Raphael's Reflection

After finishing this conversation with Donatello, it made it much clearer all of the main events in the story. This book was very complicated to understand, because the book was very scattered. It made it very easy to see where someone else was coming from and from that I was able to make better my arguments for a question. When Donatello answered question 3, she made an extremely good point that hadn’t even crossed my mind. The defense she used was that Hannah was affected most by the war, but that the relationship between her and Yair got stronger. This opened my eyes to a lot of other possibilities in the family and in the relationships in the story that I didn’t quite understand. Donatello used the quote, “Daddy doesn’t know everything, but when Daddy doesn’t know he says he doesn’t know” (Oz 206). When this quote was used, I had to go back into the story and reread it, and it made it a lot clearer to me. This conversation allowed me to see the depth of a lot of the problems that occur. Grandpa Yehezkel was one of the characters that I had a hard time understanding, but when we were finished the conversation, his role in the family was a lot clearer to me, and it made many other events, like the family vacation seem more relevant to the story. Also, having this conversation, made me reread a lot of different sections of the story, and that in it made it a lot clearer. Sometimes when reading the book, it was hard to keep up because the book was very busy. Since I had to go back and reread, it made some points clearer, because I had missed something slight to change its meaning. This book made me see that there are a lot of different styles of writing, and through the conversation it was easy to see that. This book opened my eyes to a whole new type of reading, and this conversation made me appreciate My Michael a lot more and also Amos Oz.

Donatello's Reflection

After finishing the conversation with Raphael, I learned different things about the book that I did not get from reading the book myself. When Raphael answered the third question about Michael and going off to war, I learned something. I knew Hannah was affected because she had to take care of Yair on her own and the fact that she realized that she missed and needed Michael, but I did not realize that many other people were affected by his leaving as well. The other people Raphael mentioned were his friends and colleagues and also the maids he hired to help out around the house. Another thing that I learned from Raphael was how soon after Yair was born, Michael started taking things into his own hands with Yair and took care of him when Hannah did not. Raphael used the quote, “Michael stood silent in his gray suit. The baby was asleep in his arms. Michael’s eyes pleaded with the women to take the baby from him. He had the look of a man who is desperately struggling to hold back a sneeze. I smiled at him” (Oz 76). The quote that Raphael used clearly shows that Michael started taking care of Yair instantly and I did not realize that. I knew Michael took care of Yair more than Hannah did, but I never noticed how old Yair was when that happened. For the most part however, Raphael and I understood the book and got the same concepts and ideas out of it. I enjoyed reading, My Michael and I think I learned a lot from it. I always knew that you should never take things for granted, but a situation in the book highlights that idea. When Hannah took Michael for granted and then he leaves for the war and she misses him and realizes she needs him just proves my point even more. I am glad that I chose to read My Michael for my independent reading book and think Amos Oz is a good author.

Question 5

Why is Yair so mature for his age? What characteristics of Michael and Hannah could have contributed to this behavior?

Question 4

Describe the impact that Grandpa Yehezkel had on the family.

Question 3

Who was affected the most when Michael was drafted to fight in the war?

Question 2

How was Yair's existence in the family dynamic to the attitude of Hannah, and Hannah's attitude to Michael?

Question 1

How did the birth of Hannah and Michael's son Yair affect the family?