TKAM Blog 12/18/15

Book: To Kill a Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

Pages: 0 - 232 (End)

Prompts:

1. Did you like what you’re read? Why or why not?

2. Write about how one character feels. Write about a time you felt that way, too.

3. If you were the author, how would this end?

    I enjoyed reading To Kill a Mockingbird for several reasons. One reason I really enjoyed reading To Kill a Mockingbird is because there was many life lessons and life quotes in the book. For example in the book it says, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it." This is one of the bigger life quotes in the book another one is, "I wanted you to see 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're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." Another reason I really enjoyed the book is because Atticus as an older man is wiser. For example both of those quotes I cited were from Atticus. This shows how since Atticus is older he is more wise and knows how to deal with more things.

    At the end of the book Scout feels like Jem won't talk to her for a long time because she was able to see what "Boo Radley" looked like and Jem didn't. I've felt this way when I was little and my cousin and I were waiting for hours to talk to a famous hockey player and get his signature. Well, my cousin had to go to the bathroom while we were in line and he gave me his things. The only thing is when he came back I had already been done talking and getting the hockey player's signature. He was so upset he did not talk to me until the last day of Spring break.

    If I was Harper Lee, I wouldn't necessarily change the ending but add  bit more. I would add that "Boo Radley" is reported missing and can not be found and Maycomb makes the assumption that he killed Bob Ewell and that is why he escaped. The only people that know for sure are the people that were with him the previous night. Then I feel it should end right there. I would like this ending because it will leave the readers in suspense wanting to read more and us readers can try to infer what going to happen.

TKAM-Character Relationships Blog 12/3/15

Book: To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Pages: 0 - 164
Character pair: Miss Maudie and Calpurnia

Format:
a. Similarities to each other
b. Differences from each other
c. Relationship to Scout friend, maid
d. Effect on Scout feminiism

          Miss Maudie and Calpurnia are similar in a couple ways. The first way that I found them similar is that both Miss Maudie and Calpurnia are persevering though life. Miss Maudie had to persevere through the loss of her house and Calpurnia has to persevere through having to speak two "different languages," "negro" and common English. The second way that I found them similar is that they are both kind. Miss Maudie is kind because when Dill and Jem wouldn't pay attention to Scout she was there for Scout to talk to. Calpurnia is kind because when Atticus was gone she took them to her church called, "First Purchase African M.E. Church," which made the children interested in Calpurnia's ways.

          Miss Maudie and Calpurnia are different in a couple ways. The first way that I found them different is that Miss Maudie and Calpurnia are of different races. Calpurnia is African-American and Miss Maudie is white. The second way I found them different is that Calpurnia spends her time indoors, cooking. Miss Maudie spends most of her time outside, as a botanist.

           Miss Maudie and Calpurnia are related to Scout in different ways. Miss Maudie is related to Scout as a friendly neighbor. This makes it easier for Scout to talk to her knowing that she won't be seeing Miss Maudie all the time. Calpurnia is related to Scout by being her house keeper. This is important to the novel because Scout realizes that she does not know Calpurnia very well and decides to spend more time with her since Jem is maturing.

          The effect Miss Maudie and Calpurnia have on Scout is that they are her feminine influence. Scout is learning a lot about being a girl from Miss Maudie and Calpurnia. Even though Scout does not like the gender stereotype of being a girl, she is learning a lot of valuable lessons from these characters. Miss Maudie and Calpurnia are the main women role models, giving them a big part in Scout's life. At the end, Miss Maudie and Calpurnia play a huge part in Scouts life and without them Scout would be different.