1st Marking Period Reflection

In regards to English I have honestly enjoyed the first marking period. There was never a point where I felt overwhelmed by the amount of work that was given out. In general, I liked the fact that for each of the assignments that were handed out we were almost always given time to work on them in class. The instructions are clearly given yet unlike other classes I do not feel restricted. There is a higher amount of creativity allowed in this class with projects and other assignments. When compared to other classes English tends to be fairly easy but this could be due to the fact that I enjoy it the most and would much rather write any day then do math.
 
Coming from a gifted language arts class last year this class is much different. I am not used to having language arts all five days in the school week so that was a big change that I had to get used to along with the fact that there would only be around 2 projects occurring at once instead of 4. It is much easier to manage my time this way and complete everything that I need to. Everything is much more relaxed and does not impede on the work that I am given in other classes. It does not eat away my time like other classes I am currently taking. Although I do believe that the independent reading project could have been more challenging, I have a feeling like everything will get harder coming up. 

Musical Connections

There are many songs that could arguably connect in various ways to To Kill a Mockingbird. However, the other day I heard my father playing a song on the guitar that he used to play a lot when I was little. I had never actually listened or thought about the lyrics, but when I did I realized that they connect very well to the story.

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

-“Good Riddance” Green Day

The first line of the song reminds me of how Atticus had reached a fork stuck in the road. He did his best with the situation that he was given, along with Tom Robinson. They both were dealt with unfortunate circumstances that they had to work with. As the second line states, only time would tell if their circumstances were becoming any better. Atticus and Tom painstakingly waited for the results from the journey. In the end, the whole experience was a true-life test for both of them. It proved to be to be too much for Tom to handle and even had a large impact on Atticus. The lesson learned in time could also refer to Jem, who was forced to grow up fast and recognize that life is not always fair.

Social Justice

In 1955 Emmett Till was brutally murdered at the age of 14 by two white men in their thirties. One of them happened to be the wife of a white woman whom Till had talked with on the street earlier that week. His husband became angry and decided to murder Till, over a matter so small. Not only was Till murdered, he was horrifically beaten by the two men, shot, and thrown in the river. When he was found, his mother decided to have an open-casket funeral to show the public just how serious and terrifying the inferiority of blacks to whites was becoming. The fact that Emmett Till’s face had almost no features left, leaving it virtually impossible to recognize him, showed the public the extreme to which things had gone. This marked the start to the Civil Rights Movements.

In order to fully capture social justice in a society there must be fairness and equality amongst the people. There must be understanding, sympathy, and the courage to look through another’s eyes for moment. Unfortunately in many cases this does not occur. Our society has grown into a fairly tolerable and diverse one that seems to have grown in multiple ways since the 1950’s and 60’s when African Americans were considered of lesser importance. However, although our society may not be so upfront about social injustices, there are still many hidden areas of society that do not receive the attention that they need and the full amount of respect and equality that was a given right to them at birth.

For example, social injustices occur in everyday looking households among young children. Child abuse is one of the largest unseen social injustices that are mainly hidden because these children do not have a voice to speak out. They do not have the ability to form campaigns or let others know what is occurring. Only about 1/3 of cases are reported, showing just how little the general public knows about this large problem. With Americans defending their rights to punish their children, it is no wonder that this is one of the largest social injustices still occurring. Many citizens choose to overlook child abuse when viewing it because they either do not feel it is their place to step in or feel as if the parent has the right to raise their child in their own way. It is this turning of the cheek that allows social injustice to continue. However, those who choose to take a stand are doing everything in their power to lower the percent of this unseen cruelty. Many groups have been formed including the CACA (Citizens against Child Abuse) and others to ensure that social justice will be reached eventually for the children who have little voice in the problem.

There are many other social injustices that occur today among women, foreigners, and various other cultures. Discrimination in the workplace, in schools, and in public places is still around however not as prevalent. If we are truly the society that we believe we have transformed into, the society which is tolerable, fair, and courageous, we will find the social injustices that are left among us and fight to end them. The cry for social justice became evident to many among the murder of a young boy in 1955. It should not take another incident of the same caliber to open the eyes of the people to not only refrain from discrimination and inequality, but to fight against it and take a stand as well.

Sources:

http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/marapr2007p24.shtml

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/sfeature/sf_remember.html

Brown v. Board of Education

The 1950's was a time of racial segregation, unfairness, and inequality. When one thinks of the world in this time one would think of white and black with no fusion or freedom to converse amongst the two groups. African Americas were considered a lesser group of people with less potential than the white community. They therefore were placed in separate schools from the white children and were given a lesser education in run-down, ramshackle buildings. There was recognition that these facilities were not equal and were not allowing the minority group to have the opportunity to high education as the white children of each town were receiving. This recognition lead to the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896. This case resulted in what the court stated as "separate but equal facilities." However, there was little reinforcement to the equal facilities part of the agreement and the schools continued to be in significantly worse shape for the minorities.
Linda Brown's parents were the ones who originally challenged the Board of Education because their daughter was forced to walk a great distance every single morning to attend the colored school in which she was told to attend. Her parents argued that because there was a school for white children much closer to their house that Linda should be allowed to attend this school if the buildings really were "equal." They stated, "Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children...A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn." Through the help of the NAACP and other parents who agreed with the Browns, on May 17, 1954 the desegregation of schools was officially declared. This paved the way for others to follow in the pursuit of equal rights.

Sources:

http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/brown.html

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_brown.html

Connections to Doubt

When one thinks about the movie Doubt the word gossip tends to come to mind. An entire sermon speech was dedicated to the detrimental effects of gossiping. Once one starts it, it is impossible to completely undo the damage. Father O’Rourke states the comparison of gossip to feathers in the wind to a woman in the church who has confessed to gossiping.

Father O’Rourke: “Now I want you to go back and gather up every last feather that flew out onto the wind”

Woman: “It can't be done. I don't know where they went. The wind took them all over.”

Father O’Rourke: “And that, is gossip!”

This perfect metaphor explains how gossiping spreads all over. Once it spread, it is unable to be undone. On the way, it also changes just as the feathers would. In To Kill A Mockingbird there are many rumors that go around about Boo Radley. When Scout talks to some people she hears that Boo Radley is still alive and well, he simply prefers to keep to himself. However, when she talks to others she hears that Boo Radley stabbed his father and later died himself and was stuffed into the chimney. Everyone had been talking about Boo and now the facts cannot be separated from the lies. In both Doubt and To Kill A Mockingbird gossiping is a major problem that leads to the major issues that we have been introduced to thus far.

In Doubt and To Kill a Mockingbird both people are forced to recognize their faults. In To Kill a Mockingbird Scout, Jem, and Dill were scolded by Atticus. Although their form of gossiping was different than that of Doubt it still had the same detrimental effect. Dill, Jem, and Scout were playing a game that made fun of Boo Radley. They publicly shared their version of a story which they did not know the truth to. They mocked him as well as dramatically put their own twists on the story for why he acts the way he does. To this, Atticus told them that they were publicly humiliating someone who had never done anything to them. After this, the game died down.

However, the form of recognizing the damaging effects of gossiping come is slightly larger. In this case there was an entire sermon to explain just how large of a sin gossiping was after he learned of women in the church who had participated in the act. Although this form of scolding was on a larger scale because of their age, the same lesson as in To Kill a Mockingbird was learned.

This lesson that was learned in both stories is that publicly sharing your opinion on someone else is unnecessary and unfair to that person. Most of the time, what you hear is not true. Therefore, it is best to keep what one may here hidden away until the truth is revealed from the person themselves. Scout, Jem Dill, and the woman in Doubt all had to learn this the hard way. The problems that arose in both cases could have been avoided. Boo Radley would be able to live in peace and solitude and although we know little about the situation of Doubt, it is clear through the guilty expressions on the gossiper’s face that they too started a good amount of trouble for someone.

Who is Harper Lee?

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Harper Lee is an author most famously known for her novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama. Everyone in the town knew everyone else. As a child she preferred to play around with the boys, just as is reflected through her character Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird.

An interesting factor in Lee's life was her parents. Her father was a social man who had been a newspaper editor, a lawyer, and a state senator. On the other hand, Lee's mother was believed to have a type of mental illness, most likely bi polar disorder. She was very unsocial and preferred to stay in her home. It is interesting to see how each of the parents influenced Lee throughout her life. Her writing skills one could assume developed from her father. Harper Lee discovered this talent through the quick fame of To Kill a Mockingbird. However, this fame must have set off the side of Lee that she developed from her mother because she quickly retreated to her home right after fame had come upon her. Afterwards, she was rarely seen.

References:

http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-lee-harper.asp

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1825.Harper_Lee