TKAM Setting Comparison

            When I first saw the picture, I noticed a lot of the advertisements that were painted on the walls, and the Coca-Cola banner. I also noticed how the picture was black and white and a little blurry which would infer that this picture was taken a long time ago. I also noticed how there wasn't just one advertisement for Coca-Cola but a few of them one the walls. Another thing I noticed would be the way the people are dressed in the photograph. They don't have fancy clothing, they all have some casual clothing, and all them seam to be wearing similar clothing. I also noticed how they are all wearing hats. You can also see what it seams to appear as a bunch of newspaper stacked on each other in a little cart.

            I picked this photo to symbolize what I think what Maycomb would look like because I believe it has many similar qualities as to how Harper Lee described Maybomb. Harper Lee described Maycomb as being a little town with not that much of a population. This photo can also symbolize a sort of small town. You can see that there isn't many people in this photo on the streets, the street doesn't look busy, and it looks very calm and peaceful. That makes it seem like a small town, which is what Harper Lee said about Maycomb. In the book, they also mentioned Coca-Cola a lot, and this photo has many advertisements of Coca-Cola. Harper Lee also said it was an old town which would make sense why the picture was taken a long time ago. I know that the picture was taken a long time ago because it is black and white. Those are just some of the similarities between this picture and the discription of Maycomb, which is why I picked this photo.

TKAM Charcter Relationship Blog

Characters: Aunt Alexandra and Atticus

         
           Some similarities that Aunt Alexandra and Atticus both have are that they care about Scout and Jem, they want the best for the children, and they both have strong opinions on how Scout should be raised. Aunt Alexandra and Attcius both care deeply about Jem and Scout and they are very protective over them because they don't want anything bad happening to them and they love them so much. Aunt Alexdanra and Atticus both want Jem and Scout to have the best that they could have. They want them to succeed in their lives and become someone that is caring and respectful. Aunt Alexandra wants Scout to be raised as a lady and to be how she was a little girl, and Atticus just wants her to be nice and respectful and not be like most of the Maycomb town folk.

          Some differences between Aunt Alexandra and Atticus is that Aunt Alexandra is very traditional, she doesn't really stand up for what she thinks is right but sticks to what everyone else is doing, which is the completely opposite from Atticus. Atticus is caring, brave, and he doesn't like to follow anyone else but believe in what he stand for and he doesn't judge other people based off their looks or skin color. Aunt Alexandra is all about giving their family name a good reputation and having the people in the family all be the same, sort of like all Maycomb folk. Atticus along with Scout and Jem are a lot different from the family and the Maycomb folk, they have their own opinions and like I said before they don't judge people by their looks or skin color but rather by their personality.

            Atticus is Scout's father, while Aunt Alexandra is Atticus' sister which makes her Scout's aunt.  Atticus is like Scout's role model, he teaches her how to be a good person that is caring and not judgemental based on appearances or skin color. He teaches her how to respect others, and how to have her own opinions and believe in what she wants to believe and to not just go by with what everyone else says. Aunt Alexandra is like her feminine influence on her, and she pretty much teaches her how to be a lady. Since, Scout's mother is no longer with them, Atticus thought it would be best if a Aunt Alexandra gave her advise and raised her like a lady.

         

TKAM Final Blog

To Kill A Movkingbird by Harper Lee

Prompt: 1) Which character do you like the best?
              2) Do any of the character's feelings change as you've read? Explain why or why not.
              3) If you could change what your reading, what would you change?

           Scout is the character that I like best from all of the characters in the book To Kill A Mockingbird. Honestly I had to think about this one, because I really liked Atticus' character as well so it was a bit hard for me to decide on which character. The only reason why I like Scout a little bit better than Atticus is because I feel like I could relate to her a lot more than I could relate to Atticus in many different ways. I really like Scout because she is independent when it comes to making choices and having her own opinions. She judges people based off of how they act and not just by their looks which is another reason why I like her.

           I feel like a lot of the characters throughout the book change their feelings. Some of the characters I believed changed their feelings mostly is Scout, and Jem. I feel like their feelings changed a lot when it comes to Boo in the begginning of the book and at the end of the book. At the begginning of the book, their feeling towards Boo was all negative and they thought of Boo as of a horrible person but just based off of rumors they have heard. At the end, they were able to actually meet Boo and get to know him, for he have saved their lives. After they actually got to know him, their feelings towards Boo were a lot more positive and they actually liked him, and they learned not to judge someone based off of rumors or of what they have heard.

           Honestly, if I was able to change what I was reading, I wouldn't change any of it because this was a great book. I feel like even though I wouldn't change anything, I would have added more to the end of the book because I didn't really like how the book ended. I feel like if Harper Lee added a bit more to the book at the ending it would be a lot better. I didn't like how it was the last time that Jem and Scout ever got to see Boo, and that kind of makes me sad because Boo had just saved their lives and they had barely just got to know him and they were becoming good friends. Besides this, I don't think I would change anything else because this honestly was a great novel.

Theme Development Blog for 40 Book Challenge

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

          Theme is a message about life or human nature that the writer conveys for the reader. I believe that the book The Hunger Games has plenty of themes but the main one would be inequality. One of the reasons why I believe this is the theme is because the rich districts have plenty more advantages when it comes to food. All of the poor districts struggle with starvation and finding food to feed their families. Another reason why I believe that this is the theme, is because of the tessera system and the way the reaping voting works.

           Since in the book, the rich people in Panem have plenty more advantages than the poor, it leads me to believe the theme of inequality. The rich districts don't have to worry about starvation or being hungry because they always have food which is one of the advantages of the rich. The poor districts sometimes starve themselves, and for example Katniss has to go beyond the boarders to hunt in order to be able to feed her family. Most poor people don't even have that privilege because plenty of the poor people don't know how to hunt. When Katniss goes to the Capitol, she is surprised at how many food and fancy prepared dinners they have. That is one of the reasons that leads me to believe that inequality is one of the main themes of this book.

                Another reason that leads me to believe that the theme of the book is inequality is the tessera system and the way of the reaping choosing system and how it works. Everyone is allowed to put down their name as many times as they want for the reaping, but the poor have a much bigger chance of getting picked. They have a bigger chance of getting picked because the poor families want to be able to survive, and the reward of the games is food, they risk anything they can to be able to survive and get the food for the district, that is why many more poor people are chosen. Also if a rich person is chosen, they have a bigger change of winning because they are able to get special training for the games which Katniss calls 'Career Traning'.  That is why I believe the rich people have more advantages than the poor which leads me to believe that the theme would be inequality.
 
           

1st Quarter Reflections

          I honestly can't believe that this quarter is already coming to an end, when I feel like the quarter has just started. In this 1st quarter I have learned a lot about writing techniques, I learned a lot about Syrian refugees and refugees in general, and now I know how to do little research and get the facts that I want. Some writing techniques that I learned were how to change passive writing into active writing, how to write sensory details, and the steps on how to write a well-written Narative. I learned about how Mawi's life was impacted since he was a refugee, and I also learned how Syrian refugees find safety or seek for refuge. Researching about my banned book and researching about the carnivals from "The Cask Of Amontillado" helped me learn how to research better and in an efficient way.

          One thing that I learned about in this quarter is about some important writing techniques that can really help me through my life. One of the writing techniques that I learned were how to write with sensory details. I learned that sensory details include great detail about the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflict, and the solution. Another writing technique that I learned are the steps on how to write I a well-written and descriptive Narative. To write a good Narative you need to write in 1st person point of view, write it in chronological order, give a lot of details, and most importantly keep revising. A third technique that I learned was how to change passive writing into active writing. The three ways you can change passive writing into active writing is by changing the noun of the word into its verb form, place the noun before the verb, and avoiding forms of the verb to be.

          After reading the book Of Beetles And Angels, and after doing 2 A.O.Ws (Article of the Week) about Syrian refugees, I learned a lot about how being a refugee impacts their lives. I learned how Mawi went from living in a refugee camp in poor conditions to getting help and going to Chicago for a proper education. Mawi made it so far in life, and got a full scholarship to Harvard University. He learned that not judging and treating people by just the way they look can get you far in life. From the A.O.Ws I learned how many of the Syrian refugees that tried to escape ended up stranded, and many of them were not able to seek refuge. I also learned from the A.O.Ws that it was more likely for a man to get their refugee than woman.  

         The banned books project and the research about the carnival helped me to learn how to research in an efficient and better way. Before I completed my banned books project, I used to take a long time looking at many different websites to be able to get some information on my topic. One thing I learned, is that if I'm looking for just one fact or information to not look on many websites and to stay with one website that I pick. I learned that if you through many websites then your just wasting time, knowing that you can get all of your information from just one website. That is what I learned from my banned books project and the cardinal research. I especially learned this from the carnival researching assignment because I stayed on 1 website for my research and I was able to get all of my information from there.

         

Life Lines Poem for OBAA

I was told

"America seems sweet on top, 

But what's sweet on the surface,

is often rotten underneath"

But they told us that 

we could do anything 

if we worked hard,

and treated others with respect

True power comes from

focusing

on what we can give

not just on what we can take

The day comes in each of our lives 

when those around us are asked to testify

and to tell what kind of character

we have demonstrated in our past

For even

the most horrifying memories

are you

And they along with the good memories,

are your life

What one does in youth

one often regrets in old age

So beware

Of the gifts that we can give, 

the greatest is to see beauty

in each other-in essence,

to give beauty to each other.

OBAA Comparison to A.O.W

           An individual from Of Beetles And Angels would be the World Relief Organization, an individual from my article of the week would be the International Organization for Migration. In Of Beetles And Angels, the author states "As part of the resettling process, World Relief would have to identify American sponsors who would find the refugees housing, furniture,jobs, medical treatment, and schools-everything that they would need to get on their feet." This is explaining what the World Relief Organization does for the refugees and how it helps them. In my article the author states "Both Moraes and Doyle say a system of orderly resettlement is the only way Europe will be able to stem the deaths in the Mediterranean and end the grueling treks across the continent." This shows how they plan on helping the refugees by resettling them, which is similar to what World Relief is doing in Of Beetles And Angels.

         An idea from Of Beetles And Angels would be to be kind and respect others no matter how they look like, and an idea from my article of the week would be to make new systems for migrants and refugees. In Of Beetles And Angels, the author states "People always mistreated the angels, my father said, because the angels never look like angels." Mawi is trying to say that many people judge others by the way they look, and then people mistreat them when they judge people. Mawi believes that God sent angels looking like beetles to test people. In my article of the week, the author states "The system has been shaken by the way Syria's war has spiralled, and spreading violence in neighboring Libya and parts of Iraq." There saying that ever since Syria's war and so many refugees have been resettling the system is showing that it isn't working as well as they thought it did. Therefore they believe that there should be a new system for the migrants and refugees.

          War affects individuals and societies by having to make the individuals resettle and find a new safe place, and the society to make a plan or system for the refugees. In Of Beetles And Angels the author states "But I do remember seeking safety in a Sudanese refugee camp in Umsagata, a small dusty village of straw and mud adobes." This shows how the war affected Mawi and his family into having to move into a whole new place in order to be safe. In the camp, they had a scarce amount of food and supplies, and had a small education. This proves that war also affects your education because, due to the war and having to move into am refugee camp, the kids aren't getting the education they need or the neccesities that they need.