TKAM #8

Make two predictions of what will will happen in in the book.

My first prediction, is that Bob Ewell is going to try and get his revenge on the "other two." Aunt Alexandra's assessment of the situation is that his kind aren't the kind of people who make empty threats. I think that I have to agree with her on that. I don't necessarily believe that he'll be succesful in this matter, but I think that he's diffenetly going to try. He won't be able to sustain a grudge like that without doing something about it. From what we've read, I believe that his two targets are:
Judge Taylor- We saw that someone was trying to sneak into his house already. But they were fooled by Taylor and his shot-gun. But I actually think that it was Bob Ewell in the Judge's house, and not his cat or something else. I think that Bob Ewell wanted to get revenge on the judge because he was leaning more onto Atticus's side.
Atticus- This one is very obvious. He's already shown his dislike of Atticus. He spat in his face and said he was going to kill him. But I think there's more to that. He might not only want to kill Atticus to get revenge. He might want to do something that would make him want to die. Try to kidnap his kids. Or maybe even something worse!

The other thing that I think is going to happen, is that Boo Radley is going to show himself. He's been so obscure this whole book, I feel that he's going to need to come out eventually. I believe that the author has been trying to build up curiosity of Boo Radley, and is now going to have him come out in the end of the book. They say his pursuits just involve sneaking around the neighborhood and frightening people in the night, but I believe that there is a different side to Boo Radley. I think that he was the one who was putting gifts in the tree, and that he was the one who but a blanket on Scout. Of course everyone probably knows that, but I still think it. I also think that it's very improbable he would do something bad in the end of the book. The author was showing that all of the kids thought he was such a bad guy, I think that it's almost inevitable that he would do something good.

Question: If Bob Ewell does try to get his revenge, do you think anyone will die?

TKAM #7

Choice C

I believe that this book is mostly about coming of age. I actually believe that it's a bit of all of the options. The trial had to do with race and prejudice. Scout's not being more like a girl is about gender. And a lot of the conversations in which they talk about status in Maycomb, it has to do with class. But I believe that coming of age is the biggest theme of which this book is based off of. One thing that I'm basing this off of is the conversation is the conversations that Scout and Jem have with the adults about the trial. In a way, all of the adults are saying, you'll understand when you grow up. So this kind of has to do with them eventually growing up and learning about how the world is. The other topics aren't irrelevant, but I feel that this is the most important.

Another part of the growing of age is the way Scout starts talking about how Jem is changing. he starts to act like a more authoritative figure to Scout. He's starts to boss her around and even threatens to spank her. The way that the author get's into a girl's shoes and her having seen a person grow up shows a lot about coming of age. How he's growing older, and things that come with that. Scout might have felt this was fraud comparing to the way he used to act.

Another part of the book that shows parts of growing up are the way Scout experiences things when she starts to get a little bit older. Being 9 years old isn't much, but you can see the difference of experiences when she starts to grow up. She starts to see the world a bit of a different way. People used say, "oh, she's wearing jeans, that's a little weird." But now they think of it a different way. They're starting to say things like "Jean Louise, start being a lady!' Aunt Alexandra had to come because Atticus thought that Scout needed a feminine influence. But Scout having to be more feminine isn't the only thing that you see with her growing up. You also see her maturing. No longer is she threatening to beat up boys on the playground. By growing up, she learned that this wasn't the right thing to do. I guess the way she is growing up is stealthy.

I believe that Harper Lee was trying to show a harsh story through the eyes of a child. Some of the most stressful times, the predicaments, in American history seen through someone else's eyes can be a great experience. I believe that this was best shown by this author, showing a very racist trial through the eyes of children coming of age.