Alicia:My Story Essay, Research Paper

ALICIA: MY STORY

ALICIA JURMAN

1. Give a short summary of your book. (characters , conflict, complications, climaxes, resolutions)

The story was mainly about Alicia Jurman?s life during and after the Holocaust. In her life she had witnessed more trauma that we can?t even imagine, such as her mother getting killed right in front of her. That?s not all, her whole family was killed during the holocaust. Her family cruelly wrenched from her, Alicia rescued other Jews from the Gestapo, led them to safe hide outs. She was only 13 when she began saving the lives of people she did not know. After the war Alicia continued to risk her life, leading Polish Jews on an under ground route to freedom in Palestine. I enjoyed this story a lot, but did not enjoy reading about the part where she tells about her mother getting killed, which kind of made me cry a little. After all that she had settled down and is mother of three grown children, living in California with her husband, and a writer and lecturer. Alicia Jurman had been 35 around the time she wrote this book. Before she had wrote this book she had gone around grade schools, high schools, colleges, synagogues, and churches letting people know what had actually had happened during the war.

2. List the characters in your book and label them antagonist (The principal character in opposition to the protagonist or hero of a narrative or drama.), protagonist (The main character in a drama or other literary work), confidante (A character in a drama or fiction, such as a trusted friend or servant, who serves as a device for revealing the inner thoughts or intentions of a main character), developing character, foil, and static (Stationary character).

ALICIA JURMAN-She is the protagonist. She wrote this book and it is mainly about her life during and after the Holocaust.

The Germans-The Germans can be considered the antagonist because they are the ones who had killed her family and her. They also try and stop her from helping other Polish Jews escape to freedom in Palestine.

The Russians- The Russians were another group of antagonist in this story. They were the antagonists because, like the Germans, they were another group that had try and stop Alicia and the Jews from leaving the country they had occupied and going to Palestine.

Her Mother- Her mother was the confidante because she had always been there with Alicia every step of the way until she had died.

Alicia Jurman- She was the developing character because as the story went along she had developed into a stronger willed person and also developed into the main character.

The Germans- The Germans had been the foil because they are the ones who tried to kill her. They had also been the main reason why she had so much grief and trauma.

Her family-Her family had been the static because they were not able to escape the Germans and they died.

3. Characterize your main character. A minimum of five characteristics and prove by quoting from the book (page numbers included).

Alicia Jurman had determination, courageous, and strong willed because even though her whole family was killed she still had been able to move on and free all those Jews. After seeing her whole family get killed she had gained determination and a strong will. On page 43 she says,?I didn?t know why, but I told them what happened to my family and, strangely I didn?t cry?? here you can see how strong willed she is. This is where she is in the ghetto and telling this lady she is talking to and telling her about how her brother died and how she was just forced out of the house by Nazi soldiers. She said on page 220,?after seeing Herzl getting killed I swore to myself to never let them kill my mother and do everything in my power to do so?? she tried everything in her power to do so, but not even her determination was able to stop the Nazi soldiers from killing her mother. Then on page 250 she states, ?when I go to sleep I can only see my mother being killed, but I know I have to move on?? this again shows you how strong willed she is. To just show how Courageous she was, she states on page 344, ?Izio told me that you have a certificate of heroism awarded by the Soviet army. And he told me that you received that certificate for rescuing Russian partisans from a Nazi ambush?? here she is being interviewed by Tzivia who is the head of Brecha, an organization that smuggles Jews out of Russian controlled countries, and telling Alicia why they are interested in her joining Brecha. She definitely had all of these characteristics and showed them throughout the book.

4. If your book were to be made into a movie, choose the most important scene that you would use in a sneak preview. Tell why you would use this particular scene and describe it fully.

I would be forced to choose when her mother had got shot by a Nazi soldier in front of her. This would first of all attract audiences, it is violent, sad, and it would catch a viewer?s eye. That scene shows the turning point in her life and it shows just shows how much adversity and trauma she had overcome in her life. What happened was they were in a man?s house, who had let them in, and then two large SS soldiers had stormed in. They had yelled and screamed at Alicia and her mother telling them to get out, and then a soldier was about to shoot Alicia. Then the next thing she new, her mother was dead on the ground and Alicia new her mother had taken the bullet that was meant for her. After that instead of being killed she was just taken to another prison Chortkov. In my opinion, this scene is very important and would definitely get viewers to come out and watch the movie.

5. a. What obstacles did your main character face?

Alicia?s biggest problems were the German soldiers. She had gone through all that trauma all because of them. She had to flee for her life on a numerous amount o f occasions because they were after her trying to kill her. Another problem she had to face was being able to move on emotionally after her whole family was killed.

b. How did his childhood influence what she became?

Alicia?s childhood is what had caused her to become what she has become, a Jewish hero and a very courageous woman. When she was child she had been fleeing for her life and living in war-torn Poland. When she was a child she had become what she has become because she had first helped Jews escape when she was only 13 years old. So basically she had become what she is today when she was a child.

c. What things happened that changed her?

When her family had been killed she was changed forever. After she vowed to never to let her mother get killed and unfortunately she did, so she did not want to see that happen to other Jews so she had joined the Brecha. After helping free thousands of Jews into Palestine, she became a Jewish hero and a courageous person.

d. Why is he important?

She risked her life to lead Jews into Palestine where freedom from Russia and Germany was. She also helped point out the horrifying things that went on during the times of the Holocaust. With what she has written we have probably one of the best accounts of the Holocaust.

6. Write a multi-paragraph book review of your book. Include elements of fiction. Use specifics from the book.

This was a very excellent book. It was very understandable and it got it?s point across very well. I enjoyed every single page of it and I am someone who does not like to read. The plot was very intriguing and had really got my attention. The story was an autobiography so there was nothing she could really add to the characters. She was forced to simply write down what had happened. The fact that she needed to write just the facts made the story a little harder to understand because she had to deal with many different people in a short period of time and would not know them for long. Such as the people she met during her times in different camps.

The story did not have an obvious rising, which had me wondering what was going to happen to her. It was hard to see what all these events were building up to one thing, weather she was going to live. The climax was exciting because the way her life was going I did not know what going to happen next. She wound up surviving and freeing thousands of Jews. The falling action was hard to determine because she had risked her life so many times, who knew what was going to happen to her. This is where finally she settles down and now is the mother of 3 grown children and lives with her husband in California. She is also a lecturer and writer.