Job 1-2

What can learn about humanity?

People, at least in Ancient near Eastern Culture, are afraid of offending God. They feel like God controls everything. Job was afraid that he or one of his children would somehow offend God, so every day, as part of his routine, he would sacrifice lambs.

What can we learn about God?

God does not always seem fair. The common reward/retribution theory for the time seems to mean nothing to God. Job is a man who has done nothing wrong, has worshiped and praised God all his life, and is suddenly put through one of the worst sufferings a man can receive, just so God can prove a point to Satan.  This also presents the question, is God really in control of everything? If Satan is manipulating God like this, it seems like he’s the one in control.

What can we learn about realationships?

It seems like you never completely know who your real friends are until something bad happens. Not necessarily fire coming from the sky and an evil wing killing your children, but when something bad happens, peoples true feelings are exposed. Now that Job has lost his welath (his livestock) his wife tells him to “curse god and die.” Pherhaps she only married him because he was the richest man in “Uz”. But his three friends all traveled great distances in order to be with Job in his time of need. They sat next to him for seven days and never said a word because they could see how imense his suffering was.

What can we learn about Job and his family?

From this passage of Job, it almost seems like Job is more obsessed with praying, sacrificing, and fearing God than actually being with his family. It speaks of the parties that Job’s kids have, but he never goes to any. He’s to busy sacrificing lambs just in case one of his children sin. And when his children are killed, what does he do? He tears his robe, shaves his head, and falls to the ground in prayer. It just seems like he’s very disengaged from reality.

Animal Farm:Mindlessness in Today’s World

Mindless following and blind acceptance still plays a large part in today’s world, not just in the Russian Revolution.  There are many people who simply follow the instructions and accept the opinions of others without thinking, simply because they’re the leaders. In today’s society, certain people (like celebrities, talk show hosts, and DJ’s on the radio) are seen as being “better” than the average person. They belong to a “higher order”. Even I find myself occasional watching political talk-shows (like the Daily Show or very rarely The O’Reilly Factor),  reading books, or watching movies and simply accepting the views portrayed as my own. And whats even more disturbing, my opinion literally changes based on what show I was watching last.  Just like in Animal Farm. A lot of the times, the animals’ votes coincided with the views of whomever was talking last, Snowball or Napoleon.

There is, however, an easy way to solve this. When watching TV, reading books, or watching movies, just try to keep all the facts in your mind. Because a lot of times you’re only being presented a portion of what actually occurred. This is a tactic used a lot by the newspaper. They only tell you the part of the story, or write it in such a way, that agrees with their views, or their sponsors views. Keep in mind, before forming any solid opinions, get all of the facts. And keep an open mind. Blind devotion can be dangerous as seen in the Russian Revolution, The Holocaust, the French Revolution, and George Orwell’s Animal Farm

Thoughts on the trial

I thought the trial was fun. It was different and required us to think in different ways. We weren’t just reciting facts from books that we’ve read, it required us to think about what the text meant. I just thought the whole idea was different and it was fun to actually get involved in something. It wasn’t just answering staight-up questions about specific facts in the book, but we had to analyze the content, prepare questions to prove our point, and prepare yourself for questions you expected the cross-examiner to ask. And i also think it was fun because we were competing against classmates and were driven to do our best. But you could definately tell some people (Chris Jones…) were less driven than others. It was a pleasant change from the every day, week-for-week English stuff we normally do. I thought it was a great project and actually enjoyed it. 

TKAM Homework 2/15/06

Both Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson share some distinct characteristics in the book. Both characters are constantly being abused by society and the people around them. Tom is black. In the 1930′s, especially in Alabama, no one showed any decency, let alone respect toward black people.  Everyone thinks they’re better than Tom and are constantly talking down to him or taking advantage of him. Like in the courtroom, when the lawyer was cross-examining Tom, he kept calling him boy. It was condescending and showed extreme disrespect. The same with Mayella. She’s not black, but society still looks down on her. She’s trash; she laterally lives at the dump. Not only is she trash, but she’s a woman. Women in the 1930′s had almost as little rights as blacks. Her family is broke and lives off well-fare. They are leeching off the community and what does Mr. Ewell do with the money? He buys liquor. So Mayella is also disrespected and taken advantage off. No one in Maycomb wants to be seen with her, and, on top of that, her father takes out his drunken rage on her by beating her. So both Tom and Mayella are at the very bottom of the social ladder and they can’t control it. Tom was born black and Mayellas can’t change what her father does.

However similar they are, Tom and Mayella have differences as well. Tom is completely innocent; he does all this work for Mayella and accepts no pay. He simply feels bad that her father is being so neglecting to the family. He makes Mayella do all the chores, like busting up chiffarobes, and spends the only money the family gets on alcohol. Not only that, but Mayella also has all those kids to look after. Tom was just trying to help someone he thought needed it.  But Mayella, to repay Tom for all he’s done, tries to take advantage of him. And when her dad catches her, she claims that Tom tried to rape her. Simply to salvage what little respect they have with the community, Mr. Ewell beats Mayella and says Tom attacked her and took advantage of her. Mayella would selfishly frame Tom rather than face what she did. Tom was nothing but nice to her, and this is how she repays him. Tom would never do that. It doesn’t matter how bad Mayella is treated, that’s just not right. And it’s certainly not innocent

I think that Mayella and Tom are more alike than most people of Maycomb think. They both were born into a bad situation that they have absolutely no control over it. Tom was born black and is automatically disrespected by everyone at that time, and Mayella’s life is being ruined by her father beating her and taking the family’s only source of money to buy alcohol. Life dealt them both a bad hand and there’s nothing either of them con do about it. So everyday, they struggle through, being sneered at behind their backs by the good old people of Maycomb.

Homework Thursday 2/8

     I think that Scout, in chapter 15, is acting in her character. Although somewhat exaggerated, the behavior and thoughts that Scout has while confronting the mob and throughout the rest of the sorry are the same. Scout is very ignorant to things that go on in the world. She continually asks questions and, even then, doesn’t quite understand. For example, when she asks Calpurnia why she speaks differently in front of her friends than she does with the Finches. Scout, no matter how Calpurnia explains it, just can’t quite understand.

     Being an eight year old girl living a blissfully ignorant life, however, is important to express the themes of the book. Scout, like Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, are symbols of innocence in this book. They’re the mockingbirds. So there was need to exaggerate Scouts ignorance in the face of evil. It’s showing that a child’s ignorance and innocence are something that shouldn’t be harmed, like Atticus not exactly telling Scout what rape is. That’s why the mob left when Scout came; it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

     So, in chapter 15 Scout does follow here previous character. The whole scene was somewhat exaggerated but  it was necessary to relay one of the main points of the book. Scout is just being an innocent little girl who knows nothing of the evils in the world. She lives in a time with no TV and violent movies so her innocence has been preserved all this time. She’s had no experience with this sort of violence so she has no idea what it is. It’s not until later that she’ll understand and her faith in the goodness of humanity will be tested.

TKAMB Febuary 1st

The mockingbird represents childhood innocense and ignorance. The mockingbird does no harm to anyone and is simply blissfully happy. What Atticus is saying is that to kill something so harmless and defenseless and unexposed to the evils of the world is a sin. It’s just too horrible for any worldly punishment.

 Between Scout and Jack, basically, Jack was quick to take Francis’s side for two reasons. Francis had presented his case before Scout, and Jack had already formed an opinion on Scout based on her random swearing. So, it’s important to get both sides of the argument before making any decisions or accusations. And don’t judge someone until you know what they’ve just gone through.

Scout, Jem, and Dill

So far, Jem, Scout, and Dill are leading fairly easy lives. They’re still kids so they’re not aware to the real world yet. All three have a good education and a good family (at least Scout and Jem, don’t know about Dill yet). Not only that, but since Scout and Jem’s father is a lawyer, the economic drop that has swept across the nation hasn’t really hit them as hard as say the farmers that make up most of Maycomb County.  Anyway, all three seem to be well of.

Scout, Jem, and Dill view Boo Radley with fear.  To the whole town practically, whenever something bad or bizarre happens, it’s Boo Radley’s fault. But, other than that, I have no idea what role he’s going to play in the book. I bet it’ll be a major one though. Right now, it’s possible that Boo represents “fear itself”. 

To Kill a Mokingbird?

I think that this book is going to be primarily about racism, childhood innocence, ignorance, and the concept of evil. The kids’ dad is a lawyer who has seen evil and is defending a black man from the evils of the racist community. And, up until this point, the kids have had no concept of evil and how it could hurt them. Jem, who loses all faith in justice when the obviously innocent black man is convicted, is wounded by a racist man trying to kill them because their father defended a black man. Scout has also lost some faith in justice and the world. The rest of the town are ostracizing her and her family simply because her father chose to defend an innocent man. In the end, however, she realizes that there is still potential to be good inside of everyone when Boo saves her and Jem from the racist man trying to kill them. Scout, in a way, becomes much like her dad, who has, in his many years of being a lawyer, has seen his share of evil and corruption but still believes their is potential for good in every human being. But one of the main points is that there is evil, and either not knowing of it or denying it can leave you hurt (represented by Jem). But it is something Scout and Jem have never seen until this, their childhood kept them blind from the evil in the world. But now, after all these events that take place in the book, they know of evil, and they also know there can be good. And, with this, ends their ignorance of childhood.

Various uses for blogging in English class

Well, one obvious thing we can do is discuss important topics referring to the book that we are currently reading. Also, you can post questions and see our responses. Like the quote we had to comment on. Just to see if we’re paying attention and correctly analyzing given material.

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