Web Links

This link has details about how World War II affected Poland. It incorporates general facts that, I think, are a good aid to reading A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True. Half of the chapters are about Pigeon and Anielica who fall in love during WWII, so it is important to know how it really happened, outside of the book.

The beginning of Ernest Hemingway's "Indian Camp."  Please comment on whatever part of the text you find interesting, striking, or comment-worthy.  You can also reply to other comments that have already been made.

The story “The Revolutionist” is set in the fall of 1919 about a young Hungarian communist who travels to Italy from Budapest, where he suffered a number of hardships under a man named Horthy.

This link provides some background information to the events that occurred in Hungary from the period of 1919 to 1921 when Admiral Miklos Horthy led his counter-revolutionary National Army into Budapest whereupon a White Terror ensued and led to the imprisonment, torture, and execution of people believed to be communists, socialists, Jews, and others.

This site focuses on Hemingway's traveling/war days. It informs us on where he went and things he accomplished along the way. A list of Hemingway's works is also present on the site. It briefly speaks of his death and mentions him going away because of a revolution that began around 1960.

This page talks about the restoration that was put into Hemingway's home.  I find it fascinating the time, money and effort that was put into getting the home back to its original 1890 look.  It also fascinated me that that's possible to do in this day and age.  It must've taken so many resources, other than just money, to make it a near replica of what it once was, and is again.

The movie was made by one of Hemingway's son. One of the possible motives was that the script was edited to view his mother in a better light than what was thought of her.

This link gives you an online tour of Hemingway's life through pictures. Every picture has a paragraph or two that talks about a part of Hemingway's life and how it somehow connects to his writing. It has many interesting facts about his parents, his education, his illegible writing, his experience in WWI, etc. Enjoy exploring the site!

 I honestly found this video very interesting.  It goes through the different rooms of Hemingway's home and shows us how he lived.  It gives an interesting insight to his life and lets us know a little bit more about him.  Personally, I love to see how people live and how their homes are set up.

Bull fighting was commonly discussed in the inter-chapters and it was also an activity Hemingway enjoyed watching a lot. This weblink provides a great description of Spanish Bull Fighting and the Running of the Bulls. It is a very large part of Spain's culture and an important topic to understand for the inter-chapters. I think it is a sport that is not very well known. Personally, I am not sure about how I feel about it, but Hemingway definitely loved it.

Bull fighting was commonly discussed in the inter-chapters and it was also an activity Hemingway enjoyed watching a lot. This weblink provides a great description of Spanish Bull Fighting and the Running of the Bulls. It is a very large part of Spain's culture and an important topic to understand for the inter-chapters. I think it is a sport that is not very well known. Personally, I am not sure about how I feel about it, but Hemingway definitely loved it.

 This article is about a debate over whether to describe Christian Science as a cult or religious group. The doctor's wife/Nick's mother is a Christian Scientist and this makes a huge impact on Nick's life. The way people follow this religion makes it seem as if its a cult. 

This website includes a brief description about Hemingway's life and has another link attached to it to get the full biography. Also, it includes poetry and a short comment under most poems. It's a really good source if you want to understand the poem, but need a little help. You can also sign up and place your own comments, as well as enjoy reading other's opinions and opening yourself to other possibilites.

A quick look and story of Ernest Hemingway and his love for boxing and writing. It even has  an in depth story behind his fight against Fitzgerald and what went down.

This site gives biographical information on the author and gives its own viewpoint on the different themes Hemmingway used in his works. After the biographical information, the site goes on to discuss the different works in relation to Hemmingway's life experiences. According to the site, Hemingway used simple nouns and verbs to express greater ideas such as social problems and man to man struggle. He also captured the feelings of defeat and helplessness very well in his works.

This website has an amazing detailed biography of Ernest Hemingway's life.  From his childhood years, he was taught how to hunt and fish by his dad, much like Nick from In Our Time.  Also, the site talks about how Hemingway tried to enlist in the army but was deferred because of his poor vision, instead he signed up to help as Red Cross ambulance, where he got injured.  In addition, the site even posted the connection between Hemingway's life and Soldier's Home.

This links is really great because it has an awesome timeline, similar to that on awaytoteach. It shows many of the major highlights of Hemingway's career, in an easy to view timeline.

This site provides short descriptions of Hemingway's early life and his works. The summaries are short, easy to understand, and straight to the point. They include  very general information about Hemingway's life, nothing too specific. It's a good site to visit for those who want a quick, general biography of Hemingway's life. In this website, it says that Hemingway had a great interest hunting and dangerous supports.

I was looking through different Hemingway websites and came across this video of Hemingway's acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize. I thought the pictures and the momentary music was a nice touch to the video as well. A lot of what Hemingway says is a little peek into his actual life and his voice is alluring, but also a bit haunting. If you have 3 minutes to spare, you should really listen to this video.

This link compiles various Ernest Hemingway quotes that were gathered throughout his life. These quotes are taken from his works as well as actual statements that he has been quoted as saying. They are on a variety of topics that range from the meaning of life to what makes good writing.

Here we have an analysis of Hemingway and Nick Adams, a character we see a lot in "In Our Time". The author notes how complex Nick Adams' character is and how this parallels Hemingway's character. We have seen from our class discussions how much Hemingway draws on his experiences for his writing, and here we see further evidence of how he may have drawn on his own personality for his characters.

Though this is not a full website dedicated to Hemingway's life it does explore his life on a smaller scale with a timeline and an explanation of his life's journey.

This link not only has a list of Hemingway's published stories but it spans in details of Hemingway's life. From the day he was born until he recieved treatment just a short time before he committed suicide.

This is a really good website, it talks about hemmingway's life and all the things he has accomplished. they not only talk about his writing but also his life, like the sports he was in.

This is a great bio site for F Scott Fitzgerald. It is simple and not over complicated with too many links, but still covers and includes details into all aspects of his life. During the biography it contains links to other famous authors, including Hemingway. Delves into the plot, premise, release and acceptance of Fitzgerald's major works, as well as offering a full list of his writings. The worst part about this site is the narrow central  column that is the body of the biography.

 Are you totally lost when Hemingway starts talking about fish and weights and reels?  If so, check out this site for a better idea of what is literally happening in Hemingway's stories.  Fishing is such a major pastime in In Our Time that understanding at least the basics will give you a better picture of each scene and even how what Nick does in each connects with another aspect of Nick's life.  Also, while you are at the site, go to "trout fishing" under "The Fish" (at the top) to learn more about what Nick does in Big Two Hearted River. 

This website has all the information you need on Hemingway. From his birth to his death (by suicide) it has all the info. It also lists which medals he won as an author and for which books.

Source: http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Hemingway_Ernest.html

This website is a summary about Hemingway's travel. It breaks the life up the life of Hemingway according to where he was. Besides the summaries it also includes new events that happen as a rememberance of Hemingway, like the Ernest Hemingway Festival held in Key West

This website explores much of Hemingway's life, from his time in the war to his relationship with his father. In In Our Time, Nick's father has a short temper and is portrayed quite negatively. We can assume that this character was modeled after Hemingway's own father, since after reading In Our Time, he "sent the volumes back to the publisher" and called it "filth". This site goes further in depth about how Hemingway's relationship with his father affected his writing.

This website exposes Ernest Hemingway's part in World War 1. This website exposes Hemingway's experience in Europe and how it affected his writing. Hemingway's experience in Europe inspired him to write about the hardships a soldier has to face not only during war, but the hardships he has to face after he comes back home after war.

 Hemingway is known as a man that had many skills. He once owned a cat that had an abnormal amount of toes it had more than usual. Now there are many of these cats and they are known as Hemingway Cats. The multiple toes are supposed to be like Hemingway's multiple skills.

This site  represents the lifestyle, personality, and "enthusiasm for adventure" of Ernest Hemingway. There are extensive bios on his life divided into sections and organized by the place or area he was living (such as Italy, Paris or Idaho) at the time. There are also many photographs of Hemingway throughout his life.

Along with the bios, there are numerous products and services that the sight offers that are inspired by his work, travels, and "appetite for life".

I chose this weblink because it is an obituary for Ernest Hemingway from the New York Times.  I thought it was interesting because, in it, the sheriff says he thinks it was an accident.  It turns out Hemingway took his own life but I thought it was a good weblink because we are able to see what people thought his death first was.  I think it's important to note how media shapes our opinion of things that happen in pop culture and how the word "suicide" all alone has such a different connotation that the word "accident" all alone.

This link is to the Hemingway Society site. The society was founded by Heminway's late widow, Mary  Hemingway  to carry on his name through his works as well as new pieces written on him. Something I found particularly interesting about this site is that it gave information about the "Letters Project" which is a project created in the purpose of publishing the several thousand letters Hemingway wrote. The society also hosts annual conventions around the world and publishes a bi-annual newsletter for all of its members.

This link talks about the hard time Hemingway had with his book since his new style of writing wasn't even accepted by his own parents. Its goes into depth on his style and gives us a new way of looking at it. His fame was achieved through burnings of his book which showed that there was great significance in it. Its tells us about the hardships he went through and the great effect they had on Hemmingway.

This website describes some details of Ernest Hemingway's life in a very humorous way. I learn about Hemingway's adventurous life. He truly is an amazing man.  
In Our time reflects Hemingway as Nick, and in the website, it talked about how Hemingway's parents dressed him as a girl up to the age of 3. This shows how the mother is always in control, it only made sense to me that the mother would dress a kid as a girl.

This link discusses Hemingway within many of his works, including "In Our Time" and his influence on American Literatue. Within this weblink it discusses the  autobiographical parts of Hemingway's stories. It also connects the works to award Hemingway has received, include the Noble prize for literature, and the impact of his eventual suicide upon his life's works.

This link presents us with knowledge of Hemingway's life. There are many sub-topics and you can search for any information quickly. You can go on 'tours' and the website is very intersting.

This link presents us with knowledge of Hemingway's life. This weblink mainly talks about his life during and after the war. It talks about how he dedicates works about war to his sons.

This website summarizes Hemingway's life in phases. When you first go to the link it begins with Hemingway's childhood. There are details of his birth and family, as well as his experiences with fishing, music, and education. Parallels are clearly seen between the details of Hemingway's life and what he includes in Nick's life in In Our Time. After the first page, you can click at the bottom on more pages leading to the next stage of Hemingway's life, such as "World War I".

This is Hemingway's speech from the Nobel Banquet in 1954. He wasn't able to make it due to bad health, so the speech was read by the U.S. ambassador. What he says about a writer's loneliness is really interesting, and I like the succinctness of the speech. It matches his style of writing ficiton.

 Beginning with the Stein siblings (Gertrude and Leo), Americans came to Paris for its "atmosphere of tolerance." At age 23, in 1922, Hemingway met Gertrude Stein. He was impressed by her charm, and admired her writing. This weblink goes into more detail about what Hemingway's Paris was like during his expatriate days.

The website enclosed gives us a rather detailed account of Ernest Hemingway's life. From his early schooling,  to his publishing several of his books, and toward his later years, the site lists his life in chronoligical order.

Gregory Serrato, Pd. 6

       I found this website to be pretty interesting in the sense that apart from giving us his biography, it also show us the connections between Hemingway's stories and his life. For example, this link in particular connects many of Hemingways personal experiences after war to his work A Soldier's Home . Many of the occurances are quite familiar. Just like in A Soldier's Home, both Krebs and Hemingway exagerated their stories when asked about their experiences at the front. It makes you question, was Krebs really Hemingway?

 This link will take you to a short article that talks about all of Hemingway's different accomplishments both while alive and some of when dead. It also talks about his life and what was going on during his writing times and the last time he wrote.

A quick biography of Heminway's life. Hemingway was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois and died 1961 in Ohio. Throughout his life, Hemingway created many stories, usually after his trips to new places. He was a volunteer for the Ambulance Unit in World War I. Hemingway also won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1954.

Who knew that knowing simple facts about Hemingway's life could be so fun? This is a link that directs you to a fun little trivia game based on Hemingway's life. It is a true test to see if you've been reading your Hemingway handouts. :)

This website talks about ways for a person to get over a tough break-up that that person went through. The website lists several symptoms of a tough break-up and it will tell you ways to help you get through this rough spot in your life. This is helpful becuase when NIck Adams, realized he made a bad decision of breaking up with Marjorie, he didn't know how to deal with it, except to drink all the pain away.

This website discusses the siginificance of Hemmignway's life. He is such an affective writer due to the fact that he can relate to youth. His many personable experiences entices the reader because they admire him and his strength.

A short entry with links to individual entries about the stories (many in-themselves not complete).

     This link leads to the viewpoint of one Native American woman on the use of the controversial word "squaw." In Hemingway's "Indian Camp" of In Our Time he uses the name in what seems to be in a deragotory way. The use of the word was been controversial for a while and everyone has their own opinion about it.

This website gives a brief about John's (Hemingway and Hadley's son) life. John had three children, two of whom were actresses. John's nickname was Bumby as a child.

This link is about Key West which became Hemingway's home in 1931. There are descriptions of the home and information about how you can visit it. This home was where Hemingway lived as he wrote many of his important works. There is a lot of interesting information about Hemingway's life in that house and about the cats that he loved.

This link helps us to get a better glimps of Hemingways life. What he did through out his life  that made him the person he was. And what might have caused him to get married so many times.

This link takes information from a lot of different sources to create a short biography of Hemingway's life. It follows his life chronologically while giving interesting facts about him and his travels.

This website gives a summary of Hemingway's life. It talks about how he never forgave his mother for dressing him up as a girl in his youth, which explains why masculinity is so important throughout his book, In Our Time. In addition, it leads into how he became a famous writer by working for a short time as a jounalist. It also talks about his hunting expeditions in Africa and Wyoming, which links back to the chapter of where Nick goes hunting with his father. However, it was his shotgun that killed him on July 2, 1961.

I found this wedsite really interesting for the fact that it not only had Hemingways biography but also had forums where people discussed Hemingways works. I looked through a couple and i found them quite interesting to read through.

This web link explains how Ernest Hemingway's marriage influenced "A Cat in the Rain". "The American Wife" was played the role of Hadley Hemingway with similar characteristics and wishes. The husband, who paid little attention to the wife, was sadly himself. Hemingway realizes the significant issue of his marriage but failed to do anything about it and therefore, his love story ended with a divorce.

This link has a list of movies and details of the movies that are adapted from Hemingway's works. There are movies from other books Hemingway has written. One movie I saw on the site was "Soldier's Home." It's adapted from the story Soldier's Home that we read in class.

This house in Key West was inhabited by Hemingway from 1931 - 1939, until he became divorced from his first wife. The house is now a National Historical Site, and is protected by the federal government. One present-day famous attraction are the six-toed feral cats that live on the property.

According to official investigations and testimony from his wife it is not clear whether or not Hemingway actually killed himself. His wife claims it was an accident and it occurred when he was cleaning his shot gun. The image brings up the story The Dr. and the Drs Wife where the father was depcited as cleaning his shot gun as well.

This foundation headquartered in the city of Hemingway's birth has resources and information about Hemingway's birthplace and beyond.

This website provides people with tips that they can use when someone goes fishing for trout. Hemingway in In Our Time uses the sport fishing but especially for trout. This website goes by steps of what someone should do if they want to fish for trouts. For example the website gives tips on how to choose a place, best ways to check a trout, and how to avoid being sun burned. This is a great website for someone that wants to try fishing especially for trouts.

A wonderful site with links to many other Hemingway-related sites as well as material and resources of their own. 

When Mr. Scotese showed us a slideshow of pictures from stages of Ernest Hemingway's life, and commented on Hemingway's on-screen portrayer's resemblance to him in his youthful years, I became interested in how Ernest Hemingway has been portrayed in film. 

The web site gives a summarized accoun of Hemingway's life and works, along with interesting facts, such as his fabrications about his experiences in the first Wrold War. The site sheds very positive light on the writer and claims him to be "one of the 20th century's most important and influential writers." I see a big connection between his life and "In Our Time" after learning that he was an alcoholic.

After moving to Paris in the 1920's, Hemingway met many authors who were part of "the lost generation" such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, John Steinbeck, and many others. These people greatly affected the works that Hemingway would put out and would later become some of the most renouned pieces of American Literature. His time with the lost generation shaped Hemingway into the author he is now known as today.

In the 30s, Hemingway became interested with the social and political development of the Spanish Civil War. He was invited as a  correspondent for the North American Newspaper Alliance and he went back for a total of 4 times over one and a half year.

My link is about the Two-Hearted River, which is where Nick goes to fish in the "Big Two Hearted River" This link tells you when to vist the river and the conditions to expect. It also suggests things to bring and talks a bit about the animals found in this area.

     For those of you, like me, who had no idea such thing as a "white" elephant existed outside the horrible present a lucky member of the family recieves every year at Christmas; THIS LINK IS FOR YOU.

This webite provides us with a list of other other works that Hemmingway has written. After reading In Our Time, maybe you would like to read these other novels & collections. Some include, The Old Man and the Sea (1952) and A Farewell to Arms (1929)

"All my life I've looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time" - HEMINGWAY

This site gives a great overview of Hemingway's life. It provides memorable quotes, a short biography, and trivia/facts. It is excellent at providing a quick outline to Ernest Hemingway's opposite from brief life!

Alberto Giacometti was an artist from the early 20th century who was famous for his energetic portraits and sculptures. Rather than capturing a likeness of his subject, he managed to translate their inner core onto paper. This link provides a list of his most exhibited works housed in museums around the world.

This link follows up on the artist Alberto Giacometti mentioned on page 45 of The History of Love.  Alma says, "Once Uncle Julian told me how the sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti said that sometimes just to paint a head you have to give up the whole figure."  This quote is not in the Quotes section, but there are more artistic ones too.   Check out his bio for a possible connection between his work and Uncle Julian's relationship with his wife.   

This site describes in great detail the career of Alberto Giacometti, a sculptor mentioned a few times in The History of Love. He is one of Uncle Julian's favorite artists and is referenced as saying that "sometimes just to paint a head you have to give up the whole figure" (page 45).

This link offers information and quotes from Giacometti from the beginning of his live to the end. At the bottom of the page, it lists links to his images. It's nice to be able to see what Uncle Julian was so passionate about.

This link contains all kinds of material about Isaac Babel. This includes: a biography, a chronology, a picture gallery (You may need to create an account to access this) and also a few short stories of his. There are also a few things written in Russian.

 A concise, but informative biography of Antoine de Saint Exupery, focusing mainly on his flight history. The biography also includes a small synopsis of The LIttle Prince, showing its connection to St.

This profound website on Isaac Babel, the genius Jewish writer, describes his life and his literary works. It shows Isaac Babel's struggle because of the tension between his Jewish ethos and the non-Jewish environment. It also demonstrates how Babel was able to conquer the residual Jewishness within himself. It shows Babel's viewpoints and opinions about the Jewish community. Babel saw a Jew aspiring to the status of a pagan, yet destined to remain frustrated in his desire by the restraints of the Jewish ethic.

This is just another helpful link on how to make a motion guide.  I think it's cool because the guy tells you what all the things do and explains how to make the motion path.  It helped me and my partner do a few things on our illuminated text.  I think it's fairly easy to use and might be helpful to anyone trying to make a motion path.  One thing that makes it unique is, he takes a lot of time to explain it so you really understand.  Video is six minutes long, please check it out.

A tutorial showing how to create a short and simple animation with sound and different layers of background. It's very descriptive and visual with pictures for the steps.

I researched Jacob Marcus' name and i was able to find a biography of a jewish Jacob Marcus.  In the book we are provided with a character named Jacob Marcus and the History of Love talks a lot about Jews, which leads me to believe that they are the same person. Jacob Marcus is  a distinguished figure for the Jews and I believe he did exist, just like many characters in the History of Love.

On page 146 of The History of Love, Alma Singer asks her mom what is she reading and her mom responds with "Cervantes." Alma's mother also notes that Cervantes is the most famous Spanish writer.

This link talks about Cervantes' life as he grows up and includes excepts of one of his most famous work, Don Quixote. Don Quixote is similar to The History of Love because the novel has stories within the novel just like The History of Love.

This website gives a description of Bruno Schulz.  It goes into detail about Schulz's The Street of Crocodiles.  The website also mentions how Schulz died in the 1940s (which can be related back to parts of The History of Love).  The author addresses how Judaism affected Schulz and his writings.  This is an informative website. 

Emanuel Feuermann is by far one of the most prestigious cellists known throughout the world, He was born in Kolomea, Poland in 1902, his father was his first teacher and started him out on the violin. One event that intensified his urge to play cello was when he went to Pablo Casals's concert. From then on he has played and taught by some of the best musicians of that time. His sudden death in 1942 was a significant loss to the music community and his name will not be forgotten.

      In The History of Love, Alma mentions the movie North By Northwest a couple of times. This site is helpful in that it provided a clearer synopsis than many other sites I visited, a list of characters, awards won and a New York Times review. Although Alma mentions very specific moments in the movie, this site writes generally what the movie is about and a little of what the draw of this movie is and why it appeals so much to Alma.

This link gives some background to the Zero Gravity Space Pen that Alma receives in The History of Love. Designed for NASA in 1965 by Paul C. Fisher, Fisher Pens are now used by many different people, but most notably Astronauts. Using condensed Nitrogen gas to move the ink, these pens allow the user to write in zero gravity and at any angle, even upside down. This feature made the pen a standard for Astronauts and Cosmonauts. The pens can also survive temperatures from -30F to 250F, and are pretty high quality all around.

A screencast tutorial for beginniners broken up into three ten minute parts, and narrated along the way. The instructor teaches how to add and move text.

Flash Kit is awesome. I think it was developed for Macromedia Flash, but a lot of the stuff is still similar enough in Adobe that I think the site can be pretty helpful!

The tutorials aren't screencasts (so you can't watch someone making them) but it explains things step-by-step. And there are pictures to help - again, the buttons will be a little different but they should be the same enough that someone could figure it out.

There are beginner tutorials that basically explain what frames and layers and things are... And there are also more advanced tutorials.

This web page gives tips on how to "break the ice" when introducing yourself to someone of the opposite gender. It relates to the awkward silence aka "amnesia of love" that occurs between Baba Yaga and Tadeusz when they first talk. (She could've used some of these tips).

This link is of an excerpt from a war history book that details the German invasion of Leo’s hometown of Slonim in what was then Poland, but now located in the present country of Belarus.

The section I linked to is a painfully detailed unfolding of the events that led up to the capture of Slonim, and the subsequent brutal occupation that resulted in the mass murder of tens of thousands of ethnic Jews.

This site gives you insite to one of Uncle Julians favorite painters, Rembrandt van Rijn. Uncle Julian mentions one of Rembrandt's self-portraits on page 179.The website offers a biography and also includes many of Rembradts art works. The art is well organized and you can browse throught the different categories easily such as paintings,drawings, and self-portraits.

Nicole Krauss talks about how she writes and why she does in a short interview. She talks about human relationships intrigue her. She say, "I think what draws me is the way in which people are desperate to communicate to others and to be seen and heard and understood" This makes me thought of Leo Gursky and how he wanted to be seen and heard. From this,  I interprets that humans want the acceptance of others, which is why people are desperate to communicate. 

This link has the actual lyrics and translation to "Songs My Mother Taught Me" by Dvorak. This is the song that Alma (Leo's older Alma; NOT Alma Singer) plays on the violin in her room after she confronts Leo about following her around all the time, and Leo asks her to marry him.

A beautifully presented web site on the works of Bruno Schulz - his art and his writings.  It shows up as a book that can be leafed through.  There is a gallery, his writings, biographical material - a magnificent achievement.

This link has a very complete biography about the writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges. In the History of Love, he is mentioned on pg. 71, when the book was sent to a secondhand bookstore close to Borges’s home in Buenos Aires. The biography spans from Borges’s early bilingual childhood through all his life’s writings until his death in Geneva in 1986. This website also includes many links on the left-hand side to his works, quotes, images and more.

In the History of Love,  it is mentioned a couple times that Uncle Julian was reading a book called The Destruction of the European Jews. This set by Raul Hilberg goes into three volumes of details and information about the Holocaust.

This wikipedia entry discusses the Christian biblical flood in detail and also references other religion's versions of a deluge that cleansed our planet. It recounts the story of Noah's Ark from the bible (Gen 7-9) and paraphrases along with quotes. What I find interesting is that along with the religious story this link includes juxtapositions in comparison with other cultures and also with science. There is a huge section discussing the more unlikely (and basically impossible) components of the story.

Along with Leo's obituaries on Isaac Babel, Franz Kafka, Tolstoy, and himself ("The Death of" series) was one for Osip Mandesltam.  Learning that he, a Russian poet and essayist, was born into a wealthy Jewish family in Warsaw, gives some insight as to why Nicole Krauss, or Leo rather, would include him in the list of these great writers. 

As I was reading The History of Love,  there came a part in the book where Alma is talking to Herman about Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of the widely known The Little Prince. Growing up with a mother who loves to read and is familiar with the author, I knew who and what story Alma was referring to. But as we did group work, I realized not many of my fellow class mates were familiar with the story. I found this link that basically summarizes the book. The Little Prince is a short book already but either way here is a summary of the basic outline! Enjoy!!

This website lays out the whole traditional Jewish mourning process. It also notes the differences between the type of mourning we might expect and the traditional shiva process. The last paragraph in the section "Leaving a Shiva House" is particularly poignant, really fitting in with the "words for everything" motif running throughout The History of Love.

This site talks about the lifeless qualities of the Dead Sea (which is a kinder translation of the Hebrew "Yam ha Maved" meaning 'Killer Sea') as well as many of it's interesting scientific traits. It delves into exactly just how salty the saltiest body of water on Earth is, and why it is like that as it also discusses the Sea's formation. From reading, we also learn that there are absolutely no animals living in the Dead Sea. Not a single fish!

I have not been able to find a more comprehensive site for Emanuel Ringelblum - who is mentioned in "The History of Love" (during the chapter on Bird's naming) - this one has some facts about his life - his creation of his Warsaw Ghetto Archive and there are some links to other sites.

this is really helpful, and they guy makes it seem soo simple. this is teaching you how to use a new tool called boning, it's like onion skinning only better becuase it does the animation for you, really helpful the only thing is that it's in cs4 that's the new edition that just recently came out

 The writer of this blog discusses Krauss' use of photography in the History of Love. The writer talks about such things as how photography serves as somewhat of a metaphor, and how it further develops our understanding of individual characters. An interesting point the blogger makes is that in the novel, photography seems to fail the characters in what it is that they would hope photography would help them achieve.

This is a good weblink on youtube.com for the animation tool on adobe flash.  Going through several tutorials I found that this tool is super helpful.  I think it's applicable for any illuminated text whether it's on poetry or the History of Love.  I saw this technique used in Monica Velegas illuminated text on the History of Love.  Basically, it's a tutorial on how to create basic animation.  It's very simple because every step is narrorated.  A lot of other tutorials only roll the mouse over the buttons you're supposed to click but don't explain their purpose

This link is on the wikipedia entire of  Nicanor Parra its talks about how he looked at himself. there is also a link of two poems he wrote

In the book "A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True," Magda and Baba Yaga goes to a cabaret known as "The Cellar Under the Sheep." However, Irena calls the place Piwnica. There is actually a bar known as Piwnica Świdnicka  in Wroclaw, Poland. The bar also bore the name "Cellar Swidnicka," so it may be a great possibility that the bar in the book refers to this bar. 

The story of  A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True, written by Brigid Pasulka, is set in Poland, mostly in Krakow. The title of chapter forty is Juvenalia. Since this book has many words in Polish, I've adopted the habit of reading the chapter before wondering and researching any words. Still, I wanted to know more about Juwenalia, a festival in Krakow for students. This website gave useful information, including the origin of the name, the location, the dates, etc. I hope it helps!

This website explains the holiday that is celebrated in A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True - Smingus Dyngus.  The holiday, for the most part, consists of people pouring water on each other.  This website does a good job of explaining the celebration in detail. 

This website goes through the traditions of what is expected from a polish wedding. It starts with the engagement through the end of the ceremony. Also this website provides with the basic traditions that are expected from all weddings. Polish wedding traditions go back and are passed down to generations. My grandparent's wedding which took 41 years ago was the same one as my uncle's wedding which was only a year ago.Wedding traditions are very important in the polish culture.

Even though Kinga was somewhat a minor character in the book, there was a real Kinga in Poland who was a saint and patroness. The link gives a brief summary of who Kinga of Poland was and what she did during her life.

This links providea an interesting background about the tale of Baba Yaga. In the book a  Long, Long, Time Ago and Essentially True, one of the main characters goes by Baba Yaga until her name is revealed later on. Knowing the tale of Baba Yaga adds to the story and helps the reader know more about the character Baba Yaga. This link also includes pictures and it mentions all the different stories pertaining to Baba Yaga.

This website gives a lot of information about the folklore about Baba Yaga and other Rssian fairlytales. It also has illustrations of what Baba Yaga looked like.

One of the things in the book that made me wonder what was going on was the milk bar scene. Not the interviews, but the bar itself. Due to the name, i had assumed the literal meaning of the title. However, the bar mleczny is a  system of cafeterias set up in Poland after the communist takeover. Essentially, the cafeterias were set up by the communist regime in order to provide quick and cheap meals for the growing labor force within the state. Very intresting article.

In Long Long Time Ago & Essentially True, the Bermuda Triangle is constantly mentioned.  The Bermuda Triangle is first mentioned by Irena:  "We always said that between these tree places, it was so easy to disappear."  "Internal exile.  Inside yourself."  Bermuda Triangle is also known as the Devil's Triangle because ships and planes that have passed through the Devil's Triangle mysteriously vanishes.  It is the area formed by Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda.  This website is dedicated to the Bermuda Triangle Mystery.&nbs

Many people may wonder why the author chose to write about Poland out of all places. This website gives the reader an idea of what she has gone through and what inspired her. For instance, there is a deep meaning in why she chose "the Pigeon" and not any other animal.

Piwnica Świdnicka is located in Wroclaw, Poland and is the oldest beer cellar in Europe. The pub dates back to as long as seven hundred years ago. It is named after the Świdnickie beer that was brewed back then in the basement.

The web link also shows a photo of the entrance to the pub with the big oak doors.

As we all know by now Magda dies from the use of cocaine. Her death surprised us all and even left most readers to argue if her death was of any importance or if it just ruined the "fairy tale" feeling to the story. Putting all of that aside the point is that she died and she died the first time she used crack cocaine. This link explains some history of cocaine, gives statistics about its use in America and has overall information about crack cocaine. One thing it  does not reiterate is that you should not even try drugs let alone cocaine.

Throughout the book there are some tongue-in-cheek disparaging comments made about Gypsies, and though they seem ridiculous, the comments accurately reflect the general distrust and suspicion that many Europeans held/hold towards the Romani peoples, more commonly known as Gypsies.

The following links to a very informational paper that gives background information as to why Gypsies are so looked down upon and how unsubstantiated certain stereotypes are, as well as what attempts have been made to forcibly assimilate the Gypsies.

Dynasty aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 1, 1989. The plot was about the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado with John Forsythe and Linda Evans as oil magnate Blake Carrington and his new wife Krystle.

Dynasty was a soap opera from the 80's that can be summed up primarily in catfights, and so that is exactly what I've done for you here:

1. Alexis Carrington-Colby-Dexter-Rowan vs. Dominique Devereaux

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiRy1Cn4U2Q&feature=related

The holiday of Śmigus-Dyngus is called Easter Monday in English. In Poland, it is traditionally involved with pranks involving water. There were many ideas about its origins but it is said to date back to the year 750. This link describes where it is celebrated along with how it is celebrated in that area.

 This informative wikipedia page describes and explains the invasion of poland by both German and Soviet troops. The article follows the advancement of german troops, and basically an analysis of why the polish army wasn't substantial and successful enough to hold off the germans. There are several maps provided, however they are fairly hard to interpret, but none the less provide an interesting visual representation of the German/Soviet advancement. 

As a non-Polish speaker, I wasn't able to understand nor pronounce the Polish words that were in the text. I had a hard time trying to figure out how to pronounce the names of the main characters but after a while, I gave up. This web link teaches you how to pronounce Anielica, Hetmanska, Pani Bozena, etc. Hope it helps!

This is a great video of how to prepare potato pierogis.  It shows you how to make the dough and filling and combine them into pierogi.  Good quality video and very easy to follow and understand.  Enjoy :) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf-gY_-pT1U

Attached is a basic written recipe as well.

I think that this weblink is very helpful because Katyn was a theme brought up many times in A Long Long Time Ago and essentially True, so by reading the history of Katyn one will get a better understanding of the references used in the text.

The massacre of Katyn is a painful event that stains the memories or the people who were impacted by it. It was an event that was prohibited to be talked about due to misleading assumptions between Germany and Russia. This page has a lot of information and other links that will help many understand the loss of the Poles.

Provides an extremely detailed description of the whats, hows and whys of the Katyn Massacre. From a reliable publication, but on a biased anit-communism website, something to keep in mind. Includes pictures of key persons and places as well.

This site is a website dedicated to the massacre of Katyn. I think it's a very informative site and I learned a lot from it. It doesn't only have text. There are official documents, reactions from the people who lived through the disaster and pictures of the remains. there are also pictures of soldiers and more. I hope you take away from it as much as I did.

This link is about Krakow and the jewish population, about the germans and some interesting facts about its history.This link can help us better understand what was going on in the book we just read a long long time ago and essentially true but taking us back to the struggles people faced.

A Long Long Time Ago is set in krakow, a large city in Poland. While i was reading the book i had a hard time picturing what the city looked like so i found this website that gave me insight on the city and its people. It includes old photographs and a general view of the city.

This is a short article about Juwenalia in Krakow 2009. There is a basic description of the holiday and how students participated in the holiday this year. For this event Baby Yaga went to a party at Sebastian's. It was helpful to learn the basics about the holdiay and what most students do (party like Baba Yaga).

These two links give you insight on all of Krakow. This include's info on the history, cuisine, climate, government, economy, culture and more of Krakow. The links are easy to follow

http://www.magma.ca/~pfeiffer/poland/kra_sights.htm

http://www.krakow-info.com/history.htm

This is the page that describes the admissions process of the film school in Lodz. It's in Polish, but if you click on the little box in the upper right-hand corner, it'll turn into English. It's interesting to see the process Baba Yaga would go through just to get into the school. The rest of the website also gives you an idea of how great the school is.

 This link provides some information about milk bars. I thought it was pretty interesting; the site mentions that it's not uncommon to find people of all types of social classes eating side by side in a milk bar. That's probably why Baba Yaga had so many people to interview, because there were all different kinds of people. The site also mentions that milk bars aren't as popular as they were in the past, it's hard to find one nowadays.

This weblink is a virtuial tour of a milk bar in Krakow Poland. I chose to use this weblink because throughout the whole book, i wanted to see what kind of a place a milk bar was that was able to inspire Ms. Pasulka to write a book.

Nowa Huta was mentioned a few times in A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True, but  I never understood if it was part of Krakow or another city entirely.  This link gives some of the history of the area and the origins of its name.  Architecture, cultural significance, and landmarks are mentioned as well.

A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka exposes readers to the communist rule of Poland in the 1940s and how it affected its inhabitants not only during World War 2, but a few generations later as well. This website gives background information on the place that Tadeusz, Baba Yaga's love interest, is from. Nowa Huta in Krakow was created in the 1940s under communist rule as an ideal proletarian society tied to steel works in Krakow.

This weblink is to a profile of Piotr Skrzynecki.  Baba Yaga offered Tadeusz a chance to play in the Cabaret and possbilly a chance to play for Piotr Skrzynecki, but he declines with his family in mind.  I think this shows how much of a devotion Tadeusz has towards his sisters and even a chance to play with such a great musician is not enough to intice him to abandon them.

In A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True, Magda and Baba Yaga are pressured by Irena into seeing the Cabaret, or Piwnica Pod Baranami ("The Cellar Under the Sheep"), which Baba Yaga falls in love with. This website describes the history of Piwnica Pod Baranami, from its early years, when it was a haven for lost youth (like Irena), to modern times, where it remains as one of the most beautiful pieces of Polish culture in Krakow.

This website talks about the various methods of postal service during the war. It goes through dozens of ghettos in Poland during the war, and how they specifically delt with mail and the struggles of the war.

In A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True, the Nazis came into Poland, in the case of this book, Krakow. They became violently active in the summer of 1940. As described on page 122 they "burnt books, shut down schools, exiled generals, and shot professors", but I never really figured out the reason to why they did what they did. This link explains, in detail, the motives for the violent Nazi behaviors in the summer of 1940 in Poland.

It's really interesting, it has the whole history of Smigus Dyngus. The website also talks about other different Polish cultures and traditions, like their food. And you should make sure to check out the gallery because there are some really great photogrophers up there, and the links to their works.

While reading A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True, I came across many Polish names that I could not pronounce. This is a great website to learn how to pronounce all the Polish letters. Learning how to pornounce all the Polish letters will help you to pronounce any Polish name.

In the book A Long Long Time Ago we saw how the Pigeon and Wladyslaw Jagiello were active in the Polish Resistance during the war. They showed devotion to their country and did the best they could to protect it. There were many organizations in this resistance movement and this link talks about some of these. It also includes some dates and actions/operations made by these groups of people. It's interesting to see how the people fought back during these hard times.

The Polish Roman Catholic Union of America was founded in 1873 to unite and help Polish immigrants. Today, it is the oldest Polish fraternal in America, and, according to the website, has some of the best insurance policies anywhere. They were one of the groups who helped Poles who fled Poland in order to get away from the Nazis and the Communists.

One of the chapters in "A Long Long Time Ago" talks about Polish weddings and some of the traditions they entail. I wanted to know more about these traditions and their meanings, so I believe I have found a wonderful site that not only talks about the meaning of money at weddings but many other traditions of polish weddings.

Often, In A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True, the Rynek is mentioned. It described mainly as a bustling center of town where many gatherings take place. I wanted to know more about this place. From doing research, I found a lot of interesting information like it has been around since the 13th century and is still today, the focus of the city life. It has many restaurants, cafes, bars, musical events theater and more.  It still retains many of its traditional aspects as well which is really special.

 Smigus Dyngus is a sort of holiday celebrated on Easter Monday. In the past, it had some meaning relating mostly to cleansing and saving water. But now, people just pour water on each other for fun. The website also has a lot of other interesting facts and information about Polish culture.

This is an article on WebMD from the Infertility and Reproduction Health Center. In A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True, we see Anielca have several miscarriages after her incident with the Soviet officer who tries to take away Pigeon. The book often references how keeping things inside or penting up stress can cause cancer or lead to other unhealthy trends (like miscarriage). In this article, WebMD reminds everyone first that science has not been able to understand exactly why stress levels can lead to miscarriage.

The Black Madonna of Czestochowa was a painting created by St. Luke the Evangelist, and was referenced in Mrs. Pasulka's A Long Long Time Ago & Essentially True on page 111. The Black Madonna was the one valuable kept above ground during the time war at the Hetmanski household, placed against the wall for protection. This web link does an outstanding job of providing a background on the painting, as well as the reasoning to why she is 'black'. Included on the web page are different variations of the painting and even a song in her name.

Originally the painting was known as "Our Lady" . Her importance came from the things that started to happen while her painting was around. In various instances her painting was believed to be the cause of a variety of things. One such instance is when a looter cut at the picture twice with his sword and then fell to the ground dead from unknown causes. The painting only continued to gain more fame as it passed through history.

The Feast of Assumption (referenced in Pasulka's "A Long Long Time Ago, and Essentially True") is a Roman Catholic celebration on August 15 also known as the Holy Day of Obligation.  Mary is said to ascend to heaven t take her place next to Jesus Christ on this day.  This is an important day for Catholics because they are able to celebrate her departure from earth and also to welcome her body into heaven.  It is celebrated in many different communities, this "Little Italy" neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, only being one location of this celebration world w