Personal Response
The ending of the novel surprised me. If I were the author, I would have ended the story differently. This is because I could never have thought of using Boo Radley at the end again to show that he was humane and that the thoughts of the Maycomb County people that he was a monster was false.
Analyzing Literature
Recall and Interpret
1. The children are afraid that Bob Ewell would hurt either themselves or their father, Atticus. Atticus however feels that Bob Ewell would only threaten them, but not harm them.
2. On their way home from the school pageant, Bob Ewell follows them in the night and attacks them, and fortunately, Boo Radley was nearby and saved them by killing Bob Ewell. This incident reveals that Boo Radley is a humane person as he had saved Scout and Jem.
3. Scout treats Boo in a friendly manner after the incident. She had thought that Boo was a monster at the start due to the comments on Boo by other people, and she no longer felt that Boo was a monster after the incident, but a curious and shy person, and was just like any other normal person.
Analyzing Literature
Evaluate and Connect
4. I believe they made the best decision about how to report Bob Ewell's death. This is because this decision would prevent Boo Radley from being placed on trial and to prevent him from receiving public attention, which would hurt him.
5. I think the cause of justice is best advanced through such "baby steps". This is because these "baby steps" would slowly allow the Whites to reflect on their prejudications against the Blacks, and their racism would slowly disappear, which causes their community to have more justice in judging cases like that of Tom Robinson.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Responding: To Kill a Mockingbird, Twelve through Twenty-one
Personal Response
As I followed the action in the courtroom, I empathized with Tom Robinson the most. This is because the evidence were more slanted to the side whereby Tom Robinson did not rape Mayella Ewell, and even though the judges knew this, Tom Robinson was still announced guilty of having raped Mayella.
Analyzing Literature
Recall and Intepret
1. The people of Maycomb County gather and plans to have Tom Robinson lynched. Scout helps her father in this scene as she comes along with her father, Atticus, and she chatted with Mr Cunningham a little, and he suddenly felt guilty and left, as the rest of the people followed and left as well.
2. As most of Mayella's injuries were on the right, this showed that the yperson who attacked her was most likely a left-handed person, whereas Tom Robinson's left hand was crippled. Also, Tom could not have caught Mayella around the neck and beat her around her face as he had only one good hand to use.
3. According to Atticus, Mayella's motive for accusing Tom is to prevent others from knowing that she had tempted a Negro, and that she kissed a black man, which was unspeakable of in their society at that time. Atticus was afraid that the jury will think that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes and basically immoral beings, and that all Negro men are not to be trusted around their women.
Analyzing Literature
Evaluate and Connect
4. The author depicts Mayella Ewell as a lonely person with no friends and that she was desperate for a friend which resulted in her tempting Tom Robinson. Mayella was also a child with only one parent, Mr Bob Ewell, and he was often drunk and beat her ocassionally.
5. I think a jury today would not have found Tom Robinson guilty. This is because the society in which this case happened was when the Blacks were being prejudiced against by the Whites, whereas the current society does not have as much racism as there were in the past.
As I followed the action in the courtroom, I empathized with Tom Robinson the most. This is because the evidence were more slanted to the side whereby Tom Robinson did not rape Mayella Ewell, and even though the judges knew this, Tom Robinson was still announced guilty of having raped Mayella.
Analyzing Literature
Recall and Intepret
1. The people of Maycomb County gather and plans to have Tom Robinson lynched. Scout helps her father in this scene as she comes along with her father, Atticus, and she chatted with Mr Cunningham a little, and he suddenly felt guilty and left, as the rest of the people followed and left as well.
2. As most of Mayella's injuries were on the right, this showed that the yperson who attacked her was most likely a left-handed person, whereas Tom Robinson's left hand was crippled. Also, Tom could not have caught Mayella around the neck and beat her around her face as he had only one good hand to use.
3. According to Atticus, Mayella's motive for accusing Tom is to prevent others from knowing that she had tempted a Negro, and that she kissed a black man, which was unspeakable of in their society at that time. Atticus was afraid that the jury will think that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes and basically immoral beings, and that all Negro men are not to be trusted around their women.
Analyzing Literature
Evaluate and Connect
4. The author depicts Mayella Ewell as a lonely person with no friends and that she was desperate for a friend which resulted in her tempting Tom Robinson. Mayella was also a child with only one parent, Mr Bob Ewell, and he was often drunk and beat her ocassionally.
5. I think a jury today would not have found Tom Robinson guilty. This is because the society in which this case happened was when the Blacks were being prejudiced against by the Whites, whereas the current society does not have as much racism as there were in the past.
Responding: To Kill a Mockingbird, One through Eleven
Personal Response
As I read about Scout's experience, I remember about my own childhood memories when I was as gullible as Scout, and when I was often tricked by my brother over many minor things.
Analysing Literature
Recall and Intepret
1. Scout, Jem and Dill tried to test their courage by challenging each other to go up to the Radley Place and touch it, or by peeping through the Radley Place to try to find Boo, or to pass him a letter and to ask him to come out. They felt that Boo was a monster like what others have described him as.
2. Scout and Jem finds many different things in the knothole of the Radley tree, for example, a ball of grey twine, a doll the figure of a boy, a doll wearing a crude dress, a spelling medal, and a pocket-watch on a chain with an aluminium knife, and chewing gum. The presence of chewing gum shows that Boo was just like any other person, because he chewed on chewing gum like others did, and not eat horrible creatures.
3. Scout gets into fights with Cecil Jacobs and her cousin Francis because they call her father, Atticus, a nigger lover. These comments suggest that Maycomb's community had racism. Scout's response reveals that she is rather protective of her family.
Analyzing Literature
Evaluate and Connect
4. Atticus required courage to both shoot the mad dog and to defend Tom Robinson. This was because the mad dog would suffer once he gets mad, and Atticus could only use one shot to finish him off, or he would suffer as well, and finishing him in one shot required alot of courage to fire that one shot; and also when he defended Tom Robinson, he needed to face the people of Maycomb County who all gathered to lynch Tom Robinson, but he was the only one who defended him, together with his children who came along, and this too required alot of courage.
5. I would describe Atticus as a rather easy-going parent. He treats his children fairly, and give them the freedom they need, but not too much freedom. He wants to teach them life lessons, and hoped they would have empathy for others in the future, and this could be seen by him teaching Scout to put herself in Miss Caroline Fisher's shoes when she was new to Maycomb County, and also taught Jem never to kill a mockingbird, because they had never ever done anything wrong.
As I read about Scout's experience, I remember about my own childhood memories when I was as gullible as Scout, and when I was often tricked by my brother over many minor things.
Analysing Literature
Recall and Intepret
1. Scout, Jem and Dill tried to test their courage by challenging each other to go up to the Radley Place and touch it, or by peeping through the Radley Place to try to find Boo, or to pass him a letter and to ask him to come out. They felt that Boo was a monster like what others have described him as.
2. Scout and Jem finds many different things in the knothole of the Radley tree, for example, a ball of grey twine, a doll the figure of a boy, a doll wearing a crude dress, a spelling medal, and a pocket-watch on a chain with an aluminium knife, and chewing gum. The presence of chewing gum shows that Boo was just like any other person, because he chewed on chewing gum like others did, and not eat horrible creatures.
3. Scout gets into fights with Cecil Jacobs and her cousin Francis because they call her father, Atticus, a nigger lover. These comments suggest that Maycomb's community had racism. Scout's response reveals that she is rather protective of her family.
Analyzing Literature
Evaluate and Connect
4. Atticus required courage to both shoot the mad dog and to defend Tom Robinson. This was because the mad dog would suffer once he gets mad, and Atticus could only use one shot to finish him off, or he would suffer as well, and finishing him in one shot required alot of courage to fire that one shot; and also when he defended Tom Robinson, he needed to face the people of Maycomb County who all gathered to lynch Tom Robinson, but he was the only one who defended him, together with his children who came along, and this too required alot of courage.
5. I would describe Atticus as a rather easy-going parent. He treats his children fairly, and give them the freedom they need, but not too much freedom. He wants to teach them life lessons, and hoped they would have empathy for others in the future, and this could be seen by him teaching Scout to put herself in Miss Caroline Fisher's shoes when she was new to Maycomb County, and also taught Jem never to kill a mockingbird, because they had never ever done anything wrong.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Compromise
Compromise is a negotiation process whereby an agreement is reached by mutual concessions with both parties giving in to each other's demands. In a compromise, both parties have to be willing to give up some of their benefits for the well-being of both of them in the end by obtaining even more benefits. However, the process of negotiating compromises could be tough as either party could be reluctant to sacrifice some of their benefits just to obtain other benefits from the other party because they think they are on the losing side.
Some compromises may involve the bending of law, for example, when a person is caught by a police officer for doing something illegal, that person may be able to bribe the police officer with money and the police officer might let him off for his personal benefits of earning easy money. This could be common in countries where the security is not tight. Other compromises, however, do not involve the bending of law, for example, when a child finishes his homework, his parents may give him free time to do whatever he wants.
More examples of compromises are available in To Kill a Mokingbird, which is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is taught by Atticus that compromise is not bending the law, however. This is to stop Scout from using Burris Ewell as an example to not go to school. Burris Ewell is introduced as a special case to Scout, because the Ewells were simply not like the citizens of Maycomb County. Even so, Scout is still introduced to even more compromises involving the bending of law. For example, at the end of the story, Bob Ewell was killed by Boo Radley when Boo was trying to save Scout and Jem. The law would have required Boo to be placed on trial to determine if he had killed Bob Ewell for self-defense or not. However, Boo was not placed on trial so that he would not experience public attention, when he did not do anything wrong (He was like a mockingbird who did not do anything wrong as well). The laws were then bent to protect Boo from being placed on trial.
Some compromises may involve the bending of law, for example, when a person is caught by a police officer for doing something illegal, that person may be able to bribe the police officer with money and the police officer might let him off for his personal benefits of earning easy money. This could be common in countries where the security is not tight. Other compromises, however, do not involve the bending of law, for example, when a child finishes his homework, his parents may give him free time to do whatever he wants.
More examples of compromises are available in To Kill a Mokingbird, which is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is taught by Atticus that compromise is not bending the law, however. This is to stop Scout from using Burris Ewell as an example to not go to school. Burris Ewell is introduced as a special case to Scout, because the Ewells were simply not like the citizens of Maycomb County. Even so, Scout is still introduced to even more compromises involving the bending of law. For example, at the end of the story, Bob Ewell was killed by Boo Radley when Boo was trying to save Scout and Jem. The law would have required Boo to be placed on trial to determine if he had killed Bob Ewell for self-defense or not. However, Boo was not placed on trial so that he would not experience public attention, when he did not do anything wrong (He was like a mockingbird who did not do anything wrong as well). The laws were then bent to protect Boo from being placed on trial.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Narrative Viewpoints
I hadn't really asked myself whether to write essays as first-person narratives or third-person narratives before until this year. Previously, I just wrote in whichever style I felt like, and had unfortunately made a huge mistake of choosing the wrong viewpoints to write. However, from now on, I am aware of this and I would not make this mistake until I was really good at my writing skills.
For first-person narratives, pronouns like "I" is used throughout the essay and the reader is restricted to the thoughts of the narrator, which is a character from the story. These narratives show us the observations and thoughts made by the narrator about other characters, and an important point about such narratives is how trustworthy the narrator's viewpoints are. First-person narratives are effective because the reader would feel close to the narrator and the mental or psychological changes of the narrator can be shown to the reader. The difficulty of writing in such a viewpoint is that the reader has to be restricted to the narrator's point of view, which I failed to do so when I felt like writing in first-person in the past.
For third-person narratives, pronouns like "he" and she" are used throughout the essay. In this viewpoint, there are deep descriptive details, and multiple point of views from different characters. The narrator can be created as an omniscient person who seems to be all-knowing about the story. Similarly, a character from the story is chosen to be the narrator, but he is only referred to as "he", "she" or by the name. The difficulty of writing in such a viewpoint is significantly lower than the first-person viewpoint, because descriptive language are easier to be used in this viewpoint; which is why I am not going to write in first-person ever again, until my writing skills significantly improve.
For first-person narratives, pronouns like "I" is used throughout the essay and the reader is restricted to the thoughts of the narrator, which is a character from the story. These narratives show us the observations and thoughts made by the narrator about other characters, and an important point about such narratives is how trustworthy the narrator's viewpoints are. First-person narratives are effective because the reader would feel close to the narrator and the mental or psychological changes of the narrator can be shown to the reader. The difficulty of writing in such a viewpoint is that the reader has to be restricted to the narrator's point of view, which I failed to do so when I felt like writing in first-person in the past.
For third-person narratives, pronouns like "he" and she" are used throughout the essay. In this viewpoint, there are deep descriptive details, and multiple point of views from different characters. The narrator can be created as an omniscient person who seems to be all-knowing about the story. Similarly, a character from the story is chosen to be the narrator, but he is only referred to as "he", "she" or by the name. The difficulty of writing in such a viewpoint is significantly lower than the first-person viewpoint, because descriptive language are easier to be used in this viewpoint; which is why I am not going to write in first-person ever again, until my writing skills significantly improve.
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