to blog or not to blog…

 this is what i have to say about me sheehy’s blog…

     I think this year was my favorite year over all the years of taking english. I completely love the blogs. they’re so easy to use and so contemoprary, these days technology is one of our big uses so why not embrace it in our schools? I think why a lot of students like it is because blogs are not set up in the hardcore research paper mode. it’s more of our thoughts on the internet and we pretty much just let them flow. I know i like it because we don’t get docked for spelling or grammar but we do get graded on out thoughts and i think that is really what is more important. It also helps students who hate english to enjoy it a little more due to how easy it is to use. Using the internet helps if you actually have a teacher who knows what to do when you don’t know how to insert widgets or import old blogs into a new accout. thanks mr. sheehy.

     This year i enjoyed reading all the books, even if they wern’t our specific choice, it was fun to write about my thoughts on a certain book and have someone discuss my point of view. teachers mostly just care about getting grades on time and having students actually turn in assignments, but with blogging teachers can read my thoughts and maybe even learn a different perspective on a book that they have read before. i think that blogging helps both parties. Through this whole year i think i have progressed as a writer due to blogging, now i don’t get stressed out about having to write a blog on a specific topic. This has helped me out so much this year…i wish we could use this in every english class…

~love out

The End

 page 235

“Didn’t they try and stop him? didn’t they give him any warning? Aunt alexandra’s voice shook.

     Oh yes, the guards called him to a stop. The fired a few shots in the air, then to kill. They got him just as he went over the fence. They said if he hadtwo good arms he’d have made it, he was moving so fast. Seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much. Cal, i want you to come out with me and tell helen.”

     If i was tom i don’t know if i could have put up with all that trial stuff. He was innocent and was “convicted” guilty. There is only so much a man in his lifetime can put up with and i think that thqa about exhausted the limits. i feel bad for tom he didn’t deserve that kind of punishment. All the facts pointed to innocent but the jury just couldn’t handle that he was black. And seventeen bullets? i think thats alittle much for a killing. Two or three would have handled the job but SEVENTEEN? jeeze that’s prejudice in itself…

The quote on page 245 struck me as being ironic that the author would put something like that of the modern day world and insert it into his text. It shows the the theme, prejudice, like a banner.

     “I mean how can Hitler just put a lot of folks in a pen like that, looks like the govamint’d stop hime, said the owners of the hand.

  Hitler is the government, said Miss Gates, and seizing an oppurtunity to make education dynamic, she went to the blackboard. She printed DEMOCRACY in large letters. Democracy, she said.

That’s the difference between America and Germany. WE are a democracy and Germany is a dictatorship. Over here we don’t believe in persecuing anybody. Persucution come from people who are prejudice. Prejudice, she enunciated carefully. There are no better people in this world than the Jews, and why Hitler doesn’t think so is a mystery to me….They contribute to every society they live in, and most of all they are deeply religious people.

But that ain’t no cause to persecute ‘em. They’re white ain’t they?”

     I don’t understnd how they can be so backwards. If they really think about it they are just as bad as Hitler himsef. They are prejudice against blacks, isn’t it technically the same? i suppose not because they are “black” but color shouldn’t matter. The bad thing is that the community is raising their children to believe that it’s ok to be prejudice against blacks, it’s ok to be unfair and unkind to them, but in no way should they ever treat white people like that because it would be unrespectful. The blacks also contribute to the community by being farmhands and working other jobs. They are deeply religious too. Where is the justice? At this i have to roll my eyes.

     page261

“Something crushed the chicken wire around me. Metal ripped on metal and i fell to the ground and rolled as far as i could, floundering to escape my wire prison. From somewhere near by came scuffling, kicking sounds, sounds of shoes and flesh  scraping dirt and roots. Someone rolled against me and i felt jem. He was up like lightning and pulling me with him but, though my head and shoulders were free, i was so entangled we didn’t get very far.

     We were nearly to the road when i felt jem’s hand leave me, felt him jerk backwards to the ground. More scuffling, and there came a dull crunching soundand jem screamed. 

     i ran into the direction of jem’s scream and sank into a flabby male stomach. It’s owner said ‘Uff!’ and tried to catch my arms, but they were tightly pinioned. His stomach was soft but his arms were like steele. He slowly squeezed the breath out of me.  I couldnt not move Suddenly he was jerked backwards and flung on the ground, almost carrying me with him.”

This was the turning point in the book. i had my suspicions about mr. ewell because he kept making trouble for Tom’s wife and judge Taylor plus he kept harassing the finch’s. i really thought he took it to far when he did this. i KNEW it was him because the only way to hurt Atticus was to get to his most prized posestions: his schildren. So deduction everyone else i concluded it was definately him. Who would sink down to that level to hurt or even kill a child. i guess it’s beyond me. Sorry this just irked me when i read this passage.

page279

“Atticus was right. one time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley’s porch was enough. As i made my way home, i thought jem and i would get grown but there wasn’t much else left for us to learn, except possibly algebra”

     She  has finally grown up she understands a lot more that the average third grader. Through all she’s been through she understands how the “real” world works. It’s not always fair and sometimes people may try to hurt you but all and all you have to stand up for what you believe in no matter what the cost. Hopefully scout will keep that notion with her the rest of her life.

the trail da duhh da duhhh…

     In my opinion this was the turning point of the book, it captured the most of my attention. I guess you could say i’ve been waiting for the climax of the book. There were so many qoutes i want to show you but i only wanted to show you the ones that struck me that hardest. when i read i usually clear my head and “become” part of the book. So when i reached the trail it really meant a lot to hear all the “evidence” if you will and the testimonies.

     page 204:

“– all negros lie, all negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their calibur. Which, gentlemen, we know in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson’s skin, a lie i do not have to point out to you. You know the truth, and the truth is this: some negroes lie, some negros are immortal, some negro men are not to be trusted around women- black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immortal thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without desire.” -Atticus Finch

He’s pretty much telling everyone in the whole courtroom to step up to their acts of prejudice. He is also showing the audience that everyone is created equal and in a way he’s restating the declaration of independence. People in this book don’t understand that they treating the black people like they have been doing isn’t right. Now days trails wouldn’t stand up based on the “evidence” they have in this book. If the trail was durring our time period Tom could actually counter sue mr. ewell for being discrimanatory.

page 205

“We know all men all men are not created equall in a sence some people are smarter than others, some people have more oppertunity because they are born with it, some men make more money than others…There is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a rockerfeller, the stupid man equal of an einstien, and the ignorant mane the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.”

Just one question…With this amazing speech why doesn’t this win the jury over? It’s the truest thing the courtroom has heard this whole trial. How many minds would this speech change nowdays? probably many but back then, sadly, probably zero.

page 220:

“That’s what i thought too, he said at last, when i was your age. If there’s just one kind of folks, why can’t they get along with each other? if they’re all alike , why do they go out of their way to despise one each other? Scout, i think i am beginning to understand something. i think i’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time…it’s because he wants to stay inside.”

I’m not the only one to get just come across that new idea. When i read this i knew why the book had to be so boring in the beginning because Harper Lee had to show you the jist of the people, the town, and their beliefs. It makes a lot more sence now. But really when it comes down to it i would do what Boo Radley did and stay inside to escape the prejudice. Is it really worth going our of their ways to despise each other. Everybody is the same just with different colors.

PREJUDICE

   So far through out my life i haven’t really had to deal with a lot of prejudice. i guess i was one of the lucky ones.  But i do remember this one time i went to my moms boyfriends house for the superbowl 6 years ago.

     I remember all the grown ups were downstairs watching the stupid football game and my mom was one of the ladies that wasn’t even interested. I was hanging out with this boy a few years older than me,my moms boyfriends son. He didnt want anything to do with me so i pretty much just played with the hot wheeles scattered on the floor. Then 3 other boys came over and they started jumping on the tramp out back. I really wasn’t having fun and the super bowl would go on for another few hours so i decided to make some friends in the meantime. Well once i started jumping they all left so being the 10 year old i was i followed. i went inside andthey started bombarding me with stupid names. They made fun of me because i was a girl which meant that i couldnt do anything so i decided to prove them wrong. This is when all the ruckus started to happen. I ended up boxing this bigger kid and before i knew it i threw a few nice punches but then all his buddies ganged up on me . a few minutes  later i had a bloody lip and they were at someones elses house.  i told my mom when it happend but she didn’t really say anything she told her bf. he said he would “talk to them”. good news for me, my mom didnt stay with her boyfriend for much longer. Sometimes it sucks being a girl.

double-entry journal chapters 12-15

     I noticed while doing my double entry journal that a lot of the quotes i related to related to my family life. For example i ahd a quote on page 135 saying ” he was allergic to my presence” Woah man that relates to Lorissa and I big time. when she was a teenager she HATED being with her little ten year old sister. Nothing could be worse than hanging around with me. but of cource she was my hero and i was connected at her hip.Lorissa had to beg my mom to make me stay home when she went shopping. Now days though we get along like to peas in a pod thank goodness. But now i’ve grown into my own person and i’m more independant compared to when i was little.

Another thing i spoted was the quote on page 119: “You ain’t got no buisness bringn’ white chillun here…” This is a major point for the theme prejudice which is one of the biggest themes during this book. White/ black it’s been there through the centuries, there is so much hate for something so insubstancial. i mean it’s color it’s really no big thing to me…idk i never grew up with prejudice in my family…it’s no big thing there are tons of other things in life to worry about other than that.

love out

questions for chapters 9-11

One of the things i found out in these chapters was the meaning of a mockingbird in this story and what it means to the characters.

     page 90

     “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They Don’t eat up peoples gardens, don’t nest in corncobs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mickingbird.”

The name of this book is To Kill a Mockingbird but they forgot to add is a Sin to the end of the title. I’m starting to wonder is Tom Robinson could be the mockingbird of this book. I’m guessing that back then white people had all the dominance or all the say, if you will, over the black community. So if Atticus loses this case then Mr. Robinson could be hung for whatever crimes he supposibly did. And throughout the book they talk about church which means that most of the people abide by the laws of god which says not to muder anyone. But if they hang him is that murder if he didn’t commit those crimes? I think so because innocent till proven guilty doesn’t umbrella the black people no matter what so, since he’s black the jury might believe the white mans lie against the black mans truth. This will result in the hanging of Mr. Robinson… well so i believe might be the ending of thise story. Black people never make a desturbance anywhere in the durration of this story so far so why do they treat them so unjustly? What a twisted world.

questions chapter 7-8

     i think a good question we have is why did Boo Radley sew jems jeans? For some reason i think he felt bad for trying to shoot him and maybe he wanted to make it up to him plus he didn’t want him to get in trouble for the torn jeans.  Another question is why did Boo think he would come back and get his pants. I really didn’t think jem would be brave enough to go and get them, but out ot the three of them Boo knew he was the bravest because jem was the one that always went up and touched the door.

     Another question of our’s is: will jem and scout grow further apart throughout the rest of the story? Well one reason why i think that they might is because Dill and Jem make fun of scout because she is a girl and they also spend alot of time in the tree house without her.  maybe something more will drive them apart.

    

Jem’s Journal

     I really wish i knew what Boo Radley was doing in there…why wouldn’t any person wanna come outside into the sun? I still believe that he killed his mother; a person that stays cooped up all day long prolly has some bolts loose in his head.

     Another thing that i’m wondering is who leaves some very valuble belongings in knothole of a tree. First Scout found gum and actually ate it! I was so scared she was going to die i made her spit it out that very minute. Thankfully though an hour later her heart was still beating.  We find some indian pennies and a clock too. These items left me the most shocked because they are worth more than just one pennie! Scout and i are going to ask around and see if these belong to anyone before we keep them for good. Secretly i hope we don’t find the owners..

     I thought i was going to be skinned alive when i showed up at the radley’s with no pants on. i thought i was a dead give away since they were actually in the backyard. I can’t belive i actually had the nerve to try and peek through the window.  I heard a gunshot and i was out of there like a cat running away from a hungry dog.  I was able to escape with my life but ironically i lost my pants while i was running for it. Aftarwards i couldn’t to shaking and my stomach was full of knots. All i could think about was getting the evidence back. so i did just that. Scout heard me told me i shouldn’t do it. The thing is that it won’t be her in trouble it would be me. i HAD to go there wasn’t anyway around it.  My stomach started doing cartwheeles when i found the pants mended…Did Boo know i was the one that peeped through his window? Will i get killed just like his mother?

     Snow!!!! i’ve never really seen it only read about it but books couldn’t compare to this mushy stuff!!! My goal today was to make a…SNOWMAN! Scout helped me but it was really my idea. It was one of the best days i’ve had in a while. But when i went to sleep that night i woke up to Atticus shaking me and telling me to hurry and get dressed. Outside the sky was orange and full of flames. Ms. Maudie’s house was wipped off the map just in one night. When we got home though Scout had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. if she would have just looked back she would have saw the person that put it around her: Boo Radley. Why does he do the things he does? Did he really make those carvings of us too? Right now im not too sure about anything because my head is so full of questions about Boo. I really need to find the answers to them all and get to the bottom of all these mysteries.

ripped jeans

     It was really hard to come up with so deep symbols this early into the story but i think our group did a good job of scooping up all the juicyness. Our symbol of jem’s torn jeans. when jem showed up without any jeans at the radley’s house it was a dead give away that his jeans were left at the scene.  I think boo tryed to sew them in an effort to say “hey it’s ok i’m human and i didn’t mean to shoot you” Well something along those lines anyways. Another good one was the cubby in the tree, maybe boo stashed stuff in there on purpose for someone to find, for a good reason perhaps? I’m not sure if the game they played that made fun of the radley’s will be a symbol, but there is always hope. It’s complicated to explain the meaning behind this one. Well these were our best symbols hopefully we didn’t shoot in the dark.

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