Chapter's 28-31 in the perspective of Boo

Once the sun was setting, I heard masses of people passing my house. They were probably attending the pageant that Nathan had spoken of one day after he went to town. I tried hard to ignore them and walked slowly to my book shelf and opened a book that I had read over twenty times. I heard music in the distance and remembered that the pageant was being held at the high school and wondered if the Finch children would be there. The hours passed very slowly and around ten o'clock I decided to go down to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. I heard what sounded like an echo of a child yelling something playfully in the distance but thought nothing of it.
"Hello!" Yelled another child.
I decided that it must just be a couple of children playing inconveniently at night.
"What was that noise?" Nathan growled from the hallway. I shrugged in the dark and he consented silently to let me alone. I soon heard echoing whispers from outside and thought it best to see what was going on. I walked quietly outside in the dark, as not to be seen, and quickly walked along the road. I tried to follow where I thought the whispers were coming from.
The whispers suddenly turned into suppressed screams. I began to run toward the noises and felt myself entering a cool spot on the earth which must have meant that I was allegedly under a tree. I heard coughing and suffocating and saw the outlines of two children and a man. The suffocating was coming from one of the children and the other child was passed out beside the tree trunk. I rammed into the man and snatched the knife from his hand. I trembled as I punched him in the gut and stabbed his ribs with the knife.
The man choked and coughed and slumped against the tree next to the boy. I was still shaking from adrenaline as I lifted the Finch boy into my arms and listened to make sure that Scout was following close behind. I reached the Finch home and Atticus helped me take Jem inside. Atticus showed me a seat near a wall I could sit next to while he called the sheriff and the doctor. Jean Louise stared at me with curiosity but was to interested in her brother's well being to pay attention to me for too long. My assesment of the boy's situation while I was carrying him home was that he was badly injured but could be healed. That seemed to be the case that the doctor described when he spent a few minutes with Jem. I looked around the house and the colors were unfamiliar to me. Although I was aware that Jem was hurt, I knew that he and Scout would be okay and I was happy to finally be apart of their lives.

Chapters 20-24 in the perspective of Atticus

I quietly and respectfully sat through Mr. Gilmer's final statements to the jury and listened to the evidence he gave. I did not want to become overconfident but I believed that my evidence was much more convincing. I told myself not to get my hopes off based on the fact of who was in the jury.
"Court dismissed until the jury decides it's verdict," announced Judge Taylor.
I turned around and noticed that the seats were being emptied and people were flowing out of the door. I kept watch on Jem and Scout because I did not want to let them out of my sight again. I saw that they walked out of the court house with Calpurnia and was sure that they would be back as soon as they could.
"You did a good job, Atticus," I turned back around and saw that it was Mr. Gilmer who had made the nice comment.
"Well, thank you, so did you," I replied.
"What do you honestly think that the jury will decide?"
"You already know the answer to that. But I'd rather not speak of the future at the moment," I ended the conversation and reviewed my notes to pass the time until the jury was finished deciding. Around an hour later Judge Taylor was informed that the jury had came to a decision. The bell was rang to let everyone know to come inside and the seats were filled quickly. I noticed that Jem and Scout had entered the room and the court was called to order.

Chapter's 16-19 in the perspective of Bob Ewell

I took my seat facing Judge Taylor and could see Mayella quivering in her seat. I turned around and saw that people were already crowding the seats and the Negroes were standin' on the balcony.
"Mr. Ewell, you do remember the arrangement of the story right?" Mr. Gilmer whispered to me.
"Well, yeah, just about."
Mr. Gilmer nodded in approval as Judge Taylor called the court to order. Heck went up to the stand first and was asked what had happened that day on November 21st. Heck seemed to help our side of the story well enough. Next up to the stand was me to be asked questions by Mr. Finch. Mr. Finch asked me what I had been doing on November 21st and I answered with a story that seemed to go along extremely well with Heck's. The smirk look on Atticus's face made me wonder if he had caught something but I told myself not to worry and paid attention to his questions.
“Just one more question if I may, Mr. Ewell?” Atticus paused as if waiting for approval and I nodded in acknowledgement.
“Can you read and write?”
“Well of course I can,” I answered.
“Would you write your name for me, please?” His taunting politeness was getting to me. He handed me a blank envelope and a fountain pen and told me to write legibly, which I took to offense. I took my time writin' and peeked up at Atticus only to see that he was intrigued in the way I was writing.
“Well, what's so interestin'?” I asked.
“I've noticed you write with your left hand,” Atticus pointed out. He seemed to have made a point to the judge but I was red in the face with humility 'cause I didn't know what me writing with my left hand meant. Mayella seemed to be thinkin' the same thing.
“Are you ambidextrous then, Mr. Ewell?” Mr Gilmer asked. Who was he to think that I couldn't use my right hand, how dare he.
“I most certainly am not!” I declared.

Chapter 13-15 in the perspective of Dill

Once all of the lights were out in the house I walked to the living room and searched for my mothers purse. I found it and tried to count out thirteen dollars in the dark. I grabbed my coat and headed for the door. I closed the door as quietly as I could to help not to make my dad come see what was happenin'. It was a long walk to the train station but I ended up catching the nine o'clock train to Maycomb from Meridian. The train ride seemed to take forever but when I finally arrived at Maycomb Junction, I found out from the conductor that Maycomb was around fifteen miles away. I walked and walked until my feet were sore along the highway until I spotted a cotton wagon and rode on the back of it until I reached the small town.

I jumped off of the cotton wagon when it stopped for a rest a few streets over from the Finch home. I knew my way around, even in the dark, Maycomb. I noticed that the lights were off in the house but wasn't sure if there was anyone home or not so I snuck around to the back entrance of the house and quickly open the door. The door to Scout and Jem's room was open and no one was inside yet. I heard talking in the front room of the house so I cautiously hid under Scout's bed. I tried to keep quiet as I heard two people enter the room. Jem and Scout were quick to get into an argument because Jem tried to boss my fiancé around. Scout charged Jem and the two got into a fist fight.

"Ain't so high and mighty now," Scout teased Jem as she punched him in the stomach.
Jem countered with a punch that landed Scout on the other side of the room. What had started as Jem and Scout punching each other ended up as Jem and Scout wrestling. After a couple of minutes Atticus walked into the room and intervened. After a good talkin' to, Jem and Scout went to bed.
"Jem, I think there is a snake under my bed,"
"Are you playin a joke on me Scout?" Jem asked.
Once Scout had convinced him she was truly afraid, Jem took a broom and swiped under the bed. The broom hit me in the face and Jem knew there was something under the bed. I decided to get out from under the bed since they would find me sooner or later.
Scout jumped in shock when I climbed out from under her bed and Jem nearly hit me with the broom again.
"Dill, what are you doing here?" Scout asked once she was passed her shock.
I explained my situation with my dad and how I ran away from home and that they were not to tell anyone that I was here.

Chapter's 10-12 in the perspective of Mrs Dubose

"Jessie, come here now!" I yelled.
"Comin' ma'am," she muttered as I heard her drop whatever she was doing and run to my aid.
"You help me outta bed so I can get to my chair outside," I demanded sternly. Without answering she helped me out of bed and I used her as a crutch to walk out to the porch.
"Now bring me some tea, Jessie,"
"Yes ma'am," Once she left I spotted the Finch children walkin' down my sidewalk. Their father was a disgrace to this town but these children showed his stupidity more than he.
"Where are you headed, playing hookey I suppose," I said loud enough to make myself heard. "Guess I'll have to call your principal, won't I?"Jem contradicted me, and to make sure that they were aware of my disapproval I insulted their father.
"Well, all your daddy is is a nigger lover!" I laughed at Jem's antagonized face and stared at little Jean Louise.
"What are you doin' in those overalls, girl? You'll never be a lady."Once I was sure I made my point clear, I called for Jessie to hurry with the tea and Jem and Scout went on their way to town. Finally, Jessie walked out to the porch with my tea and I spent around thirty minutes just sipping the tea on my porch. Afterwards, I went inside for a nap and told Jessie to wake me in a few hours.
When I woke from my rest, Jessie told me that something had just happened out in my garden. She helped me to the front porch and I stared in disgust at what had happened. Every single camellia was destroyed. Every bud had been sliced of of it's stem and in the grass by the mess, laid a broken baton. The perpetrators were not very inconspicuous in their act. I was absolutely sure it was Jem and Jean Louise Finch. First their father defends a disgusting Negro and now his children were out destroyin' private property. I was still furious when Mr. Atticus Finch strolled toward my yard. As he was about to tip his hat and mouth an inaudible 'Good day to you', I nearly jumped out of my chair and began to yell at Mr. Finch.
“Your disgraceful children did this! Look at what they did to my beautiful garden. You'll never learn how to properly raise children alone will you Atticus?” As I went on in my fury, Atticus walked into my front yard and acquired the broken baton.
“And you're sure it was my children, Mrs. Dubose?” He asked.
“Of course I know it was those filthy children. They were on their way to town an' talking about buyin' some toys.”
"Well, don't you worry ma'am I'll have a talk with them," He assured me.
"You'd better!"
He smiled at me and tiped his hat with the baton and a few camellia buds in his hand and was on his way.

Chapter's 8-9 in the perspective of Ms. Maudie

At the end of the year, the seasons switched. One morning I woke up during autumn and slushy snow covered the ground. Mr. Avery seemed to convince all of the neighborhood children that the reason the seasons were unusual was because of something inscribed in the Rosetta Stone. That same winter, Mrs. Radley passed away from natural causes. I went to visit the Radley home, along with many other neighbors, to send my love to the family and my goodbye to Mrs. Radley. Nathan Radley thanked me for coming and entrusted me with one of Mrs. Radley's necklaces. Afterwards, I walked back home in the watery snow and ate dinner. I sat with Mr. Avery and we discussed the weather and tried to keep from speaking of the recent tragic death. A day later, as I sat on my isolated rocking chair, Jem and Scout trecked to my front porch.
“Ms. Maudie, might you let us borrow some of your snow?” asked Jem.
“Well of course. Just use that basket over there.” I pointed near the end of the porch and Jem retrieved the basket.
I watched Jem and Scout roll mud ingenuously and cover it with snow in an attempt to make a snowman. Once they were almost finished, I went inside to make some warm tea. When I returned outside, I was shocked to see my sun hat and hedge-clipper being used as decor for the muddy snowman.
“Jem, you devil, bring me back my sun hat now!” I yelled in anger.
Atticus, being all too proud of Jem, strolled over to have a debate with me about Jem's actions.
That night, it was the coldest night in Maycomb for as long as I can remember living here. I secured a cloth over my plants to keep them warm. I also left a nice fire going for them in that room. Maybe around twelve thirty in the morning I was awakened by an extreme heat and a shriek from outside. I quickly realized that a fire was spreading through my home. I ran outside to find help and saw that there were a couple of neighbors outside, and a few had already called the fire department. In a matter of a few minutes most of the neighborhood had woken up to see what was going on and were trying to help by splashing buckets of water until the firefighters arrived.
Because of the freezing cold and snow, the firetrucks needed to be pushed by many men to my home across town. By the time it got there, Mr. Avery who was still in my home, had realized what was going on and was planning his escape.
“Mr. Avery, you're gonna have to hurry sir, the stairs are being destroyed!” people screamed, trying to coax him out of the burning house faster.
With his quick thinking, he climbed out of the window and slid down a pipe on the side of the house and fell in a flower bed. Tired children in the crowd, wandered around looking very perplexed as to what was going on. For a second I saw Jem and Scout quivering by the Radley house. I turned back to my house and noticed that the fire had nearly gone out but there was nothing left for the firefighters to save.
“Ms. Maudie, you can stay with me 'til this all clears up,” Stephanie Crawford offered.
“I'd love to, thank you very much Stephanie,” I agreed gratefully.
The next day, Jem and Scout told me how sorry they were for me losing my house.
“Well, I'm not all that said. I've always wanted a smaller house,” I admitted.
“Why?” The children seemed very puzzled at this.
“Because a smalled house always comes with a big yard which means more room for my flowers and room for my dream garden.”
They still did not seem to understand but they knew my passion for gardening and asked no more questions.

Chapter's 4-7 in the perspective of Jem

Once I got home from school I spotted Scout chewin' on somethin' that looked like gum. When I asked her where she got it she told me from a tree.
“Scout, you spit that out right now, ya hear!” I exclaimed, “I'll tell Calpurnia on you if you don't.”
I could tell that Scout would rather take an order from me than be tormented by Calpurnia, so she spit out that dirty chewing gum right away. I asked her what tree she'd found it on just out of curiosity and she told me that she'd been wandering over by the Radley's house. Didn't she know better than to do that? After scolding her we spoke of how summer was near which meant Dill would be comin' to Maycomb soon.
On the last day of school, me 'n Scout walked home and she pointed at the tree where she'd found the gum. Inside the knot of the tree, there was a small box that looked like somethin' you'd put a wedding ring in. Although we'd always evaded the Radley house, we greedily took the package and ran home to open it up. Inside we found a few polished coins. When I looked closely I saw that they were Indian heads from 1900 and 1906. Scout was too young to understand the importance of these old coins so I told her how valuable they were and that the person they belonged to would miss 'em. We ended up makin' a unanimous decision to keep them 'til school started up again and ask the kids at school then. Two days later Dill arrived with tales of his train ride and how he'd met his father.
“I also helped the engineer a bit today,” announced Dill proudly.
Scout scowled and claimed she didn't believe any of his tall tales.
“Hush, you two!” I exclaimed, clearly annoyed.
“Make us up a play to act, Jem,” Scout suggested.
“I'm tired of making up those,” I said.
Dill suddenly announced that he smelled death and Scout told him to hush. I teased them of being afraid of Hot Steams and when Dill asked what they were I explained. Scout opened her big mouth to get back at me for sayin' she was afraid and said I was terrified of the Hot Steams.
“How 'bout we roll in the tire?” Scout asked.
I reminded her I was too big to fit in the tire, 'sides I was mad at her for sayin' I was scared of Hot Steams.
“You can push,” Scout was so full of great ideas today.
I agreed and waited for her to get into the tire. Instead of lightly pushing the tire I used all of my strength to send my sister flying. I was still in a state of tyranny when Dill yelled at me to run and help her. My mind was snapped back into focus as I chased her, while screaming her name, down the road and into the Radley's front yard. It took her a while to get out of the tire and quickly run back to saftey but she was uninjured.
For days after that, Dill and I excluded Scout from our meetings in the treehouse because since she was a girl and the youngest, she was the most likely to tell of our plans. Dill 'n me decided that on Dill's last day in Maycomb for the summer, we would sneak into the Radley yard and try to get a peek at Boo Radley in his house. The day had finally come so when it came time to carry on with our plans, we told Scout and warned her to keep her mouth shut. With Dill and Scout by my side, I came up with a plan to lift Dill up to the window and see if he could see anything. Dill didn't see anythin' so we tried the back window but when we got there, there was a shadow of a man coming towards us. We quietly tried to make it back to the gate and I demanded for Scout and Dill to run to the fence by the school yard. On our way there, we were startled by a gun shot which made us decide to run home.
When all of the neighbors were gathered around the Radley house to see why they had heard a gun shot, we joined the crowd, as to not seem suspicious.
“Jem, son, where have you been and where are your pants?” Atticus asked me firmly.
“Uhhh...” I had no idea how to answer but Dill, being the wonderful liar, made up a story that convinced Atticus of why I had no pants on. In the middle of the night, I snuck out and retrieved my pants from the Radley yard. My heart was beating faster than ever as I returned to bed seeing that Scout was teetering on her bed nervously awaiting my return.

Chapters 1-3 in the perspective of Dill

“Dill, now where are you headed?”
“I'm going to the collard patch outside Aunt Rachel,” I said as I opened the back screen door and felt the humid air on my skin.
“Well be back inside for dinner,” she said and I nodded in acknowledgment to her pronouncement.
I sat cross legged in the patch in the back of Aunt Rachel's home. I was already missin' my friends back in Meridian but reminded myself it was only 'til school started up again. A few minutes past as I sat there, staring at the wired fence separating Aunt Rachel's collard patch and the neighbor's yard. Next thing I knew there was two unfamiliar faces staring at me through the fence.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey, yourself,” said a boy who I had learned was named Jem.
I told him my name but he didn't seem to agree that I fit my name perfectly fine 'cause I'm old enough to. His full name wasn't as flattering; Jeremy Atticus Finch, what a strange name. Jem and his little sister Scout were both indigenous to Maycomb in the sense that they were born and raised here. They were wondering why I was here all the sudden so I told 'em 'bout me winning five whole dollars for the Beautiful Child Contest and now my mom and I were going to spend summer here every year. We spent a while talking about ourselves and I told them the story of Dracula that I had seen in the theater.
I liked being with Jem and Scout, we'd always play games where we'd all be characters from a play and act out the story. We had acted out so many stories, none of us had anymore ideas. We sat down thinking of something to do. I looked down the street at the mysterious, malevolent looking home. On the outside it seemed as if the home was abandoned, the grass was uncut, paint peeling and lights off. I had heard of this house from Jem and Scout a bit, which only made me want to find out more about the house and the people inside of it. Jem stared at me as I wrapped my arm around the lightpole and leaned on it while watching the Radley home.
Scout and Jem explained the story of the Radley family. I didn't allow them to see that the stories intimidated me, especially since I would be living in a house very close to the Radley's until the end of summer. I wasn't so sure about Nathan Radley but he seemed very much like his father. I wondered how he was getting along with having to live with that monster, Boo Radley, alone. That night I decided there must be a way to see Boo. Although his story scared me, my eccentric curiosity overpowered fear. I figured that I could probably convince Jem to get Boo Radley out of the house.
In the morning, I was leaning against the lightpole when Jem and Scout came to speak to me.
“Why don't we try to make Boo come out of his house?” I asked them.
“You'll get yourself killed if you get near his house,” Jem warned.
I told him that I would make him a bet that he wouldn't be able to get passed the front gate of the Radley home. He looked at me as if I was insane and said that he wouldn't do it on account of being respectable. After three days of reminding Jem that he was a chiken, he finally made his decision to merely touch the Radely house. He stood nervously in front of the gate with Scout and me right behind him.
“Well, open it already,” I said after a minute.
He reached for the gate and it creaked open. He got ready to run as fast as he could and dashed to the front door and back to the gate with Scout and me panting behind him. Once we got out of the gate, out of the corner of my eye I could have sworn I saw the shutters quickly close. I spent the rest of my summer with Jem and Scout. When the time came to leave Maycomb County and head back Meridian I said my goodbyes to Jem, Scout and Aunt Rachel and left with my mother. The first day of school, I saw my friends that I had left for the summer but now I was missing Jem and Scout and couldn't wait until next summer to visit them once again.

Immigration Project Reflection

Immigration Project Reflection
By Camille Stovall-Ceja
The literature circle book that I chose to read was, A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. I was very happy that I was able to read this wonderful novel because I thought that Ishmael's story was one of the most interesting. I learned a lot from A Long Way Gone like many of the experiences that everyone has to struggle through during the many wars in Africa. It was an interesting story because at first I only had a vague idea of how horrible the war actually was but, after reading about it from someone who went through it, I now have a greater understanding. Something that I felt was missing from the process of the Literature Circle process would be meeting in person. I also liked commenting and writing the blogs online but I would also want to talk to my group for a few minutes about what we thought about the book every week.
I liked that we wrote the quotes, signification and responses on blogs but I think that speaking to one another for a few minutes would give us the chance to understand more what our group members were feeling about the book. I didn't have any problems while blogging because I always knew what to write because the novel I read was so filled with surprising and significant events. I think that another reason meeting in person for a few minutes would be good is because I did not understand some of the responses I received or what my group members were referring to. I think that the way that I interpreted the novel was well done because I almost always found uses of symbolism throughout it but my group members also helped me remember things that had happened earlier on in the book which helped me with my blog posts.
For the art component of the literature book process, I chose to make a painting that expressed my interpretation of the novel A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. I wanted to make this type of painting because I knew that the choice of my interpretation of the novel would allow me to show the many uses of symbolism in the book. I also wanted this choice because I felt that showing my interpretation would show how much I understood the concept of the novel. The connection between my painting and the actual novel would be easy to spot for people that had read the novel but it may not be easy for people to understand my painting if they have not read it. This is because they will most likely not understand all of the symbolism in my painting unless they have read the book.
Other than that, I feel like I did a really good job showing the depth behind the story and displaying Ishmael's message of how hard it was to get away from war and how much people still struggle with getting to safety. I like how my painting turned out because I thought out what I would paint very carefully and put my best effort into painting and showing my original idea. There are only a few things that I might have changed had I had the chance to redo my painting.
My interpretation of the novel shows a picture of the main character, Ishmael, climbing a tree that is rooted in Africa, while reaching for America. In Africa, there are two people that are trying to stop Ishmael from reaching freedom and safety. These two people symbolize the war that Ishmael has struggled to run from. The tree in Africa symbolizes death and symbolizes that Ishmael had to climb death to get to freedom. Within that tree I also tried to symbolize that Ishmael had been caught in death during his struggle for freedom with the tree having many branches. I also tried showing that Africa is metaphorically isolated from the rest of the world while its many wars rage on.
My painting is important to me because I tried to show the struggle that Ishmael had to go through to get away from war. I also wanted to show Ishmael's feelings of being so isolated from the rest of the world while in war. Ishmael being in the tree shows that he was also isolated after his brother died and he no longer was able to see the rest of his family when he was captured as a child soldier. I feel that my painting is important also because I wanted to show other people that Ishmael had to run away from war, symbolized by the two men, only to have to climb through and be engulfed in death while just trying to get to safety.
I think that my painting turned out well and it shows the messages that I was trying to portray. I think that my painting could have used more detail, but it more detail may have taken away from the original idea of the painting. I want people to see Ishmael's struggles to get to freedom when they look at my painting. I want them to also see that although he was a child soldier, and killed many people, he was still running from the war. I also want people to realize that even when he got away from war, he still had a tough time getting away from death to get to freedom.

A Long Way Gone: Post 6

Quote #1: "He looked at me with bloodshot eyes and a face that said, 'I will kill you if I want to and nothing will come out of it.' The look was familiar to me." Ishmael's thought/ random soldier, page 212
Significance #1: I think that Ishmael was able to read this soldiers look so well because he had been in his situation where he killed and killed and it was never to his benefit, or anyone else's. Also, I think that the soldier was so tired and been through so much that because Ishmael bumped into him, he probably would have hurt him if he had the chance. Ishmael understood the soldier's feelings that he interpreted so he didn't worry about it either.
Connection #1: I can connect to this quote because sometimes if someone might say something mean or do something mean I can tell how they are feeling. These times I think about how it felt to be in their situation or to be feeling sick or sad and so I don't worry about what they did.
Question #1: What would you have done in Ishmael's situation if you knew the soldier did that on purpose?

Quote #2: "I concluded to myself that if I were the hunter, I would shoot the monkey so that it would no longer have the chance to put other hunters in the same predicament." Ishmael, page 218
Significance #2: I think that Ishmael concluded that if he were ever in this situation that he would shoot the monkey because he doesn't want anyone else to ever have to make that choice. I think that he feel that him shooting the monkey signifies him going to war and he does not want any one else to have to go through what he went through. Ishmael feels that if everyone decides to not shoot the monkey, they would all lose one parent and everyone after them would too, so if he takes a sacrifice, no one would have to go through that pain.
Character Analysis #2: Ishmael has grown so much since the beginning of the book. I think that he has experienced and seen so much that he does not want any one else to have to go through that. At the beginning of the book, I am not sure if Ishmael would say he would make that kind of decision. Not that I think he was selfish, but I don't think he knew enough about enduring that kind of pain to choose that choice.
Question #2: If you were asked that question what would you do and why?

A Long Way Gone: Post 5

Quote #1: "Yes you see, this is the beauty of starting a new family. You can have different kinds of family members." ~Esther, page 167
Response: I picked this quote because I thought that it was kind of Esther to speak of Ishmael as a sort of family member. I don't think that Ishmael understood why she was doing this because he hadn't known her for a long time like he had known actual family members. I think that he replied with "but I didn't have a sister" because he thought of Junior when she said that he could think of her as a sibling.
Personal Connection: I connected with this quote because some of my best friends I have known for a long time and even though they aren't my actual family they are treated like family. I think that Ishmael and Esther have this connection because I think that Esther can feel Ishmael's pain in what he went through and they will be there for eachother.
Question #1: Why do you think that Esther would offer to treat Ishmael as a family member?

Quote #2: "Don't let them get your hopes up, young man." Ishmael's uncle, page 191
Response: I picked this quote because whenever Ishmael thought about his chances of going to America he would think of his uncle saying this. I think that Ishmael thinks of his uncle saying this because he may not be wanting to be dissapointed if he is not able to go to America. He may also be saying this because apart of him is afraid to visit America.
Personal Connection: I can connect to this quote because whenever I am excited about something that might happen someone ends up telling me not to get my hopes up. I think that this relates to what Ishmael's uncle would say because I think people say this because they don't want to see someone be dissapointed in something that didn't happen.
Question #2: Do you think that Ishmael is trying to not get his hopes up for this reason or something else? Why?

Character Analysis: Ishmael's uncle

A Long Way Gone: Post 4

Quote #1: "My nickname was green snake because I would situate myself in the most advantageous and sneaky positions and would take out a whole village from under the tiniest shrub without being noticed." ~Narrator/Author Ishmael Beah, page 144
Significance #1: I think that this shows that Ishmael was actually getting used to killing people and was getting good at it. At this point in the book he realizes that he is skilled at killing and following orders. I think that this also shows that the rebels can brainwash any person, even if they have very strong morals and a strong conscious like Ishmael.
Character Judgement: It seems to me like the soldiers have brainwashed Ishmael so badly into the point where he thinks that killing is all he is good at and he is killing for a better cause. Deep down, I think that Ishmael knows that what he is doing is wrong and that he has a choice.
Question: Do you think that Ishmael's attitude towards killing will affect his life later on?
Quote #2: "We were dangerous and brainwashed to kill." Narrator/Author Ishmael Beah, page 134
Significance #2: Just like my first quote sited, this also shows Ishmael's expirience with the soldiers. I think that unlike the last quote, this quote shows how Ishmael regrets being how he was and wishes that he could take back the things he did. Since he is older in this quote, he understands that the rebels were horrible and that what he did was wrong.
Personal Connection #1: I can connect to this quote because I have done things that I have regreted doing. Nothing like what Ishmael has to carry around on his shoulders. Just like Ishmael, it took me some time to realize what I did was wrong and that I regreted doig it.
Question #2: Do you think that Ishmael was only able to break away from his brainwash because he escaped or do you think that he finally had a break-through.

A Long Way Gone: Post 3

Quote #1: "There wasn't a gradual change between night and day. The darkness just swiftly rolled away, letting the sky shine it's light on us." ~Narrator/Author Ishmael Beah page 82
Response #1: I think that this quote is foreshadowing something that will happen to Ishmael later on in the chapter. I think this because of the first sentence in the quote. I think that since Ishmael says that there is no gradual change between night and day that he is foreshadowing a change in character on his part. I think that the quote symbolises that the rebels will come so quickly that Ishmael won't be able to tell what is going on, just like the immediate change between night and day.
Character Judgement #1: I have learned that the rebels have no mercy and will do anything to betray the war. I believe that the rebels kidnap mostly young children because the rebels can easily teach them to betray their conscious unlike adults. I have seen that the rebels are merciless even though most all of them were in the same situation as the people they kidnap and torture.
Question #1: Do you think that this quote may be leading up to a change in character in Ishmael? Why?

Quote #2: "They have lost everything that makes them human." The Lieutenant page 108
Response #2: I agree with The Lieutenant. I also think that the rebels have lost any ego they began with and their minds have come to the point where they are only in the state of id. This makes it so that they are almost in a trance of constant killing and obeying their leaders.
Character Judgement #2: I think that the lieutenant is a good person. I like that he likes to read and learn even though he has a lot of knowledge and authority. I also like that the lieutenant is very kind to Ishmael.
Question #2: Do you think that the Lieutenant will survive the war and immigrate to America like Ishmael?

A Long Way Gone: Post 2

Quote #1: "My heart throbbed with pain as I watched my brother lying on the ground, pretending to be one of the dead bodies." ~Narrator/Author Ishmael Beah
Significance #1: I think that Ishmael was very scared because he knew he could only watch from the sidelines if his brother got into any kind of trouble. Since Ishmael and Junior were in different groups when they were crossing the clearing, he probably felt very worried for his brother, Ishmael knew that he would not be with him if anything were to go wrong. I would also think that Junior was hoping to make it across safely to be with his brother again.
Character Judgment: So far in the book, Junior has been one of the main characters but he never really is described in detail about his physical appearance or how his personality is. I think that as the book has gone on I have seen more of how close Junior and Ishmael are and Junior has showed that he watches out for Ishmael carefully.
Question #1: Do you think that laying down flat in the clearing helped them not to get caught? Explain why and how you think that the rebels didn't see them.

Quote #2: "Being in a group of six boys was not to our advantage." ~Narrator/Author Ishmael Beah
Response #2: I think that civilians that the rebels had not attacked yet would be extremely cautious of boys Ishmael and Juniors ages because most of the soldiers were teenagers like them. What I didn't expect was the villagers, later on in the chapter, being so aggresive toward the group of boys like that. I was suprised when they tied them up and pushed them to the ground. I later understood that there are certain boys that the rebels make spies to get into certain villages and I understood more of why the villagers would do that.
Connection: I can not really connect to this quote personally but I can connect it to how people are very cautious during times of war. For example, The Iraq War right now isn't even happening in the US but people here are being very hostile to innocent people becuase they feel they can not trust them based on what country they came from. I do not agree with this but I think it can connect back to how the villagers felt with the group of boys, they assumed that they were part of the rebels because of the way they looked.
Question #2: Do you think that the villagers could have just searched for the RUF carving on the boys or do you think they would not be convinced? Explain why.

Field Trip Reflection: Immigrant Museums

From Haven to Home:
The importance of this exhibit was to learn about the history and culture of Jewish people and most of all, the lives of Jewish people in America. I learned that in 1654, 23 Jewish people arrived in New Amsterdam from Brazil. These 23 people were expelled from Brazil by the Portuguese conquerors. When this group of people got to New Amsterdam the governor of the Dutch colony wanted to expel them because he thought that they would be a “financial burden”. In 1825, the Maryland passed the Jew Bill which allows Jews to have a declaration of belief. Another fact that I learned was that during George Washington’s presidency, it was one of his main goals to make sure that Jewish people had their rights to life, liberty and property. He felt this way because he knew that America was built upon people who were trying to seek religious freedom. In 1924 Congress set an immigration law that officially closed the “Golden Gates” to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Before this, in 1841, the first Jewish person became a part of Congress. In 1906, Oscar Stravs became the first Jewish person to be a part of the United States cabinet. Another fact that I learned was that in May of 1902, 20,000 women from New York broke into a kosher butcher shop and threw the meat into the streets, soaked it with kerosene and set it on fire. This large group of women did this because they did not like Jewish people and they wanted to show that they had no respect for parts of Jewish culture, like kosher foods. An interesting fact about the Jewish people’s important part in American history was that in the Civil War, 3,000 Jews fought for the Confederacy when on the other hand, 9,000 Jews fought for the Union. Jews also actively protested and fought for Civil Rights and the right for women to vote. Some famous Jews that I learned about were Mary Antin and Albert Einstein.

Children of Immigrants:
Quote: “America, you are the heart of freedom, draped in the patriotism of those who have endured and died. A nurturer of so many lives, and defender of unjust cries.”
I chose this quote because I thought that it was very poetic. I also thought that it really should how much this person loved and cared about America. From reading this quote you can get an idea of how much they appreciates America and being able to live here.
Essay: The essay I chose to read was “The Untold Story of a Chinese American”. Some events in the immigrants life was that he and his family left Vietnam because the Communists when he was 6 years old. They were only able to leave because they were of Chinese decent. They left on a small boat that was crowded with other people escaping Vietnam and they were attacked two times by pirates on their journey to Malaysia. When they arrived in Malaysia they were forced to live on a small island off the coast by the government. They later decided that they wanted to live in America after America had made it so that Vietnam refugees could only come to America if they spent a long time living in the Philippines. His family spent a year in the Philippines when their application to live with an American family was accepted and they began their new life in America. I liked this story because it was not told by the person who was an immigrant. It was told by the immigrants child and I thought that it was interesting to read about how much the author appreciated their dad’s journey and experience that has given them a good life in America after all he had to go through.
Picture: I chose the photo of the little boy from India and his parents celebrating an Indian holiday. I chose this photo because the boy seemed like he had something that he misesed but also that he was happy to be there. He also was dressed in traditional Indian dress for the holiday and I thought that was cool as well.

A Long Way Gone: Post 1

Quote #1: "These days I live in three worlds: my dreams, and the experiences of my new life, which trigger memories from the past." ~Narrator, page 20
Significance: When the author thinks this, it is a flash forward to the future and it basically explains in one sentence how he is coping with his memories from the war. He says that he lives in three worlds because he still has horrible memories from during the war and so that is one of the worlds he lives in. I think that what he means is that when he is dreaming he sees memories and sometimes thing in his new every day life remind him of his life in Africa.
Character Judgment: So far in the book the narrator (his name hasn't been said in the memoir yet) seems to be a shy character and keeps his emotions inside. Back in Africa he plays but seems to be one of the more cautious of the boys in his group of friends. I think that his personality is one of the many reasons why he can not go one day in America without having these memories come back to him. Another reason is because, he was not only a victim of the war but was captured as a child soldier and split up from his family.
Question for group: Do you think that the narrator (guessing his name is Ishmael, the author) has seen any of his family members since Africa? Do you think that this is the reason why he is having such a hard time with the memories?

Quote #2: "She followed us to the edge of the village and watched as we descended the hill, switching her walking stick to her left hand so that she could wave us off with her right hand, a sign of good luck." ~Narrator, page 8
Response: I picked this quote because it showed a small part of culture for Ishmael. I am guessing that since he says that waving with her right hand was a sign of luck, it is a superstition they have either in the country or the village. I chose it also because it may have been a form of foreshadowing bad luck.
Connection: Throughout the book so far there have been examples of culture in Ishmael's country and I think that it is interesting to compare their lifestyle and mine. One example is the time the Ishmael and his friends walked for miles, leaving home for what they thought would be only a few days at most and not even thinking about telling their parents. I also thought that the forms of the superstition his culture had were very different to ours.
Question for group: Do you think that Ishmael brought aspects of his culture like these to America with him, or do you think that he lost his culture when he became a child soldier? Explain why.

Immigration

My definition of an immigrant is someone who travels to a different country to reside in. Immigrants can be legal or illegal and must come from a different country to become a citizen or to solely reside in their new country. I have some relatives that I know of, who came from a different country legally and so therefore are immigrants. They all came from different parts in Mexico. Some of these family members are grandparents or other extended family. I think that so many immigrants have come to the United States because they sometimes come from countries where they have no say in what the government does. Other times they want to have a life away from any violence or wars that were happening in their home country or they would like to find a better education for their family and maybe even for themselves.
In the past immigrants came from places like countries in Europe and in these places there was a lot of violence and hatred going on towards groups of people. I think that the immigrants came to America to start a new life and have more options for careers and education. I see that immigration is effecting San Diego because we are so close to the border of another country. I see immigration affecting San Diego in many different ways. Some ways are that it is very important to learn a second language especially Spanish so that we can communicate with more people. You can also notice signs of immigration when going to certain parts of San Diego because there are certain areas with one main race mainly made up of immigrants.
I also see that immigration is affecting San Diego because I have noticed that many more people are getting different opinions about how we should handle the immigration. My connection to immigration is that I have many relatives who have come from a different country and some of them only speak Spanish. I also have a lot of family friends who are immigrants and so this again ties me to immigration.

The Secret Life of Bees Book Review

The Secret Life of Bees, a novel written by Sue Monk Kidd, has a very interesting plot. The story was set in Sylvan and Tiburon, South Carolina in the 50's or 60's when their were many racists and African Americans were looked down upon. In my opinion, this book was very good because it had an interesting story line and had parts of the story that I could relate to. I think that it had a good plot because not a lot of books have this type of story line. The main character Lily tries to find out more about her mom, but ends up finding out more about herself, and along her journey she finds motherly figures that end up loving her like a daughter.

The smaller characters do not change much throughout the book but the main character changes back and forth into completely different personalities. I think that the writing style of the author was a lot like many other writing and it could have had a more unique style to make the book more interesting. It seemed like the author would have made the book more exciting if it had been in third person so you could see from the perspectives of the other characters because some characters stayed mysterious and were left out of the book in many parts and it would have been interesting to see what they had been doing too.

The plot of the story was that the main character, Lily, was trying to find out more about her mother’s life, and basically, about her life before she died. She decides to go on a journey where she struggles to find out who she is, and even more than that, the secret of her mother’s death. Along her journey she runs into a family who she becomes very close to. Lily becomes close to each of the characters in the family in a different way. In one character she finds love, in another, a motherly figure, in one a friend and in another, someone to trust and look up to. This is a good book for people who like stories where character's lives and feelings are the main focus to the book and not action.

In this book, Lily is the main character and the book is shown from her perspective. Throughout the book, her character's personality changes a lot. Starting out in the book, Lily is a very shy person and she always is respectful to her father and tries to follow the rules even if she doesn't like them. Into the book she realizes what she can do with her life, like go on an adventure, and completely changes. All of the characters in this book are usually very serious and so it wouldn't be a good book for people who like books that are full of action or comedy.

Overall, the book is full of love of family and the main character trying to understand herself and her mother more. I would recommend this book to people who like when books move at a slow pace and seem like they are truly real life situations. I would not recommend this book to anyone who doesn't like serious books or books that don't have much happening most of the time.

Journal Entry (Author's point of view)

Chapter 13: Leaving the Beast Behind:
The waves crashed along the sides of the naval ship, constantly splashing water into Ralph’s face. Ralph stood on the deck of the boat while leaning against the side.
“What’s wrong, Ralph?” asked Percival. He was so in shock of being rescued he couldn’t speak. Percival waited for an answer, when he realized there wasn’t one he went to where Johnny and Wilfred were. A while later Ralph was still leaning as before, when Samneric spotted him.

“What’s wrong, Ralph?” Samneric asked at the same time. That was the fifth time someone asked him that. So Ralph gave up on his plan of being mute and decided to give a truthful answer.
“I feel bad about leaving Bill, Roger and Jack,” Ralph muttered.
“But they,” Sam started “chose to stay behind,” Eric finished.
“I know. But when they saw the naval officer, they were the only three to run back into the jungle, who knows what will happen to them,” Ralph sighed.
“They tried,” – “to kill you,” Samneric said confused.
“I know, but now they are on that island forever. You listened to them and told the naval officer that six had died. You counted them as well.”
“We’re sorry, Ralph,” – “That’s what they wanted,” Samneric hung their heads and walked away gloomily. Ralph looked at the island, which was the size of a small rock now, and saw there was no smoke coming from it and the flames had disappeared. He could have sworn he could hear ululating in the distance but he blocked the thought form his mind. Each day went by the same way; eat breakfast, stare at water, eat lunch, stare at water and feel increasingly guilty, eat dinner, go to bed. Ralph realized that he probably had more food in two days on the ship than he had his whole time on the island. The other boys on the ship seemed to not notice that Jack, Bill and Roger were not there or they just didn’t care.

Ralph shook his head in amazement that so many traumas had happened in so little time. He thought of Simon and Piggy’s deaths, the death of the boy with the birthmark, the beastie and, mostly, that he was nearly killed himself. The wait to arrive back in England seemed impossibly long, but finally the time came when they arrived at the docks. Samneric stayed close by Ralph as all of the children scurried off the ship’s loading platform in hopes of seeing their parents.

“They’re not here yet. We must tell them that we've arrived and then you can all go home,” The naval officer announced.
“Get back onto the ship so no one gets lost!” He was running, now, after the littluns who were disobeying. When everyone was back inside of the boat, the naval officer did a head count. He stopped in his tracks when he reached me. He stared at my face for a few long seconds when he asked Ralph a question.
“Who are your parents, boy?”
“Well, my dad’s in the navy and...,” Ralph was interrupted.
“I think I know your dad, you look a lot like him. Is his name,” He whispered a name in Ralph’s ear.Ralph’s face suddenly lit up and he nodded his head with excitement.

“You stay with me, okay? I’ll bring you home. Your father is a good friend of mine, I was going to meet him later,” he said. Ralph was shocked, he had no idea that his dad was home. All of the children's parents appeared with a huge smile as the kids ran into their arms. Ralph, Samneric and the naval officer stayed until the sun turned a bright orange. Samneric looked very sad, their parents had not come yet. The officer looked over at Samneric.
“What are your names?” He asked them.
“I'm Sam,” - “n' I'm Eric,” they said with their heads hanging.
“I must have forgotten to get your parent's number,” the officer said.
“They don't have a telephone number,” they said unanimously. The officer looked confused.
“You can just,” - “take us to the school,” they said.
“Well, what's your address? I'll take you there,” he offered.
“We live at the school,” they said. The officer looked even more confused and so did Ralph. They had never told anyone on the island this; at least that’s what Ralph thought. Ralph was the first to speak.
“What do you mean?”
“The school took us in because,” – “our parents sent us there so that they could live somewhere else.” There was a moment of silence, then the officer awkwardly left. Ralph didn’t know what to say either. Samneric decided to wait on the ship until the naval officer came back to take them home. The officer walked onto the platform out from the boat with Samneric while he was holding his keys.

“Okay, I will take Sam and Eric back to the school and Ralph, will come with me to your house,” he said as he walked over to his small black vehicle. We jumped into the car and the officer turned the keys to start the car. The air filled with black smoke coming form the exhaust, which covered the windows so that the outside was not visible. The car ride seemed strange because they were just seeing civilization and society again. They were away so long that they were unfamiliar to it all. Samneric left the car with the officer and walked to the front door where a tall man, their headmaster, opened the door and ushered them inside.
Ralph sat in the car for what seemed like hours because he was alone and being kept waiting from seeing his dad. Finally,a butler opened the door for the officer who quickly waved goodbye to Samneric and walked back to the front gate.
Ralph sat up straighter when the officer opened his door and started the car again. When they came to a cross road, the officer to speak to Ralph.

“By the way, I’m Jack,” Ralph cringed at the name but said nothing. The ride to Ralph's house was quiet.
“Lagoon Ave, here it is,” Jack announced as he rounded the corner to Ralph’s street. Ralph counted the house addresses until Jack screeched the car to a stop in front of 332. This was the nicest, richest part of the city, where every house looked the same. They stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door. Ralph reached out and knocked on the oak door. A tall, blond haired woman opened the door. At first she only saw Jack.
“Ah hello, it’s good to see you Jack.” She said with an incredibly sad tone to her voice. She stepped out onto the porch. Her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open when she saw that Ralph, her son, was standing behind Jack.
“Hullo Mum,” Ralph said. She grabbed Ralph and held him in her arms for a very long time.
“You’re back!” she yelled when she let go of him.
“Yes mum, I’m back.” She pulled them both inside and screamed as she pulled the door shut.
“Edward, you get down here!” She called up the stairs.
Loud footsteps ran down the stairs. Ralph's father walked next to his mother. He spotted Ralph and gasped.
“Ralph!” He walked briskly toward Ralph and gave him an awkward hug. His father didn’t usually show emotion. They sat for dinner and ate as Ralph told every part of his life on the island, not including his horrifying experiences. He thought about Jack, Bill and Roger but erased the thought and went back to telling his story to his loving parents.

Journal Entry (Samneric)

Chapter 11 and 12: The Last Hunt
(italic=Sam, regular=Eric)

I struggled to sleep last night because-
And I, I couldn't sleep last night either.
Yes fine Sam, we couldn't sleep last night because of the frighteningly exciting fight between a few of Jack's followers and us (the biguns of Ralph's tribe).
I, I mean we, both woke up with heavy bags under our eyes and very pale white skin from the horrible lack of sleep.
Yes, and when we woke up someone had called an assembly to speak of Piggy's stolen specs.

"We should go to Castle Rock. I will speak to Jack and I'll say that he needs to give me back my specs, not to be a good sport or show respect, just because what's right is right!" Piggy announced angrily.

"Good idea Piggy. We shall head to Castle Rock, but you must be the one to speak," Ralph agreed.

I was a bit frightened to go over to Jack's tribe and confront them about Piggy's glasses.
Well, I wasn't frightened at all. No not one bit frightened, not of Jack, not of anybody.
We stood side by side, helping each other through the tall grass and thickets to get to the Castle Rock.
When we arrived, Piggy was trembling deliriously. He was crouching with all of us, on a lower platform than the one that lead to Jack's hide out.
There were gaurds before the entrance to the cave where they lived.
We all crouched down silently when we heard Jack and a few hunters coming out of the trees, back to Castle Rock.
Yeah, and we could hear 'em chanting their chants while we watched them carry the bloody pig they hunted.

When Jack reached the top of the rock we gasped as we saw the blood dripping from his hands and his dirty face covered in clay.
Ralph pushed Piggy, urging him to speak.
Piggy was spotted by Jack and soon after Ralph and the rest of us were seen.

Jack smiled truculently at us and when Piggy took to long to speak, Ralph decided to speak for him.
"Give back Piggy's glasses, Jack," Ralph ordered.
"Why should I?" Jack responded childishly.
"Jack you stole them. Your a thief. A thief and a bloody swine!" Ralph suddenly burst out angrily and losing his temper.
Immediately, Jack charged at Ralph with his pointed spear and Ralph grabbed a spear as his own and dodged the attack.
Ralph got to his feet and the fight began.
Cheering rose up from the hunters and the littluns began ululating. Ralph tried to thrust his spear at Jack but he ducked and threw his spear at Ralph.

Ralph grunted loudly but luckily he was only hit by the butt of Jack's spear.
Meanwhile, Piggy had been shouting at Ralph and Jack about his specs when suddenly... CRASH! Piggy squealed-
Really Sam, "Piggy squealed?"
Whatever. Piggy squealed as a large boulder crushed and threw him down the mountain, leaving a trail of blood into the ocean.
There was then a short cessation of chanting and screaming and howling as all eyes turned to the floating body in the water and Roger's horrible smile.

"See, you see? That's what you get! What you deserve!" Jack roared with laughter as Ralph stared at him in complete shock.
Before Ralph could do anything, Jack looked at Roger and tilted his head toward us, Sam and I.
Roger grabbed us and tied us up with a rope he had been holding.
We were tied to a pole in the ground and beaten senseless.
The last thing I saw were Ralph's feet scurrying away into the jungle.

When we woke up it was night time and everyone had begun their feast. We were thrown against a rock and told to keep guard. Soon enough though, Ralph came and asked us what Jack was planning to do.
We told him we didn't know. All we had seen was Roger sharpening a spear at both ends, we told him.
We were given a small share of the meat and we gave a piece to Ralph out of kindness.
He seemed to desperately want us to sneak away with him but the truth was, we felt that Jack's group would be safer and if we joined Ralph then we would be killed.
We sent him away after he told us that he would be hiding in a thicket near by and to keep Jack away from there.

The next morning we were woken up by Jack who told everyone to make a cordon so we could search the island successfully for Ralph.
Someone whispered to Jack and we were both suddenly slapped on the face.

"Someone saw you two speaking to Ralph last night. I know he gave you two information, now what did he say?" Jack ordered.
We decided not to speak which was not a good idea because Jack quickly grabbed Eric by the neck and forced me to tell him by beating Eric and strangling him at the same time.
Sam told Jack of where Ralph was hiding and we all were forced to run to the thicket where we found Ralph.
Roger soon became frustrated and used Piggy's specks to set the thicket on fire.
All we saw was a spear and someone bolt out of the other side of the thicket into the forest.
Roger found him again, in a bigger stronger thicket but Ralph escaped once more. We were forced to hold lit torches and run to where ever Jack thought Ralph might be.

I soon spotted Ralph at the beach in the distance with what seemed to be a, an adult and I grabbed Sam's arm and tried to make a run for it toward rescue.

We were caught by the necks, slapped and were yelled at for attempting to escape. We watched as our dear friend Ralph and some littluns stood at an officer's side, sobbing.