To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter 12-20

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The importance of Jem and Scout sitting in the colored booth during the trial can be related to other parts of the book. The kids are primarily in the booth to be able to see their father Atticus and the trial, because they were unable to get a seat in the rest of the courtroom. The reverend brings them up there because they knew each other previously. However, they sitting up there is symbolic because they don’t care being up in a colored booth with black people. This is not because they are ignorant, but because they aren’t racist and don’t see anything wrong with being with black people. This goes hand in hand with them wanting to see the trial, where they what happens to the defendant, Tom Robison. After going to church with black people and their caretaker, Calpurnia, they have a different perspective on the case, seemingly with more respect for black people. To conclude, the seating of the children has a certain impact on their attitude to the case.

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The writing style of the story changes significantly during the trial portion of the book, and this affects the reader’s perspective of it. Throughout the chapters previous to the trial part of the book, the story is narrated exclusively through Scout, using her opinions and thoughts to give the reader her perspective. However, once the trial begins, the narration changes to more fact based, with less opinion involved. In fact, the story seems less like it is being narrated through a person, and instead appears to being told outright with less of a bias. With the exception of the dialogue between Scout and Jem, the trial is narrated in more of a third person perspective for the most part. Finally, the tone goes from childhood problems innocence, to a racist attitude. Since neither Jem nor Scout ever showed signs of racism, it would be difficult to display this tone through their perspective. The tone is an important part of a story, and in order to convey certain ideas it must be changed at times.

My representation of these chapters is an cartoon of alienation. I chose this as my representation because that is what Scout feels like when aunt Alexandra moves in with them. The shifting of power upsets Scout because it completely changes her life.

To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter 9 - 11

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Scout and Jem should learn to be proud of their father Atticus for what he is currently instead of what he was. The kids seem ashamed almost of what Atticus does, yet they still respect him. This is because he teaches them to be kind and courteous and not to loose their temperature. Furthermore, Scout and Jem don’t fully understand why Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, and they need to learn to accept that black people should be treated fairly. Moreover, Scout should learn about it before she picks fights over it. Finally, they should not dwell on the past, since upon learning of Atticus’ weapon skills, Jem wishes for Atticus to indulge on his past. Atticus wants Jem to have a good upbringing, so his past shouldn’t concern him. To conclude, the children should concern themselves with their own problems rather than their fathers life. They should be proud of him for what he is.

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            The Finch family would do a lot better to support each other instead of disagreeing all the time. Firstly, Alexandra and her side of the family discourage and mock Atticus, due to his beliefs and morals. For example, Francis tells Scout that Alexandra believes that Atticus is doing a poor job at parenting and shouldn’t defend a black man in court.  Next, Uncle Jack seems to be trying to help support, but he also seems to be trying to discourage Atticus form influencing the children. This is because he doesn’t have kids of his own, and therefore doesn’t know what’s best for them. Lastly, Francis strongly disagrees with the ethics of Atticus and his family. This is due to Alexandra’s influence on his, but he seems to despise Atticus’ side of the family. In conclusion, the Finch family spends too much time fighting each other, whereas they could get more accomplished if they came to terms with one another.

I chose a disguise as my representation because it represents Atticus hiding his past from his children, because he believes they will be better off not knowing.

The Loons

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The imagery displayed in ‘The Loons” greatly helps convey the story for a multitude of reasons. First, since the story is called The Loons, it would only make sense to have loons featured within the story, so the brief encounter with them is enhanced with beautiful imagery. The lake they are upon is called “black glass with a streak of amber”.  Another good example is the environment, well describing it with imagery. The environment is an important part of this story due to the stereotype of the natives knowing the forest and their surroundings. The final use of imagery comes from the description Piquette Tonnerre, when it is used to draw out her profile with words. The way the author describes her clothing, her tubercular leg and somehow even her personality is done incredibly well. It is important to have a good picture of Piquette, as she plays a key part in the story. In conclusion, imagery is a great way to describe the story, as it adds detail to the picture already painted by words.  

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Similies are often a great way to relate to the audience. Foremost, the use of a similie helps the audience understand by relating the situation at hand with a similar one that is familiar to them. For example, in the story, there is a similie that says that the strawberries hung like lanterns. Perhaps not everyone has seen strawberries hanging delicately from a branch, but surely everyone has seen a lantern hanging from somewhere. Similies can also be used to reiterate a certain situation. If the two things that are being compared are similar enough, it is almost like a reinforcement. Lastly, similies can be used to compare two completely different scenarios to bring variety. For example, in The Loons, an example, the jukebox is compared to thunder. Thunder is irrelevant to the situation at hand, however the comparison makes sense. To conclude, similies are excellent at relating situations in a story to an experience in the readers life.

Representation:

Aside from the obvious reason of choosing a loon to represent the story, it is also a metaphor for the ending of an era. In the story, everything changes for Vanessa. Both her father and Piquette die in the end, yet Vanessa seems somewhat apathetic to it. Similar to how those people died and Vanessa doesn't much care, the Canadian loon will migrate and leave for a time, yet it is never a large deal as it happens so often.

A little about myself:

Interests: Crime fighting and .44 magnum revolvers.

Extracurricular Activities: When I'm not fighting crime or down at the headquarters, I indulge in various outdoor activities.

English Goals: I hope to be on task more often, as most people would. Furthermore, I need to be more creative in my writings.

Any other info: I can write a pretty good essay.