Sunday, May 31, 2009

TKAM Journal#7

-Jean “Scout” Louise Finch
5/31/09

Summer has come to an end. School has started so has the terrifying walks by the Radley place. I think I'm getting too old to be scared. There is also something I'm really anxious about. It has me thinking all the time. If I could see Boo Radley just once in pure skin and bones. I want it more than I want Dill to come back. I don't know If it can ever happened because Atticus just tells me to stop thinking about that so does Jem. I think I will just forget about it.

However, ever since school has started Miss Gates has been lecturing us about Hitler.
He's wicked crazy so far that I know about him. The way he treats the Jews is unnecessary. I think I hate him but Atticus says that I shouldn't hate anyone. Miss Gates doesn't like him either. Talking about Miss Gates the other day I asked Jem something about her and he got real furious. It made me want to cry. I don't like it when Jem gets mad at me.

Well anyway Halloween is here. I dressed up like a ham. The costume came out to be pretty successful but it did bother me. Anyway I participated in a Halloween contest that the school set up. After it was all over Jem and I walked home. It was so dark outside. I couldn't see anything. It was so hard for me to walk especially with my ham costume. Suddenly, Jem heard something. He said he clearly heard someone. I was scared. He said it was probably Cecil trying to scare us. So we didn't fall for it and just kept on walking. We had reached the end of the road then suddenly someone starts running behind us.


Run!” Jem yelled at the top of his lungs. It was too hard. It was completely dark and my costume was bothering me. I lost my balance and fell. Then Jem dragged me all the way to the road. I then heard a cracking noise and Jem screamed. I try to run toward him and then someone squeezed me. I couldn't breathe. Someone suddenly pulls the person that attacked us away.

Suddenly there is a strong smell of whiskey. I stumbled home then the light of my house I see a man carrying Jem. When I get home Aunt Alexandra immediately calls Dr. Reynolds. I was so scared. My heart was throbbing. Is Jem dead? Then Dr. Reynolds says he 's only unconscious and he has a broken arm. At least hes not dead.

The man that carried Jem home was in the room but I wasn't sure who it was. I didn't recognize him. Suddenly Mr.Tate appears and informs us that Mr.Ewell is lying under a tree, dead, with a knife under his ribs. It was him all along.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

TKAM Post#6

I kind of wonder. Its 's kind of suspicious that the night of November 21st when Tom Robinson "raped" Mayella and beat her. Ewell did not call a doctor immediately. I keep asking him why. A doctor was needed if she was badly beaten. This is just very suspicious.



When Mayella got called up she says that the night of her "rape" . She says that thst night she offered Tom a nickel to break up a dresser for her. Once he got inside the house he grabbed her and took advantage of her. She then admits that she lives with seven useless brothers, an alchaholic father, and that she has no friends. Then that really made me wonder. It made things more suspicious. How come she didn't put up a better fight? How come nobody else listened to her? And most importantly how did Tom Robinson manage the crime? How could he bruse the right side of her face with his useless left hand?




Well of course! Ewell raped and beat Mayella. If he is an alchaholic then of course he could have done that. I shouted that he ahd raped her in the court room. Then he started yelling at me. He said the courtroom would have to be a bunch of cowards if they do not agree that Tom Robinson commited the crime. Mayella started bursting into tears and refused to answer any more questions.



Minutes later I called Tom Robinson up. He starts testyfing that everytime he passes by the Ewell house on the way to work that Mayella would often ask him to do chores for her. On the night of November 21st he says that Mayella asked him to come inside the house and fix a door. He noticed that there was nothing wrong with the door and that the children were gone. He said that Mayella told him she had saved money and sent all the kids to buy ice cream. He said that Mayella asked him to lift a box down from the dresser. Suddenly she hugged his leg. It scared him so much that he jumped down. She then hugged him around the waist and asked him to kiss her. She struggled and suddenly her father appeared at the window. She called her a whore and threatend to kill her. Then Tom left. Suddenly Tom's white employer stands up and syas that all these years hes worked with him he has never had any problems. The judge kicks the guy out because he intterupted.




But it is still clarified that Tom Robinson did commit this crime and that he lied about the whole thing. Is it just because he is black? This is not going to stay like this.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

TKAM Journal#5

character: Scout
As soon as I saw aunt Alexandra sitting in the front porch of my house I got this feeling. It wasn't a good one. Its not that I don't like her but I just can't get along with her. Who knows maybe I do dislike her a little bit. Jem has the same feeling.
When I found out aunt Alexandra was going stay with us for a “while” to be honest I didn't really like the idea. She was staying with us so she can give me “feminine influence”. She says that since I'm growing u she needs to be around. So I can grow into being an actual girl. She says that soon I will be interested in girl stuff. Such as boys and clothing. Never!
However, I for sure dislike aunt Alexandra. She has so much ride for her or our last name. A Finch. I guess she told my father to lecture us on our family ancestry because he started talking about it. By the way ever since aunt Alexandra came my dad has changed. His attitude and everything I don't like that.
I remembered how I asked Calpurnia what rape was and she said to ask my dad. Then I tell my dad how Calpurnia took Jem and I to church on Sunday and asked him If I can go again. Aunt Alexandra refuses but I did not even ask her. Later that night Jem tells me to stop being so rude with aunt Alexandra. I don't like it when Jem tries to tell me what to do or not to do. I got so mad and attacked him. But, of course my dad comes in and breaks it up and sends us off to bed.
Suddenly that night I discovered something under my bed. Dill! He was under my bed. He said that he ran away from home because his mom and dad don't pay any attention to him. Jem goes down stairs and tells Atticus. He then orders me to bring him food. While my dad goes and tells dill's aunt Rachel that he is here. He hops into Jem's bed and sleeps.
A week later someone is at the door at night I don't know who. Then my dad goes somewhere. Jem tells me that aunt Alexandra and dad have been arguing about his trial. He then sneaks out and follows dad and dill and I follow along. We follow him to were he is going. I see him from a distance reading the news paper in Maycomb jail. My brother then insisted that we shall go home and not disturb my dad. But I wanted to stay. I wanted to know what was going on.
Suddenly a car stops and four guys get out. I realized that these were the guys that were at the door really late. I decided to stop hiding. Jem and dill do the same and stop hiding. My dad then orders us to go home. Jem refused so did I. I didn't want to go home. What if these men hurt my dad. I just stayed along with Jem and Dill. I then realize that one of these guys is Mr. Walter Cunningham. The dad of Walter Cunningham in my class. This has been the weirdest day ever.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

TKAM Journal#4

Chapter 10-12
Character:Mrs.Dubose



I'm crazy. I know I am. Jem and Scout drive me more crazy. Jeremy is a rude little boy who makes me lose my mind. The other day I told Jeremy how his father is no better than the niggers and trash he works for. It's the truth. He is a nigger lover. He's no better than anything. That Rude little Jeremy destroyed my camellia bushes. Scout drives me crazy. It drives me crazy how she is so dirty. Those overalls she wears. Makes her look unladylike .
However, now Jeremy has to read to me for a month. He always brings his dirty little sister with him all the time. Now they get to see the real me. They get to see the perculiar fits I have at a certain hour. I'm off the drug addiction for a month. Then my life will be gone. Morphine is powerful. It takes control over me. It has taken control over me all the time I've been on it. I can't take control over it. But just this month I want to gain control over it. Then I'm gone.
I had actually quite enjoyed Jeremy reading sessions with me. Even though I don't listen to him. It helps me gain control over morphine and it helps me achieve my goal. To be off of it for a month. I like the reading sessions because I set my alarm clock later so that Jeremy and Scout can stay longer. They life as soon as the alarm clock sets off because those are my fits.
I'll admit it. I am lonely. Imagine knowing your going to die in a month and your lonely and hopeless. That is why I decided to be off morphine for a month. I don't want to die a drug addict. As soon as the month is over and Jeremy and Scout walk out that door Ill be gone forever. I may die like a sad,lonely, and grumpy woman but not as a drug addict.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

TKAMB Chapters 1-3

To kill a mocking bird
Chapter 1 through 3
Character: Jem

Summer has been good so far. I met a boy named Charles Baker Harris who calls himself Dill. He is staying with his aunt Miss Rachel Haverford for the summer. She lives next door to us. Dill and I have become pretty good friends. We always play together. Until one day he dared me to to cross over and touch the Radley place.
Boo Radley seems like a malevolent person. He never comes out of his house. I heard that as a boy he got in trouble with the law and his father punished him and imprisoned him in his house. Nobody knew about him for a long time and one day he stabbed his father with a pair of scissors. People think he is crazy. I was dared to touch his house by Dill. Dill has pretty eccentric ideas. This one is the most eccentric. The Radley place is pretty intimidating specially Boo Radley.
September is here. That means school starts. This year will be Scout's first year of school. She has never gone to school. She will be starting the first grade. While I was at lunch I saw Scout rubbing a kid's nose in dirt. I had to intervene. Walter Cunningham was the kid's name. He was one of the Cunningham's. The Cunningham's were really poor. I decided to invite Walter to eat dinner with us. His dad was a friend of my dad's and I thought it would be nice. We walked and talked all the way home about Boo Radley. When we got home for dinner Walter and my dad were talking about farming problems. It seems like they got along just well.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Project Reflection

Lit circles

Overall I really did enjoy the book I chose to read and getting to choose important quotes and commenting on them. I also enjoyed getting to know the people in my lit circles group perspective on how they feel towards the novel. It was interesting to get to know about what they think.
Something I learned from my L.C group was about their perspective towards the book and some connections they had to the quotes they chose. Something I learned from the novel was about why people immigrated to the U.S and what they had to go through. Like in my book the family had to cross the border illegally just to live better and to try to get out of the poverty they lived in. They came to the U.S illegally and they were still too poor because they were illegal and they couldn't get a decent job because they didn't go to school and they were illegal.



Art & Literature

For my art piece I decided to make a metaphor for the story and create an art piece out of the metaphor. Since the story I read was depressive and happy at times I decide to create the ocean, the sun, mountains, and the border. I used bright colors which represented happiness and hope in the story and the dark colors represented depression. The family also faced a lot of obstacles so the mountains and the border represented obstacles. I decide to make that a new cover page so people could see how the story is by looking at the picture.
I think there was a connection made between the book I read and the art piece I created. Like I said I created a metaphor by creating what I created and it represented how the story was.
I think I could have done way better on my art piece. I think I should have added more detail to it so when people look at the image they capture the message I'm trying to send. If I would have added more detail my final product would have been more successful. Something I learned about creating an art piece of the novel I read was how to express what I felt towards something by creating an image out of it.

Interview
I think the interview process was difficult at times especially the in person interview because my person coudn't do the interview the time i needed to.
That affected me because I had to turn in that assignment late and that affects my grade. It was also difficult because the person I got was young and he migrated to the united states at a really young age so he didn't really remember some thing that were important.
I thought interviewing a person three times was a little hard because we had to ask different questions each time we interviewed them and it would be hard to come up with good questions. It was also hard because sometimes my person would not reply on time so that was a problem.
How interviewing someone helped me understand what we were learning in class was that it helped me understand why people were immigrating to the U.S. Mostly because of poverty or because of school. My person migrated here because his daddy was in the army or something like that and he had to go to the U.S so they migrated here.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Book Review:The Circuit-Breaking Through

The Circuit and the sequel to that book, Breaking Through, by Fransisco Jimenez was a very good book. This book and sequel is basically about a poor family who immigrates to the Unites States from Mexico illegally so they can make a better life and try to get out of poverty. The Circuit is about the childhood of all the kids and the sequel Breaking Through is about the family trying to overcome what they go through while living their new life in America.
I really liked reading these books a lot because I like reading stories about immigration and I liked the way the author describes every moment of the story. It really helps me understand. I got really into this story because it was so good and getting into depth of someone's life was pretty cool. It was really shocking how this actually happened like how they immigrated illegally and they did succeed.
One of the main characters in this story is Fransisco Jimenez. Fransisco is the second oldest child before Roberto, his brother Fransisco is a very good student, good son, and person. Fransisco is intelligent, generous, and caring. He is always trying to find a way to help his parents out. He always puts himself after his family. He is always trying to find a way to help his parents out. He is also the author of the story which is basically a memoir of his life. Besides being an intelligent, caring, and generous person he is a great writer.
I would recommend for people to read this book because it is pretty good. The way the author describes his life makes you see immigration different. Well at least that is what it did for me. Some people might think immigration is bad or whatever they think of it. This story really makes you see how the family came here and how people treated them. It's very good and I recommended it.
Overall this was a great book. Normally reading doesn't interest me so much but this book really changed that. It really opened my mind to reading other books and I learned a lot about immigration and what some people actually have to go through to get a so called better life because in their countries they don't have the opportunities America has. I learned a lot about the Mexican culture which I am Mexican but I learned stuff I did not know about my culture. I really enjoyed reading this book and I learned a lot.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Breaking Through

Quote#1-
"His eyes turned red and watery as we approached and hugged each other. We were silent. Each one of us knew what we were feeling"page 190 Fransisco

This quote really shows how Fransisco made it through but he also struggled because he had to leave his family behind because of his education. He had a really hard time leaving his family because pretty much all his life he has been trying to help them and Fransisco really loves his family so he it's hard for him to leave home.

I had moments were I wanted to do something but I struggled with it because I didn't want to leave something behind or I didn't want to lose something For example when I swithced schools in 5th grade they switched me to a good school so I can better education. I wanted to go but I at the same time i didn't because I knew I would be leaving my friends behind. So it's similar to what Fransisco went through when he had to go to college.

Question#1-
Have you ever experienced a moment similar to Fransisco were you wanted to do or go somewhere really badly because you knew it would help you some how but didn't want to at the same time because you didn't want to leave something or someone behind?




Quote#2-
I speed ed up, crossed the bridge, and headed north to Santa Clara. I was going to college. After so many years, I was still moving. page 193 Fransisco

This is a thing Fransisco overcame in life. He wanted to get a good education and do something in the furore and he did. He overcame a challenge in his life which was getting a good education. The part were he said he was still moving was like sort of reflecting about his life because he would always move to different labor camps each season and now he was just moving forward through life accomplishing something.

I can connect to this quote because in life you face many, many things and I haven't gone through anything that Fransisco has been through and has overcome but I do have many things I have relized helped me. The conflicts I've had in live ended up getting resolved and learnd, just like how Fransisco faced his problems.

Question #2

I'm sure everyone has made a mistake in live, but how can you connect to how Francisco faced his?

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Breaking Through

Quote#1-

"You can't wear that t-shirt, mijo, Mama cried out. "It's yellow-ish and frayed."
Page 58 mama

This quote shows how the life of the Jimenez family is very challenging. They live in a lot of poverty and that is very challenging because it's harder for them to live so they really have to save a lot of money and handle it well. So Fransisco has to wear his brother's big shirt because he doesn't have one.

This moment in the story reminds me of this show I once saw about a kid who once was required to wear new shoes to school because there was a very important person coming. The kid was poor and all he could afford was a pair of sandals. So it is very similar to Fransisco's situation.

Why couldn't the rest of Fransisco's family attend Fransisco's graduation?

Quote #2-
"I knew Papa's check was for sixty five dollars, because he got paid a dollar an hour. ROberto and I reiceved eighty-five cents per hour just like the braceros.

This quote shows a how challenging their life is too because papa gets paid a little bit of money for all that hard work. It is also a big change though too compared to their life in Mexico because they were even more poor than they are now. That is a challenge they have to face and also a big change in the their life.

This part of the story reminds me of the same show I mentioned in the connection for quote number one. The little kid's father worked so hard and only got paid like ten dollars or less for all he worked so Papa's situation is similar to the kid's fahter in the television program.

Do you think Papa will ever get a better job that he gets paid a little bit more?

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Breaking Through

Quote#1:
"The long-awaited day finally arrived. It was early Sunday evening. Roberto and I were doing out homework at the kitchen table when we heard dogs barking. We jumped up and ran out the door. A yellow cab came around the corner in front. All four doors opened like the pedals of a flower. I went around the front of the car to the other side where Mamá and Papá stood with open arms. I felt like a child running to them. I did not know whom to hug first."
Who said it: Fransisco
page 43

Significance:
This was something that Fransisco and Roberto struggled with in their life because young boys living alone without their families must be really hard. So when Fransisco says that he ran up to them and he felt like a child almost brought tears to my eyes because that states that Fransisco and Roberto missed their parents and they needed them.

Personal Connection:
A connection I have towards this is that it reminds me of when I was a little girl. Sometimes I would have to stay over my grandma's house or something I couldn't live without my mom and so the next day she would come I would like run up to hug her because I missed her so much. I can also connect to how Fransisco felt at that moment he saw his parents I felt like that when I didn't see my parents in a long time which was like a week for me.

Quote#2:
Yes," I responded, Wiping my tears and looking down at his large, black shinny boots. At that pint I were someone else, someone with a different name. My teacher had a sad and pained look in her eyes. I followed the immigration officer out of the classroom and into his car marked Border Patrol."
page 4
Significance:
This part of the story was really sad and it's a challenge Fransisco faced because Fransisco was trying his best not to get caught and so he didn't accomplish that. It must also had been pretty sad because he had to leave everything behind ad that must had been hard for Fransisco. I think that this really ruined Fransisco's life and hope and crushed his happiness.

Personal Connection:
How I think I can connect to this quote is how when I want to accomplish something and then it doesn't turn out good which pretty much sucks. I also feel pretty sad and hopeless so I can connect to how Fransisco feels.

Question:
Do you think things will get better for Fransisco and his family?

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Immigration Reflection

REFLECTION
An immigrant is a person who comes to a country were they are not born to settle there. Some reasons why an immigrant would migrate to another country is because in the country were they are from they live in a lot of poverty because there aren't any jobs over there or the jobs they have don't pay off a lot. Another reason why an immigrant would want to leave their country is because they probably don't have enough opportunities and the country they choose to go to probably does. An example for that is maybe a family migrates to another country because in their country they don't make enough money in their jobs and they can't send their kids to school their so if they move to another country that country probably has a better job that pays off more and their kids can attend school.
I think what our country has to offer that other countries don't have to offer is probably better jobs than other countries that pay a little bit more than other countries. Another thing our country has to offer is maybe a better opportunity to get a good education because you can get scholarships and some countries don't have good opportunities to get a good education because of the money. Something immigration has had an affect in the United States is food like all the different ethnic restaurants and the language like some are bilingual.
A connection I have towards immigration is when I was young my siblings and I were born here and we lived here until I was like two years old then we moved to Mexico until I turned like five my family and I moved back to the U.S so my parents can have better jobs so that's not really immigrating because my siblings and I were born here but it's a little similar. A relative I have who is an immigrant would be my parents and half of my family because half of them were born in Mexico but they moved here.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Post: The Circuit

Quote #1: Page 1
Who said it: Francisco
I heard it for the first time back in the late 1940’s when Papa and Mama told me and Roberto, my older brother, that someday we would take a long trip north, cross la frontera, enter California, and leave our poverty behind.

Significance:
This quote relates to the reason of why Mama, Papa, Roberto and Francisco come to America. The reason why Mama, Papa, Roberto, and Francisco come to America is because the family is very poor. So Mama and Papa think that if they come to America they can live better because they have a better job here and more opportunities.

Personal Connection:
How I personally connect to this quote is that I have met a family with a very young boy who migrated to America. The parents remind me of Mama and Papa because they migrated to America for better opportunities and to make money. Mama and Papa migrated for a similar reason. My feeling towards Mama and Papa and the parents is like a very proud feeling because the parents and Mama and Papa came here for a good reason so it makes me proud that they did make it and that their living their lives better.

Question:
Will Mama and Papa accomplish a better life in America and live without so much poverty?

Quote # 2: Page 2
Who said it: Francisco
He told Roberto that he, Fito, didn’t have to get up at four in the morning anymore, like my brother, to milk the five cows by hand and carry the milk in a large aluminum can on horse for several miles to the nearest road where a truck would transport it to town to sell. He didn’t have to go to the river for water, sleep on dirt floors, or use candles for light.

Significance:
This quote explains how Mama, Papa, Roberto, and Francisco’s life was in their home country. The family is very poor and has to work really hard for a little bit of money. It also explains how the family doesn’t have a lot of opportunities because they always have to be working and the family doesn’t have any money so their kids can’t attend school because of their poverty and because they don’t have time.

Personal Connection:
A personal connection I have towards this quote is it reminds me of a movie I once saw about a family who had to work all the time including their kids because the family was so poor. The mom and the dad had to wake up really early in the morning because they had to go farm to serve their kids breakfast and the kids, a boy and a girl, the boy had to help his dad, and the girl had to help her mom. This family is similar to the family in the story because they have to get up really early and work really hard for a little bit of money.

Question:
Is the family in the story going to have to work this hard to earn money?

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