A Letter to Mr. Cattanzara (Activity Six)

03/08/1938




 Dear Mr. Cattanzara,
                                                                                             
Only now, after ten years, I got the courage to sit and write this letter.  

First of all, I want(ww.-would like) to apologize to you - I am sorry for having lied to you. I hope you know how important you are to me and how thankful I am for teaching me this lesson.

I was an idiot, I have always dreamed about money and success, but I haven't done anything in order to reach that goal ! I quit school and didn't do anything to pick up my education. So, I lied to you because I didn't want to let you down.

You have always cared about me and I thought that a 20 year old guy might have an education, certainly a guy like me, who has a lot of big dreams for his future. You knew how important it was for me to be respected, and when I told this lie about my reading I thought that I would feel good and you will(gr.) feel good - you will(gr.) be happy that people respect me and that I'm being educated. After a while you found out the truth, but you didn't tell anyone, and I thank you for that, because if you told the truth to the people in the neighborhood I couldn't deal with it. By not telling other people the truth, you let me understand by myself that I was wrong.

I don't even know if you remember our talk that night, but I will not be able to forget it my whole life. You told me that night "don't do what I did" and since that day I wondered what have you(wo.) done... After that talk I closed myself in my room for a week and refused to go out (I only got out to the kitchen when nobody was at home), and after the summer, in the fall, I finally figured out what I should(ww.+gr. - had to) do. Then I went to the library and started reading. I read a great book and then I discovered that actually I really like(gr.-liked) reading.

Today I'm learning(ww.-studying) Literature and Journalism, and that's all thanks to you ! I don't know how to thank you for all the things you have done for me ! I have my own column in the "New-York Times" where I recommend books and even publish my own short stories and poems. Isn't it the newspaper you used to read everynight ? Do you still read it ? How ironic...

Nowadays, I live in a nice private house in a beautiful neighborhood with my wife and my eighteen months old son.

I want you to know - you are one of the most important people in my life. I will not forget you and I will thank you for what you have done for me for the rest of my life.

Thank you !

                                                                 I am gratful and miss you every day, 

                                                                                     Love, George Stoyonovich.


Better.
(94)
Daphna

"A Summer's Reading" - Activities 1-5

Activity 1:

 How do they escape from their reality?

Drag the correct answer to each of the characters.

George Stoyonovich Goes to the park to day-dream. Mr. Cattanzara Drinks alcohol. The Queen singer Commits a crime

Now that you understand how different people escape from reality, what do you recommend they should do instead?

Answer:

Both George and Mr. Cattanzara try to escape from reality. George goes to the park to day-dream and Mr. Cattanzara drinks alcohol. I would recommend to George to learn something or to find a job and then he will do something instead of day-dreaming. Mr. Cattanzara does other things to escape his reality – he reads "The New York Times" newspaper every evening from the beginning until the end of it, but sometimes he drinks alcohol. Instead of that he should go out with his wife or find another job that would challenge and attract him.
(20)


Activity 2:

1. Explain the following line from the story. Say what has happened to make George feel this way. Use the thinking skill of Explaining Cause and Effect to help you: "George knew he looked passable on the outside, but inside he was crumbling apart."

2. Another issue to discuss here is the effect George's lie had on his life:

How did the lie George told affect his life? Consider both the short term and possible long term effects of the lie.

Answers:

1. George met Mr. Cattanzara while he was wandering in the streets. Mr. Cattanzara was drunk and George hoped that he won't(gr.-wouldn't) see him, but he had seen him and after that he treated him like a little kid, probably because he knew that he(had) lied to him about his reading. George tried to act like everything is(gr.) fine, but inside he felt devastated. He was really ashamed to have disappointed Mr. Cattanzara. He liked him a lot because Mr. Cattanzara always took care about(ww.-of) him.

2. George told Mr. Cattanzara that he has(gr.) a list of 100 books to read in the summer, but this was a lie. After he told the lie, people started to respect him and he liked it, because he wanted people to respect him. But after Mr. Cattanzara found out the truth, George was depressed and closed himself up in his room, because he thought he disappointed Mr. Cattanzara. The long term effect on George's life was that he started reading.  

(19)

 

Activity 3:

Find and tick all the autobiographic details reflected in the story.
	Bernard Malamud wrote about famous people.
	Bernard Malamud worked at odd jobs.
	Bernard Malamud's mother died when he was young.
	Bernard Malamud was interested in simple people.
	Bernard Malamud wrote about people whose hopes come true.

How is the information you have just read about the author reflected in "A Summer's Reading"?

How does reading this information about Bernard Malamud add to or change your understanding of the story?

Answer:

There are some details which are similar between Bernard Malamud and George. Both George's mother and Bernard Malamud's mother died. They both grew up in the same period of time - the great depression - and in the same area - New York region. All this information helps me understand where the inspiration for George's character was coming(gr.-came) from. Bernard Malamud's childhood is expressed in the story as George's childhood.
(20)

Activity 4:

How would you define the character of George Stoyonovich?

George is a neighborhood boy who quit(s) school at the age of 16. He always wants people to respect him, but the truth is that he doesn't do anything to gain this respect. His mother died and his father is poor, so he tries to escape the reality by wandering through the park every night. George's dream is to find a good job, so that he will be able to afford dating girls and he will be able to buy a big house in a nice neighborhood with a lot of green trees. 1. What is true about Mr. Cattanzara? 2. Compare and contrast George and Mr. Cattanzara. How are they similar? How are they different? Answers: 1. Mr. Cattanzara is a bald headed man who works as change maker in the IRT station. He is George's neighbor and he is like a father figure for(ww.-to) him. As I can understand from the story and from the meaning of his name, Mr. Cattanzara is chained to his place – he did something in the past that makes his reality bad and now he tries to escape it by drinking alcohol and by reading the whole "New York Times" newspaper everyday, from the beginning to the end. He wants George to be able to take his life in his own hands (and improve it), unlike him. 2. Between George and Mr. Cattanzara there are similarities and differences.  They both live in the same neighborhood in a difficult time. They both try to escape their difficult realities. The difference between them is that they deal with the reality (or try to escape from it) in different ways - George wanders through the park every night and Mr. Cattanzara sometimes drinks alcohol and everyday reads "The New York Times"(wo.) from beginning to end. In addition, George still can take his life in his hands and he can learn, but for Mr. Cattanzara it is maybe too late. (19) Activity 5: עמודה ראשונה                                   עמודה שנייה Living in a multicultural society.   2             1.   Growing up. Coping with difficulties.   3 2.      Being an immigrant. Taking responsibility.  1             3.   Proper Education Why is the story titled "A Summer's Reading"? Answer: The story is titled "A Summer's Reading", because it has at its core(phr.) George's lie about his summer reading. Even though he started reading only in the fall, during the summer time George got(ww-learned) an important lesson for his(מיותר) life thanks to which he would eventually be able to learn and succeed as he dreamed.  (18) Very good work! (96) Daphna

Who Is Under These Clothes ?

When I'm sad I often go to the mall. I past the window shop(ww.+phr.) , looking for new collections in the stores and buy some new clothes, shoes and accessories. It makes me feel good , but it is actually not as good as it seems. Nowadays, clothes have become a major part in people's lives. To be honest, it takes a major part also in my life. My apperance is very important to me and if I look well(ww.) I feel well(ww.) too, but me and many other people(phr.) are becoming more and more obsessive with our apperance.

In the last few years people are buying designers clothes or Brand clothes. They think that the clothes influence the way people will treat them. The designers clothes can make them feel unique, because there are not many of them, and that is why people buy them - they want to be special. When a person feels special, it makes him feel good about himself.

People stopped looking for the person who is under the clothes and started to choose friends according to what they wear. We also judge people by their looks, probably when they dress in a different style than our style. Our behavior towards people stemes from their appearence and not from their personality. People attach so(ww.-too) much importance to other people's looks.

To conclude, I think it shouldn't be this way. It's true - not everyone has the same taste in clothes and the same style. It doesn't mean that people have to judge other people or treat them in a different way just because they like(a) different style of clothes. Clothes can make you feel good about yourselves but don't forget to treat well people who look different(phr.+wo.). 

Don't stop loveing yourselves (not because of your clothes ;] )

Love, Noa ♥ - חמוד אבל מיותר

Good work
(92)
Daphna



By the way, there is great song by Chris Brown called "beautiful people", just like you guys :)

"What do you know about me ?"

Hi Everyone :)

My name is Noa Livne and I'm 16 years old. I'm a junior, which means I'm at the 11th grade. I love to dance, and I danced for 10-11 years. Those days I don't dance, only when I'm alone . Also I love to swim, and I try to go swimming twice a week.

I have curly, auburn hair. I'm not tall but I'm not a short girl and I'm not really thin but not fat at all - I'm a normal and average size. My eyes are bright brown, which reminds the color of honey, but it's just a statement of people with brown eyes, who feel deprived by not getting blue or green eyes.

As you can understand from the title of my blog, I want to be talented in everything I do - I'm a perfectionist. In addition, I think I'm really friendly, but sometimes I'm too shy, which makes it a little bit difficult to be friendly with new people. That's why people may think I'm unfriendly - which is really not true.

To make a long story short, one of my strong points is that I really like to learn new things, until it gets to perfection. I like reading, watching TV, playing on the computer - just like everyone else. My weak point is that I'm a bit shy, which makes talking to people quite difficult for me.

To sum up, I want to post a song, which my post's title is taken from it.

Enjoy listening, Noa :) -♥-

I loved that. Well done!
(100)
Daphna

It's a new year, a new teacher but still it's me and my talent ;)