TKAM Final Blog

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Prompt: 

- Which character do you like least? Why?

- Which character do you like best? Why?

     In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there were many characters that were not likable, but the least likable was Bob Ewell. I don't like him at all for many reasons. One includes he is a racist. He calls Tom Robinson the "n" word multiple times in his testimony, which shows no respect towards any of the other African Americans in the book. In the book it states, "...she had to walk nearly a mile out of her way to avoid the Ewell's who, according to Helen 'chucked at her...'" This also shows that he had no respect for Helen either since he threw stuff at her and called her cruel names. Another reason why I disliked him was because he would beat his children, I don't think anyone likes a child beater. Bob Ewell was a very unlikable character in To Kill a Mockingbird.

     In the book there were many likable characters, but the one I favored the most was Atticus Finch. There were many reasons stated in the on why he was a very likable character. He had empathy, which is really hard to find in any place and any time. In the book it stated, "'Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell's shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does. So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that's something I'll gladly take. He had to take it out on somebody and I'd rather it be n me than that houseful of children out there. You understand?'" This quote shows that Atticus could see why Bob was doing the bad stuff he did, he understood him because of his experiences. He had done this many times in the book with many other characters including Boo, Bob, The Cunninghams, Mayella, and etc.

     Another reason my favorite character was Atticus Finch was because he only spoke the truth to his children, he was honest. In the book it states, "'... you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it–whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, he rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, the white man is trash,'" Atticus said that to Jem, which is very honest and tells Jem what it is to be a real person. This quote doesn't only have to do with racism, but basically anything that makes people different. Another way in the book was "'I wanted you to see you what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you are a licked before you begin but you begin anyway you see you through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do,'"I wanted you to see you what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you are a licked before you begin but you begin anyway you see you through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.'" Atticus wanted his kids to be great, and he taught them many life lessons that could help them in the past. Especially when he described what real courage was. Overall Atticus was a very likable character because he treated people right, had empathy, and was honest.

     

TKAM - Character Relationship

Character Pair: Miss Maudie and Calpurnia

     In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Miss Maudie and Calpurnia have many similarities. Both Miss Maudie and Calpurnia have been there for Scout when Jem and Dill excluded her. Miss Maudie would let Scout hang out with her by just talking, looking at the sky, and planting. Calpurnia did the same think because when Jem and Dill excluded Scout she let Scout bake with her, and learn. Another similarity is they both have that polite and mature diction when they talk to anyone, besides when Calpurnia talks to the African Americans at the church.

     Miss Maudie and Calpurnia also have many differences. A difference is Miss Maudie goes to a white church, and Calpurnia goes to the African and poor church. Basically a reason they are different is because they come from different races. Another reason they are different is beause Calpurnia works for Atticus, but Miss Maudie doesn't work for him nor is she part of the family. 

     Miss Maudie and Calupurnia have affected Scout in some way. Miss Maudie has affected Scout by being there for her when she was being left out, which made Scout feel better about Jem and Dill excluding her. Calpurnia affected Scout because she brought her to her church, which showed Scout segregation and how it is not right.

     Miss Maudie and Calpurnia both have a type of relationship with Scout. Miss Maudie's relationship would be a good friend, that is a girl, since most of Scout's friends are boys (Dill and Jem). Then I see Calpurnia as the feminine influence for Scout, like stated in Chapter ten. I would think that Calpurnia is closer with Scout since she has been there since the beggining.

TKAM Setting Comparison

     In the photo "Houses in the Negro section of Eutaw, Alabama" I had many observations and about how it related to the setting in "To Kill a Mockingbird". In Maycomb the town is described as "a small tired old town" and in this phote it seems that it is a town but very small and rundown because of how the houses were contructed. In the book the setting was also described with "grass on the sidewalk and dirt road" and in the photo it shows the grass growing everywhere and it seems like an old small area, or a town. 

     In the same photo I had many thoughts about it, and how it related to the setting in the book. I thought that this picture may have been taken during the Great Depressin because of the poor living conditions. In the book it is during the Great Depression and many of the kids in the book didn't have a great place to live in baased on thier appearance on the first day of school. Many houses were closed together, and in this picture that is how it is.

40 Book Challenge 11.16.15

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry By Mildred D. Taylor

Pages: Finished Book

     Theme is a message about life or human nature. The theme of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor is meaningful change happens slowly and with sacrifice. I know this because in the book many characters had to do stuff they didn't want to do, but had to. In the book it states, "I asked him why he had to go away, why the land was so important. He took my hand and said in his quiet way: 'Look out there, Cassie girl. All that belongs to you. You ain't never had to live on nobody's place but your own and as long as I leave and the family survives, you'll never have to. That's important. You may not understand that now, but one day you will. Then you'll see.'" This quote shows that Cassie's dad always has to leave to work so they can keep their land. The reason why Cassie doesn't understand why the land is so important because African Americans at that time rarely owned anything. The dad has to leave for long periods of times to provide for his family and sacrifices his time with his family, so meaningful change happens slowly and with sacrifice.

     Another example that backs up the theme of this book is the conflict. The conflict is how the Logan Family goes through racism and segregation with the Wallaces and Harlan Granger. The book states, "'You think by shopping up at Vicksburg you gonna drive them Wallace's out, then you got idea of how things work down here. You forgetting Harlan Granger backs that store.'" This quote explains that even though there are sacrifices and consequences of getting in the middle of Harlan Granger's store that the Logans and many others will boycott the store to get a point across and to get treated better. They had to sacrifice their safety and threats to stand up for themselves and to not be treated poorly.

     One more example of the theme in the book is Mama's actions. In the book it states, " I know this quote backs up the theme because since the black schools didn't get new books no one thought it was fair. Even though it wouldn't change that black schools don't get new books it was at least showing something. She could have lost her job and be in trouble for standing up for herself and the students.This quote hugely backs up the theme of the book, meaningful change happens slowly and with sacrifice.

 

1st Quarter Reflection

     This quarter I have learned a lot more about writing. To be honest, the first draft of my memoir was just horrible. The second draft was a whole different story. At first when we started the memoir I didn't know about passive and active voice. Now I know that using a lot of passive voice isn't good in your writing it makes it sound awkward. I had lots of passive voice in my writing, now I changed it too active voice. I also didn't know how to correctly put dialuge in a story. I would put it like a quote in an article, now I know that for every new person that is speaking you must start on a new line and indent. The first draft wasn't descriptive at all, there was a bunch of "small images." Instead of saying "the sky was really clear" I put "The sky was really clear that night you could see the stars, which was strange because it was Christmas Eve, everyone would have thought there be a white blanket across it." A huge difference between those two. Just these little tequinecs have made my writing better in many ways.

     I think that my research skills has changed a lt. I used to just put a bunch of information in a page, now I know how to organize it. If I'm reseaching something, there is diffferent parts of that huge big idea. Every infromation has its own catagory. Under each catogory is bullet points and interpretations.  I also know how to show which information is coming from which source, the website link goes above the infromation from that site. From specific websites there may be false infrmation, I have learned how to identify if a website is worthy or not based off the format, publisher, url, and etc. My researching has improved drastically from previous researches. 

     I have benefited from many strategies. One major strategy includes time managment. If it is a regular week with vocabulary words, AoW, and a blog then I do eaach a acertain day. I start the aow on Mnday then finish it Tuesday. I do my blog on Wednesday oor Thursday, depending what I have that day. I study my vocabulary on Thursday night and Friday morning. Then Saturday morining I do my vocabulary for the next week. I usually get all my work done with a good grade with this strategy. 

     Another strategy I have benefitted from is brainstorming for any work I would have to do. For blogs I brainstorm ideas of what I can write about, from there I build up on my ideas and make paragraphs.  For my AoW I write down words or phrases that are important for the reader to know, and just said that in my objective summary. I have improved a lot becuae of the little things I do now.

        

40 Book Challenge 10.14.15

A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer
Prompt:

- If you could talk to the author, what questions would you ask? Why?

- How have your feelings changed as you’ve been reading?
Pages: 1-51

     If I could talk to the author one question I would ask is how did you overcome your mother, especially at a very young age? I would ask that question because The obstacles he faced with his mother were devastating and surprising. I would never expect mother would hit their own child so I wanted to see his viewpoint on the obstacles you face against his mother. In the book it says that David's mother would slam his head against the mirror when he didn't do his chores, which were also a lot for a child. I am very surprised that he survived the brutal beatings by his mother and that is why I asked the question how did you overcome your mother especially at a very young age?

     Another question I would ask the author is what was the trigger for the brutal beatings that your mother has given you? I would ask that question because I do not understand how a mother would hit or hurt their children for no apparent reason. In the book it says that she would make him look for a lot of things she has lost for months. She also did not allow him to eat dinner or breakfast sometimes, The only breakfast he got was leftover cereal from his brothers the day before, so he never really got his own plate. I was very surprised how his mother could brutally beat him like it said in the book so that is why ask what was the trigger for the brutal beatings that your mother has given you?

     My feelings have changed dramatically why I was reading the book. In the first section of the book the author explained how his mother gave them brutal beatings from not doing his chores, not behaving, and she just hit him for the heck of it. I personally felt that the mother was a horrible person because of how the author described her in the book, but as I kept on reading there was a section in the book which stated his mother before the brutal beatings. That that section had showed me that the mother was not a bad person before, she would take her kids out to vacation and do a lot for them and really care for all her children. My feelings have changed dramatically because he went from horrible mother to mother that everyone would want. As I continue reading I want to figure out what was the trigger for the mound doing the brutal beatings her son.

"My Hero"

My father was a hero

to everyone he met.

He knew about life.

He said If you outwork the 

other students and never 

give up, you will win

the race one day.

He said work hard in 

school, and maybe

someday you can

help yourself and 

your family.

He said that the good

thing about words is they 

can also bring life into

our spirits.

He said the poor and ill

are described as beetles, 

but they are heaven's angels.

I have showed him that I 

am a success, his success.

He might still be a hero

tragic and flawed,

but a hero, my hero.