TKAM: Week of 12/15

Do you like what you read? Why or why not?

     Personally I thought TKAM was pretty good. It wasn't bad or absolutely amazing, but it was good. One of my favorite things about the book was the fact that it was presented from a child's point of view. Scout at her ages throughout the book had not developed prejudices to match those of the other community members in Maycomb, so we're able to have the events in the book described to us without any bias or prejudice at all. On the same topic, the child's POV also lets you see how the events in the story were interpreted by and affected a child's innocence. That was honestly a really interesting part of the story. You'd have an event occur where Scout didn't understand what was going on but you do, so it's like dramatic irony.

     Another thing about TKAM that I enjoyed was how it went through multiple years of Scout's life. You're able to see how she changes and how the people around her change. For example, we're able to see how she first views Boo Radley as a myth or just a story that fascinates her but then finally sees him as a real person at the end of the book. For Jem, we're able to see how he matures throughout the book as different events affect the way he feels or views things. The most obvious perk of having the story take over multiple years is the fact that the larger time frame allows more events to happen. With the larger time frame we were able to read about Scout's different school years; the trial; and Bob Ewell's death.

     The characters were also pretty enjoyable, if  I may say so myself. They're very realistic (in my opinion) and the author was always able to give them realistic emotions. To me, it seemed as though the characters had been well thought out. None of them seemed to be put in on a whim or anything. They all served a purpose; not just to take up empty space. Even the negative characters (shout out to Mr. Ewell...) were still enjoyable. They were well written and they still had depth to them. As the story is a snippet of Scout's years, the characters can also show you the kind of people you may meet in you life. You might meet someone as bitter as Mr. Ewell or someone as honest as Tom Robinson. You might meet someone with morals as good as Atticus' or as strong and determined as Scout.

     Overall, the story was pretty good. Although it was pretty good, I don't think I would read it again. For me, it's a good book for a one-time read.

TKAM Photo Analysis

Title:  Bradford, near the Bradford mines at Bradford, Alabama. From these towns 

came many of the people living in the Palmerdale Homesteads, Alabama

Observations:

It's not a log cabin but the house is made of wood. The house is elevated on small stilts. The stairs on the house look lopsided or rickety. There appears to be an outhouse in the back. There is a chimney on the roof. The house has a lot of windows and doors. The shrubs and grass look dry along with the dirt road. In the distance you can see a lot of trees like you would see in a forest. They have a swing and two chairs on their porch.

Inferences:

Some houses are on stilts to prevent vermin from getting in the house so that could be the reason they have an elevated house. If the house is lopsided then the ground of even house itself is unstable. An outhouse means they didn't have running water (at least not for toilets). This doesn't suggest they lived in terrible conditions, but maybe not the best. The chimney suggests that they burned fires in their home. We can assume that the fires are where they got most of their heat during the colder seasons. The dry ground and shrubbery means there wasn't a whole ton a rain in this area. The family must have liked nature and sun (they have so many windows!).

Could it be Maycomb?

I think this could definitely be what Maycomb looked like. Scout describes the houses as "rickety", which I think can completely be applied to the home depicted in the picture. Another similarity is that Maycomb has dirt roads and his very hot and dry. In the picture we can see obvious dirt roads and the dry plants can lead us to believe that this place also suffered from heat and dryness/lack of rain. People in Maycomb kept their doors open everyday (unless someone was sick) because they were very welcoming of visitors. The house in the picture has a lot of windows, which remind me of Maycomb. Doors in Maycomb were left open to appear friendly. In the picture, I imagine it could be just the same...but with windows instead. A lot of open windows seems just as welcoming as an open door, in my opinion.

TKAM Found Poetry

Scout

I was being a girl.

People hated them.

Shut your trap.

Go home.

You're gettin' more like a girl everyday...

People hated them.

Hold your head high.

I thought of running away...

Pink cotton penitentiary walls closing in on me,

Girls always imagined things.

People hated them.

Southern womanhood...

Frail ladies.

Heavily powdered,

Cutex Natural,

Just lovely...

People hated them.

Be a lady.

You're gettin' more like a girl everyday.

Be a lady.

Born hypocrites.

To Kill a Mockingbird: Week of 12/1

**Character relationship between Atticus and Aunt Alexandra**
Chapters 9-12

     Since Aunt Alexandra has been introduced into our story we've been able to see how much of a foil she is to Atticus. One of the differences that really show how the two are very different is the way they want Scout to grow up. Aunt Alexandra firmly believes that Scout should be acting like and further learning how to act like a lady (like her dearest Aunty). She believes that Scout's behavior is really uncalled for as a girl and future lady, of course. Atticus, however, does not see Alexandra eye-to-eye on the matter. Atticus's form of teaching his children how to be good people is to have them watch him and just sort of learn the right ways from him. He wants them to play out their own lives and let them see for themselves if the actions they've done are either right or wrong. With that, he wants Scout to be her own individual. Does she want to act the more tomboy-ish way she does? Ok. Does she want to play with Jem instead of other girls? Ok. Is she enjoying herself? Yes, so why force her to be someone she doesn't want to be? To put it simply, Atticus wants Scout to be who she wants to be. Alexandra, however, wants to mold Scout into a "proper" Southern lady.

     The sibling duo, however, does share a similarity. They both want what's best for their Finch family...they just don't share the same views on what is best. Alexandra thinks that shaping Atticus's kids into gentlemen and ladies is the best road for future Finch generations. If you think about it, she could quite possible be right. From the way she acts and the way Atticus acts, can't we infer that the both of them were raised to be proper ladies and polite gentlemen? Perhaps Aunt Alexandra just wants what she and Atticus have for Jem and Scout. To her, this isn't quite so bad. Jem would be a fine gentlemen like Atticus and Scout would be a fine proper lady like Alexandra (in the South's standards, of course). Atticus, like I said before, also wishes the best for his family. Perhaps it's because he chose to be different from the rest of the Finch family and Maycomb citizens and not become an agricultural-related worker, but he wants his kids to be their own individuals. Do what they want, be who they want to be. He feels this is best for their family and themselves. Atticus chose to be his own individual later on in life and he turned out pretty satisfied so wouldn't that be best for his kids? His family?

     Another difference we see between the two is their acceptance. It takes awhile to think about it and to have it come to mind but why does Atticus sort of allow Scout to rebel? We can see from Aunt Alexandra that Scout's behavior is very much not the norm for girls in the South during that time period (and even now). Aunt Alexandra greatly accepts the South's views on women but Atticus seems to simply disregard them. From there, you can go even deeper and question if there was a difference in the way the two were raised. Maybe, Atticus was the Scout growing up. Maybe, as a child, he did not want what was expected of him and he sees that in Scout. If he knows the feeling of not wanting what is forced on you then that could be a reason he chooses to let Scout take the reigns of her life. But, I am quite curious...Why does Aunt Alexandra just accept the boundaries set on women when the person she grew up with doesn't? Now, we can see that children have a greater affect on each other than adults do on them. Adults can yell and bite you, but other children are your pack. If you do not go with the pack, then you'll be left behind. Was that not the same in the South back then?