To kill a mocking bird #9 Scout's prespective

It was dark out.  I was disappointed but t0 tired to think about what happened to me at the pageant.  I was thinking about how my teacher said I ruined the play.  I didn't think I had that big of a part.  Jem and I started walking out.  We walked a little and than I forgot that I had left my shoes.  I looked back and Jem reassured me that I would get my shoes back.  My costume was so tight and the chicken wire would sometimes stab my arms and legs as I moved.  I did have two whole slots to look through so it was okay. 

I couldn't see a thing.  But Jem said I was glowing because there was shiny paint.  We walked and it was silent.  I couldn't tell exactly what direction we were taking but it seemed as if Jem allegedly knew where we were.  Suddenly Jem stopped and I stopped.  He told me that he had heard footsteps.  We  agreed that it was probably Cecil and we were going to either try to scare him or yell out things about him.  Jem had a look of Apprehension on his face.  We walked some more and I heard it.  I stopped and yelled Cecil is a big wet hen!  No reply.  I was scared now but Jem was always aware and I felt safe with him just like I felt with Atticus.   Soon we reached the road.  

We heard loud footsteps.  Quick taps against the ground.  Jem yells to run.  I try and try but I lose balance and fall.  The footsteps got louder and I heard a loud cling like swords hitting each other.  At this point I knew it was real.  The Mesh was falling apart.  I heard Jem huffing and puffing and I could smell whiskey.  There were loud screeches from what sounded like an old man and Jem.  I was scared but everything was blurry.  I felt like I was looking through a telescope.  I was narrow visioned.  Everything was blurry.  I saw movement in the shadows.  I than heard Jem yelp and than it went silent.  Footsteps towards me.  I felt rough hands constrict me.  The arms slowly applied pressure.  Suddenly there was a jerk.  the strangling stopped.  The next thing that I knew there was a person holding Jem and was stumbling towards the house.  I made it to the house and Aunt Alexandra took the costume off of me.  She called Dr. Reynolds and Atticus called Heck Tate.  

I thought that Jem was dead but Aunt Alexandra and Dr. Raymond informed me that this was not true.  This was inevitable from the beginning we shouldn't have been alone in the dark coming home from school.  We were an easy target to whoever it was.  We were all Atticus had and if someone killed us and got away with it Atticus would be left with nothing.  Although it was inconvenient that I couldn't run away from the killer because of my costume but it was convenient because my costume saved me and I probably couldn't run as fast as this man.  I wouldn't say that it was improbable or probably for this to happen.  Who ever it was, they weren't trying to just kill us it was part of getting at Atticus because no one in the right mind would kill a child for something that wasn't a big deal.

To Kill a mocking bird #8 prespective of Jem

Our father was calm.  He always was.  Even in troublesome situations like this one.  I was worried for myself but mostly Atticus.  Because of that Bob Ewell.  I hate that man.  I want him to put himself in Tom's shoes.  All Bob Ewell is , is trash.  He is a drunk and a racist.  He doesn't have morals.  He is trying to blame a man for something that he didn't do and try to get him killed for it.

Atticus said that he had to get his anger out on something and that if he saved all of his children from getting an extra beating that he was fine with it.  Bob Ewell had spit in Atticus' face and than threatened to kill him.  I love Atticus and if he wanted to kill him he would have to get through me.  I didn't really mean that I would put up a fight but Bob Ewell wouldn't get to our Atticus if I was involved.  Aunty and I were worried although Atticus was calm and peaceful.  We didn't understand how he could be so calm even if he thought that he was done.  One false move and Atticus could die.  I know that sadly Atticus wouldn't even fight Bob Ewell because Atticus is an old man and he likes to settle things with words.

I felt that I was just like Atticus.  I was growing up to be him.  I use my words, I don't fight, most of the time I am calm and I am smart.  I wanted daddy to get a gun.  After all he is the deadliest shot in Maycomb.  It's to bad that Atticus wouldn't just go on and shoot Bob Ewell.

Tom Robinson was in a prison.  Atticus told me that he would be put in an electric chair if he wasn't excused from it.  Atticus told me that he had a fair chance of it but I wasn't sure.  I had analyzed the case a lot and I put a lot of thinking into the outcome and when I think legitamently, I realize that Tom will die.  I hate thinking about this but I have to state the facts.  Why is rape the capital defense anyways? Shouldn't it be murder?  I know it's horrible but im sure most people would rather be raped than killed.

A little bit later I heard Scout talking to Atticus about rape.  Atticus told Scout that Walter Cunningham tried to acquit Tom Robinson.  Scout is so happy she wants to invite Walter Cunningham over.  Aunt Alexandra tells scout that the Cunninghams are trash.

Journal # 7 To Kill a mocking bird Dills prespective

There he was.  Mr Dolphus Raymond.  I had heard many things about him and how he lives from Jem and Scout.  Not necessarily bad in my opinion but slightly weird.  He was with a black woman.  This was unheard of.  He is the father of many mixed children.  I hear that they don't fit in anywhere.  Not with the blacks because they are half white and not with the whites because they are half black.  I felt bad for these kids because they didn't fit in.  Mr. Raymond supposedly is very rich and treats the kids very nicely.  he also lives in the black neighborhood and owns a lot of land.  Rumor has it this old Dolphus Raymond is a total drunky.  Everyone says that he keeps Whiskey in a brown lunch bag.  Suddenly I was called over.  I condescended because I was afraid of him and the stories about his wife and him.  I went anyways.  He told me to take a drink from his bag.  I took a sip and smiled.  It was coca cola!  All this time I thought it was whiskey.  Butt I was oblivious to the reasoning of this.  Everyone in town thought he was a drunky but he really wasn't.  I asked him why he gave himself a bad name.  He explained to me something very interesting.  He told me that he wasn't much of a drinker.  He also said that he liked living with black folks.  Said that no one would have understood him if he just said that he liked it so he pretends that he is under the influence of alchahol so that people believe that thats not really what he wants but that is what the whiskey is making him do.

I was so sad from the way that Mr. Gilmer treated Tom Robinson.  So  he cheered me up by saying that when he was to grow up he would understand it better.  Mr Dolphus Raymond is  a good person who only means well.  He just tries to deceive people by acting like he is a drunky so he can excuse his like for negroes.  

He told Scout that her father was a good person.  Said that she was to young to understand it but once she looked around the court room she could realize it.  Scout was quickly reminded that she was missing the case.  

We both walked in as Atticus was talking to the jury.  This was important and I knew not to bother anyone.  Atticus was telling the jury about how the Ewells didn't have any physical or medical evidence  that Tom Robinson did anything leaving the accusation wrong.  Atticus told the court that the prosecutor didn't have any whiteness other than the tow testimonies.  Atticus also said that Mayella broke a social norm.  She tempted a black person.

Atticus said that Bob Ewell was Left handed and must have beet up Mayella because her right eye was hurt.  Tom Robinson couldn't hit with his left arm because of the cotton machine incident.  

Atticus made a very good point.  All men were made equal in court.  The jury had to remember it was two white people versus a black person and that it was unfair if the jury was thinking as if he is unequal.

Just as Atticus finished up Calpurnia came into the room.  I knew we were in trouble.  She handed Atticus a letter.  Probably from Aunt Alexandra.  Atticus took a look around the room and announced that his children had gone missing.  Than someone said that they had been up with reverend Sykes for some time.  I, Scout and Jem went down to talk to Atticus.  We begged him to see the final verdict.  Atticus told us to go home and eat slowly because we weren't going to miss anything.  We came back a while later.  The Jury was still making a decision.  They came out.  Ultimately Tom Robinson was found guilty.  My heart dropped.  As Atticus left the courthouse the negroes all stood up and we stood up also.  I wish I had a dad like Atticus who was cool and deffended people who needed it.  

Journal #6 Nararated by Bob Ewell

November 21 last year.

I was out in the forest.  It was dark out.  wright round sunset.  I be holdin manys kindlin for the fire back at are house.  I got back and I was walkin to the front door I looked through the window ta see my daughter kissin a nigger.  And It was Tom Robinson. Everything got dark.  I saw myself beating my daughter Mayella.

"Ahh" I screamed.

I sat up.  It was a dream.  Today was the trial and I was ina horrible mood.  Mayella, my daughter knew what the fake story was.  Tom Robinson raped her after she asked him to cut something up for her.  There were no flaws in or plan.  We could lie through the whole case.  The odds were gainst Atticus and his nigger.  

I hated Atticus. him and his snotty lil chillrin. They be actin like dey know everything cause he reads dem books all day.  Dey don know nuthin bout livin like we do.  I got me a sandwich out of da dumbster and a thing of wiskey.  

Mayella came in da kitchen.  We didn't talk at all.  We both knew that today was the day. We were gon get Tom Robinson lynched.  Those Damn Niggers are always botherin us white folks. I hate em.

Mayella and mes walked to them there court house and waited for the trial to start.  i was called up to the stand.  Atticus asked me to explain the whole story. So I told him.  

One day I was bringin some kindlin home from the woods.  I heard my Mayella yelllin so I dropped me kindlin and ran to the house. When I got there it was round sunset and Tom Robinson took off runnin. Mayella was okay and I went to go fetch Officer.  Mayella was on the floor and she was beat up.  

Than Atticus was askin me some dumb questions like.  Can you read and write?  He asked me to wright my name on one of them papers.  So I wrote.  I used my left hand and he asked me if I was left handed.  I told em just cause I was left handed dont mean nothin.  

Atticus kept on askin me the same der questions over and over.  did you go get a doctor? was she hurt, did she need medical attention.  He than asked me what side the bruise there was on told him it was her right eye but den I realized it was her left.  Atticus was onta somethin but i didnt know what.

Den Mayella was called up to the stand. I didn't listen cause I wasn't interested.  Than Atticus asked a question that caught my ear.  Has your father ever hit you.  Mayella paused and looked at me.  I made no facial expression.  she knew she would get it later if she answered wrongly.  This could give Atticus the whole case.  I had figured out that he was accusing me of beating her up.  He was onto me and it wasn't good.  

Mayella kept on cryin up there. Just like I tol her ta do.  Atticus called up Tom Robinson.  I knew that the real story would be comin but who in Maycomb would believe a nigger.  Tom Robinson came up.  

"He said it like this.  I was waling by the Ewell's house and Mayella asked me to fix a door hinge.  So I went in to the front yard.  I opened the door repeatedly.  Nothing was wrong.  Than she told me that she wanted something inside.  She wanted me to get on a chair and get something from the top of the shelf.  So I did.  Than she grabbed me.  But it was more like a hug.  Than she kissed me." Tom Robinson told.

I was bracing myself.  I looked around and it seemed like nobody had formulated an opinion so far.

Tom Robinson Continued

"Than he said that he tried to get out of the house as Mayella was asking for him to kiss him.  than Mayellas father Bob Ewell looked in and called her a nasty name.  I ran out as soon as I got the chance." 

The questioning went on.  Someone in the stands stood up and said that he had had Tom Robinson working for him for 10 years and he never had a problem.  I had just realized something.  Tom Robinsons left arm was short and useless.  That mean that bruise on Mayellas left eye would be a problem.  How would he be able to rape her.  Oh no I thought to myself.  

Atticus was done and we took a ten minute break.

Journal #5 in the perspective of Jem

Chapter 14

            It seemed like since Atticus started gettin real busy with his cases, when we would go round town, therd' be alota commotions and wisperin goin on behind our backs.  All I knew was that Atticus's defendant is a Negro.  I also knew that Scout was gettin a lot of trouble about it at school so maybe the same ol thing was happinin in town.

            I was eavesdropping on Scout and Atticus's conversation.  Scout asked what "rape," was.  I learned this word because Scout also asked Calpurnia but she told er to go n' ask Atticus.  He told her what it was but I could tell she didn't understand a word o' it.  Neither did I but I knew it had somethin to do with a girl.  

            Aunty Alexandra came to town.  I don't like her.  She comes in our house and just starts bossing us around and telling us that we aren’t like real gentlemen and ladies.  Atticus has changed since Aunty got here.  He made Scout cry for the first time in a while.  Atticus is startin ta get nit picky with whatever we do.  

            It seems as though Aunt Alexandra was oblivious of any kind of lifestyle we had before.  Aunty fits in real well with everyone else in town though.  The townspeople welcomed her but I don know why.  She yells at us for every little thing that we do.

            Tonight I was telling Scout to stop antagonizing Aunt Alexandra.  I knew she didn’t like getting bossed around but it was partly for her own good.  I was just trying to look out for her.  She started punching me in the stomach and the face so I smacked her.  She got back up and before I knew it Atticus was pushing us apart.  I turned off the lights.

"Night Scout," I said, trying to flip a new leaf.

" Good night Jem," she said back.  

            A minute later Scout called me into her room to look for a rattlesnake under her bed.  I used a broom and was sweeping under the bed.  I hit something.  It definitely wasn't a little animal.  It was a person.  I was about to yell for Atticus when I heard Dill's soft voice come out from under the bed.  Dill emerged.  I wasn't sure about how he got here or why he was under Scout's bed.

            I was excited to see him.  He told us that he wasn't getting enough love from his parents so he ran away.  He also said that his mom had remarried another man who wouldn't let him go over the summer.

            He looked hungry so Scout went and got Dill some leftovers from the kitchen.  Dill ate it all up in a heartbeat.  Dill said he hadn’t eaten for a whole day

            I had to do it.  Atticus trusted me and I knew that Atticus would be okay and eh wouldn't freak out.  I called for Atticus to come up stairs.  Atticus was always so calm that even some of the most surprising and weird things wouldn't faze him. Atticus came upstairs to find Scout and Dill talking together and me, in the corner.  Scout gave me a dirty look but I knew that I had to do it.  At least it dispelled all of the guilty feelings that I had about Dill hiding in our house.

            Atticus didn’t mind at all he just wanted Dill to tell Aunt Rachel that he was visiting.  Atticus than just continued on amiably.

Dill slept in my bead that night.  We talked a little and than he slipped out of bead and told me that he was going to go talk to Scout.

Journal # 4 narrated as Calpurnia

Chapter 10

Jem and Scout were outside playing with there air rifles when suddenly I hear Jem quickly open the door and slam it.  I was in the kitchen cleaning and Jem ran in.  Jem told me that old Tim Johnson was injured and walking like a mad dog on the streets.  Tim Johnson was Maycomb's pet but according to Jem he had gone mad.  

“Honey, I can’t come outside right now I’m preoccupied with the dishes,” I said.

“Please Calpurnia, Tim Johnson has gone mad and he is injured,” Jem exclaimed.

“Alright, I’ll be out in a sec,” I said

Scout was right by Jem’s scout the whole time.  Jem is luck to have a sister that he truly loves and does everything with.  Also she is always there for him.

Jem and Scout ran outside.  By the time I had got there Jem and Scout were already staring at Tim Johnson.  I looked around.  But I couldn’t see any dog. 

 “We are in great Peril Cal!” Jem exclaimed.

“I don’t see no dog Jem,” I said

Jem pointed to a wolf looking dog.  It sure was Tim Johnson.  And he had gone mad.  I rushed the children inside.  I closed the door and ran to the phone.  I called Atticus as soon as I could and told him to get back to the house because Tim Johnson lost his mind.  Than I told everyone on the neighborhood that was going on.  Soon the whole neighbor hood knew what was going on.  Everyone had their doors shut tight. 

Soon Enough Atticus came to the block just in time as Tim Johnson was walking through our part of the block.  The Sheriff pulled out his gun.  I was looking through the blinds.  After looking at the dog he gave the gun to Atticus who quickly rested it on his shoulder aimed, I turned away And shot the dog. 

This was a good thing for the kids to realize how cool their father was since they thought he was boring and that he was only a bad checker player.  Soon I heard the door open.  Jem and Scout ran out the door to Scout.  Atticus and shot the dog in the head.  I looked at Atticus face as he turned around.  He looked like he contradicted what he had just done.

 

                                    Chapter 11

Jem and Scout came home from town.  Jem was very angry and Scout looked like she had just been crying.  What’s wrong Scout.  Scout walked over to me and whispered in my ear what Jem had done.

“What? Why would you do that to ms. Dubose’s property? And why did you do that to Scout’s Baton?” I asked rhetorically.

“I just lost my temp-”Jem said.

“Get out of this house now!” I exclaimed.

Later that day I over heard Atticus come in with a broken baton and a white flower bud.  Atticus almost never raised his voice to the children and always confronted the children in a nice way even if they did something bad.  I liked this about Atticus and I would hopefully acquire that skill in the future.  Atticus did however give Jem a great punishment.  He would have to go read to Ms. Dubose for two hours each day for a month.  Scout being the good sister that she was volunteered to go with him.  Scout told me that she was worried that something would happen to Jem.

While they were gone so much I had a lot of time to think.  It seemed as though Jem and Scout had lost interest in Boo Radley and had stopped antagonizing him.

 

                                    Chapter 12

“Cal?” asked Scout.

“yeah Scout?” I answered

“ Why is Jem being so difficult?  We used to be such good friends.” She asked in a low tone.

            I explained to her that it was part of Jem growing up.  I could feel that Scout and I were becoming friends and growing closer together all of a sudden.  I can’t just stop getting her in trouble so that she will like me but if I can just maybe tone it down that she will be easier to deal with.

            I decided that I was going to take Jem and Scout to my church. When we got there, since everyone was black, everyone gave nice gestures to Jem and Scout.  This was because Tom Robinson who was Atticus’s client.  Everyone was giving nice greetings till Lu Lu came up.  She looked seven feet tall.

            “What you be bringin lil white chillren in her.  This isa nigga church,” she said.

            We went back and forth but I could see that the children were confused by the way I was talking.  The church was embarrassed so the church members cut off the conversation by just walking in front of Lu Lu.  Other than that everyone was very welcoming to the kids.

We listened to the service.  Scout and Jem were wondering why we didn’t have books.  Not only did we not have enough money but we couldn’t read so it would just be a waste.  That’s why we have one person say the prayer and than everyone says it after them.

Scout later asked my why I was talking bad if she knew better.  The best example that I could come up with was that it would be like talking how I had talked at your house.  I would just be incorrect.  Also I told them that people don’t like it when there are smart people around them.

 

Acquire: To receive, get or obtain.

Antagonize: To torment.

Contradicted: To disagree

Preoccupied: To be busy with something else

chapter 8 and 9

" Scout, Scout, wake up now," I said.

"huh? what?" asked Scout as she sleepily woke up.

" here just put this robe on and lets walk outside," I told Scout.

Scout, Jem and I went outside to see what all the commotion was.  Ms. Maudie's house was burning to the ground.  The Neighbors were doing the best they could but that wasn't enough.  Ms. Maudie was a very nice lady.  She would always talk to Jem and Scout.  It was a tragedy that it happened to her out of all people. 

I could see that Scout and Jem wanted to do something about it in return for the kindness that Ms. Maudie brought to them but they couldn't.  Scout and Jem just stood there in the cold.  I looked over at Scout and she was very cold so I put my coat on her.  A little bit later I saw someone come up right behind Scout.  it was Boo Radley.  At first I was going to do something about his approach but than I saw that he was holding a blanket to put on Scout.  I thought it was Boo Radley who was lighting the houses on fire but my thoughts changed when he did this.  I looked over and I could see a fire truck being pushed my many men.  I knew that it wouldn't get to the burning house in time to save anything.  

Thank God that Ms. Maudie came out alright.  Soon the fire truck that was being pushed made it.  They turned out the fire hydrant and started trying to put out the fire.  

The other day  I was talking to Scout about how kids were treating her at school.  She said that there was one kid who would tease Scout about her father defending a nigger.  She said that a boy tormented her in front of a lot of people that I was defending a nigger.  At first I was shocked that such little kid had the potential of digging into their deepest sources to rip out information that they could use against a child that they didn't like.  But I knew that now I would have to explain to Scout about my client.  I explained to Scout that there would be a lot of talk around town about me defending a negro.  I told her that even though I though we were going to lose I had this feeling that told me that the right thing to do was represent the man.  I felt that if I was in the position where I would most likely be killed for something I didn't do, that I would want someone to help me out.  This case was very important to me because I knew that if I didn't take the case than no one would.  I knew that at some point Scout would hit her high point and engage in fighting.  

Journal #1 To Kill a Mocking Bird

Hi, I'm Dill.  I just moved into my Aunt Rachel's house for the summer.  I met these two really nice kids named Jem and Scout.  Jem is 10 and Scout is 6.  Their father is a lawyer and his name is Atticus.  Atticus is a real nice guy but he is kind of intimidating.  Scout is very smart. Probably one of the smartest in her class. I don't have a dad but I don't like to talk about that. I quickly became friends with Scout and Jem.  We always play around and reinact things.

I was the one who gave the idea to Scout and Finch to lure Boo Radley out of his house.Boo Radley was introduced to me by Jem and Scout.  From what they were saying he was a scary malevolent killer.  This interested me a lot.  Everyone calls him the Phantom of Maycomb but I want to see what he actually looks like and if the rumors are true.

When I met Jem he and I had a friendly argument.  It started off my me saying.

"Hey."

" Hey yourself," replied Jem.

I told him my real name which was Charles Bakers Harris and that I could read.  I didn't want to question Jem's pronouncements because I was trying to make friends with him.

Scout snapped back at me "So what?"

This made me feel bad but I couldn't let it get to me because I know that first impressions are important.  I felt like saying something mean back but I had to be careful.   I didn't know there background.

"Just letting you know that I can read," trying to to come off snotty. 

Jem insulted me by saying that I was 4 1/2 but I didn't let it get to me.  Instead I replied with my actual age.

" go n' on 7"

He told me I was very small for my age but I told him that I was little but old.  This didn't offend me to much because I thought that if people didn't know how old I was and they did know that I could read than they would be impressed with  my abilities.  Jem than cheered up the conversation by irking me to come over.  I had no other choice than to join them.  Our little talk went on back and forth.  It was basically a little introduction to each other.  I was from Meridian, Mississippi but My family originally was from Maycomb.  I told Jem and Scout and about the picture shows(movies) that I had seen.  They didn't have picture shows here in Maycomb except some Jesus ones in the court room.  I explained them to Jem and Scout and they were fasicnated.

intimidating: To be scary.

Malevlent: To have bad will.

Pronouncement: How one talks.

Journal #2 4-7

The door opened.  Scout scurried in through the door like something was chasing her.  while I was trying to figure out what she was running from I noticed that scout was chewing a hug piece of gum in her mouth.  Scout means well but she often comes off rude or obnoxious.  She was making a lot of noise with her mouth but I decided to ignore it for as long as I could.

"Scout, why were you running like you were being chased?" I asked.

"well, you see, I was walking home from school and I saw a piece of tin foil in the tree in the Radley home.  And I leaned over and grabbed it and it was chewing gum! So I ate it!" she explained.

"What? Scout you are never supposed to go or touch Boo Radley house.  Doncha know he will kill you! "  I exclaimed.

I didn't know anything about the Boo Radley house that was an actual fact but I have heard rumors about it, bad rumors.  Even if Boo Radley never killed anyone or wouldn't ever  kill anyone he still was mysterious and I didn't want my little sister to mess around inside the yard. 

"Scout, please spit it out."

" but Jem, its really good!"

"Now, before I tell Culpurnia on me."

I knew this would work because Culpurnia yelled at scout the other day for making fun of how the Cumington boy ate.  Scout spit out her gum and continued on.  It seemed as though Scout wasn't very happy during the year and somewhat bored most of the time.  I could tell from the facial expression on her face and her body language.  I think it was the new program in school.  She is ahead of everyone in her class and she is probably bored from listening to her classmates try to read.

Summer soon came and and scout and I were definitely ready for summer.  The first thig that we did and that we do every summer is roll each other around in the insides of tires.  We were having fun until I rolled scout in from of the Radley stems.

"Come on Scout! Lets get out of here"I yelled as Scout was laying right in front of the yard.

Scout got up and she quickly got out from in front of the house.

"Jem, I have a new game," said Scout.

"Well what is it than'" I said.

" It is going to be called "Boo Radley," Scout said in a scary voice

At first I thought this wouldn't be good considering that she had the courage to take something out of the tree of Boo Radley's house.  I did want to hear the idea for Scouts new game though.

"Okay, so we are going to act as the Radley family," Scout said.

I thought this idea was silly but I couldnt hurt scouts feelings.

"Sure," I replied.

As the summer went on and on our game became modified and complicated as we acted out the Radley home or at least how we though the Boo Radley home operated in the inside.  One day we were playing and Atticus came out.  We stopped out game and stood suspiciously. Atticus asked us if our game had anything to do with the Radley.  I told him that it didn't.   From than on I felt some resistance from Scout when I wanted to play the game.  Scout was probably scared that Atticus would get mad at them but there seemed to be something else on her mind.

As the summer went on Dill and I became good friends and we continued the Boo Radley game.  Scout spent most of her time talking to the widow next door named Ms. Atkinson.  I had no clue what they were talking about but it seemed like the more she talked to her the more she didn't want to play the Boo Radley game.  It came to me though that since Dill and I had become such good friends that Scout might have felt left out from the planning that Dill and I did.  Dill and I were very curious of what Boo Radley looked like and if he was even alive. So we got a note and asked if he would like to get ice cream.  Dill and I attached it to a fishing poll and was going to attach it to his house Dill and I held the fishing poll and we were about to attach it and than Atticus came out.  Atticus got angry at us and told us not to bother Radley by playing the Boo Radley games or trying to attach notes to his house.

Immigration Project Reflection

                                                Immigration Project Reflection

            I had a great time reading this book because it really interested me.  It was a true story for most parts of the book which I didn’t like as much as the scenes where Maxine Kingston is training to become a woman warrior.  I am glad that I chose this book because I always wondered how Chinese got to America.  I learned a lot about the Chinese culture.  For example the discrimination against girls in the Chinese community.  The Chinese would put down girls all the time for not being able to be good at anything which isn’t true.  I learned this because in the book the parents never really paid attention to Maxine Kingston (main character).  I also learned about the focus in education in the Chinese community. 

            If I were to add something to the literature circle process it would be the meetings.  I think that meetings are a good time to discuss the book with other people. Also it is a great time to listen and share opinions.  I think that blogs are just like reading it by yourself.  It was good that we had responses though because it was a way of getting peoples opinion in some ways.  I think that it would be better if we were able to have the posts due later in the night. This would be good because it is hard for some of us to get it done because we have extra curricular activities.  Yes we could do it later in the night, but it doesn’t work with our reading schedule.  I also think that if you extended the due date than we would have better quality work. 

            I got a lot of my group member’s opinions by reading their blogs but it wasn’t as fun as just talking with the person.  I was able to really focus on what they had to say because we had to right a response on it after words.    I think that the lit circle meetings with the vocab and character analysis were a little much.  It seemed as though people weren’t focusing on the book but on what they had to do for the lit circle meetings.  The problems with the blogs were that they were all located on various dates so I think it would help if we could pick two specific dates in the week that were good for blog dates.

            I think what we could do is keep the literature circle meetings and the blogs but we shouldn’t have anything due for the literature circle meeting and we could just talk about the book.

            There were a few options that we could pick for our  painting signifying our book.  I decided that the book cover had to include words which I didn’t want to do.  The the interpretation of the novel had more force on symbolism so I picked a specific scene that struck me.  I chose this because I could incorporate some symbolism into my artwork and still just have some important parts of the book in my painting without having to describe symbolism.  My painting could be considered a interpretation of a novel because I have a lot of symbolism in it but there are some parts of my painting where the title “interpretation of novel,” wouldn’t work out so well.

            I think that the book that I read and my painting closely resemble each other because if someone were to read the book and than look at my painting they would easily remember some specific and symbolic moments from the literature.  I have a lot of scenes that are intertwined with symbolism.  For example the bunny of fire is a scene in the book but it also represents a metaphor in the book.   Some of the images in my painting are just random things from the book.  For example the 13 beads that Maxine got in her fantasy life for every year she trained with an old couple to become a woman warrior.

            I feel like I tried my best on my painting.  I feel like I incorporated as many important and representative scenes in my painting as I could.  I also felt like it was a good painting for me because usually I don’t put my full effort into art pieces if I am forced to do them.  I like creating things myself and painting them.  It usually turns out not as good as it would if I had passion for what I was doing.  I must say I didn’t have many feelings when making this painting because I couldn’t see myself in Maxine at all so I was just painting what scenes I remembered. 

If I had to enhance the quality of my art piece I probably would have taken out the beads and ghost and put in some things that were more important to the book.  I think that if I were to do it again I would have painted the lighter colors and than paint the black background so it would look crisp.  I good thing that I did with my painting was that I was the first one to start so it was easy to make mine look good.  A few minor changes that I would have made would to make the orange in the fire yellow and to make the red in the fire, orange.  I also would change the eyes on the ghost.  I would take the red off my swords.

When I was brainstorming all the scenes I wanted to do, I was thinking a lot about metaphors and symbolism and I found parts of the book that  could relate to a small portion of the book.

The interview portion of this project was my favorite because my interview went smoothly and I met a nice guy who was very friendly and cooperative.  I loved how I got to organize everything and it made me feel like an adult because I was talking and scheduling with them. 

I really enjoyed interviewing multiple times because it was good in several ways; it gave us time to think about the next interview, we became friends with our interview partner and we were able to talk to someone in all kinds of different strategies using the modern-day technology.  I could see how this would be hard for someone who is really busy and doesn’t want to commit to you but since the person I interviewed was very friendly and flexible it was a easy process.  In the email interview I send questions to my person and he answered them in an easy format with complete sentences, proper grammar and colorful writing.  When I was on the phone with my interviewee I was able to ask him a lot of questions with follow-ups and he answered them exactly how I said; slowly and clearly.  The in-person interview was originally going to be at starbucks but we agreed that it would work better at my dad’s office because he worked there.  He and I were able to get personal and talk about things that we couldn’t exactly express through an email or over the phone.  I was able to read his feelings through are facial expression, body language and hand gestures.  We talked about girls to the problems in the Middle East and my interviewee didn’t hold back.  At one point we got in a great conversation about the problems in Lebanon and the middle east in general where I really got to pay attention to what my person was saying without having to write it all down.  I think that was one of the things that wasn’t good about the in-person interview was that you had to be writing what he was saying which wasn’t polite at times because we should have been making eye contact not facing down towards your piece of paper.

In the email interview I learned the basics about Lebanon which were the religions (Muslim, Judaism, Christianity) , languages (Farsi, Hebrew, English).  In the over the phone interview I learned about his experience coming to America which was good and he said he was treated nicely despite his appearance and accent.  In the in person interview I learned about his place on the problems in the Middle East.  Basically he has given up all hope on the resolution of the problems.

 I think that hearing about my interviewee’s life back in Lebanon helped me understand how different cultures can be.  I also learned how it could be rough and nice for some people who come.  For example my interviewee has to stay employed to stay in the country but he found friends and started a new life for himself from scratch.

I haven’t given my interviewee his present yet but I really think that I did a good job when I painted the product that I will eventually be giving to him in person at my dad’s office

Final post Woman Warrior

Quote:"Fresh-off-the-Boat's, as the Chinese-American kids at school called the young immigrants." Fresh-off-the-Boat's, as the Chinese-American kids at school called the young immigrants."

Response:  I wanted to do this quote also.  It was Ben's. I wanted to do this one because I have a good connection to this.   thought it was funny how they were doing this because this kind of thing happens everywhere.  Mostly, it comes from comedians who usually make fun of their own race by using stereo types and things like that.  Sometimes this kind of joking around can be really funny but when it is over emphasized people think they can say racist things to people which isn't okay.  My theory is that if you are a certain race/ethnicity/religion you can make fun of that and that only.  Connection:  A connection that I have with this is that a lot of the time, at this school and others, people often make jokes about stereo types.  In my opinion Stereo types can be good and bad.  For example the stereo type is that chinese people can do math.  I believe this is a good stereo type because it is positive.  But there is also a down side to this theory. I also believe that judging someone in any way is wrong weather it is how you look, talk,walk etc.  Also I think that stereo types can lead to big things like the holocaust.  I am sure that the holocaust started with little Jew jokes that expanded and than people started believing that Jews were responsible for all the problems in Germany.  Than from there it was easy, Hitler, a powerful dictator, could get everyone to blame the Jews while Germany was having problems.

Question:  Do you ever stereo type yourself? other people? why or why not?

Quote: There was dating and dances, but not for good Chinese girls.  "you out to develop yourself socially as well as mentally," the American teachers, who took me aside, said.

Response:  I think that the teachers, for some reason, are trying to urge the Chinese girls to socialize more instead of studying a lot.  I think this is half good advice and half bad advice.  I think this is bad advice because the teachers don't understand their cultural background which is focused on education and not always socialization.  I think this is good advice because you have to have social skills to get anywhere in life it doesn't always just come from education.

Question: What do you think is more important? personality or education?

What is higher priority to you? Socialization or education?

Quote 1:  "I had worked the soil, which is its flesh, and harvested the listen to its voice in the thunder and feel is threatening in lighting." pg. 29 1rst paragraph

Response: I really like the metaphor in this quote.  I just noticed this from a long time ago.  In my life I always try to see things as a metaphor.  It always helps me understand things.  In this quote it was talking about when the main character was training to be a warrior and she was taught that the earth was in resemblance to a dragon.  and how the soil was the skin, the trees were its hair, its voice was thunder and so on.  It is always hard to understand how the world works so comparing animals to how the earth is is a useful strategy to widen you mind about this huge concept.

Connection:  For me I always use metaphors to help me understand things for example: When a friend gets mad at me I think of it as a caterpillar.  When they are friendly and nice they are a caterpillar but when they are in the cacoon its just a stage that they are mad at me. Than they turn into a butterfly and we are better friends than we were before because we endured so much together.

Quote 2:  "If it tastes good, its bad for you,  if it tastes good its bad for you."

Pg. 92 4rth

Respnse:  This kind of shows how the mother is crazy because they are talking about brains of a monkey and how its bad so its good for you.  I don't understand why the mother is so crazy in this book.  She is a complete ghost hunter and she acts like a witch.

Connection:  my mini connection to this is is that I don't eat vegetables and I think that they are disgusting though they are good for people.

Woman warrior post #3

Quote: "I do not give in," she said.  "There is no pain you can inflict that I cannot endure.  You're wrong if you think Im afraid of you.  Your no mystery to me. I've heard you sitting ghosts before, Yes, people have lived to tell about you , You kill babies you cowards. 

 Said my the mother in the middle of pg. 70.

I cannot tell weather the main character is dreaming or not but basically her mom has gotten really full of herself.  She has made herself one of the smartest kids in her medical school class.  She is now kind of known as the town star.  It sounds like the Mom has gotten crazy also.  I don't understand what is going on with the ghosts.  They say that the ghost is eating babies.  I think that anybody who believes in something that eats babies then they are crazy but thats just me.

Question:  If your mom moved to a new country got a good job, and became slightly crazy.  what would you do?

Quote:  professional women have the right to use their maiden name.

I think that the book said that because the the Chinese culture the women is not as honorable as the man.  I think the reason for the maiden name is because whenever a women is a professional at something they should get some privileges and maybe her maiden name is honorable in the chinese culture.

Question:  Is your middle name honorable?

would you use it when you are a professional at something?

Quote #1: "they think we are carrying these sticks for our own fire." Pg 51 paragraph

Significance:  This shows, like Ben said, how people who immigrate to America don't always have an easy life .   The Aunt said this because they were trying to get money from people and the main character wasn't yelling that it was for sale so the people just thought that they were walking with their own wood.  This was very sad because they had to walk back and forth selling wood as their children would beg.

Connection: I cannot really connect with their situation.  I have never really felt the feeling that they were.  I do feel sorry for them though.  It makes me sad that people had to go through situations like that.

If you were put in that sort of situation how would you feel and what would you do?

Quote #2: I looked at their ink drawing of poor people snagging their neighbors flotage with long flood hooks and pushing the girl babies on down the river.

Significance: In the chinese culture the girl is not as important as the boys because the boys, in the asian culture, have a reputation for being smart and for being warriors which is honorable.  This was significant because i would have been very offended if I was a girl and my parents were drawing about me being sent down a river. 

If you saw a picture like that how would you react?

Part 1: From Haven to Home
The purpose of the museum was to learn about Jewish culture and their move to America. I learned a lot of things about a variety of immigrating Jews. They mostly came from Russia, Romania and Austria-Hungary. I also learned a lot about how they were involved in politics. For example Martin Luther King who understood the struggle of the Jews (important because our president believes in MLK’s thoughts). I learned that the Jews were not allowed to be public with their religion. They sent many letters to high political people like Judges and presidents to let Jews build synagogues and pray.
The U.S was so nice to the Jews that all kinds of other races and religions came to America for freedom and liberty. Since the world was so intolerant of so many people the U.S. was the perfect place for people to express themselves.
I already knew a lot of things that she was talking about because I have studied a lot of Jewish history but we reviewed the different types of Judaism. There is the ultra orthodox movement, which is very strict, and it follows all rules. Than there is orthodox and they are just a tad less religious than ultra orthodox but still very religious. Than there is the reformed movement which where you don’t have to go by all of the rules if you don’t want to. Basically it is an eased up form of Judaism. There are some other forms of Judaism but reformed, ultra and regular orthodox Jews are the main ones.
Something that was weird was that the tour lady didn’t really talk about World War II. All it said was that many Jews and other people boycotted Nazi Germany
Though many Jews held onto their culture some of them wanted to inherit American culture so that they fit in. A form of Jews holding onto religion and culture was that they established a Yiddish community, which is basically slang.
We also learned about Kosher. Kosher is a very important thing in orthodox Jews life. Kosher meat is worth more money because the slaughterers go to school for around seven years to train t o be able to kill an animal without hurting it. Also they need to cut from the second rib of a cow, bull, ox etc. All seafood is against Kosher. Jews also cannot have any blood.
We also learned that Jewish people have a big focus on education and thing that the only way of getting through life is with education. Even to this day a lot of Jews are pushed to do well in school.
Some famous people who are Jewish are Barbra Streisand, Sandy Koufax and Jerry Seinfeld. Also, ironically, Jews are the ones who make most Christmas songs.
We also learned that not all of the Jews were good. There was a Jew who was a very bad man but he founded Las Vegas. Jews also created the Red Cross of America, the sports museum in Balboa park and the courthouse of San Diego was named after the first Jewish judge.
I thought this was a very cool museum and experience. Especially because I am Jewish and i like learning about my origin and history. I plan to take my family to the museum at a later date

Partt 2:
Quote:"America has anything we need; at least one person lives here from from every nation. People immigrant to America because they know it is a land of freedom and a better life. I see America as a land of opportunities."

Response: I chose this quote because before this quote I took America for granted. The quote showed me that I need to be lucky because a lot of people think that America is a great place. It also showed me what people from a different place think about America.

Picture: "India Independence Day"
Description:The photos is taken in a crowded, Indian populated city. There is a focus on a young Indian boy wearing a cultural head ware. The background was blurry and showed a mother and father.

Response: This was cool because unlike some other cultures who wanted to become more American and let go of their culture, these Indians were keeping a grip on their culture.

Essay: My essay was about a man who mostly talked about his courage in coming to America. I never really thought about how it would seem for an immigrant to be moving to a whole different country with a different culture and way of living. He talked about how everything would be different but he would figure out a way to get through it.

Women warrior P #1

Quote 1: 

pg. 9 last paragraph.

"Our mother said we were lucky we didn't have to have our feet bound when we were seven.  Sisters used too sit on their beds and cry together, she said as their mothers or their slaves removed the bandages for a few minutes each night and let the blood gush back into their veins."

This was a good example of different cultures.  The main character (name is not given yet) is an asian girl.  The asian culture is very focused on beauty.  The mother would trim the eyebrows using a line of needles that she would rip out.  This takes place early on in the book and establishes the type of culture that these people are living in.  

I do not have a connection to this kind of treatment.  In my opinion its slightly abuse.  I think its weird that they would hurt themselves just to look a certain way.   I have always thought that binding someone's foot was the worst possible thing but the mother was talking about it like it wasn't scary.

Have you ever been pressured to do something "weird" because of your culture? if yes, what was it? if no, how would you react about that sort of thing?

Quote 2:

pg. 1 paragraph 1

"You must not tell anyone," my mother said,"what I am about to tell you.  In China your father had a sister who killed herself.  She jumped into the family well.  We say that your father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born."

Another big part of asian culture is to not be a disgrace to the family.  If a child is a "disgrace" to the family than basically shunned upon the community.  For example, Mulan because she was not a boy and went to war she disgraced the family and that is what the father said to Mulan.

I can relate to this because sometimes when one of my siblings or I do something wrong my Dad says we are embarrassing or disgracing to our family.  This is mostly used, in my opinion, because disgrace is a very powerful word.

Why do you think they started the book off like that.

Immigrants

What is your definition of an immigrant?

My definition of an immigrant is a person who comes from another country.

What is your connection to an immigrant?

There are many possible ways that I am connected to immigrants.  My Jewish Ancestors could have come from Europe.  My ancestors were pilgrims on the May Flower.

Do you have friends or relatives who are immigrants?

My nanny is a Mexican immigrant.  She has been taking care of me since i was three months old.  She goes back and forth from Tijuana each weak.

Why do you think immigrants come to the United States?

There are a lot of immigrants coming from Mexico to the United States because the pay, safety and government are better here.

Where do you see the affects on San Diego because of immigration?

The affect on San Diego is that Spanish is now a important language to learn in schools and there are things like Mexican restaurants and the architecture of Balboa Park.  Oh and also the name "San Diego."