Your task: First, select a character from the book - major or minor, it makes no diference. Second, select a single sentence or phrase from the book that you feel truly defines that character. Third, share your response in the comments section with a thoughful, thorough paragraph.
Your paragraph should be thoughtful and thorough. It should include a quotation with correct parenhetical citation. It should contain a claim (topic sentence), evidence (context and quotation), and a warrant (an explanation of how the quote proves the topic sentence). All rule of grammar and punctuation apply. Pay attention to your tense, your person, etc. Be sure to read all of the entries before you create your own. Remember, no repeats.
Atticus is an ideal character with an ideal personality. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin an walk around in it" (Lee 39). This quote sums up Atticus' view on things in life. He is a man that always does the right thing. He is more concerned about pleasing others rather than himself. Most of all, he believes that everybody is equal.
ReplyDelete"Aunt Alexandra is a back porch listener" (Lee 111). This is said by Scout when after she was fighting Francis. She consistently takes sides against Scout simply because Scout does not act like a perfect lady. They are a few points in the book when Aunt Alexandra acts unfairly against Scout and Scout's opinion of Alexandra is on target.
ReplyDeleteWatch your floating quotes. You are being graded on your writing here...
ReplyDeleteRemember, claim, evidence, warrant. And...make us think about something.
Scout is a fighter; she has the ability to use her mouth very well. When she wakes up one morning she sees Jem and Dill in a deep conversation. As she approaches them, Jem and Dill stop what they were talking about. Jem and Dill tell Scout to go away. Scout will not take this; she has a mind of her own and knows how to speak it. "This yard's as much mine as it is yours [. . .], I got just as much right to play in it as you have" (Lee 61). That shows how independent she is. Scout did not listen to what she was told to do. Jem and Dill come to a quick conclusion and tell Scout that she can stay but she has to do what they say. She speaks her mind again, "We-ll, [. . .] who's so high and mighty all of a sudden?" (61). For a second time she speaks her mind. Scout is very good at doing this, as she does this throughout the whole book.
ReplyDelete"Aunty assured us that Miss Stephanie Crawford's tendency to mind other people's business was hereditary" (Lee 140). Although Aunt Alexandra is the one saying this quote, and tends to stretch the truth on many occasions, she is very much correct. Aunt Alexandra is implying that Miss Stephanie gossips so much, that it must run in the family. Of course, gossiping is not a hereditary trait, but Miss Stephanie is defiantly the town gossiper. She always knows who is going where, when, or what happened in the latest crime. For example, while chatting with Scout one day, Miss Maudie exclaims that Miss Stephanie "told [her] that once, she woke up in the middle of the night," looked out her window, and found Boo Radley "looking in the window at her" (Lee 52). This could be true, but probably is only gossip, because no one with a "grain of sense trusted" what Miss Stephanie claimed (Lee 51).
ReplyDeleteRoderick Pahati said...
ReplyDeleteJem is just like any other boy growing up into a man, Jem is twelve and tells Scout to constantly to stop pestering him, Scout asks Atticus if Jem's "got a tapeworm"(Lee 153). When he was young, he would do things against Atticus' rules like when Jem was going to mail the letter to Boo, Atticus told Jem to "stop tormenting [Boo Radley]"(65). Also he would mock Scout, like when Scout didn't want to get the tire from the Radley's yard Jem mocks her about acting so much "like a girl"(50). But as Jem grows up, he seems to push Scout away. When it snows in Maycomb, Jem keeps telling Scout that she's "wasting [snow]" and he tells her that it's "bad children like [Scout]"(87) who makes the seasons change and not to have snow in Maycomb. As Jem grows up even Calpurnia sees it and starts calling him "Mister Jem". In brief, Jem has grown up as a normal kid would, he starts doing things unacceptable, goes into having some sorts of mood swings where he not insults Scout but actually becomes a jerk to her, up into wanting to be alone.
Miss Maudie Atkinson is an independent, wise, and friendly women. Although she is old and "a widow" (Lee 56) Scout and Jem still have "considerable faith" in her and consider her their "friend". (59) And what makes her their friend is that even "with most of her possesions gone and her beloved yard a shambles, she still took a lively and cordial interest in Jem's and [Scout's] affairs" (97) which is something most adults would not do. She is independent because when her house burnt down she looked to the bright side of things like how she "hated that old cow barn" (97) anyway. She knows a lot about what happens in Maycomb County but she does not gossip or spread rumors about it. Sometimes she does awkward and random things that others would not do, like become friends with children for instance. But it is not that there is something wrong with her, "that was just Miss Maudie" (98)
ReplyDeleteAntonio - I like where you're going here, but we need a topic sentnece (a central claim that you are proving). Don't forget your topic sentences, guys!
ReplyDeleteNo floating quotes, gang. Please. No...floating...quotes.
ReplyDeleteDill is naturally a liar, and tends to take things and stretch them out, making a situation seem larger than it really is. Jem catches Dill lying about his Dad having a beard. Scout, as a narrator, comments on this, "Dill Harris could tell the biggest [lies] I ever heard."(Lee 63)In this situation, Scout is explaining how Dill is a big liar, right after he gets caught for lying. Also,the morning after Scout, Jem, and Dill encounter Atticus at the jailhouse, defending Tom Robinson from a mob, Dill claims, "It's all over town this morning,"[...]"All about how we held off a hundred folks with our bare hands..."(Lee 211) Once Aunt Alexandra started to protest, Jem told her "Aw, Aunty, that's just Dill's way."(Lee 211) THis shows how Dill stretched the situation out just to make it seem more dramatic. It was only a few people they held off, and they did not even have to fight them.
ReplyDeleteCalpurnia is a tough but loving woman. She cares for the Finch family and takes good care of them. Calpurnia constantly trys to teach Scout to be polite, "don't matter who they are" whoever sets foot in this house is "yo comp'ny." (Lee 29) Calpurnia is like the mother Scout never had, she is very tough on Scout but is only trying to teach her. Calpurnia holds the family together, even if Scout does not realize it, without Calpurnia life would be a lot harder.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Dubose is a old and angry women. She cares about manners. When Scout said hi to Mrs. Dubose, she replied by scorching her first, "Don't you say hey to me, you ugly girl!" Which proves that she is an angry women, than corrects her "You say good afternoon Mrs. Dubose!"(Lee 133)This proves that she cares about how others behave. After she dies, Jem and Scout then realizes that the "vicious"(Lee 133) lady was actually nice.
ReplyDeleteAtticus Finch is one of the main characters in the story and is portrayed as a very loving, caring, unselfish man. A perfect role model to Jem and Scout. One night, Atticus leaves the house to go visit Mrs. Dubose and not much later comes back with some news; Mrs. Dubose had died. Atticus spends much of the night explaining to Jem that Mrs. Dubose truly was an amazing and brave person, while Jem continuously denied his father's words. While explaining his thoughts to Jem about Mrs. Dubose, Atticus said, "It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do" (Lee 149). Atticus lives his life by his morals, and one of them being; never give up because you never know when something might change in your favor. Atticus stands as a role model to Jem and Scout because he shows them that for one to be successful in life, they should never give up and always look on the bright side of things, even if it may look cloudy sometimes.
ReplyDeleteOne key and very important person in the story is Atticus. Atticus is a tough, friendly, wise, loving, and a good father to his kids. Even though it may not seem it he, Atticus is a great father. At the end of chapter fifteen, when the angry mob of men are leaving the jail and Jem, Socut, Dill and Atticus are heading home Atticus "massaged" Jems hair "his one gesture fo affection" (Lee 207). Is it better to have a father that tries to prove to his kids everyday that he loves them, by buying his kids gifts? Which really could mean that he is trying to buy his kids affection. Or is it better to have a father that rarley shows how affectionate and loving he is to his kids? But when he shows it, the kid knows that he did something he should be proud of, he knows his father loves him, by that rare but still so touching moment a kid knows that his father loves him. This qoute describes Atticus perfectly. It describes him so well because it shows us how rarley he shows that much affection, but it also shows us how much he loves his kids. Like before, his gesture shows us how tough, but how loving of a father he is to his kids.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first characters we meet in the story is Dill. He enters and triumphantly says, "I'm Charles Baker Harris" (Lee 8) then immediatly follows with "I can read". The fact that he feels compelled to recite his whole name, comes off as such a pompus statement, we can almost see him sticking his nose in the air as if better then the rest of them. Then his follow up statement "I can read" is unnecessary information. But to Dill,due to the fact that not many people his age can read, it's quite important. It's his way of showing off and, again, attempting to be better then Scout, Jem, and i'm guessing most other kids he meets.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main characters, Atticus is an epitome as a person for Scout and Jem. He is a very loving, cautious, brave, kind hearted, caring, and most of all, genuine person. He is a very well rounded man, and tries to raise Scouth and Jem in the best way, and he is trying to give them the best lives they can have. When Atticus says "If I had my 'drunthers I'd take a shotgun" (Lee 128), this shows that even though he knew he was so good when it came to aiming a gun, he would have rather had a shotgun to make it easier. Not only do I think he meant this literally, but I also do think this showed a side of him where he shows that he is modest and does not necessarily aim for what makes him look good. He does not do what benefits him necessarily, but what benefits others, and sometimes himself.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Dubose was not a bitter old woman, she was an addict calling out for help. When Jem destroyed the plants outside of her house, Mrs. Dubose requested one thing for her forgivness. This strange request was that Jem read to her every afternoon for a month. Jem was very unwilling at first, but soon his punishment became a routine. One day Scout made an ovservation, "It suddeny came to me that each day we had been staying a little longer at Mrs Dubose's, that the alarm clock went off a few minutes later everyday, and that she was well into one of her fits by the time it sounded" (Lee 145). We later find out that Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict, and she was using Jem as a distraction from her pain. Because of her personality, she couldnt simply ask the boy to help her in her time of need, so an excuse had to be made to get Jem to agree. With his help, the bitter old lady was able to rest in peace.
ReplyDeletePaul - If "Jem and Scout then realizes that the "vicious"(Lee 133) lady was actually nice," then how does the line you selected define her as a character?
ReplyDeleteMarykate - I never would have thought of this line, but you're right. That live totally nails down Dill's character. P.S. No first person! That goes for all of you!
ReplyDeleteOlivia Stern said...
ReplyDeleteThe main character of this book is Scout Finch. She starts out about six years old in the beginning of the book and she is in the first grade. She loves to read and has always known how due to her reading at an early age. She knows nothing different than to know how to read and when her first grade teacher tells her otherwise because of her own skewed self confidence Scout says this: “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”[Lee 18]
This shows how Scout will believe what she is told until proven otherwise. She does not know how important it is to her until she loses it. This goes for other situations in the book including when Jem her older brother turns twelve and begins his growing up phase. She doesn't know the effects until it's lost.
One of the main characters of the story is Atticus Finch. He is a very serious and loving man. Atticus is always a kind man, respectful, and means what he says. He is a smart man and knows how to be a good role model to his two kids, Scout and Jem, and their friend Dill. Atticus also never quites, for example when asked what he was going to do by Jem his reply was "It's not time to wory yet,We're not through yet. There'll be an appeal, you can count on that."(Lee 243)This quote means that he is comforting and determined to make the people see his side of the story. He is confident in the fact that he stood by his opinions and was never going to give up. In the story he is a very determined man who loves his kids and will always stand up for what is right.
ReplyDelete