Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Week 3 Discussion Question

Howie's family finally receive a letter from their 'Pop.' They are excited until they realize it is a "Swiss-cheese letter." What does 'swiss-cheese letter' mean? After talking to his Mom, how did Howie know that something in his Pop's letter had troubled his Mom? Why is Howie worried about his Pop's safety as he tries to return home? (A clue to help you answer these questions can be found on the headlines right before Chapter 20). Make sure you answer all of the questions and use examples from the text to support your answers. You should also make sure to clearly explain your thinking.

Make sure to answer the question with a RAD response and use details from the text to support your answer. Please check your grammar, spelling, capitalization, and conventions before submitting your response. Type it in your blogging doc first so you can go back and edit your work.

15 comments:

  1. What swiss cheese letter means is swiss cheese has so many holes in it. And the letter had holes in it because the army cut out some info that Nazis could use to bomb more ships so they were referring to a piece of swiss cheese. Howie knew that something in his Pop's letter had troubled his Mom because his mom started to act strangely like she was afraid or upset. Also Howie feels worried because his pop is going into a dangerous place. Howie’s pop’s ship is all alone so the Nazis will have a better chance of finding and killing Howie’s pop.

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    1. What do you think about censoring? Would you have written home to your family if you were a soldier back then if you knew that other people read your letters and censored them before they got to your family?

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    2. Jake, I think any letter from a loved one fighting the war could be troubling because of the unpredictable events that could occur. As much as Howie's mom probably looked forward to getting a letter from her husband, many emotions were unsettling in her. Howie's dad mentions the Germans were "thick as sharks" and "bomb a lot". She probable felt helpless knowing her husband was in danger and she could only wait until he arrived home to know he was safe.

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  2. What a swiss cheese letter means, is a letter that has words cut out so they don't give away where someone is, like Pop. The military had words cut out so that Howie and his Mom and Gloria don't know where he is to keep him safe. Howie knows his Mom is upset by the letter is because he saw that his mom was worried and she wouldn't read the letter to him because she was worried. What troubled his Mom and him in the letter, was that they weren't waiting for a convoy and the convoy is the safest way back. Pop didn't wait for one, he just went straight back, which has a bigger risk of them being sunk by Nazi U-Boats.

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    1. Would you have written home to your family if you were a soldier back then if you knew that other people read your letters and censored them before they got to your family?

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  3. A swiss cheese letter is a letter that has holes in it because the sensor cuts out the things that it thinks the person that wrote it should not be saying.How Howie knew that his mom was worried about his dad is he read the letter and found out that his dad was returning on a ship with no other ships to protect his ship.Why he is worried about his fathers safety is Nazi U-boats could sink his dads ship and kill him.

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    1. What do you think about censoring? Do you think the soldiers liked knowing that their letters were being read by others and censored before they got to their family?

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  4. When Howie and his family receive a letter from his Pop we learn a little more about his family. They have mixed feelings about the letter because they are happy to hear from him but also worried about where their dad might be. Is he safe? Is he lost? The swiss cheese letter has many words removed from the letter. We know that when a letter has confidential or "secret" information in it, it is marked "censored". In chapter 20-21, we learn that US Cargo Vessel's have been attacked at sea. The news worries Howie's mom since she has an idea where Pop might be, but she does not know for sure. I can imagine that it would be very difficult to wonder about a family member's safety when all a person can do is read the headlines and hope for a safe return.

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  5. In “Don't You Know There's A War On” a Swiss cheese letter is a letter that has holes in it. Why it has holes in it is so it keeps out info. On page 79 in the text it said “Holes had been cut into it. You know, the censor slicing things out he didn't think Pop should be saying”. It keeps out info so the enemy wouldn’t know where they were. If they don’t keep info out and the Nazis got it they would know where the troops were heading. Then they would be waiting for him and then torpedo his boat and kill him with other crew members.
    How he knew that his mom was troubled by something in the letter was that when his mom smiled there was something different like she was hiding something or was in deep thought.
    One big reason Howie is scared that his Pop will not make it back is because in the text on page 80 Pop said in his letter “We're not waiting for a convoy but heading right back” . A convoy can provide cover because they go in large numbers and you are less likely to get torpedoed or sunk by a boat / u-boat.

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    1. Do you ever learn something about someone or about how they feel about something just by looking at them...even if they don't say a word?

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  6. A swiss-cheese letter means that it is a letter that has some cut out words from their family member.After their family member is done writing a letter the person who wrote it would have their army friends read it and they would cut out all of the parts that they thought would be important to keep secret. thats what kind of letter Howie got from his dad . Howie knew that something in his Pop's letter had troubled his Mom because she thinks he is going to have trouble coming home from the war. In the book on page 71 it says that U-boat Toll Rises As Nazis Use New Tactics and that means that is death!!!
    Thats why Howies worried about his dad coming home.

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    1. I like the quote from page 71 you added. This really shows the danger that Howie's dad was in.

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  7. A “swiss cheese letter” is a letter with words cut out in it and even maybe some important words can be cut out of the letter. Maybe even a part that says “we regret to inform you that…” And a part that has info about the person fighting. Why I think that the letter troubled Howie’s mom is if it is a “we regret to inform you that…” letter she can't see the “we regret to inform you” part of it. And then if any of the rest is important that means that that was cut out to. Like maybe he was captured by nazis and they saw him writing the note and cut the parts that they didn’t want is the letter. And thats why the letter has certain parts cutout of it and the parts that they did cut out were the parts about the camps, and how hes captured and all.

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    1. Well put Eamon. Sometimes no news is good news. When families got letters they did not know if it was a "We regret to inform you" or "I am safe..."

      The other hard part about getting these letters is that they were not fast like we have texting/email today. The letter may say that all is well and I am on my way home, but by the time the letter gets to the family that soldiers situation could be very different.

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  8. A swiss-cheese letter defined by this book is on page 79 - “Holes had been cut into it”. This means that the letters from soldiers were censored. Censored means that the letters were examined officially and suppressed/removed unacceptable parts of it. The parts that were removed were locations, dates, times that would help the Nazi’s if they intercepted the letters.

    The only text evidence that helps me know that Howie knew something in Pop’s letter was troubling his mom was on page 79. It says “She smiled. I could tell, something in Pop’s letter had got to her.” In addition, on page 82 it says “When the sirens came, she dropped the pot on the stove. After that she didn’t seem worried. Not that she would have let on.” Both of these lead me to believe that Howie is only using nonverbal communication to make this assumption that she is troubled. Howie’s mom does all she can to shield her kids by not speaking too often about the war but her nonverbal communication… smile, looks, walk tell him a lot.

    Howie is worried about Pop’s safety because he will not be traveling with a convoy. Convoy’s are safer from u-boat attacks.

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