TKaM blog 7

Most of the local people in Maycomb felt that it would be a disgrace for a black person to win in a dispute with any with a white person, so they took Bob Ewell's side. Have you ever been in a situation where someone took a side that they obviously knew was wrong? How did this make you feel?

Many times, I have seen or been part of unfair games. I am often chosen last or close to last because I am a girl. I think that this is unfair because I am usually able to play better than many of the boys but they are not willing to accept that. I usually just try to make them change their mind about me. It works most of the time!

Of course, doing theatre is always very subjective. Often, the director is looking for the perfect "look" for a certain part. so, If you don't keep a strong will, then you will end up getting your feelings hurt. It usuallly has nothing to do with talent which can get really upsetting.

TKaM blog post- 6

Prompt: Compare and contrast yourself to either Scout or Jem at their age. Compare and contrast your summer activities, friends, relationships with your dad, siblings, and adults.
When I was Scout's age, my brother was about 3 or 4 years older than I was. Just like Scout and Jem. We have a family that we are very close too. The older brother in that family is Danny's age(my brother), and the sister is my age. For as long as I can remember, They have been our best friends. When my best friend, who is one grade ahead of me, hit middle school, she and my brother and his best friend started acting like I was too young to join in their conversations and to understand what they were talking about. I remember getting really mad at them and refusing to talk to them.
My dad. I love my dad so much. We have such a great relationship. Right now, my dad is in Washington D.C. for his job. I miss him so much. We talked about so many different things. He was such a sturdy part of my life. It has been really hard for my mom to take care of both me and my brother. My dad has always been the more organized one. I look up to him as a role model. I can't wait till he comes back into town.
I tend to get along pretty well with adults. I can be very mature when I try to be. I have more trouble with people my age! I had a lot of trouble coming into middle school in 7th grade. I was really shy and I couldn't figure out how to make friends at all. I tried really hard to understand the "middle school mindset" but I had so much trouble adjusting. Now I am really different. I am loud and obnoxious and not shy at all. I think for sure that I have changed for the better.

TKaM post 4

Scout

Atticus is an old man! hes so old that he can't even play any football or nothin' like the other kids dads. He works in a lame ol' office. Not something interesting like a post office or something. Jem likes football. Atticus will spend hours throwing a football around. But when Jem wants to play tackle, Atticus says he's to old. Seems like hes too old for everything. After he made me promise to not fight anyone who were mean about his job and him defending a negro, word got out that Scout Finch no longer fought anybody. But I did fight relatives. I complained to Ms. Maudie. She told me that he was an amazing checker player. But that can't be true cause me an' Jem beat him all the time. Guess he might be letting us beat him. He apparently also plays the Jew's Harp. I don't really see the use of that though. What can you do with a Jew's pipe?

Me and Jem play with our air rifles a lot. We are always trying to find new targets. I was aiming at Ms. Maudie today but that old Atticus had to go and tell her. Atticus also told us to never EVER shoot a Mockingbird. It doesn't make much sense. Alls they do is sing. But thats why Atticus says we can't shoot them.

A while later, Jem came runnin' into the house at Calpurnia. He yells at her that there is a mad dog comin' down the street. I think at first she didn't rightly believe him, but then she started to believe. She called Heck Tate, the sherrif, and made everyone go into their houses. We watched that dog come down the street. It was all twitching and gasping like a fish. It looked like its trying to get to air. It was just comin on down the street like it had all the time in the world. It was old Tim Johnson. Calpurnia called Atticus at his office. He finally got home. Heck was already there. Heck was about to shoot that dog when Atticus came in. He told Atticus to take the gun and shoot the dog. I didn't think that was such a good idea. I mean, I never even seen Atticus pick up a gun. He's never even shot anything I don't think. But sure enough, Heck was right. I didn't even notice until it was done. But Atticus shot that dog with just one shot. Even Jem was impressed. Everyone we talked to after that said that Atticus was the best shot in Maycomb. He was called One-Shot Finch apparently. I wonder why I didn't know this information sooner. But Jem said I couldn't tell anyone at school or brag about it. Because he was a gentleman and Atticus probably didn't tell us for a reason. I didn't quite believe that but I didn't want to get Jem mad at me.

Me and Jem pass old Ms. Dubose's house every day into town. She always yelled insults at us and called me ugly every time we passed by. One day, Jem and me passed and she started calling Atticus names. Jem got so mad. He went back to her house afterwards. He started ripping off flowers and ripping up all the bushes. Then he broke my brand new baton in half and began walking away. I started shrieking and he pulled my hair and told me to stop. He kicked me and pushed me to the ground. I ran home. We waited for Atticus. Atticus came in quietly with my baton. He spoke quietly to Jem and had him go to Ms. Dubose's house to clean up. When Jem came back, he had gotten a punishment from Ms. Dubose. He had to go to her house for a month and read to her every day for two hours. I went with him. Ms. Dubose had saliva coming out of her mouth. We kept being sent home early. After a month, Ms. Dubose said that Jem had one more week to go. After he had finished, we were very relieved. A few weeks later, Atticus told us that Ms. Dubose had died and left a gift for Jem. It was a candy box with a single waxy flower in it. I saw Jem fingering it later.

TKaM- post 3

Ms. Maudie:
That Ms. Radley died. Scout and Jem were going on and on about it. It ain't much of a deal. But those kids sure think it is. They weren't even ACQUAINTED with her as I was. I am very PERPLEXED at why they care. The snow is started also. Those kids went out in the yard and asked me for my snow. I wondered what it was for but, if they want to get it off my driveway, its fine by me. They took it to build a snowman. I think it was Scout's first sonwman. I have not seen one in quite a while though. It started out being pretty innocent but then it started looking like Mr. Avery. Boy, did those kids get a laugh outta that! But Atticus said they had to change it. Those FANATICAL kids came into MY backyard and took out my sunhat and hedge clippers and put it on that snowman. That was funny but I couldn't very well laugh with those kids right there. Instead I yelled at Jem: "You devil! Bring me my hat back, sir!" Jem just giggled and looked at Atticus, who smiled. I turned on my heel and smothered a laugh as I walked back into my house.


I awoke to the smell of smoke. I hurried out of my house. The fire truck was wailing as it made its way down the street! The fire was slowly devouring my house. The house seemed ISOLATED by the flames. It began to beat down upon the ADJACENT houses while the men threw buckets of water on my smoldering house. I walked to the front of The Radley's house. I saw Arthur cowering back away from the fire. He stepped up quickly to put a blanket around Scout's shivering shoulders. She didn't even look up to see him. She just stared into the flames. Her eyes tearing. Mr. Avery got stuck in a window. He wiggled his way out and fell onto my precious bushes. Atticus stood next to me, reassuring me. As the fire died down, Ms. Stephanie Crawford invited me to stay at her house. I accepted. That Scout. She came over to give her apologies. I had to explain to her that I was not sad about the house. Only my garden. I slept at Stephanie's house that night. The next morning, I met up with Jem and Scout. They wondered how it started. I reckoned that it was the flue in the kitchen. They brought back my sunhat and hedge clippers.


That Atticus. He has taken up a case defending Tom Robinson. I spent Christmas with Ms. Stephanie. She had some of her family there. The table was set with beautiful china and silverware. It was difficult to focus on the happiness without those little kids here. They always lighten things up. Just thinking about them makes me chuckle. The house smelled like pine trees and ham. The food was good. I had made my special Lane Cake for the dessert. Ms. Stephanie ain't never gonna get her hands on this recipe. Nothing much happened After that at dinner.

Blog post 4-immigration lit. circles

"We'll adjust the Sudan flag
We'll alter the Sudan flag
For Sudan is confused herself"--Song written for John Garang pg. 321
This was a big step in Achak's life. Figuring out which side he is on is too difficult for him. At this moment, he is feeling that this side would be better. He is confused. He knows not to join either side though.
I feel that everyone faces big challenges in their lives. Nothing as big as Achak's problems have happened to me but I have definately had to choose sides between friends. It is so hard to do.
Have you ever made a descision that you ultimately regretted?

"Our days were now completely reconstituted. Where before there had been studying and soccer and simple chores like water-fetching, now there was manual labor-in addition to the farm work-and jobs we were much too young to be expected to do."--Achak Pg. 327

Achak was so expectant of an easier life in Sudan. He was let down. I think he is often let down in America also. He has so many expectations of many beatuiful things that he has heard of. But nobody prepared him for dissapointment.

I have been dissapointed many times before. I have also been expected to do more than I feel I am able to do.I try very hard and nobody else is proud of my work.

Have you ever felt like people were expecting to much of you?

What is the What:3

"After seeing the dead and dying of the lost Fist, I no longer had any faith in our journey or in our guides. It seemed logical that what had begun would continue: that we would walk and die until all the boys were gone."--Achak Pg. 217

Achak and most of the boys have by now lost all faith in their journey. Achak has given up on everything that he has lived for so far. He has no other chance to survive and he has given up on everything.

I have often felt useless or like I wanted to give up. seeing everyone around you hopeless is difficult to cope with. I remember when my great grandfather died. I had felt so lost and hopeless. But, the pain was more deep because my family was so sad.

have you ever felt lost or hopeless?


"We are not in Ethiopia, I thought. This is not the place."--Achak Pg. 227

Achak has waited so long to find this place that has been embellished so much by the fabrications of William K. and, when he finally has made it, he is sadly dissapointed. He has imagined it so differently. when he does finally make it, he is not expecting it to be similar to all the other refugee camps.

I have been dissapointed many times by different instances that I had gotten my hopes up for. It is one of the worst feelings in the world. and I feel very bad for Achak to have worked so hard for this and to be dissapointed in such a way.

Have you ever been this dissapointed about something?

What is the what?

"For the first time in my life, I welcomed the fabrications of William K."--Achak Pg.190
I realized that when you lose everything, then the smallest comforts can be so reassuring. Having William K. walking wih him and telling him stories is so important to Achak by now, that when they finally get to their destination, I think that Achak will still be going strong.
This relates to my life because I rely on friends to help me through life. At times, I feel that I should be more self sufficient. But I feel that My friends give me life.
DO you rely on your friends help you through life?

What is the What?

"As my dream day passes in the afternoon, I lean on my sister Amel as she grinds grain. I did this often because the leaning and its expected result gave me great joy."--Achak Pg.40
I chose this quote because I think that it shows how different life is in Sudan and America. In Sudan, Achak is so appreciative of things that kids in America take for granted. For him, just smelling his sister is so enjoyable, whereas, in America, siblings tend to hate each other.
I think that sometimes my brother annoys me, but I have a very stable relationship with him. I am not grateful for him as much as I should be, but I do like him sometimes.
Do you think that there is a reason for the society differences from America and Sudan?



"This boy thinks I am not of his species, that I am some other kind of creature, one that can be crushed under the weight of a phone book. The pain is not great, but the symbolism is disagreeable."--Achak Pg. 50
I think that this quote summarizes all of the racism and hatred in Achak's life. Achak has made it to America, and now he finds out how much everyone actually hates him. Most of his life has been spent running from trouble and now he is unable to do so.
I do not think that this quote relates much to my life, but I can understand on a smaller scale. I am often discriminated against ether because I am a girl. Or I am Jewish. It is really hurtful to hear people referring to me as "that one Jewish girl" or "OH! YOU're that Jewish kid!" and, I can understand how Achak feels to be discriminated against so badly.
Why do you think that the color of our skin or nationality matters to other people?

Independent reading 2nd entry

Question #2: What does this book remind you of in your own life? Why?
One of the things that struck me most about this book in that it related to my life, was that in the book, the main character is described as invisible. She is forgotten about because she is only an Aide to her older sister, Arilou. Even her name was made to be forgotten: Hathin. Hathin is like many people in my life that I have met, and forgotten. She could symbolize our teachers from younger grades, they impact our lives but are forgotten by the time we have grown, or they could be someone who helps us often but we never get the time to appreciate or notice them.

As a teenage girl, I feel like I have little respect for people who, without them, I would never have turned out to be the girl that I am now. There are so many people in my life who have made sacrifices for me and helped me when I needed help the most, and I have taken them for granted my whole life. This book has helped me to learn that although they may dissapear into shadows, these people have helped me grow and live and without them, I would never have grown into who I am today.


Question #13: Which character would you like to be like? In what way? Why?
The character that I would most like to be like and the character that I AM most like are two very different people. I would most like to be like the character Hathin. Although her whole life, she is living a lie and she knows it, she still gives her whole self to help the person that most needs her. I am very different than her because I am usually the one being helped. There are many times when I find myself whining or asking for something that I could easily have gotten myself or could have done. Hathin is the heroine in this book because she finds a way to lead a country after being let down by her town and her family.

Hathin pushes through to fulfill a destiny even though she has been insignificant her whole life. I really admire her for the strength that she has to be able to do that. Hathin is a strong girl who always tries her hardest to do the right thing. Hathin works hard to prove herself and, in time, becomes known throughout the land as the hero of Lace.

The Lost Conspiracy- In class writing assignment

I would put myself into the book as one of the Lost Inspectors. That way, I could help the Lace and specifically help Hathin to find out sooner that Arilou is actually a Lost. I would Change myself into a Lace because I would want to be trusted. I would Stay with Hathin and help her fulfill Arilou's quest. I would also try to warn the Lost about the blissing beetles in the school. That way, I would save the Lost from death and the Lace would not get blamed forthedeath of Prox and Skein.
Ithink that if I had a chance to go into the book, I would definately try to stop Eiven from going into the water and I would try to stop the Blissing Beetles from killing all of the Lost. I think that if I had the chance to go into the book, I would change the outcome of a lot of things.