, and how hate and disrespect for one's beliefs can come from not only people who are of a different religion as you, but people of the same religion who have some different beliefs. Do think that this game was kind of played belief vs. belief instead of team vs. team?
I really liked the image you described, and I agree with the excellent points you made. To answer your question, I think that although it began as a simple ballgame, it quickly turned into a battle of beliefs. Once they started to throw insults and threats at each other, it became a lot less about a baseball game and more about who was right and who was wrong. People began to get angry, and it all ended with Rueven getting hurt, which shouldn't have happened.
DeleteI really like the way you wrote this and described the image you saw. In reading your response, I found that I had a lot of the same ideas and opinions as you did. To answer your question, I definitely think that the game kicked off as team vs. team (with a little tension) and eventually lost all purpose on the game front and resulted in being a religious belief war.
DeleteYour description was really good, and I found it interesting how it was different and same the the image that I got for that scene. To get to the question, it seemed that while it started as a good and fun game of baseball, the away team brought with them a sort of attitude of hate with them that morphed the atmosphere, making things increasingly hostile leading up to when Reuven got nailed.
DeleteI really enjoyed the first chapter overall. I like how it introduces us to what the Jewish communities and cultural background are like. I think it helps get a sense of what the atmosphere is like in the streets of Williamsburg in order to be able to understand the things that transpire in that community. I think that the image that struck out the most to me was towards the end of the chapter when Reuven Malter is pitching against Danny. This moment really stood out for me because by this time, the tenseness and religious rivalry between both teams is at its highest. Throughout the game, both teams but specially Danny and Malter have a personal rivalry because of their fathers different religious views. As the game progresses, it stops feeling like a competitive fun match and turns more into a war between two different Orthodox Jewish sects. I think that all of these aspects added to this final moment when Malter was pitching to Danny. Another aspect that makes it more intense is that Malter’s team is one out away from winning the match and most importantly it is the leaders of both teams facing off against each other. In this section I can clearly envision how nervous and quiet the opposing team is including their rabbi who throughout the game felt so confident that he was just reading a book. I can also envision the deep, stern look Danny gives to Malter as he waits for each pitch. Sort of like if he is trying to intimidate Malter so he would choke the final inning. I think that this image struck me a lot because of the tenseness that was built up to this moment. I wonder what will be Malters dad's reaction when he finds out what happened to his son? Will it create an even larger rivalry between both sects?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very well written response, and I definitely agree with you. I really admired how you talked about your image of the team rivalry in beliefs, yet also talked about a later spot in the chapter which was similar to your first. This really helped get your point across. But to answer your question about the rivalry growing between each sect, I believe that it will, eventually, stop. But in order for them to reach that point it definitely will grow and become somewhat worse than it is in this chapter.
DeleteThroughout this first chapter an image that stood out to me was during the warmups of their baseball game. This scene stood out to me mostly because of how Reuven's team was mistreated and taken advantage of because of their lack of ability and beliefs based off of their religion. On pages nine and ten this scene occurs when they are told to get off the practicing field before the game due to the other team feeling that they should have the field to themselves. Their reasoning was because they didn't feel that they could be seen practicing together. Mr. Galanter was trying to defend his team by telling the rabbi that they too can practice on the ball field. Yet, what made this scene most important to my image was how they were told that their differences were too great. And that these two teams couldn't be seen practicing at the same time, on the same field. They said "We cannot practice with your people on the field. Tell them to leave the field" (10). The boys had to be explained to that the opponents wanted their own time on the field, just five minutes by themselves. Although this wouldn't have seen like a big deal for the boys to get off the field and keep practicing off to the side, it was the meaning behind why they were practicing separately that was most significant. The image that I saw here was separation based on beliefs and appearances.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that the impressions will change farther along in the book as the team's see past their beliefs?
I definitely agree with you on the importance of the image that you chose. I think that the quote you chose perfectly captures your point. To answer your question, I think the these two groups will eventually be able to see past each others beliefs, but it will be hard for them to reach that point.
DeleteWhile I do agree with your overall message about how the two sides seem to have an underlying dislike for each other, that was not the sense that I got when I read your quote in the book. I think the rabbi was just kind of being a wise-guy saying that there is only room for one team on the field, and in order for them to get their practice, then their team would have to get off the field. I definitely think that there are other examples that show your point, but I do not necessarily think that is the case in this instance.
DeleteI think that this chapter was really interesting to read. One image that stood out for me was when Rueven caught Danny Saunders's hit. It was so descriptive and I was able to picture it like I was there on the field. I though this was a really important moment in the chapter—and the baseball game itself—because Rueven's miraculous catch seemed to boost the moral of the entire team to the point where they were almost able to get the upper hand in the game. I think they would have, too, if Danny's next hit hadn't clocked Rueven in the face, effectively putting him on the bench. However, I noticed that the camaraderie and commitment that Rueven's team seemed to have built into their ranks was really powerful.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that stuck out for me was the how different the two teams were from each other, even though they practiced variations of the same religion. There was a tangible divide between them, and they used their different beliefs to bully one another during the game. Do you think that the tension between them will dissipate as the book progresses?
I highly doubt that the tension will dissipate. In fact, since the tension between the different Jewish groups is so apparent so early in the book, I think that it is going to become a big part of the story and that it will only escalate before the book is over.
DeleteIt was a very interesting chapter overall, and it was very enjoyable. An image that particularly stood out to me was when Malter had two strikes on Danny Saunders and Danny just stepped out of the box and grinned at Malter. I can clearly envision a tall limber boy just grinning in his uniform beside the batters box. Then the scene right after that is him lining a ball right at Malter's face, which makes his apperiance right before that even more creepy and menacing. Why do you think Danny was grinning at Malter? Was he just trying to throw Malter off balance or was he grinning because he realized how to hot Malters curve ball? Or was it something much more sinister?
ReplyDeleteI really liked the image you picked because it was also the one I chose to write about. In my opinion I think that Danny was grinning at Malter in order to intimidate him and at the same time show that he was not nervous. The reason I think that he grinned and showed conceitedness in this moment was also to show that he was not nervous at all that he was one strike away from loosing the game.I also guess you could relate his look as sinister because it does seem like he has the intent of intimidating or frightening Malter.
DeleteSomething that really stands out to me in this chapter is the rivalry and competitiveness between these two baseball teams despite their circumstances. In most ways it makes sense that they would be competitive and even a little argumentative. However, it seems not to be solely about the game, but about something else. They are competing beyond the outcome of the game, and onto the subject of religion. The image that formed in my head while reading this chapter was based on how different the two teams appear to be despite having the same religion. The opposing team came in dressed in their religious uniforms, while the home team didn’t. I personally think that it is very interesting how they would wear their Jewish clothing for a baseball game. I picture one team dressed in normal baseball attire and the other team all dressed in their religious clothing. By way of the reading, it seems as though the opposing team’s religion is more intense than that of the home team’s. As the game progressed, it increasingly lost all fun and became a war between the two slightly different beliefs within the same religion. The yeshiva team (the opposing team) comes across as angry at the home team, calling them “apikorsim” yelling for them to “burn in hell.” This supports my opinion stating that the yeshiva team is more intensely religious than the home team. This chapter was very interesting, and I liked how it started off with a brief explanation of the religion and some general facts about Jewish schools and communities.
ReplyDeleteShouldn’t the coaches and the kids themselves be trying to develop a connection as they are all struggling as Jews in world war 2 to preserve their faith and find their place in the world among the hate and criticism from other religious groups? Couldn’t they find a way to play a competitive game against each other without calling each other murderers, making fun of their clothes and even their religions and turning on each other, when they should be working together in the bigger picture?
I thought overall that it was a very good chapter, and I liked how it kind of laid the groundworks for a potentially much thicker and deeper plot, but still using an interesting and engaging baseball scene to set the stage. You kind of got a little sense for what Malter's life could have been like back then. One particular part that I found interesting, was on the bottom of page six when Malter says, “But to the students of most of the parochial schools, an inter-league baseball victory had come to take on only a shade less significance than a top grade in Talmud, for it was and unquestioned mark of one’s Americanism, and to be counted a loyal American had become increasingly important to us during these last years of war.”(6). Before he talks about his family and social group, being very academically driven, and an education was a very big part of their lives. Even though his education is in English, his studies about his religion in particular are a very big deal to him and his family, so I find it interesting when he says that baseball is just under that education, because they want to be more American. As bad and ugly as war is, it has in inept ability to most of the time (not always) to bring and bind nations and countries closely together. This is particularly true for WWII as in America as well as countless other nations they were all fighting one common enemy, one common evil. At that time it was very important to people to feel as though they were part of the effort or team per se that was fighting against the evil.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Malter would have enjoyed baseball as much if he didn’t live in the wartime setting, and didn’t want or feel the need to be “extra American”? And if he did still feel the same way, I wonder if his father would have let him play baseball, and not just made him focus on his studies?
The thing that stood out the most in that chapter was near the end of the chapter, when Danny Saunders was standing there grinning. The description makes it sound like a serial kill was there, not a kid playing baseball. The image of someone with so much concentrated ill intent on one person, and the grin that it seem like he’s absolutely lost it. When I read that part, I got chills, and is why I think it stood out to me.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think it would be accepted that Danny’s team show such open resentment towards them because of a disagreement of religious practice?
Totally agree. That image was hard to forget. Maybe the reason why resentment is so easily accepted on Danny's side is because it was a form of learned behavior? It had been seen before, so why change it? Just a thought, we'll find out more later on in the book I suspect, but when we see something wrong happening, we may not always know that it is wrong because we have seen it happen before. Humans are magnetic to familiarity.
DeleteChapter one started off with the discussion of Danny, and how he had apparently lived nearby in the first fifteen years of their lives. Without of course, knowledge of the other person's existence. Throughout the chapter, the tension of the baseball game, the challenge of balancing human value, and human decency, we all share the need to search for meaning. For a deeper understanding. But I think that this chapter might be a reflection of overall human-capacity. How capable are we of considering that our own personal belief is not the single-most important, or only belief that exists? How capable are we of showing empathy, and putting ourselves in someone else's shoes? The difference in basic religious core is enough to make people feel separated, distanced somehow. But there are people who are different than you everywhere. They could live down the street, or next-door. They shop at your grocery store, they listen to your music, they want to live their life the way they intend on seeking happiness: careless, proud, and free. Imagery of distance really struck me. We are not far from one another, we all have one thing in common: and that is life. Life is the single most important thing that we will ever do, that is what I took away from chapter one. My question is, why did the author leave so much up to interpretation? I read this chapter once, then twice, then a third time, trying to make sense of my thoughts but each time I came away with something different. I wonder why that is? Could it hold some greater meaning that is meant to touch readers? (I requested an extension on this assignment due to absence. Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts).
ReplyDelete