nick

I think that one of the most important symbols is the Radley house. The kids are pretty scared of them. It is weird how the never see anybody in there. That is actually scary I think. The house is kind of considered a limit to where they can go. I also think that Jems torn pants can be a symbol. Boo Radley sewed them up for him and knew Jem would come back to get them. If he had not gotten them Jem would hae been in trouble with Atticus probably.

In chapters 7-8 there were some unexpected things that happened. Three things stuck out to me. Miss Maudies house burned down, It snowed in Maycomb, and Boo Radley appeared to have sewn Jems pants that he had ripped. That part I didnt understand, why did he sew Jems pants and how did he know that he would come back for them. I’m sure the kids have heard about snow and have talked about it with other people, so shy were they so amazed by it when they saw it. I cant remember if it was stated or not, but how did Miss Maudies house burn down?

This section starts the beginning of part two of the book. Atticus has to leave the family for two weeks. When he leaves Calpurnia offers to take Jem and Scout to church with her. When they enter the church a lady named Lula confronts them and doesn’t think Jem and Scout should have came because they are white. So I think this could be an example of how racism is developing. You also find out that Tom Robinson is being accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Another important thing is that Aunt Alexandra moves in with the Finches. It was also strange to find out that Dill was hiding under the bed in chapter 13. He really surprised Scout. Aunt Alexandra was not very happy to have him living with them though. Another thing that was happening was random people saying rude things to Jem and Scout. The whole town knows that Atticus is defending Tom Robinson and the town talks about his kids when the see them in public.This section starts the beginning of part two of the book. Atticus has to leave the family for two weeks. When he leaves Calpurnia offers to take Jem and Scout to church with her. When they enter the church a lady named Lula confronts them and doesn’t think Jem and Scout should have came because they are white. So I think this could be an example of how racism is developing. You also find out that Tom Robinson is being accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Another important thing is that Aunt Alexandra moves in with the Finches. It was also strange to find out that Dill was hiding under the bed in chapter 13. He really surprised Scout. Aunt Alexandra was not very happy to have him living with them though. Another thing that was happening was random people saying rude things to Jem and Scout. The whole town knows that Atticus is defending Tom Robinson and the town talks about his kids when the see them in public.

page 235 Atticus says  “seventeen bullet holes in him. They didnt have to shoot him that much.”

Tom was in jail and tried to escape at this point. If I were him I might have tried to escape too. Lets face it the guy was innocent. He didnt commit any crime, and he was forced to suffer in jail. I feel sorry for Tom Robinson. What are the guards thinking anyways by shooting him seventeen times? Isnt that a little too much?

page 247    Jem was suddenly furious. He leaped off the bed, grabbed me by the collar and shook me. “I never wanna hear about that courthouse again, ever,ever, you hear me? You hear me? Dont say one more word about it to me again, you hear? Now go on!”

This is what Jem said after Scout told him that she heard Miss Gates say something when she was leaving the courtroom. Miss Gates said, “it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson”

I would not have freaked out about this as bad as Jem, but I would have been upset if I had heard this. Jem seemed to be upset about Tom being convicted and after hearing this, I think he just snapped.

page 259

Scout

“Jem, I forgot my shoes, they’re back behind the stage.”

After Cecil scared them earlier and since it is really dark and creepy out, I dont think they should go back and get Scouts shoes. If they were to go back and get them, I think that they would be asking for trouble pretty much.

 On page 276 Mr. Tate says “let the dead bury the dead” I think this is a pretty good statement when you think about it. Mr. Ewell was sort of responsible for Tom being dead so that what this quote deals with. It is strange though, both of them dying I really didnt expect that to happen.

I thought this was one of the better sections in the story. After all the points that Atticus had made to say that Bob Ewell was the one that beat Mayella, I was very surprised to see that Tom Robinson was found guilty. I was very disappointed that this happened.

I really thought Atticus wrapped everything up really good on page 203.

“I shall be brief, but I would like to us my remaining time with you to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. To begin with, this case should never have came to trial. This case is as simple as black and white.”

He later goes on to say that there is really no evidence at all. All there was were the two witnesses who were Mayella and Tom.

What Atticus said sounded pretty good to me. He had made very good points throughout the trial and going through it again, I dont understand how you could think that Tom Robinson is guilty.

I noticed something interesting at the end of chapeter 21 on page 211. It says this

“A jury never looks at a defendent it has convicted, and when the jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson.”

I say that and I was thinking that they were going to convict him. Sure enough, they did.

 In chapter 23 Mr. Ewell approaches Atticus and threatens him and spits in his face. Atticus later says this

“Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does. So if spitting in my face, and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take. He had to take it out on somebody and I’d rather it be me than that house full of children out there.”

I kind of expected this to happen. I’m sure that Bob Ewell feels that he is actually guilty and Atticus proved it in court. This is sort of a way that Mr. Ewell feels he can get revenge. He wants to intimidate Atticus Finch.

In my mind this type of thing couldnt happen today. The racism today is not nearly as bad as it was in this book. If it were to happen today, there would be a lot of controversy and I think it would be all over the news.

This is the section that has to do with the beginning of trial. I thought that this was pretty interesting. We had to find the most important lines from each chapter. For me I mainly just wrote down page numbers where I saw what I thought to be an important passage. I usually had a few for each chapter, so then when I was all done reading, I went back and picked the one I thought to be the most important ones. I usually never do this while reading books. It is kind of helpful though because it makes you think more about the story.

 Blogging is writing your thought on the internet for everyone to read. We have been writing blogs for almost the whole year. We use them to do assignments and other activities. They are pretty easy to understand, all we have to do is write about the certain topic. My favorite thing to blog about this year was the “old Man and the Sea” book. I liked that book and I felt like I had a good understanding of it. By blogging this year, I learned a lot. It is a good way to learn while you do activities, and you can see what other people think. I don’t mind doing the blogs. Recently I have gotten a little behind on writing them though. The only thing that makes me mad about blogs is when the blogging site doesn’t work. Writing these blogs are a lot better than the writing we have done in other English classes. They are real easy to work with, all you have to do is just write the blog and post it on the internet. Its very easy.

 Blogging is writing your thought on the internet for everyone to read. We have been writing blogs for almost the whole year. We use them to do assignments and other activities. They are pretty easy to understand, all we have to do is write about the certain topic. My favorite thing to blog about this year was the “old Man and the Sea” book. I liked that book and I felt like I had a good understanding of it. By blogging this year, I learned a lot. It is a good way to learn while you do activities, and you can see what other people think. I don’t mind doing the blogs. Recently I have gotten a little behind on writing them though. The only thing that makes me mad about blogs is when the blogging site doesn’t work. Writing these blogs are a lot better than the writing we have done in other English classes. They are real easy to work with, all you have to do is just write the blog and post it on the internet. Its very easy.

I checked out the two exhibits at the Dahl this afternoon. I was pretty impressed. It was a lot better than I though it would be. It seems to me that photography wouldnt be that hard, but I am not nearly as good as those people that had their photos down there. The two that stood out to me were the ones that seemed to appear as a frozen waterfall. I have never seen anything like that before. I think thats what they were anyway-a waterfall that was frozen into ice. I thought the Chris Benson photos were also good. I knew a few people that she had taken pictures of. Walking through the second time, I noticed that there was one of the man that owns Reptile Gardens. The main thing I noticed was the yellow snake that he was holding. When I went to Reptile Gardens when I was younger, that was one of the snakes that I could really remember.

http://www.thedahl.org/exhibitions.htm

http://sheehy.edublogs.org/

When I was looking around it took me awhile to find a blog I was interseted in. A few of the blogs I read were written in chinese and other languages. After a while I found a NBA trade deadline blog. It talks about a trade that might happen with the Lakers and Nets. I am really hoping the Lakers can get Jason Kidd by the trade deadline. After reading this blog, it turns out that it is unlikely to happen. Rod Thorn, who is the GM of the New Jersey Nets said it is a five percent chance that he would give up Jason Kidd. I am still hoping for a trade to happen, but after reading this, it turns out that it probably will not.

I thought “the Ministers Black Veil” was a different story than any others that I have read. It is weird how he was able to wear a black veil over his face and everyone in the town is scared of him. I finally understood that he actually pictured the people in the town wearing black veils over their faces. I can understand what he is trying to say what is going on here. I think the moral is that everyone has secrets and sins and  in a sense they all have the black veil. It was hard for me to understand the whole story, but that is how I see it. I do not agree with Nathaniel Hawthornes idea of the veil. I thought it was a weird book.