Character Relationships

         The two characters I chose are Atticus and Aunt Alexadra. These characters as the book goes on play bigger roles in Scout's life. For instance, Aunt Alexadra is suppose to act as a feminine influence on Scout. "We decided that it would be best for you to have a feminine influence." Also what Aunt Alexadra does for Scout and Jem is that she teaches them about the past of the Finch's. Onto the next person who is Atticus. Atticus has a major role in this book in my opinion. His role is Scout's father. This is probably one of the characters that has a crucial role but isn't the main character. He has basically raised Scout exactly how he wanted, just like him. Which isn't really too good because Scout is a girl but is a tomboy.

          The differences that Atticus and Aunt Alexadra are not really hard to notice. For starters they influence scout in different ways. Atticus is raising her as he wants her to be and Aunt Alexadra is raising her the way she wants her to be. Aunt Alexadra doesn't like the fact that she is a tomboy so she is over there house know to act as the feminine influence which Scout already has which is Calpurnia. Another difference that they have is that Aunt Alexadra gives a life lesson before it happens and Atticus kinds of let's it happen then he gives out the life lesson. I'm not really sure what way is more effective.

            These two characters are thought of differently because of exactly how they are spoken of in the book. I to be honest dislike Aunt Alex with a deep passion just because of the way she is presented. However, she has her reasons for the way she is. Just like Atticus, he is a likable charter in the book because of the way he protects Tom Robinsonl. Although these characters are different they share similar qualities and the biggest one is that they say and are confident in what they believe in. 

TKAM Blog

           Throughout the book To Kill a Mocking Bird there was a lot of symbolism. The symbolism that was shown was that the book referred to certain people as 'Mocking birds'. The 'Mocking bird' in the book is the people who are treated different;y because of what other people say about them . They are harmed or hurt without doing so to others. They are misunderstood for who they truly are and are seen by the different shades people make them seem. However they are okay with their true color and stick to what they believe and ignore their differences with other so called 'Normal' people in this society.

            One of the Mocking birds in the book is Boo Radley. Boo is considered a 'Mocking bird' because he also never did anything to hurt anyone and always looked out for others. For instance, he gave Jem back his pants, gave the Finch's presents and saved Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell. He did so much good that wasn't needed. He never wanted to be patronized or wanted to be soaked with gratitude. This is what I feel is a true mocking bird. Someone who just does things from their heart for the greater good. Even I thought of  Boo as a bad person who was crazy and weird. This was based off of what Jem had heard. Once you fully know his character you'll then know he is a mocking bird. 

            The other mocking bird in the book is Tom Robinson. Tom is considered a 'Mocking bird' because he never did anything wrong. He was very truthful and didn't care about what people said about him. Tom was killed which was a sin. What I mean by sin is that it was a sin in the book to kill a mocking bird. Of course in this content is meant literal. Tom actually died by people who believed everything they heard. He was a mocking bird of which who was completely innocent and misunderstood throughout the book and his life. It is drop dead wrong to hurt someone who wouldn't do the same to others. Tom was a real mocking bird who never did anything wrong which made it a sin to kill him (a mocking bird).

             

TKAM Setting Blog

            When I first looked at this image I looked at the big dark spot on the image. I'm not really sure what this means or represents but I think I have a good idea. For starters, it is obviously something that wasn't suppose to be seen in this picture. It could be advertisement or a license plate. Which isn't something I really need to look closely into because it is just one thing I'll never know. The second thing I noticed is that there isn't many people outside but there is several cars outside. What I am inferring is that this is a religious town. Which would make sense in my opinion because the people are nicely dressed. I could be mistaken by their everyday attire but I have reasonable doubt.

           I know this picture was taken a while back because of multiple reasons. For one, the most obvious, the picture is in black and white. The second piece of evidence is the cars in the picture. All the cars look very similar and very old. I can also use my prior knowledge and know that the cars are older models. The third reason is the way the people are dressed. They are either going to church as a community or all in the towns main street, in their normal everyday clothing.

           I believe that this photo was taken because it shows how close everything was in a small town. Everything was accessible and close together because everyone new one another. This also shows how different it was back then compared to now. They left the windows down in the cars without fear of people taking it. That is some serious trust they had to have back then. Another reason this image was taken because it makes you think and possibly make a connection to the photo. For example, I made a ton of connections with this photo. I've seen a photo just like this in a scrap book in my house which made me think it was taken around the same time. This is a great image for many purposes.

Theme blog

             In the book "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry" meaningful changes happen over time and takes sacrifice because that is what the whole books theme is. For example, Uncle Hammer was overcoming the fact his skin color is different and not letting that bring him down. Uncle Hammer made the made the most about being a free slave. He has a job, a car and a loving family to keep him on his feet. Although this is a meaningful change it did happen slowly. Uncle Hammer could really care less what about what people think about it.

           "Big Ma stammered, "Hammer, you–you went and got a car like Harlan Granger's?" Uncle Hammer smiled a strange, wry smile. "Well, not exactly like it, Mamma. Mine's a few months newer..." This is a little evidence that meaningful changes happen over time and takes sacrifice because even "Big Ma" was surprised with the car that he had because it took a lot of time. Although, that is not the message. The car symbolizes Uncle Hammer and his success. The success took a lot of hard work and time to do what he wanted to do. That is to help out his family and try to be there for them like they were for him.

            This books theme really reaches out to me in my opinion. It does because I have been going through a lot of change throughout my life. It has been meaningful too along the way. I feel like I can really relate to the book. This is the main reason why I chose it for the theme blog. I can continuosly talk about this theme on and on. 

              

Quarter 1 Reflection Blog

 We have reached the end of 1st Quarter...can you believe it?! Now take a moment to reflect on what you have learned so far. Some questions to consider:

Where are you in your 40 Book Challenge? How have your blogs been progressing since August? What strategies have benefited you? What have you learned about the world? How have your research skills improved?

Make sure to include a topic sentence and supporting details that fully support your main idea.

          This school year has been moving quite fast, I barely found out that the quarter is close to an end. I'm really proud of what I've accomplished throughout this quarter. For example, In my 40 book challenge I think I am doing pretty well overall. I've read 5 books already which is decently good in my eyes because I'm someone who doesn't read too often. I have stood in fiction genres for quite some time now but I am gradually reading non-fiction genres like, A Child Called "It" and Of Beetles and Angels. These really make me inspired to read more non-fiction books about peoples lives, or just an auto-biography or a biography. 

           In my blogs I believe that I've shown improvement. I say this because I am actually revising as I read and have found a liking to it. Not only does it really help me academically but it helps me to understand my errors and learn from them. If I ddn't learn from my mistakes I wouldn't be as affective as a writer. The writting I would be conveying wouldn't have sense to it or have reason. I'm proud of what I've accomplished in this section especially, the writing portion. Without revising I wouldn't be able to hand in great quality work and have a big impact in my life. I'm going to sum this up by saying I believe that revising is a helpful tool in writing and It'll help in the long run. 

           From the beginning of the school year up till now I have learned so much about current events and things happening around the world. I never would've known about any of this if it wasn't for this class. I mean I could know about but I wouldn't be able to interpret the current event or say anything about. I like that we have to research about it and learn as much as we can about. This has improved my reseaching skills in a large portion. I now know that skimming isn't such a great technique. Every single detail matters in an article and if you miss one part you can be lost in the article. I hope from here on out now that my researching skills are more effective I can now be able to incorporate the information I discover into a great AOW.

Weekly Blog 10-14-15: A Child Called "It"

Contrast

When contrasting things, look closely to find all thing that are different between

them.

• How does what you are reading contrast with a novel you were assigned to read

in school and didn’t like reading.

• Contrast the theme of what you are reading with something you read last

month.

• What would be a good contrast to the setting of what you are reading?

            

            A Child called "It" is a great book which I overall was one of the best books I've read. When I contrast it to a book I didn't enjoy reading like Touching Spirit Bear. I don't really like the content of that book. When I contrast it with A Child Called "It" I look at the genres which is a huge difference. For instance, A Child Called "It" is a memoir. Then in Touching Spirit Bear the book is fiction. These are two seperetate and different genres. One is real (based on a true story) then the other is fake (not real). A child called "It" also has a purpose in the writing it send out a message and shows how a nobody becomes a somebody and overcomes the abuse.

            The theme isn't significantly different in a child called it in contrast to a Of Beetles and Angels. However, the contrast is there because they are not exactly the same. For instance, the theme of A Child Called "It" was a kid who got abused. Then for a Of Beetles and Angels the theme is that it is rough now but it'll all get better type of theme. Both of these books I really enjoyed. For different reasons of course. I really liked A Child Called "It" because of the theme because it made me feel really sad and like I was there in the book. Then for Of Beetles and Angels I liked everything about it the story line, the conflict and the way it is written. Whcih are two different themes to it.

             What would be a good contrast for this book would probably be some kind of fantasy world in another book like basically anything fiction. This book takes place in the US. Not really anything would apply but anything tat doesn't have school, homes and so on and so forth. Lets say that there is a place withourt schools and other places in the US. like third world countries. In A Child Called "It" it is a memoir which is a true story and is a actual place in the real world which makes a harder to contrast. However, you can make some minor differences in it towards another setting.

It'll be worth it, I promise

Right now,

we are among the

poorest

in the land

Todays

small act of

kindness 

can become 

tomorrows whirlwind of

human progress

Who knows what your

future may

bring

Listen to me

my children

It is painful for you now

but believe me,

the day will come when you

will thank me.

We need to

let the outside air

beat on us

You are ready to change

the world

thank you

good luck

and

congratulations