Weekly Blog 12/14/15

To Kill A Mockingbird

By: Harper Lee

Pages- 1 to End

Prompt: 

Pretend you get to create the music soundtrack for what you've been reading What three songs would you include? Write an explaination for each song. 

          The first song I would include in the soundtrack is 'Imagine' by John Lennon. I would choose this song because it talks about imagining how the world would be if everybody would live in peace and there was just the "brotherhood of man". The song basically tells you to imagine a world free of problems, conflicts between people and their cultures, hunger, and greed. I thought this song was relavent to this book because we see a lot of conflicts in the book dealing with discrimination. The discrimination was against African-Americans. Another way this song relates to the book is because the lyrics in the song remind me of something a character in the book would say. For example the song says, "You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us". This reminds me of something Atticus would say, except referring to the fact of accepting everyone for who they are. 

          The second song I would put in the soundtrack is 'Just Stand Up'. This song is mainly about not giving up. I would choose this song because almost every character in the book can relate to this song. Scout can relate to this because she had to stay strong and not give into the fight when other children at school would talk rudely about Atticus. Tom Robinson can relate to this song because he was facing a real problem of being accused for doing a crime, just because of his skin color. Atticus can relate to this song because he was not giving up on trying to prove that Tom was innocent. He put his heart out to that case. 

Here are a few lyrics to the song: 

"Ooh, it's like we all had better days

Problems getting all up in your face"

"Because the heart can beat the hate"

"If the mind keeps thinking you've had enough

But the heart keeps telling you don't give up" 

          The third song I would choose is 'See You Again' by Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth. I would choose this song because it relates to the end of the book when Scout looks out from the Radley porch and recalls everything that has happened. The song says "We've come a long way from where we began". This is like how Scout and the children have come a long way with Boo Radley. 

*Note* 'Just Stand Up' was sang by Beyonce, Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, Leona Lewis, Keyshia Cole, Miley Cyrus, LeAnn Rimes, Natasha Bedingfield, Melissa Etheridge, Mary J. Blige, Ciara, Mariah Carey, and Ashanti. 

TKAM- Character Relationships

Character Pair:

Aunt Alexandra and Atticus 

Format:

a. Similarities to each other 

b. Differences from each other

c. Relationship to Scout

d. Effect on Scout

        Aunt Alexandra and Atticus are alike in a few ways. One of the obvious ways is that the are both related. They are siblings. Another way they are alike is that they both want the best for Scout. Atticus gives several different life lessons to Scout throughout the book. He also reads to her, which has taught her how to read at a very young age. Aunt Alexandra tries to teach Scout to be a proper lady. She tries to tell her to wear dresses, to stay clean, to not swear, etc. She tries to teach Scout how to be more like a girl, which Scout finds offensive. 

         Aunt Alexandra and Atticus are also different. Atticus accepts Scout for who she is and admires the person that she is. He doesn't mind if she wears overalls or hangs out with boys. Aunt Alexandra on the other hand, tries to change Scout and doesn't like the fact that Scout doesn't act like a girl. Aunt Alexandra tells her that she needs to wear dresses and act proper. Another way that Aunt Alexandra and Atticus are different is that Aunt Alexandra is more narrow-minded and racist. She doesn't like African-Americans, doesn't think they should be trusted, and wants to follow the tradition of segregation. Atticus on the contrary defends African-Americans and accepts and respects everyone for who they are. 

         Aunt Alexandra and Atticus each have their own unique relationship with Scout. Aunt Alexandra and Scout's relationship isn't a very strong one. Scout compares her to Mt. Everest because she was just cold and there. Their relationship is more of a I-tell-you-what-to-do-and-you-have-to-do-it type of relationship where Aunt Alexandra is the one telling that to Scout. Atticus and Scout's relationship is a very strong one. Atticus treats Scout like an adult and respects her, receiving that same respect back. If there is an agreement, Atticus listens to her and her side to a story and then goes from there, unlike Aunt Alexandra. 

          Both Atticus and Aunt Alexandra have an impact on Scout. Aunt Alexandra has more of a negative impact on Scout. Alexandra is always saying how bad Scout is and how bad she is going to turn out in the future. This makes Scout mad, therefore getting negatively impacted. Atticus has a positive impact on Scout. He is the one who taught her to read. He also teaches her important life lessons that Scout listens to and acts on them. Atticus said for example, "...you just hold your head high and keep those fits down."(P.76 Hardcover). Scout listened to him when she felt the need to beat up a kid at school. She said, "...then dropped my fists and walked away...It was the first time I ever walked away from a fight."(P.76-77 Hadcover). This shows that Scout is learning to be a better person from Atticus.