Reflection of Mp1(250- 400)

I felt that the blog project that we started this marking period, was a good way to help us understand "To Kill a Mockingbird" and the time period that it was written in.  It was a bit hard for me at least to write up to the min amount of words for some posts, so i would say for next year, maybe drop the min amount of words, like 500 to 400.  The first theme was really fun, because i got to chance to rant a bit in it. But this 2nd theme, i know has to be done, is not as fun as the first. The independent reading project is really fun, and i think you can make it even more fun.  The keynotes were a bit tedious, but they did help me understand the book better. The tests that were right after the keynote, the next day, were not so good, and they were a bit harder then the notes.

Choose a section of TKAM and a perfect musical background, explain your reasoning. (100- 250)

The song i picked was "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire".


I picked it because of the scene in the book where Attcus informs his family that he is defending Tom.  Even thou he is going against how everyone else is, he feels that it is the right thing to do, but he's not going to force everyone else to change.  The song is more romantic but that first line, “i don’t want to set the world on fire just reminded me” of how Attcus feels.

Emmett Till: Where do you see social justice today? 350 words.

In 1950 a boy named Emmett till, who was black, came down from the north to see his family.  While there he was he was dared into talking to a white girl. What he said to her was bye baby. He dad and brother went to his house, and kidnapped him. He was latter found by one of his family members, Mose Right, at the end of  Tallahatchie river in Mississippi. He was beaten to death and shot. His family then toke the body back to where he was from. In Chicago, they held a open casket funeral, so everyone could see what happen to him.  There was a trial, it lasted 5 days, and the dad and brother of the girl were found not guilty.  The NAACP made the press come and report on this in-justice.   This story of in-justice relates to "To Kill A Mockingbird" when Tom is put on trial for raping Mayella Ewell. Everyone believed he did but really he did not and the only person who knew that was Atticus. He latter shows that tom did not do it because Mayella had bruises all on her right side. Only someone with a strong left hand could do that, but tom’s is not use able anymore.

    This story relates outside of “To Kill A Mockingbird” with an incident in 2006-2007. There was a fight in a school in Louisiana. Most people believed at the time that it was racily motivated, but once they leaned that it was only motivated by one side. What happen was that a grope of black kids jumped a white kid. What lead up to the fight was that some white students had made threats and put nooses in a tree for all to see.  The kids were charged with of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. Battery is an unlawful attack upon another person by beating or wounding, or by touching in an offensive manner. It latter turns out, that was also racily motivated.  They were latter charged with battery.  It shows that even in a modern world, things are still racily done.

What insights does Brown vs. Board provide the reader about the novel's historical context (250-400)

The Brown vs. Board of education of Topeka showed to everyone that every race could learn and grow as a nation.  It helped stop the segregation in schools. The book takes place before Brown vs. Board in 1930.  It helps us to see how everyone thought that colored people could not be taught or learn or read.  But that was not the truth, they could learn and read, acuity better then the white people. Before the brown vs. board, most colored people worked as maids and such other hard working labor jobs.  In 1910 the people who couldn't read that were white was 20%. The colored, only 9%. A large amount of famous people tried against the segregation, such as Robert Morris, Alfred Ferrfax, and Thurgood Marshall. They got the Supreme Court to make it so segregation was illegal. In the book they do talk down on colored people because they believe that they are not smart. This is evident when they are talking about Atticus taking on the case of the girl being raped by Tom Robinson.

Connections to “Doubt”: What role does gossip play in TKAM? (500-750)

Gossip
Definition of Gossip- rumors, especially about the personal or private affairs of other.

The role of gossip in the Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird is to show details about other characters. Even if some are wrong, some are right.  In the book they talk about Boo Radley and they talk about how he killed his parents and that he died in his house. But how do we know this is true? Latter in the book they do mention that he is still alive but doesn't want to come out of his house. The gossip in the book plays a big role. Not only does the children speak of the roomers but so do the adults.

The book is during the great depression in the 1930. So that could play a part. Most people didn't have money, and wanted to pass the time by talking about their neighbors. But these rumors were most of the time true and could really hurt a person, because once it got out, you can’t ever take it back. That was also explained in the video clip of Doubt with the gutting of a pillow and the feathers.
 

Who is Harper Lee

Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama.  She was the only girl in her family with 4 brothers.  Harper worked with her school's paper the " Rammer Jammer".  It helped her learn that writing was what she wasted to do with her life. In 1956 Lee started to write To Kill a Mockingbird.  In July of 1960 the book was  published.  The next year the book won the Pulitzer Prize.  Since then she has lived a good life, but she never got an other book to be published. She also helped an other famous author  Truman Capote. 

http://www.biography.com/articles/Harper-Lee-9377021?part=1