Personal Reaction to APEH! =)

I remember it like it was, you guessed it, yesterday. I was sitting in my eleventh-grade sixth period class entitled US History. They told us we were going to listen to some of the "old-heads" talk about courses for next year. I specifically remember my friend and "cousin", Angela Grieco as she ranted and raved about some teacher who as far as I knew, had been nonexistent for the past three years; "Maz." I will admit I had my doubts as Angela went on about the writing and reading that would take over and become my air and food supply for the next year if I decided to take the AP European History course. but now that is is all said and done, the long hours and hard work was worth it all. In the long-run I thought to myself, if I take this course I will definately be more prepared for what college has to offer, and by having a glimpse of that for an entire year, I can honestly say that I feel like I have learned more this year than I have in the past three years of the various History courses I had taken.

 Well sure! Why not! why would I, a college bound senior pass up the opportunity to expand my knowledge in the various areas that have not been touched on during my middle school and early high school career. I am so glad that I went through to my guidance counselor and conversed to him those four letters "A-P-E-H" followed by a please and smile of course. This course was way worth it. yes it has been hard and it has pushed me out of my comfortable state of listening and threw me into a realm of interaction with history. not only did i notice a significant improvement in my writing skills, but i also was given the opportunity to try new techniques, such as, this here blog that i am doing right now. I did not realize how much fun blogs were prior to this semester!

Although there were some units that were not entirely my favorite (the ones with all of the king Henry's and Charles'), however, I did learn a lot about the sort of reign they all lead. I cannot believe how quickly the year has gone past, but it is finally here, FINALS week!  and then graduation.  I will always remember this class and you too Maz! I had a great year, even when I stumbled a little bit, I still learned through it. It was a great year in a great course.

Reaction to class ~ Nuremberg 5/17-5/21 (classes)

For the past week we have watched the dramatic and capturing movie Nuremberg, directed by Yves Simoneau. This movie helped me to grasp a thorough understanding of all that took place during the Trials held at Nuremberg. I was able to get a visual of the autrocity behind the sceming that took place during 1945, after the end of World War II. Germany stands ruined and defeated after the unconditional surrender of the Allies. This fact-based courtroom dramatization examines the international tribunal that assembled in Nuremberg, Germany, which was in an utterly war-torn state.

Reichsmarschall Hermann Georing as played by actor Brian Cox

above picture shows Alec Baldwin plays the part of Alexander Rae.

                                     above picture shows Alexander Rae alongside actor Christopher Plummer who        plays the role of Sir David Maxwell Fyfe.

I really enjoyed the film and I found it to be very captivating. the harsh cruelty and truth behind the Nuremberg trials is portrayed very effectively. When the film showed a segment on the real footage behind  the camps I felt like i was right in the courtroom along with others who watched in shock and disgust as some began to flee the area because of the shocking evidence.

all in all i found it to be a well established portrayal of what all took place during the Nuremberg Trials.