Group Assignment 3/12 Max, Hannah, Gaurav

For the most part, the physical divisions between Israel and Palestine vary, sometimes they take the form of military checkpoints in a random spot in the middle of a road, sometimes they take the form of very tall walls, literally trapping people, and sometimes they just take the form of imaginary lines, but those can be the most imposing. Now let me be clear, there are arab villages in Israel, as well as arab citizens of Israel, they just all happen to be born outside of Gaza and the West Bank. Life for people who aren’t as fortunate is very tough. Allow me to introduce my friend Abed. Abed is 38, and he lives in Barta’a. Now, Barta’a is a very unique place, it is a village that is divided right down the middle. Half of the village is in Israel, and the people who were born there are granted full rights as citizens of Israel. The other half of the village is in Palestine, and if you were born there, then you are not nearly as lucky –Abed was born in Palestine. Barta’a is divided by an imaginary line, so while there are no officers constantly checking you out, you most definitely don’t want to be caught on the wrong side.

Hannah:

This paragraph has excellent transitions that allows the reader to follow what the writer is trying to convey. In the beginning of the paragraph, the writer mentions the relationship of Israel and Palestine which as one can tell from reading, it is very tense. The writer mentions the borders between the two states, and how Arabs live in Israel. These statements provide a smooth and clear transition to his next couple of statements, which serve as support for the first few statements. He later mentions a friend, who lives in a village, where his half was in Palestine, and other in Israel. After briefly mentioning his friend’s location situation, the writer transitions to the conclusion of the paragraph by relating his friend’s situation to the topic sentence. The writer mentions his friend’s village, and is using it as an example of how Israel and Palestine have a very uneasy relationship because although there are no police officers, the writer mentions, the people who live in the villages are capable of hurting each other because they dislike each other very much.

Max:

My intention in writing this paragraph was to provide as much information as I could, while still making this feel more like a personal story, as well as an analysis, as opposed to just a simple summary or something along that lines. However, since this topic (and the middle east in general) is very confusing and has a lot of information that needs to be understood before proper opinions can be drawn, I did have to add a couple of paragraphs that fulfill those roles, albeit in the least summary-like manner. I think one thing that can always make or break from analysis and summary is explaining the smaller details that affected you in whatever scenario you are describing. It’s extremely easy for what you consider to be an important detail to go right over the reader’s head, so it is always best to try and pepper on the details.

Gaurav:

This paragraph has a perfect opening sentence. Although at first, it might seem too long or might seem like a run on sentence it is perfect to being the paragraph. There are three things that can be concluded from the topic sentence that is given to us. The First is that there is some sort of division between these two countries. Second it tells us in what form that divide  exists. And the Third thing it tells us is, how these divide affect the civilians in this region of the world. He then later on in the paragraph continues to explain his claim in the first sentence by giving more information about the topic. He even includes his friend’s testimony to support his claims. The writer does a great job in precisely and clearly explaining his idea in the topic sentence. His topics sentence was perfectly crafted and well built with a clear cut idea.