Marking Period 1 Reflection

This marking period has defiantly been a difference from my last years honors English class already visible through the first marking period. This year our novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee was read and analyzed at a much quicker pace than any of our core novels last year. Classwork and homework is assigned and handed in at a much quicker pace. Last year we would have 3-5 chapters due in a week when this year we had to read usually ten chapters in one week and complete our keynotes. The keynotes are more of an in depth analysis and essays we have to construct based off of our reading. One thing that was new for me this marking period was to continuously week after week doing a blogging assignement. In the previous years teachers had always said we were going to do it but after they realized not a lot of people had accounts or knew how to use it they changed it to a simposium or a fish bowl. Another thing that was new for me this year was how we conducted a fishbowl. Last year we usually talked about the plot, when this year we are expected to analyze the characters and events. This marking period the students were responsible for a lot of the work at a quicker pace. The vocab test was rediculously hard my grade was saved by doing the extra credit. Overall this marking period has set the tone for what expectations Mr. J wants from us and how we will need to work in order to improve as a writer and earn the best grade possible.

Musical Connection

Since “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is one of the most influential books of all time, even ranking higher than the bible, there is a vast amount of songs to connect to this book. The song “Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer fits the best I think. “To Kill A Mockingbird” is based when racial tensions are at a high along with stereotypes and prejudices. In John Mayers song, he talks about how no one understands his friends and him and what they see with whats wrong in the world.
“"Me and all my friends  

We're all misunderstood  

They say we stand for nothing and

There's no way we ever could  

Now we see everything that's going

wrong  With the world and those who lead it  

We just feel like we don't have the means  

To rise above and beat it  

So we keep waiting  

Waiting on the world to change”

Throughout this whole book, Atticus has been waiting for his community to change and realize there is no need for racial segregation and discrimination. Atticus has taken opposing sides to what most of the community agrees with. He stands up and fights for what he believes in in order to teach his children good from bad and right from wrong.

Social Injustice

Social injustice is everywhere: school, religion, politics, foreign countries, we all face these problems. Considering the amount of segregation and social tension there was 50-60 years ago in the United States, we are far from the amount other countries are going through and have been going through for the past years. The murder of Emmitt Till is one of the United States worst social injustice acts ever committed. During the trial of the murder of Emmitt Till, two white men were being accused of brutally attacking him. Till had “hit” on one of these men's wife while he was away, once he returned, he and his brother-in-law went to teach Till his lesson. Emmitt’s family found his body attached to a cotton gin fan in the Tallahatchie River. Till’s family took his trial to court to bring justice to their family along. This case shed light on the brutality of the Jim Crow segregation laws present in the South.

Social injustice is present in the United States in the court system. High profile cases with celebrities and wealthy people can influence the judge and jurors a certain way. During some of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan trials, they were not given the full sentence that other “average joe’s” would have received. Instead of receiving the maximum or full sentence these woman would have to serve in jail, most of the time, they were able to serve while under house arrest, or going to rehab. For others accused of the same crimes as Lohan and Hilton, they would be in jail for more than a few nights, most likely a few months. Celebrities and wealthy personnel get certain privileges during cases when they are high profile. When the Casey Anthony trial ended, many people believed that Casey was a murderer and she had killed her daughter, but because of “lack of evidence” she is now a free woman. Casey Anthony will now get to reap the rewards of having such a high profile case with books she will later publish and sponsors supporting her.

Another aspect of the United States that serves as social injustice is the right of gay marriage. Granted there has been major acceptances and bills passed in order to allow gay marriage in certain states, but still no where near the amount that it should be for living in a “free country”.
Abortion is also a factor into social injustice. The person who is carrying the baby has the right to decide whether or not to abort the baby, it will be their decision and no one else should be able to prevent them from aborting the baby. With both of these topics there are people who are strongly opposed against them whether it be for spiritual or medical reasons, but those people need not to worry if a gay couple gets married or if a woman has an abortion because most of the time, it is not affecting them directly.

The problems I have listed above are just a mere few we face as a country; other countries in different regions of the world face much more social injustice than the United States. As a country, we have come a long way to fix social injustice since the middle of the twentieth century, but we still have a long way to go before social injustice is gone for good.

Great Depression vs. Great Recession

There are many similarities and differences between the Great Depression and the Great Recession, yet both of these horrific economic downfalls greatly affected all Americans in both time periods. During the Great Depression unemployment rose up to 25 percent at times. Many people believe that the Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression. Through early years of the Great Depression, the GDP went from $103.6 billion dollars in 1929, down to $56.4 in 1933. During the Great Depression the federal government created “Social Security” for the elderly, and an “Unemployment” compensation for those unemployed. The Great Depression that occurred  in the late 1920’s did not only affect the US, but other global economies of developed nations such as German, Brazil and Southern Asian countries. During the Great Depression deflation was high, while during the Great Recession inflation was low.  People all around the world and especially the United States are still feeling the aftermath of the 2009 Great Recession. Unemployment is not lowering, but on the rise. Today, unemployment rest at 9.5% in the United States. The chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke states that it will be years before the normal levels of unemployment will return. The Great Recession is affecting other global economies such as China, Japan, Iceland, and Canada. This Great Recession has forced people who could have retired within the next for years, to continue to work to be able to provide for themselves and their family. 48% of Americans have seen the value of their house decline due to the Great Recession. As of October 2010, the number of people on emergency benefits has risen to 4.0.4 million. The Great Depression and The Great Recession have had an effect on all people in the United States and even across into the Global economy markets, but yet- The Great Recession has not effected as many people as The Great Depression did.

Role of Gossip in "To Kill A Mockingbird"

In “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, gossip has a way of affecting every character so far-some on higher degree levels than others. Within the first chapter the reader is painted a picture of how Boo Radley is being portrayed throughout the town as a bad, and disgusting monster of a human being. Most people have their own interpretations of who Boo Radley is, but we do not get to really know who Boo Radley is because he is “stuck” in his house and never comes out. Scout is involved in gossip when she is approached by schoolmates about who her dad is representing, an African American man. Scout is also spreading gossip by asking about Boo Radley to Miss Maudie and other neighbors about what he was really like and if he did those terrible things people say he did. Jem is included in the drama but not as much as his classmates are coming up to him asking him about his father’s work life. But Jem allows himself to gossip about the Radley household, especially when Dill, Scout and Jem decide to impersonate them on what they have heard about that family because none of them have experienced it firsthand. They base this game off of the gossip that has surrounded them explaining why Boo Radley is in “hiding” and why he is never seen by anyone in the county. Even though Atticus is not the one who is spreading or believing the gossip he has, his actions are spreading gossip about him. Atticus is going against the prejudice mindset of most people in all of Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus conducts his life with an open mind free of prejudice, rumors, and other people’s opinions. He is doing the right thing by teaching Jem and Scout to do the same as they learn and grow up.

Doubt is based off of the fact vs. theory. The nuns do not know what specifically happened “behind closed doors” between the priest and the young boy. Just like in “To Kill A Mockingbird” no one really knows what happens behind the closed doors of the Radley household. The nun in doubt is trying so hard to prove that the priest was doing something wrong and inappropriate when the young boy’s mother insists that he was just being nice and being the only friend the young boy had at this school.  Everyone in Maycomb County is trying to prove and portray not only Boo Radley but the rest of the Radley household as “animals” and wrongdoers because of many things they have heard about what goes on in their house, and just because they are different from the rest of Maycomb County. In Doubt when the feathers spread like the gossip is very good symbolism because you never know how far they are going to reach but you know how fast they can spread.

“To Kill A Mockingbird” would not have the same effect it does on people today if there was no gossip. Just like in Maycomb County in the 20^th century, today in the 21^st century, there is gossiping surrounding us and making us judge things we don’t know but only on what we have heard about or have based our opinions on. The gossip that is in “To Kill A Mockingbird” effects the plot, characters, and outcome of the story so far. 

Who is Harper Lee?!

Born Nelle Harper Lee on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. Harper Lee was the youngest of 4 children growing up in a small town as a tom boy.  Harper’s mother was thought to have bipolar disorder most of her life, while her father was a lawyer and part of the Alabama State legislature, also being part owner of a local newspaper. In school she focused on writing and her studies, also being part of the glee club and the literary honor society. Harper attended the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa; while there she joined a sorority and eventually became the editor of the “Rammer Jammer” the schools newspaper. Lee was accepted to the schools undergraduate law problem, but after spending a summer at Oxford in England, she dropped out and moved to New York to follow what she truly loves-writing. During the first few years of her time in New York, she struggled but also befriended old friends such as a Broadway composer Michael Martin Brown, and his wife Joy. In 1956, the Browns Christmas present to Harper was that they would support her financially as she devoted all of her time to writing. The Browns also helped Harper find an agent, Maurice Crain. Harper Lee finished her award winning Pulitzer Prize manuscript by 1959, her one and only novel.

http://www.biography.com/articles/Harper-Lee-9377021

Chapter 1&2 Summary

In chapter one of “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee we find out that Jem (10) and Scout (6) (Jean Louise) are raised by their father Atticus because their mother died due to a sudden heart attack when Scout was 2. Dill, there neighbors nephew comes to visit for the summer and quickly befriends Jem and Scout. Dill wonders about the Radley’s, neighbors that live down the street. The Radley’s are a mysterious family who no one is really pleased they are living in the same town. Once at school, Scout runs into trouble with hitting it off with her teacher after she is not saying such nice things.