Final Post for TKAM

Character: Jem
Chapters: 28-31

I was walking to school with Scout. I was carrying her costume for her and we were walking at night. It was pitch black and we couldn’t see anything so we walked slowly. We were close to school when suddenly Cecil Jacobs jumped out on us and scared us. Cecil then walked to the school with us. I gave Scout her costume and I went off with some kids my own age. My friends and I walked around until the pageant was about to begin. I sat down in the front row waiting to see Scout be a ham. The pageant last for about 20 minutes until it was Scout’s turn to come out, we have rehearsed what she was going to do many times and home and she knew everything that she needed to do. Scout was going to be up soon because Mrs. Merriweather had just yelled “Pork”. We waited for Scout to come out, but she didn’t. “Pork” was yelled again, but she still didn’t come out. One lasted time “Pork!” was yelled and still nothing. The grand finale went on without her, but suddenly out of no where Scout came out on stage. Everyone started laughing and all the kids looked confused on what to do now that the ham had just entered. The finale then went off and the play stopped, and everyone got up and started leaving. I walked back to find Mrs. Merriweather yelling at Scout, telling her that she ruined the whole grand finale. I went up to Scout and I consented to wait backstage with her until the audience left. We waited until the last of the people left and then we walked out of the school and started walking home. Scout then told me that she left her shoes back at the school. I knew very well that it was hard to walk home fast without tripping on inconveniences, so I walked her back to the school but when we got there they had locked up. We walked back home in the dark, and suddenly I heard something or someone. I stopped and Scout did the same, but when I stopped the noise did to. We started walking again and the noise happened again. We stopped again, but this time the noise didn’t. Someone was running towards us, I yelled at Scout telling her to run, suddenly someone jumped on me and I pushed him off and yelled at Scout to run. The person jumped on me again and I landed on my arm, hurting it very much. I got up and tried to get Scout up to because she had fallen. I then tripped on someone and fell on my head. The next thing I knew I was in my bed and Aunt Alexandra was helping me with my arm. She told me that Bob Ewell had allegedly attacked me and Scout when we were walking home. She asked me if I could give her my assessments of what happened but Dr. Reynolds came in and told me not to talk. Dr. Reynolds had given me someone to put me to sleep and I was out for the rest of the night.

Post 7

Character- Jem
Chapters: 20-24

I sat in the court house while Dill and Scout were outside. There were no sound in the court house, the only sound there was Atticus talking to the jury. Dill and Scout came back into the court house shortly after and Atticus finished up his speech. I turned around to Scout and told her that we were going to win, and suddenly I looked down to see Cal walking down the court house to Atticus. She gave him a letter and Atticus read it out loud. It was Aunt Alexandra telling him that she didn’t know where the children were and she hasn’t seen them all day. Atticus lifted his head up and scanned the court house looking for us. Mr. Underwood then tell Atticus that we have been at the court house all day and that we were up on the balcony. Atticus called us down. Dill, Scout and I walked down to the ground floor of the court house to find Cal and Atticus waiting for us. Atticus told us that we had to go back to house for supper, and if when we finished our dinner we could come back. I walked back to the house and all I could think about was the court case, and how Atticus proved to everyone that Tom Robinson never did a crime and that Mayella Ewells was lying. We got back to our house and Cal started talking to us, saying that we should be ashamed of our selfs, but I didn’t hear what she was saying all I could think about was Tom Robinson. Cal gave us our supper and told us to eat it real slow. I didn’t listen, I ate it as fast as I could and tried to get Dill and Scout to eat faster. When we finished our supper, Scout Dill and I ran back to the court house. I couldn’t believe that we were gone an hour and nothing had change. We waited for forever until the jury finally came out at 11. The 12 men on the jury come in and hand their votes off. I sat waiting to hear innocent but instead I heard the worst, guilty. I gripped the edge of the balcony as I heard guilty over and over again. I looked down to see Atticus pack up his things, whisper something to Tom, put his coat on and walk out of the courthouse. As he passed the balcony, everyone stood up to show our respect for Atticus. I walked home silently thinking about how unfair this trial was. How just because he was black, he was guilty even though all the evidence said he wasn’t. That night I cried over the verdict of the trial and I couldn’t believe that everyone else wasn’t as shocked as I was. I hardly spelt that night, I was too busy thinking about the horrible things that were going to happen to Tom Robinson.
I woke up the next morning with Scout. We walked out to the living room to see Atticus reading his morning paper. I went outside to see Dill waiting for us, we walked over to see Miss Maudie talking with Mr. Avery and Miss Stephanie Crawford. When we walked there, Miss Stephanie tried asking us different questions about the case, and what had happened, but thankfully Miss Maudie saved us by inviting us to have cake. Dill, Scout and I walked in to see a big cake and 2 little cakes, and I didn’t understand why only 2, Miss Maudie never forgot about Dill. She handed the two cakes to Scout and Dill and cut a piece off of the big cake for me. We started eating in silently until Miss Maudie said “Don’t fret, Jem. Things are never as bad as they seem.”
I could then tell that she wanted to talk to us about something very important. We all stopped eating and turned towards Miss Maudie and waited to hear what she had to say. I was starting to feel apprehensive about what was going to be said.
“I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father’s one of them.”
“Oh, Well.” was my subsequent answer.
Miss Maudie replied by telling me that I was not old enough to appreciate what I said. I then told her that I used to think that the people of Maycomb were the best people in world, but now I was questioning it. Miss Maudie then explained that many people in Maycomb helped Tom Robinson, people like Judge Taylor. He helped Tom by giving Atticus the case because Judge Taylor knew that Atticus would not have won the case, no one would have, but we were making steps.
Dill, Scout and I went outside to find Miss Stephanie talking to Miss Rachel. We walked over to them and Miss Stephanie told us that Bob Ewell met our father at the post office today, cursed at him, spat in his face and swore to him that he would get him one day. I couldn't believe that that pauper could even think about doing what he did to my father. From that moment I didn't know what to think about Robert Ewell and what kind of predicament my father was now in.

Post 6

Character: Atticus Finch
Chapters: 16-19

Today was the day of the court case, the day I would finally be able to prove to everyone that Tom Robinson was guilty. I had been waiting for this day for a long time and I woke up early to be ready. I grabbed my suitcase and was off into town. I passed by many people watching and whispering things as I walked down to the downtown court house. It seemed as if the whole town had stopped to watch me walk. I went into the court house to see Mr. Gilmer talking to Mr. Ewells and Mayella, but when I walked in, they quickly walked away from Mr. Gilmer to go out of the court house. I started getting ready as usually and it toke a long time to set up everything and get everything ready and before I knew it, it was almost none. The court house doors were opened and everyone in town piled in. On any other usually day, there would only be about ten people, but today the courthouse was filled and more people were trying to get it. There was a much talking until Judge Taylor came in. He pulled out a think cigarette, and some people people also did the same. The courthouse permitted smoking, but he did not himself indulge, instead of smoking it he eat it. Suddenly the case began and Heck Tate went up on the witness stand. I got up and started asking questions about what he thought happened. He told me that he got a call from Robert Ewells saying that Tom Robinson raped his daughter, but he also said something that caught my attention, and that was that Mayella had been hit on the right side of her face, which meant that a left handed person must have hit her. I thought that this was very strange because Tom Robinson's left hand was completely useless. Heck Tate stepped down from the witness stand and Mr. Robert Ewells stepped up. I asked what he say and he told me the same story, but I really was not interested in the story. I asked him to write his name on the back of an envelope I had. Mr. Ewells wrote on the envelope and looked up complacently to see Judge Taylor looking down on him. He asked what was so interesting and we asked, he was left handed. Mr. Ewells stepped down from the witness stand and Mayella went up and then started crying. Judge Taylor asked her what was wrong and she told him that she was scared of me because of what I did to her papa. I felt someone proud because that proved to me that I was on to something. I then proceeded amiably and I knew that there was something stealthy about her. I asked her first about her home life, just so that the jury could understand what kind of a life she lived. I also asked her about her father, and she started “He does tollable, 'cept when-”

I turned around to face Mayelle “Except when he is drinking?” I asked

She nodded her head. I asked her if he even hit her, but she said no. I then got a thought I asked her where her brother and sisters were and why they didn't hear her, I got no answer. I then asked her if she only screamed when she say her father, no answer, if it was really Tom who had beat her or was it her father, no answer, if her father really see the crime of rape or the best dense to it. Suddenly Mayelle became articulate and said "I got somethin' to say an' then I ani't gonna say no more. That nigger yonder took advantage of me an' if you fine fancy gentlemen don't wanta do nothin' about it then you're all yellow stickin' cowards, stickin' cowards, the lot of. Your fancy air don't come to nothin' -your ma'amin and Miss Mayellerin' don't come to nothin', Mr. Finch-"

She bursted into real tears, thinking about her predicament.

Post 5

Character: Dill
Chapter: 13-15

Mom had just gotten married, to a guy that I really liked. He promised me that we would build a boat and I couldn’t wait to start building. Suddenly days and weeks had pasted and nothing happened. He did not even mention the boat idea again, I kept asking mom when we were going to build it but she would just tell me to go away and play with my toys. One thing that had changed for the better was that I was getting a lot of new toys. Every weekend my family and I would walk around downtown and go in and out of stores. Whenever I would see a book or toy that I really wanted, mom or her new husband would get it for me. We would then go home and I played with it for a while, and then it was just another toy. I whenever I felt bored I would just go with my mom and we would do something together, but ever since she got married again whenever I wanted to be with her, she would just tell me to go away and play with my toys. I would usually just sit in my room thinking about the plans I had made to get Boo Radley emerge from his house. I would think about Scout and Jem so long I would be oblivious when my mom and step-dad left. After a while it seemed like I never saw my parents and I would just in my room all day thinking about Scout and Jem. It got so bad one day I knew what I needed to do, run away. I waited ‘til the dead of night and then packed up all I needed, toke $13 from my mom and headed out on the road. I got on the train to Maycomb, the one place I was truly happy.

I sat on the train, looking pensive while thinking about my soon to be wife, Scout. The train lasted for a long time and when it stopped I had to walk man miles in the dark by myself. While I was walking, I started thinking about what I would do when I got to Maycomb. Would I knock on their door, sneak into their room or treehouse or just go straight to Aunt Rachel. I soon came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to sneak into Scout’s room and hid under the bed until Scout found me.

I heard Jem and Scout fighting about something, I wanted so much to go into Jem’s room and help Scout. Jem was twice as big Scout and he could beat her up so easily. I was about to go and help Scout out, but then I heard Atticus’s voice and then Scout came in. It was dark and she stepped on my stomach. I then went back under her bed, and Scout turned on the light and went got Jim who then went downstairs to get a broom. He started swiping the broom under the bed trying to hit me. He suddenly stopped and I came up from under the bed. Scout and Jem looked shock to me, but suddenly the shock turned into excitement. They asked me how I got here, and I told them that my step father had locked me up in chains and I had to break free and join the circus, washing the camels. I told them that I traveled with the show through all of Mississippi until my infallible sense of direction told me that I was close to Abbott County which was just across the river from Maycomb. When I finished telling them my story, Jem ran down stairs got Atticus and brought him to Scout’s room. I then told him that I ran away from my home and begged him not to send me home or to Aunt Rachel’s. Atticus then called Aunt Rachel’s to tell her that I was here, and ask her if I was able to stay. After many phone calls and much pleading on behalf of me, the defendant, it was decided that I could stay. After a week of staying with the Finches I was off to Aunt Rachel’s and one night as I was reading, I hear a knock on my window. I looked out to see Jem and Scout, and I then got dressed and went outside to go with them. We went downtown to try and find Atticus and we found next to the jail next to a group of people that I had never seen. Scout went up to Atticus and started talking to a man I have never meant. Jem and I followed slowly and made up to Atticus and the group of people. Scout then started talking to a lot of people, while everyone else just kept quite. Soon everyone left got back in their cars and we walked home and I offered to carry Atticus’s chair home. Atticus then started talking to a man named Tom Robinson. They talked for a while and we walked home in silence was I was encumbered by the chair.

Post 4

Character: Calpurnia
Chapter: 10-12

Scout and Jem came into the kitchen this morning looking sad. They started telling me about how Atticus couldn't do anything and that because he was the same comtemporaries of their fellow classmate's father, they had nothing to say about him at school. They asked me if I knew anything that Atticus could do, I told them that he could do many things, but I couldn't think of anything spefic. I then sent them on their way while I started thinking more about Atticus and his talents. Jem and Scout were walking out through the neighbor while I was cleaning the kitchen. Suddenly Jem ran into calling my name, yelling about some dog that was sick. I told him that I was far to busy to deal with any dog, but he insisted that I had to come out and see this dog. I walked down the street, but didn't see any dog. We almost reached the Radley house when Jem pointed out old Tim Johnson. I saw the dog walking like he had a limp but then I saw that this dog had Mad dog. When I first saw it I couldn't believe it, mad dog happens mostly in August and it was February. I then knew for sure that it had mad dog and I rushed the children back inside while I called Eula May. I told her to call anyone with a phone and inform them not to go out side for there was a mad dog outside. I then asked her to call the Radleys because the dog was so close to their house, but she told me that they didn't have a phone. I hung up the phone and ran to the Radley's house, I ran up their porch and started banging on their door. No one answered. I started yelling for anyone, but no one was there. I started banging again, but then I ran back. I then called Atticus to tell him to come down with the Mr. Heck, the town sheriff. Atticus and Mr. Heck got down there a few minutes later. I saw them come out with a rifle and I showed them where the dog was. By the time they got there, Tim Johnson was almost in the Radley House yard. I could hear Mr. Heck and Atticus talking about what they should do. I then saw Mr. Heck give Atticus then rifle, and I then remembered his great skills with guns, but I also remembered that he didn't want his children to know. I looked over to them and I could see their eyes widen in confustion when they saw Atticus put his glasses off of his eye and raise the gun and with a single shot the dog fell. Poor Tim Johnson didn't know what was coming to him. Atticus lowered the gun and went over to Tim. Jem and Scout walked out slowly and Atticus turned to see them. Mr. Heck yelled at Scout and Jem, telling them not to come over near the dog. Atticus and Mr. Heck walked back to their car and drove out of sight.

The next day Jem and Scout went off into town so they could some things. I stayed at their house making super and cleaning the kitchen. They came back really inconspicuous. Jem stayed in living room, stilling alone in a chair while Scout stayed in the kitchen. She didn't talk and kept to herself, looking somewhat scared. I knew that something happened, something was wrong. I figured that Jem most have done something to make Scout upset. Atticus came home yelling for Jem, he started asking him about Mrs. Dubose and her flowers. I then knew what happened, Mrs. Dubose was the meanest lady on our street, and hated the kids. I knew that she must had said something to Jem that made him so angry that he must had went over there are chopped off all her flowers. Jem told him that he must go down and talk to Mrs. Dubose and tell her that he was sorry what he did. Jem's "Yes sir" was inaudible. I have heard many things about Mrs. Dubose, and for one thing I knew that Jem would be regerting his move of cutting her flowers very soon. Mrs. Dubose told Jem that he would have to come over to her house every day and read for him for two hours for a month. I couldn't believe that that was his punishment, but it was. And before long Jem had finished his month, and Mrs. Dubose had died.

Time pasted quickly and suddenly Jem was 12. Scout was still reading and playing and Atticus had been working hard on Tom Robinsons case. One weekend he told me that he had to go away for two weeks, and that I was left with the children. Most of the time Scout and Jem would be outside, but during the day I found that Jem would be up in his room while Scout was left alone. She asked me what was going on with Jem, I told her that Jem was just growing up and that she needed to leave Jem alone and if she was ever feeling bored, she could come on it to the kitchen and we would find something fun to do. She came in many times, and we always had fun baking something or playing a new game. She liked to talk mose of the time, mostly about Dill. She told me about the kiss he gave her and the fact that she had a finance, was compensation for him not being with her this summer. The week pasted and it was Saturday when i got to thinking about what I should do with them on Sunday. I thought about leaving them home while I went to church, or just dropping them off at their church and then I would go to mine, but then I got a great idea, they would come to church with me. I told Scout about it and she seemed mighty happy to come with me. I then couldn't wait til I could show them my church.

On Sunday I woke Jem and Scout early to get them dressed and looking nice. When they looked prefect we went one our way down to my church. We walked in and many people looked at us with both happiness and confustion. Jem and Scout were looking around, noticing that there were no pianos, hymnbooks or any other ecclesiasticals. We sat down in the front and started with our prays. Service let out and I walked Jem and Scout home. Scout then asked me more about Tom Robbinson's case, and what he did. I told her all I felt that she needed to know, and told her to ask her father when he got home. We walked the rest of the way of in silcence until I saw point over to the front porch where Ms. Alexandra Finch was waiting for us.

Post 3

Character: Jem
Chapter: 8-9

I woke up to a cold morning. I looked outside to see something I never thought that I would see, snow! I rushed down stairs to tell Atticus about the snow outside. We then got a call from Eula May, saying that their was no school today because of the weather. Whenever something happened we would always get a call from Eula May. She was entrusted with informing everyone any important news. Scout woke up soonly after me and we went outside to play in the snow. There was hardly any snow on the ground and what was there was watery hard to play with. So Scout and myself went outside to try and build ourselfs a snowman. We went over to Miss. Maudie's to collect any snow that we didn't want. When we were walking over to Miss Maudie's house we saw Mr. Avery, when we saw us he started yelling at us. He was saying that this sudden weather change was our fault because of our recent bad havior. When we got over to Miss. Maudie house she was outside putting bags over her flowers. We then gathered all her snow and moved it into our yard. Scout and I then got busying working on our snowman. I had a sudden idea to create our snowman to look like Mr. Avery and when we were done it looked very much like him. When Atticus saw, he made up change our snowman from Mr. Avery to Miss. Maudie because we knew that she would not mind us making something that looked like her.

We went to bed that night frozen. All of our fireplaces where going but it was still as cold as every. That night I went to sleep very easily but woke up to Atticus shaking me. He gave me my coat and robe and while I put everything on he went and got Scout. He moved us outside and made us stand in front of the Radley's place. I looked around to see Miss. Maudies house on fire. Everything in her house was in flames and her house was bright red and orange. Scout and I stood in front of the Radley house while we watched Miss. Maudies and the adjacent house go up in smoke. I was holding Scout for warmth until it got so cold she just couldn't stand it. She started dancing in the streets, but all I could see was Miss. Maudies house burn.

Finally the house fire had been stopped and Scout, Atticus and me went inside our house. Atticus made us all some hot chocolate while we talked about what happened. Suddenly I saw that Atticus was looking at Scout strangly. I looked over and saw nothing wrong until Atticus asked whos blankets she was wearing was. I thought back and remembered that she wasn't wearing that blacket when we first went out of the house. I thwn realized that Boo Radley must have drapped the blacknet over Scout when we were watching the fire. I was debating weather to I should be scared for my sister or be mad at her for not turning around to see Boo Radley.

Scout, Atticus and I made our trip up to Finch's landing, a place that we always went for Christmas. I looked going up to see Uncle Jack but I hated going to see Aunt Alexandra and her grandson Francis. He was always to mean to me and Scout and he didn't respect us at all. When we were up there the first thing that happened was that Aunt Alexandra became fanatical with Scout's outfit. She kept on saying that she didn't dree ladylike and she shouldn't be wearing pants, but dresses. I couldn't imagien what Scout would look like in dress, I wanted to find out but knew that I never would. When we were at Finchs landing, I saw that Aunt Alexandra had began to isolate Scout from Francis and myself ever since we moved to the big table. I was somewhat happy to be away from Scout, but then at the same time I missed her. Then one night Francis was talking to Scout about Dill and Atticus, calling them mean names. Then Scout went over and beat Francis. Then Francis tells Uncle Jack that Scout hit him, and without hearing Scout, he slaps her.

Post 2

Character: Jem
Chapter 4-7

School had finally ended and it was summer which means that Dill comes back to Maycomb to stay with his Aunt Rachel. I couldn't wait until Scout, Dill and I could play all summer again and he could hang out like last summer. One thing happened before Dill came, which was that Scout had found something in a hole of a tree that got me thinking about how had left it there. I started thinking more and more about this until Dill finally showed up. He didn't really look any different, he was still the same Dill that I had missed all school year. As soon and he saw Scout and I, he raced to us and we started playing again. The first thing that we did was get an old tire to play in. Scout was the first one in the tire, she had been tormenting before, so I pushed her real hard. The tire rolled as fast as it could go and I didn't think that it was going to end until she hit something and went flying into the Radley's yard. I ran as fast as I could to her and when I got to her she laid still until she looked up and saw who's yard she was in. She ran over to me but forgot the tire so I ran back to get it. I hated being anywhere near that house but I had to get the tire for two reasons. One reason was that we needed it to play and the second reason was that I wanted to show Scout that I wasn't scared even though I was. 

Through out the summer Dill and I became very close usually leaving Scout out of our games until I cam up with a new game, Boo Radley. Dill would be Mr. Radley while Scout was Ms. Radley and I was Boo Radley, spending most of our game hiding under our porch steps. As the summer pasted we got very good at our game, we had talking and many different scences. We played everyday and only stopped when we saw a neighbor look up at us, or when we saw Mr. Radley pass by. One day we started play as usually but then Atticus walked by and heard us playing. He asked us if our game had anything to do with the Radleys. I lied and said no, and gave Atticus a quick evasion, letting Scout and Dill know that our game was a secret. Atticus then walked into our house and Scout began to think that we shouldn't play our game anymore. Soon we did stop playing our game and Dill and I began playing different games while Scout began sitting with the chameleon lady, Miss. Maudie. Before long Scout started talking to Miss Maudie everyday. I started to wonder what they were talking about but then Dill suddenly got an idea, we were going to write Boo Radley a letter. The letter was going to ask Boo to simply come outside more, so that we could see him. We were going to deliever the letter when Scout came with us. Dill and I found a place to put our letter in, and just when it was almost in the house, Atticus found us. We were told never to brother that house again and that we couldn't go near the Radleys ever again. I wanted to argue with Atticus and explain what we were doing, but at this time there was not point in quibbling with him. 

Summer pasted along quickly and finally it was Dill's last day here in Maycomb. Scout, Dill and I had obeyed Atticus's rules by not going near the Radley's house. The Dill had another idea, we were going to go at night to peak through one of the loose shutters on the Radleys house. We were going to see if we could see Boo Radley for our self. We waited until dark, and then we moved secretly to the Radley's house. We went into the back yard of the house and we went up to a loose shutter. We each peaked through the shutter but didn't see anything, all we saw was a light off in the distance. I then wanted to see if I could see Boo through the door up in the porch. I jumped onto the porch, and teetered for a moment until I gained my balence. I looked in the door but couldn't see anything. The after a moment of looking in the door I saw a shadow of a man in a hat. I quickly jumped off the porch and dashed behind a bush with Scout and Dill where I had saw that I created a huge hole in my pants. Suddenly we heard a gun shot and we all ran out of the yard. I was getting Scout and Dill out when I got my pants stuck on wire and was forced to kick my pants off in order to get free. We ran towards the school yard and towards our house. We then saw a group of our neighbors all headed towards the Radleys house. We went towards and heard that Mr. Radley thought that he had shot someone and that we should all be looking for him. Suddenly Miss Rachel looked over to see that I had lost my pants. Dill then told her that we were playing strip poker and that he had. Atticus then sent me to go get my pants and then to return home. We all walked home in silcent thinking about what we had done. 

Scout and I spent that night outside on our porch. I couldn't sleep at all and was thinking that next morning they would find my pants the Radley's yard and then they would all know that I was the one in the yard that night. It was about 2 in the morning and I had made the decistion that I was going to go and get my pants. I sneaked over to the Radleys yard to find my pants unhooked. I also found that the hole in my pants had been fixed. I walked home thinking about who might have done something like this. I crawled back into my bed and couldn't sleep the rest of the night. 

Post 1

Character: Miss Caroline
Chapter 1-3

I have just gotten into the town of Maycomb to start my new job as a teacher for the school. This year I will be teaching first grade which is a great year because I get to be the person who teaches the kids the most important thing, to read. I walked into my classroom ready to teach and as the children started piling in i began to notice a lot of them had no shoes and were very dirty. Never the less I started my lesson by telling everyone my name and letting them know that I was not indigenous to Maycomb. I then began the day with writing the alphabet on the black board. I then called on a little girl, Ms. Jean Louise Finch, to try and read it, when came up to the board she started reading it perfectly. I was so surprised to hear this girl read the alphabet perfectly that I gave her another thing to read to see if she could read perfectly. She read everything perfectly and I couldn't believe it. I had then came to the conclusion that her father must have taught her, but when I confronted her about it she told me that her father had never taught her to read and that it just came naturally. I didn't believe her of course and I insisted that he stop reading with her. Then she said that she wanted to read and write in this class. I could not believe that a girl in the first grade would have such a eccentric plan. I then sat her down to begin my lesson.

After a while it was lunch time. I then asked who was going home and who had a lunch, everyone raised their hand except for one little boy, the one who didn't have any shoes, Walter Cunningham. She told me that he didn't have a lunch to eat, so I tried to give him a quarter just like any teacher would do, and I would have thought that this boy would have just taken it and then paid me back tomorrow, but this boy just sat in his seat. I told him to take the quarter but this boy shock his head and sat. I insisted that he take but then Ms. Jean Louise Finch stood up and started explaining to me that he was a “Cunningham” and that he would not take the quarter because she would not be able to go. She was quite a malevolent child and her different pronouncements began to irk me very much. I then got very angry with her and called her over and hit her 6 times with a ruler and then sent her to the corner.

After lunch I again started teaching like normal, when I turned my head to see a cootie crawl out of a boys hair. I screamed and all the kids turned to see my face is horror while I pointed my figure at this boy. Everyone then came to me and told me that I was not to fear and that it was only a cootie. I was then given a glass of cold water and I order the boy to tell me his name. He told me that his name was Burris Ewell. I told him to go home and take a bath before coming to school the next day. He stood up and he was the dirtiest little boy I had ever seen, I told him to go home again, but he refused. Then another boy stood up to tell me that he was an “Ewells” and that they were all over the school. He continued to explain that they only go to school for the first day and then they never come back. He also said that I was just supposed to mark him absent for the rest of the year and that they avoid trouble with the law by going the first day. I could not believe that what I just heard, a boy that only goes to school for one day. I then told him to sit back down but then Mr. Burris Ewell became very angry and started yelling at me, saying that no one could ever make him to things and then he started using such language and calling my such thing that I broke down into tears.

Immigration Project Reflection

Literature Circle Books/Blogs

The book that I had to read was Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat. When choosing my book this was my first chose and I am very happy that I was able to read this book. This book is a powerful book about the hardship that many people face when moving to a new country and leaving another country. This book also showed how hard it can be to get into this country, but how great it can be once you get in America. From reading this book I have learned a lot more about Haiti history and the many hard times the people of Haiti had to go through. I also learned about how horrible things that could happen to a person if the government of America believe that you are an illegal immigrant.

For this project instead of meeting in a group to discuss the book, we had to post what we think about the book in our blogs. There are many things that I really liked about this way of doing blogs, and there are things that I don’t like about working with the blogs. The things that I liked when working with the blogs, was that we got to focus on the two quotes that affected the book. The things that I didn’t like about working on the blogs was that we had all of our meetings online instead of in person, and I liked when we had in person meetings better then doing all of our meets online. When working with the blogs some problems that I had was that some people would write little posts and they didn’t add much detail when posting, so it was hard to really understand why they would like a quote and why they thought that it was significant in the book.

Art and Literature

When I was choosing what painting that I wanted to have, I didn’t know if I wanted to create a new cover for the book or create a important scene from the book. I liked both of these ideas because I was able to have lots of freedom when creating my paint, but finally I decided that I was going to create a new cover for my book. I decided that I wanted to create a book cover because I thought that this would be a good way of expressing what I thought about the book and I would be able to make something new for the book. When making my book cover I didn’t really know what to do at first. Then I started thinking about the different things that happened in the book, and what the author was trying to show in the book or how she felt in when immigrating. In the end I wanted to create a book cover that showed how the author felt when she was leaving.

When making a book cover you have to make a big connection to the book, so in my painting I thought that I made a connection through my painting because I created what I believed the author felt when immigrating to America. I think that because my book had such a big message and the author talked a lot about how she felt, so it was very easy to create a connection between my painting and the book that I read.

I think that my painting turned out okay because I think that I could have added more things to make it look more detailed, but I did what I wanted to do which was to show the two parents and the two countries that the author was caught in between. I think that I could have enhanced my final painting by adding more detail to the painting. I think that I could have also redone the America, because I feel like I could have redone it to make it look better and cleaner.

Interview Process with Participant and Gift

For my interview process I was given Mrs. Abbassi, which is Ms. Abbassi mother. Ms. Abbassi’s parents live up near San Francisco, I wasn’t able to have an in person interview, but one email interview, and two phone interviews. When interview Mrs. Abbassi, I think that I was able to get a lot of important information about her immigration experience. I think that our interviewing process went very well because Mrs. Abbassi was able to share a lot of information with me, and I really understood what she went through when immigrating. I also got to learn a lot about how she misses her home country of Iran, and how America has affected her life, and her children’s life.

I think that one of the reasons that my interview went so smooth was because I got to learn a lot more of Iran from the information that we had to collect about our interviewees country. When collecting the information, I learned that I really didn’t know that much about Iran, and because we had to fill out the fact sheet, I was able to learn a lot more about Iran. So in the end I was very happy that we had the many fact sheets, because in the end I learn more about Mrs. Abbassi’s home country, Iran.

When interviewing, I liked interviewing on the phone the best because when emailing sometimes the people wouldn’t elaborate on their answers, but when we were on the phone you were able to get a more detailed answer. I wish that I was able to have an in person interview because I think that I would have liked that even more, but I also liked doing my phone interview as well.

With this project we got to learn a lot about immigrants from reading about their experiences in books, but I think that because we were able to talk to an individual immigrant, each of us were able to learn more then any book could tell us. When interviewing our individual immigrant we were able to learn about their story and hear they have to tell us about their life and how it has been affected by immigrating. If each of our were to not interview an immigrant, I don’t think that we would have learn and get all the information that we now have.

When I was going to make my gift I was going to make a painting, a calendar, or a scapebook. Mrs. Abbassi ended up choosing a painting for her gift. When she was explaining what we wanted in a gift, she said that she didn’t want any flags in the painting, and she wanted something that was netural in both countries, Iran and America. So for my painting I choose to make two types of flowers that had to do with both places that she had lived in. The California state flower, Poppy and the national flower of Iran, which was the red rose. So in my painting I made one side of my paintings poppys, and the other side roses so that they come together in the middle. So I wanted to show that America and Iran can come together to create something new.

Final Post for Brother, I'm Dying

Quote 1: "Looking into my daughter's eyes, I thought of my mother, who had faced these first hours alone after I was born. She had been made no promises, been offered no guarantees that either she of I would even live past that night. If something had been ruptured inside of her, no one would have noticed. If something had been broken inside of newborn me, perhaps no one but my mother would have cared. My daughter's quiet yet well-monitored first night was perhaps the one my mother had dreamed for me, for herself, a dream of kind words, kisses, flowers." Edwidge thought this on page 255.

Significance: I think that this shows how different life was back then back in Haiti. I never would have thought thought that their would be a group of pregnant ladies ready to give birth on a stone floor. I always thought that most people would give birth in a hospital with a doctor helping them give birth, but for Edwidge's mother, she was all by herself when she was giving birth. So when Edwidge was giving birth I think that all she thought about was her mother, and how lucky she was to give birth in a nice place.

Character Judgment: I think that Edwidge mother showed a lot of courage to give birth in such a horrivle place. I also think that this quote shows how much Edwidge's mother loved Edwidge ffrom evey moment.

Question 1: Why do you think that in Haiti pregnant people give birth in groups like that?

Quote 2: "Look, Papa, I'd say. You've waited for her. You've lived long enough to see her. Today is not just her day, but all of ours. And we're not the only one who will cradle and protect her. She will also hold and confort us. She too will be our repozwa, our sacred place to rest. " Edwidge wanted to say this to her father on page 255.

Signifiance: I think that this quote shows that no matter happens Edwidge father will always be in her mind. That no matter how different or happy or sad or angry Edwidge get's she will always end up thinking about her father and her uncle.

Character Judgment: I think that this shows how much Edwidge loves and cares and thinks about her father. I also think that this shows how self-less Edwidge is and this quote shows that she doesn't what to think about herself, and she is always putting other people before herself.

Question 2: Why don't you think that Edwidge said this to her father?

LC #5

Quote: "This was the first time she'd been in Bel Air since Sunday's operation. She had never seen it so bad. The streets were cluttered with trash. There were empty tear gas canisters, hollowed grenades, spent cartridge and bullet shells and other garbage everywhere. Some house were missing entire sections from the bulldozing by the UN earthmovers." This was said on page 194 about Tante Zi.

Significance: I think that this quote shows how bad Bel Air has gotten, how horrible it is to live there and why so many people would want to leave Bel Air and Haiti. This quote for me made me think of a horrible place where there is only death and no life and where people live because they have no money to live any where else. I also see know why so many would want to leave Haiti because in this story there is a never ending war.

Character Judgment : I think that Tante Zi has not visited or saw Uncle Joseph in a long time and so when she saw what had happened she was so shocked and really couldn't believe how bad Bel Air had gotten. I also think that she wants to help Uncle Joseph leave and go to America because she knows and understands that an 81 year old man can't deal with all the wars that are going on in Bel Air.

Question: What was the war that was going on in Bel Air about?

Quote 2: "We only called to notify you that they're here," he said. "They're not being relased. They're going to Krome." This was said on page 211. An immigration officer said this to Edwidge.

Signifinace: I think that this is something that know one would never want to hear, and is the wrost thing that a person could hear if they were going to pick up someone from the airport. I also feel really bad for Edwidge, she waited for so long to get the call that her uncle was at the airport and just as she goes to get them, they end up being moved to an immgration station at Kome. I also think that this is one of the hardest things about coming into America, if you forget to bring one thing, they send you to be a prisoner in an immgration station.

Character Judgment: I feel really bad for Edwidge because she spent 2 days worried sick about her uncle, thinking that something horrible has happened to them. Then finally she gets a call telling her that they have arrived at the airport. Then when she gets there she finds out that something horrible has happened to them. I also think that when the people called her the first time to tell her that her uncle has arrived they should have also told her that they were going to Krome.

Question 2: How do you think that Edwidge felt when she found out that her uncle was going to Krome?

LC Meeting #4

Quote 1: "I was walking next to my father and uncle when three shots rang out in a quick secession. The mourners scattered in a nervous stampede, leaving us in the middle of the suddenly empty street. The flurry of people disappearing around street corners and alleys seemed hazy and unclear. My heart was beating fast, a pool of sweat gathering on my face. Was this how Marie Micheline felt before she died? Edwidge said this quote on page 155

Significance: I think that it was so sad that during a very sad day something as scary as a gun shots happens. Its also scary how everyone knows what to do when something, so it shows that gun shots are a common thing in Bel Air at this time.

Character Judgment: I think that this shows that Edwidge is not used to the gun shots and she doesn't know what to do because in America gun shots don't usually happen on the streets everyday. I also think that she was very close to Marie Micheline so when ever she hears gun shots she thinks of her because that is how she died.

Question 1: Did Edwidge grow up in Bel Air when all of fighting was going on?

Quote 2: "I was nearing the end of my first trimester and though I had no morning sickness, I felt fatigued and on some hot Miami morning found myself weeping uncontrollably when I woke up alone in bed after my husband had left for work. Suddenly being separated from others felt like a much more drastic form of isolation a sentence of banishment for not being near my dying father. So when Bob called to tell me that Papa was in the hospital, I leaped out of bed and boarded the next plane to New York. " Edwidge said this on page 156

Signifiance: I think that this quote shows how much Edwidge wants to be with her family and was used to living in a house with everyone and now she is living only with her husband and sometimes she is all alone. So living alone was something that she had to get used to when living in America because in Haiti everyone lived in one house.

Character Judgment: I think that this shows what a loving person she is and how much her family means to her because she is willing to just leave on the spot for her father. I also think that this shows that Edwidge is a person that hates to be alone and wants to be around people she loves.

Question: Do you think that Edwidge should move back to New York to be with her family?

LC Meeting #3

Quote: "Mira's daughter, Edwidge?" she said. Her lower lip was dropping, slightly slurring her speech. Tante Denise said this quote on page 142. 

Significance: When I read the whole page that this quote was on, I felt really bad for Uncle Joseph and Tante Denise. They live in a very bad part of town and it is possible that they could get killed any day, and I think that stress of being so scared has aged Edwidge's aunt and uncle so much that they are always tried and just out of it. I also felt really bad because at first Edwidge didn't really think that her aunt was the same person, the beautiful aunt that she had left in Haiti had turned into a thin small women.

Character Judgment: I think that Tante Denise had changed so much in the years that Edwidge has been away. I think that because of everything that has happened to Tante Denise (Marie dying, the violence in Bel Air) she has just wilted away to this small person that just stays in her home all day. I hope that because Edwidge has come to visit Tante Denise, Edwidge will somehow get Tante Denise and Uncle Joseph to leave Bel Air and move to a safer place in Haiti.

Question: Why do you think that Uncle Joseph won't move out of Bel Air?

Quote 2: "I only remember wishing as we soared into the clouds that my uncle had cried a torrent of tears, had thrown himself on the ground and made a scene, all the while forbidding us to go. He should have blurted out, in his old voice, the sudden revelation that I was really his daughter and that he could live without me."  Edwidge said this one page 109

Significance: I think that this shows how much her uncle has been a father figure to Edwidge, and how much she wished that she was able to stay with her Uncle Joseph in Haiti. I also think that this shows how much her father not being there for her has affected her. It has affected her in the way that she doesn't really want to go to America and spend the rest of her life in a new place with new people that she doesn't really know. 

Character Judgment: I think that Edwidge had a right to not want to live with her mom and dad because they weren't there for her when she was young and she had learned to love and live with her uncle and aunt without them. So I was a little sad to read that she didn't want to go to America, but it was also happy to see that her uncle had affected her life so much and how much she loves hims and wants to be with him.

Question: Do you think that Edwidge's little brother, Bob, felt the same way that she did? 

LC Meeting #2

Brother, I'm Dying

Quote: "Papa," she whispered, her mouth now so close to his ears that her breath burned his lobes. "Papa, even though men cannot give birth, you gave birth tonight. To me." Page 86 Marie Micheline said this.

Significance: I think that this quote really showed how bad Marie's life was with her husband and how free she felt when her father came and saved her. I think that when she say that her father gave birth to her tonight, I think that she meant that by taking her away from her horrible husband, he is giving a whole new life with her, her father, her family, friends and most important, her baby Ruth. 

Character Judgement: I also think that this shows how great full Marie was to her father. I also think that this shows that Marie is really ready to start a new life with her family by her side. I thought that Marie was a very foolish girl for marring the man that she never knew before and just getting pregnant in the first place, but now I think that when she got pregnant she thought that she would end up marring the father of her child, but she quickly learned that life isn't prefect and just because she wanted something, doesn't mean that she will get it.

Question: Why do you think that Marie's mother kicked Marie out of their house?

Quote 2: "Then please, father," my uncle pleaded while trying to maintain his calm, "don me only this favor. Forget you ever saw me, but I'm not leaving without my daughter and her child." Page 84, Uncle Joseph said this. 

Significance:  I think that this shows how caring Uncle Joseph is because he travel all over to find his daughter. I think that because he loves each of his daughter's and son's so much, that when Edwidge and her brother must leave with their parent's to go to New York, Uncle Joseph will feel like part of him is missing.

Character Judgment: I think that this shows how much he loves Marie, and that he is willing to go to great lengths to find her and get her somewhere save. I now think of Uncle Joseph as being a very nice, understanding, caring man who loves everyone no matter what they might have done in the past. 

Question: Why do you think that Uncle Joseph had to pay this man to tell him where Marie was? 

Field Trip Reflection

From Haven to Home: The purpose of this exhibit was to show other what life was like for a Jewish person who came to live in America. From this museum I learn many things, such as many important people in America that were Jewish. People such as Hank Greenberg, Albert Einstein, and Ruth Handle, all these people helped contribute to America's Society. We also learned about Jewish people's rights in American from 1790-1823. We learned that each state was free to discriminate Jewish people as they wished and that back then Massachusetts was the state that most discriminated Jewish people. In Maryland and Massachusetts, the government made everyone who was elected into office take an oath on a Christian Bible, and this made the Jewish people not want to be in office, which was what Maryland and Massachusetts wanted. This was the same until 1825 where Maryland passed what was known as "The Jew Bill" which allowed Jews not have to take an oath on the Christian Bible. I also learned that how the Jewish people affected the Civil War and that about 9,000 American Jews fought in the Civil War for the Union, while about 3,000 fought for the Confederacy. I also learned that Judah Benjamin became the first Secretary of State for the Confederacy, but soon fled to England to escape false accusation that he plotted President Lincoln's assassination.

Between Cultures: I chose a picture of a mother and a daughter that were from Thailand and came to America in 1998. This photo was taken at the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. In this picture the little girl is laying in her mother lap. I liked this picture because I think that it shows what most immigrants feel when they first come to America, fear and happiness. In this picture the mother shows the happiness because she is smiling down at her daughter. The daughter, shows the fear because she looks scared because she in a new place which she is not familiar. So I think that most immigrants feel happiness because they are in a new, better place. I also think that they feel fear because they are in a place which has a different culture then their own. I chose the quote "America has everything we need: technology, goods. At least one person from every nation lives here. People immigrate to America because they know it's a land of freedom and a better life. I see America as the land of opportunities" from Tamara Frank from Poland. I really liked this quote because I think that this is what our founding father intended for this country. They intended this country to be the land of the free and the land of opportunities. So I think that this person really understands that America is really a great place to live. I chose the personal essay called The Untold Story of a Chinese-American. In this essay the person tells the life of his father who immigrated to America from Vietnam. In this essay it tells the story of how he got to America and the many hardships he had to go through in order to get to America. I liked this essay because i think that it shows that being an immigrate was very hard, but in the end it is great to be in America.

LC Meeting #1

Quote: "The words that both my father and I wanted to exchange we never did. These letters were not approved, in his case by him, in my case by my uncle. No matter what the reason, we have always been equally paralyzed by the fear of breaking each other's heart. This is why I could never ask the question Bob did. I also could never tell my father that I'd learned from the doctor that he was dying. Even when they mattered less, there were things he and I were too afraid to say." Page 24, Edwidge Danticat said this quote.

Significance: I have learned a lot more about both Edwidge and her father from this quote. I have learned that they are both too afraid to say what must be said, because they both don't want to make the anyone sad. I also think that because Edwidge and her father were separated for a part of Edwidge's childhood, they don't want to say anything to each other that could make them angry, mad or sad because they want to enjoy the time they have together.

Character Judgment: I think that Edwidge Danticat should tell her father what the doctor told her, which was that her father was dying. I understand that she didn't want to add to her father's pain, but I think that her father has a right to know what the doctor says.

Question: Do you think that it was wrong for Edwidge Danticat not to tell her father, mother or other siblings about her father dying?

Quote 2: "For the family readings, I recited my father's letter in a monotone, honoring what I interpreted as a secret between us, that the impersonal style of his letters was due as much to his lack of faith in words and their ability to accurately reproduce his emotion as to his caution with Bob's and my feelings, avoiding too-happy news that might add to the anguish of separation, too-sad news that might worry us, and any hint of judgment or disapproval for my aunt and uncle which they could have interpreted as suggestion that they were mistreating us. The dispassionate letter were his way of avoiding a minefield, one he could have set off from a distance without being able to comfort the victims." Page 23, Edwidge Danticat said this quote.

Significance: I think that was one of the hardships that Edwidge's father and mother had to face when he left his family back in Haiti, while they left to America. I think that it must have been very hard to write to your family that you left in another country and having to tell them what was going on, while knowing that if you say something too happy or sad, it might hurt your families feelings.

Character Judgment: I feel bad for Edwidge's father and mother because they probably miss their children so badly and they want to tell them how they really feel, but they just can't find the words to tell them. I also think that they shouldn't have left their children behind, and that they should have waited until they had enough money to take everyone to America.

Question 2: Do you think Edwidge's father and mother did the right thing by leaving their children in Haiti while they went to America?

Immigration

Rachel Chatfield

The definition of an immigrant is someone who moved to another country to live in. Such as if someone from France moved here to America to live, they would be an immigrant. From my mothers side of my family, my great-grandparents immigrated from Russia and Sweden. While from my fathers side of the family my great-great grandparents immigrated from Germany and my great-great-great grandparents immigrated from England and Austria. Like myself, most people I know are not immigrants, but have parents or grandparents or great grandparents who have immigrated from other countries.

I believe that so many immigrants come to the United States because they could want to make a better life for themselves in the land of the free, where each man is created equal. Where people are not judged by their race or religion. Some people come to America to get a better education, for themselves or their children, while some people come to American to get away from wars that are going on in their home country. Some people immigrate to America to get away from their countries racial or religious discrimination so that they can live their lives the way that they want to. I also think that people come to America in order to get more jobs so that they can help their families live better lives.

I think that because many immigrants have come to America we have learned a lot more about their cultures and their stories. We have learned more about their countries and why they have chosen to immigrate to America. Plus without different immigrates coming to America, a lot of our population would be gone, because most of us are grandchildren or great-grandchildren to an immigrate.