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.