To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Prompt: You will be selecting a photograph that represents your idea of Maycomb, AL based on Harper Lee’s description.

Incorporating the different criteria from the Visual Literacy Guide, write a thoughtful, thorough, and well constructed response relating the photograph to Maycomb, AL.

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Evans Walkers. Grocery Store. Greensboro, Alabama Digital File from T01 Duplicate Negative. 1936. Greensboro, Alabama. Liberty of Congress. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. <http://www.loc.gov/item/fsa1998020974/PP/>.

          I think that this photo could potentially be Maycomb, Alabama. Many of the things in the photo are features that Maycomb has too. For example, the buildings, people, prices, sidewalks, stores, and the overall setting. Some of these things gave been mentioned so far throughout the book and that's why I think that this photo could be Mycomb, Alabama.

          Something that I noticed in the picture was that on the road next to the sidewalk is trashed and there's a bunch of paper on the ground. I thought that could relate to the book since on page 6 it says, "...grass grew on the sidewalks...". I thought this could go with the picture since on the picture there is garbage on the ground, so both the quote and the picture show the ground kind of old. I also thought that the picture could go along with the setting of the book because of the prices of the fruits. The book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in the 1930's. This could go along with the picture because nowadays we don't have those kind of cars and the fruits weren't as cheap as they are in the picture. The last reason I thought this could go along with the book is because the book says  "Maycomb was a tired old town..." and since the picture isn't showing many people, it could go along with the book.

Theme Blog 11/14/15

Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Prompt: This week you will focus on theme. You will need to determine a theme and analyze its development throughout the novel. By looking closely at character's actions, the setting, plot events, and/or the conflict, you can identify clues that are written by the author to help teach you (the reader) a message about life or human nature. Start first by looking at your 'Universal Theme' sheet to help you get started.

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           Two of the many possible themes in the book Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry are that "sometimes  there can't be justice" and that "racism is unfair". These are the two most common themes in the book. The theme "racism is unfair" is the one that stands out the most. The book takes place in the period after slavery was abolished. Even though slavery was already abolished most of the events that happen in the book are due to racism. The book is about a poor african-american family, known as the Logan's, who are fighting to overcome their struggles. Just to make things worse, since they are african-american many of their problems become worse.

            An example of the book using the theme "sometimes there can't be justice" is on page 44. It uses the theme injustice because an all white student school get to have two buses for transportation while an all african-american student school gets no buses at all. In the book it says, "...the county did not provide buses for its black students. In fact, she said, the county provided very little and much of the money which supported the black schools came from black churches." This shows how the county is being very unfair with the african-american race because they rather give two buses to a white school than give one to the whites and one to the african-americans. It is very unfair because the black children have to walk to and back from school every single day while the white children have the luxury of traveling in a bus.

              An example of the book using the theme "racism is unfair" is on page 114. It uses the theme racism because a white man hurt a black child (Cassie) just because she accidentally bumped into her daughter (Lillian Jean) while they were walking down the street. In the book it says, "But someone caught it from behind, painfully twisting it, and shoved me off the sidewalk into the road. I landed bottom first. Mr. Simms glared down at me.
"When my gal Lillian Jean says for you to get yo'self off the sidewalk, you get, you hear?"
This shows a lot of racism because since Lillian Jean is white she thinks she has a higher class level than Cassie. That's why her father pushed Cassie off the sidewalk and forced her to apologize to Lillian Jean.