Chapter 17-21 Connector

     This section didn't have many obvious symbols because it was almost all based in the court in the trial but there were a few I found. A connection I made from the setting of the book to Kalispell was the churches. There are two churches in Maycomb, one nice for whites, and one not nice at all for blacks. Today in Kalispell there are many churches, some very nice and some very small and lame. Today they aren't separated by race but there still was a connection I saw. The next connection I saw in the story was between my life and a conflict in the book. When Jem was getting upset because of how unfairly Tom Robinson was being treated in the trial it made me think of how that same thing can happen to me sometimes. When someone else is being treated unfairly, even if it doesn't directly affect me at all, I still sometimes get upset because I feel bad for the person. The characters in this book are similar to a few people I know in real life. The main one I could think of is how Dill is similar to my little sister because they both aren't really worried about anything besides their games and themselves. I was asked how this is similar to anything else I’ve read and it really isn’t at all similar to anything I have ever read before in my life. And one connection no one in my circle has made before is how Maycomb is similar to my first home in Grand Forks, ND. Both are kind of boring without much going on.
     We had a good discussion in our literature circle and we went to a few minutes until the bell. Zach pointed out some very connections that I didn't see such as how Atticus is similar to his father. Zach also pointed out how it made it even more obvious that it actually Mr. Ewell who is guilty, not Tom Robinson, because of how bad his attitude was during the whole trial. Everyone agreed that it was interesting that Dolyphus Raymond pretended to be drunk just so he wouldn't be judged for loving a black woman. I think the thing that we talked about for the longest was how this whole trial was sad. everyone is against an innocent man just because he is black but they side with a person that they normally don't even like. Even though usually the Ewell's are the least popular people in town they still side with him over a honest black person.
     This may sound like the standard answer, but this really did just make me thankful to live in a day where racism and hate like this has been almost completely eliminated. Yes there is still hate but way less, and it would never work in a court trial! I am glad to live in a day and country where everyone can be equal and free.

Chapter 12-16 Illuminator

     I didn't feel like there was a very obvious symbol, but I did find one. I thought the First Purchase church symbolized the African Americans having some kind of rights and that their first thing they all bought was this church. It showed how the black community wasn’t bad people at all as they were portrayed to be by most of the whites in the town. The white people always made blacks sound so bad, but when you finally see them it is the opposite. A different one I thought of was how Jem and Scout didn't mind being in the "colored section" of the trial because they were not prejudice, as Atticus raised them to be. I thought the author did a great job of making the setting in this book so easy to get picture. The whole book is easy to picture but there was one part of this section that stuck out to me more than anything. When Scout and Jem went to church with Calpurnia the church and the people were made so easy to visualize. After this their aunt came to stay with them and neither Scout nor Jem were very happy about it and Scout spoke out to their aunt. Jem later tried to tell her not to do that and she god mad and they ended up fighting. This is a man vs. man conflict obviously, because it is two people physically fighting. The author makes this a very intense situation because she built up tension before they fought with them arguing. Scout doesn't like that Jem is growing up, and more distant from her. This stopped when Atticus came in and broke up the fight. Atticus is usually the one that solves conflicts between Jem and Scout. Which brings me to how I think Atticus would act if he had been in our literature circle discussion. I think he would have pointed out the positive things. He is always looking for the positive in people and things and is never prejudice against anyone. He would be very wise and kind and always trying to help.

     In my literature circle we all went over out positions and answered the questions asked. One thing I found was that we all got the same general idea from the section. The black people weren't bad at all; in fact they were very kind people. But the trial is still going to be lost just because of all the prejudice. It is sad this country was actually like that once. Everyone agreed with me that the part when Scout and Jem went to church with Calpurnia was explained very well and we all god a very good picture of what it was actually like. Also someone mentioned how, like I said before, the black people were so nice to Jem and Scout. It showed how the blacks were nice to whites and didn't hate them, even though most of the whites were extremely prejudice towards the blacks. The black people are really good people, they just are in a bad time period. We were able to discuss for a while because everyone in our group was very well prepared.

     In this chapter the thing that still stuck to me most is how nice and kind the blacks were. That shows why today it has changed so much to give everyone the same rights. It is awesome that today we are all equals. Before I read this book I of course knew blacks once weren't considered equals. But after reading this I feel so bad that it ever was like that. Also just like the rest of the book, Atticus and Scout and Jem are still not prejudice and kind as they always have been. I think the rest of the book will be about the racial struggles that went on.

6-11 Director

     While reading chapters 6-11 I found myself thinking mainly about how it all related back to the title of the book. This really came to me when Atticus gave Jem and Scout their pellet guns and explained how it was a sin to kill a mockingbird because they didn’t harm anyone and they don’t deserve anything bad to be done to them. After I read this part I started to relate this to not just animals in the story such as the dog, but also the humans like Atticus. When he are being criticized and thought down upon just because he is defending a black man (who also doesn’t deserve this hatred that he receives). Jem and Scout even get dragged into this just because their dad is defending a black man. They didn’t deserve it at all. The two passages I thought were the most important were: a. When Atticus taught Jem and Scout about how it was a sin to kill a mockingbird (as I explained above) b. When Atticus told Scout not to fight anyone who said something bad about Atticus or herself. He told her to have courage and to not let it get to her. This shows what a good, kind person Atticus is. Even when something bad is said just keep going and be courageous. This shows that Atticus wants his children to be like he is, a kind, strong, understanding person. The most important ideas from this section are, as I explained before, how someone who does nothing wrong or harmful doesnt deserve anything bad done to them. This is what i beleive the title of the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" means.If I could have asked the author one question I would ask where she based the character Boo Radley off of? I know that much of the book is based off her own childhood, but Boo Radley just seams unrealistic. That would really suprise me if there was actually a weird person who hadn't came outside in years. Thats jsut a little something that I have been wondering since I first read about Boo Radley.
      In our literature circle we had a good discussion about this section. Much of it revolved around what i said was the most important idea from the section which i have already talked about alot. Everyone agreed that the saying "To Kill a Mockingbird" had a much deeper meaning than just simply killing a bird. We all agreed that it could relate to many characters in the story like Jem and Scout which I have already talked about extensively before. We didn't have a connector so we didn't get to go over any of those questions but we went over all the other ones and everyone in the circle had a lot of good things to say and input to the conversation so we were able to discuss until the end of the period.
       Colten pointed out how it didn't only relate to the story, but it could also relate to our lives today. We are always hearing about bullying, which as we all know usually occurs for no reason other than someone being different or considered "weird" in the bully's mind. It's crazy how this lesson that was relevant almost century ago is still relevant today, and will be for the foreseeable future.