2nd Quarter Reflections

I think the biggest improvement I've made in English/Language Arts is my understanding of information in books. For example, in To Kill a Mockingbird there was a lot of symbolism and themes to catch throughout the novel. In the beginning seeing the more in depth details was challenging. However, as we got deeper into the novel, I realized everything, all of the symbolism, themes, lessons, and other small things like that. I also improved on backing up the information I found with quotes. Usually I would just pick a quote that somewhat conveys the point I'm making. Now I can closely read a book and catch all the good details and back them up in a quote.

Something that I have proudly accomplished since the new year is joining Battle of the Books. I'm not really sure what changed my mind to join this year. I think it has to do with it being my last year here. As I was listening to the information being announced I thought I should just go for it. I am proud that I changed my outlook on this event and have became a part of it. I'm excited to see how it goes.

The most challenging part of the 2nd quarter was keeping up with my work. I was absent a lot and procrastinated. After a while of struggling to ignore my work, I finally started to catch up. I really worked hard on catching up and managed my time better. I finally caught up after about two weeks. That was a really difficult time however. I was very stressed about the work I was blatantly ignoring. After I was on top of things I felt way better. All in all I learned to stay motivated and not to be lazy.              

    

     

      

To Kill A Mockingbird Final Thoughts

After reading To Kill A Mockingbird, I felt like a different person. The themes in this book made me realize things that I've never noticed before. I look at everything differently now. I am completely obsessed with Scout and Atticus, Scout reminds me of me when I was her age and Atticus reminds me of my dad surprisingly. This book was just amazing.

I especially love the way it was written. After our class discussions, I realized writing this book must have taken so much though and time. It was worth it however, Harper Lee created a masterpiece. There was so much symbolism and foreshadowing, it must have been so complicated to write. I wonder how she thought of this story. Her writing style makes me want to read the second book.

I think my most favorite thing in the book is when Scout sees things from Boo's pint of view. The whole "standing in someone else's shoes" theme is a great life lesson. It literally puts things into perspective. However, I just how that part was written. I could picture all of the events happening from his porch. It made me sad, when I knew I was about to finish this book, it felt like I was losing a friend. Like I said I am in love with this book.

  

       

  

To Kill A Mockingbird Character Relationships

Aunt Alexandra and Atticus are polar opposites. Atticus is understanding, caring, thoughtful, brave, and so much more. Aunt Alexandra is proper, traditional, slightly stuck up, and hard headed. They both affect Scout in positive and negative ways. 

Atticus and Aunt Alexandra are very different. The only similarity between them is that they are both part of the Finch family. Aunt Alexandra is obsessed with tradition and the family name. She pushes everyone to make the family look good, she cares very deeply about it. Atticus is very different from the family. He got an education, he thought for himself, he looked at things differently from others. He is very intelligent. Aunt Alexandra is very stubborn and blends in with the family. Their differences could go on and on. 

Atticus is Scout's father, even though she calls him Atticus instead of dad. I think they do this to show respect towards their father. Aunt Alexandra is obviously Scout's aunt. She calls,her Aunty which could be showing some disrespect towards her. Atticus is very devoted to Scout, he loves and cares for her more than anyone (except Jem). He treats her with respect as well as Scout does. Atticus has an extremely positive effect on Scout. Aunt Alexandra on the other hand, pushes Scout to be feminine and be like every other lady in Maycomb. She doesn't like her ways of thinking towards colored people, she thinks it looks bad. Scout and Aunt Alexandra have an interesting relationship, they love and hate each other at the same time. Over all I think Aunt Alexandra has a negative effect on Scout.

                         

                         

To Kill A Mockingbird Theme

I think there are two main themes in To Kill A Mockingbird. The first theme is definitely racism. The second theme is destroying of innocence. These themes are demonstrated through characters, the plot, conflicts and symbolism. These themes could be the reason the book is a classic, they all still happen today. 

Racism plays a huge roll in To Kill A Mockingbird. Racism isn't only shown throughout Tom Robinson's trial, it is show throughout the entire book. There is constant use of racial slurs and prejudice. Maycomb's disease is racism, all or most of the adults are complete racists and hypocrites. An example of racism in the book is when the people of Maycomb don't really react to Tom's death because it was, "Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger's mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw." This shows how people stereotyped African Americans. People still do this today. That's why this theme is so important, it is still currently happening.

Destroying of innocence is the one of the main themes in this book. It is shown through characters such as Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, Jem, Dill, Mr. Raymond, etc. They have all been hurt or destroyed by immoral behavior. This theme is everywhere in the book. Even in the title, to kill a mockingbird literally symbolizes destroying innocence. I know this because a phrase that is used in different ways throughout the book is, "It is a sin to kill a mockingbird." The book is full of foreshadowing events that relate to this theme, even the title is foreshadowing something. This is a major theme in the book.

        

TKAM Setting

  

       

        This picture of the Main Street in Greensboro, Alabama, taken in 1941, could represent what Maycomb could look like based off the description. This appears to be a small town based on the amount of people in the photo. The buildings look old and run down. There is old looking cars. The people also look poor in the photo. The cars and the buildings also help with showing the time period. It sounds much like Maycomb.

This image relates to the description in the book because Maycomb was an old town, it was rundown, and poor. I know this because in the book on page 5 it says, "Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it...the court house sagged in the square...People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it...There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with..." This quote shows it was old, rundown, and poor. It explains how the buildings sagged and the people were slow. No had money to buy anything and no one went anywhere because there was nowhere to go. The town was old and tired, the picture shows it. The building look old and the people look poor. The sun is shining down and it almost looks hot. The only thing different about the picture is that it looks a little more crowded than I picture when I think of Maycomb. Otherwise I feel this picture really resembles it.

1st Quarter Reflections

In this first quarter I have already learned a lot. I definitely still have stuff to work on. However, this quarter set me back on track. I am about four books in on my 40 book challenge (counting the ones for the summer reading project). My blogs on them are okay but I think I can do better. I just need to find the right format again. 

Some strategies that benefited me this quarter were time management and focusing on my work. Of course I still need to work on things like procrastinating and other things like that. However, I think time management helped me get things done. I should also put a little more effort into my work, the procrastinating side of me doesn't help with that unfortunately. I know what goals I need to set for the next quarter.

I feel this quarter I have learned a fair amount of information about the world. I learned about the refugees in Syria and places like that. I learned about their struggles and how no one should have to go through all that. I learned some moral lessons from Of Beetles and Angels. I learned to treat everyone with kindness no matter what they look like. I have a better sense of what is going on in the world now.

After this quarter I definitely think that my research skills have improved. I think this because I found a lot of good resources and information for my banned books project. That project helped get back on track. While we were reading "The Cask of Amontillado" I looked up every word I didn't know, I wouldn't have done that at all last year. I can also annotate better because of our AOWs and other things we've done. 

Overall, this quarter was very productive. I am organized and ready for the rest of the school year. I'm improved in my research skills and have more knowledge about the world. Of course I still need to work on things such as procrastination. The quarter was a good set off into the rest of the school year. 

 

Blog for the week of 10/14/15

Prompt: List the personality characteristics of the main character (feelings, interests, behaviors, etc.)

Melinda Sordino has an interesting personality, she has gone through a traumatic experience, because of this she is quiet and depressed. Her experience is always in the back of her mind, she is constantly reminded of it where ever she goes. She is mute, she never speaks if she doesn't absolutely has to. Melinda doesn't have any interests except for maybe art. Other than that she would much just rather be in bed. 

           Melinda is very smart but her confusing feelings put an interesting point of view on the other characters. The author doesn't really describe how Melinda acted before her incident. However, I feel that her experience affected her point of view very deeply. I feel like this because she talks about her group of friends before the trauma happened. She seemed like a normal girl, she seemed to be happy with that life. After the misfortune she lost her friends, and basically everyone in school hates her now. Even though what happened was entirely not her fault.

             During Malinda's traumatic experience she was basically muted, she couldn't speak, she was completely speechless. She was stunned and panicked, which caused her to do something that everyone hated her for. Malinda's lack of being able to speak with ease causes her to release through biting her lips until they bleed and picking at her skin anxiously. Sometimes her lips cause people to give weird looks which causes her to do it even more. She was stuck in an awful cycle she created for herself because of her silence.