To Kill A Mockingbird

Prompt: What you are reading is going to be made into a movie. Make a list five

characters, what famous actor will play each character and what about the

character makes that actor the best choice for the part.

The first actor I would choose would be for the part of Atticus Finch.The actor I would choose would be Sir Ian McKellen. I would choose him to play this role because of the previous roles he's played. In movies like the "Lord Of The Rings" series, he has played the role of a wise character, such a Gandalf The Grey (and White). In these roles he usually is the one who other characters look to for knowledge and advice and in "To Kill A Mockingbird" the character that others look to for advice and knowledge would be Atticus. 

The second actor I would choose would be for the character of Jem (Jeremy) Finch. The actor I would choose would be Thomas Brodie-Sangster. I would choose him to play the role of Jem mostly because of the quality of being a teenage boy. But also due to the role he played in "The Maze Runner" as Newt, i would choose this because both the characters of Jem and Newt are very energetic and opinionated. 

The third actor I would choose would be for the character of Scout (Jean Louise) Finch. The actor I would choose would be a very young Rowan Blanchard. I would pick her because in all he roles she plays she is always a feminist and accepting, just like the character of Scout. Due to his I feel she would appropriately play the role of Scout Finch. 

The fourth actress I would choose would be for the role of Calpurnia. The actress I would choose would be Viola Davis. I would pick Viola Davis due to her role in the movie "The Help", where you plays the role of a maid and nanny for a white family in the South in the 1960's. Davis's role is this movie is almost identical to the role of Calpurnia in TKAM therefore I believe she would portray the character Calpurnia very well.

Lastly, the actor I would choose would be for the role of Boo (Arthur) Radley. The actor I would choose would be Jack Nicholson. I would choose Nicholson for this role do to his role in the 1980 film, "The Shining". In "The Shining" Nicholson plays a father plagued with insanity causing him to murder. In the story Boo is thought to be a murdering psychopath, and is described as sort of hollow and demented looking so I feel that Nicholson would really fit the characteristics of Boo Radley but also the role Boo has in the story.

'To Kill A Mockingbird' Character Relationships

Dill and Francis are two characters in the novel 'To Kill A Mockingbird. While both are their own person and have their own unique personality they have some character traits that are very similar to each other, some that are different,and they both have their own relationship and effect on Scout.

Dill and Francis are similar in the way that they are both manipulative. Dill is manipulative in the way that he pressures his peers into doing so,etching that may not be completely safe or right. For example, Dill manipulates Jem and pressures him into their adventures involving the Radley house. Francis on the other hand is manipulative in the way where he fakes innocence to gain what he wants. For example he pretends that he did not instigate his fight with Scout and uses his childish innocence to gain what he wants, in this case he wants Scout to get in trouble. Another way that Dill and Francis are similar characters is that they both don't have a good relationship with their parents/guardians. Dill doesn't know his biological father and feels disconnected from his biological mother and feels that his step father has no interest in fathering him at all. Whilst his parents don't like spending time with him he states that they do buy him whatever he wants, although this is not a healthy relationship it is similar to Francis's relationship with his parents. We learn that in chapter 10, that on holidays his parents immediately leave him with his grandparents and resume their lives without him, we also learn that his parents bought him everything that he asked for Christmas. Dill and Francis are similar in the way that they don't have a healthy relationship with their caregivers.

Despite Dill and Francis being similar in some aspects they are also very different. Dill and Francis are very similar in age but have different levels of maturity. Dill still very much wants to be a child and resumes playing like a child. He likes to run wild and play with other children, like Scout and Jem. While Francis shows higher levels of maturity. Francis acts as if he is very opinionated like an adult. He doesn't like to engage in games like other children his age do. He feels as if he has to mimic what adults do which is unlike Dill. Another way that Francis and Dill are different from each other is their morals. During the summer Dill sneaks out at night and makes cigarettes. He does things that aren't morally correct for children to be doing, but doesn't really care since he is a child. He doesn't really have any strong morals relating to what rules he should follow and what rules he shouldn't follow. Francis on the other hand is very disciplined, unlike other children his age he does not cuss or sneak out at night. He had a proper 'Finch' upbringing.

 

Dill's relationship with Scout it a very lovely one. Dill comes to Maycomb once a year and stays by the Finches. He has been Scout's friend for years. They have a very healthy relationship for children, and plan to get married once they're adults and have enough money. While Francis and Scout have a very negative relationship. Francis is Scout's cousin, her judgemental cousin. Francis is the cousin that your family tells you to be more like. He is constantly putting Scout down and telling her that her father is a disgrace to the family.

Dill's effect is a positive and negative one. His effect is positive in the way that they both care about each other and have fun. He brings Scout joy when he comes and pain when he isn't able to visit her. She views him as her 'Fiancée'. The negative effect is that he also causes her to get in trouble. He's always scheming. He makes schemes to sneak out, sneak into people's homes, and other childish schemes that almost always end in Scout getting confronted by Atticus or another adult. The effect that Francis has on Scout is also negative and positive. He has a negative effect on Scout because he is constantly putting her down for things she doesn't understand or have any control over. He angers her by calling her father a 'Nigger Lover', causing her to get into fights and get punished from them. But his negative effects on her bring positive ones aswell. If Scout would have never gotten into fights with Francis she would have never gained the wisdom and knowledge to not let others ignorance bother her.

"To Kill A Mockingbird" Setting

Maycomb County, Alabama, the setting of the novel 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. Described as a 'Tired Old Town' where 'In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks.' This photo above isn't the fictional town of Maycomb but instead a street in the town of Selma, Alabama. I believe that this photo of Selma could have easily been the setting of TKAM. When Maycomb is described you can envision sagging and unkept buildings and dirty streets. In this photo you can see that while the streets aren't quite made of clay but are indeed dirty. The streets have a very country aura to them that resembles the town of Maycomb.

This also relates to Maycomb due to the condition of the building, in TKAM they state that the courthouse sags. When I saw this image it made me think about how if something as important as a courthouse was unkept, then less important things would also be unkept. This image seems like it could be a depiction of a general store in the area of Maycomb, and just conjures up an image of a town deep in the South. 

This also reminded me that Maycomb is a small town and rarely has tourists of visitors. A tourist town in American such a Miami, Florida or San Francisco typically try to keep the area clean and visually pleasing, while in Maycomb there are no tourists or visitors to impress. Since the town of Maycomb has no one to impress they would have no reason to keep the town clean of aesthetically pleasing to the eye. So since there is no reason to keep the town clean and presentable I feel that this would be a great picture to describe the care or lack of given to buildings in Maycomb.

 

Theme Blog

Theme Blog

Prompt: Your blog for your 40 Book Challenge this week 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.

'A Work In Progress, A Memoir' By Connor Franta

Despite being a memoir and not a work a fiction there are two themes that I think are being expressed throughout the book. These themes would be 'Self Acceptance Isn't Given But Instead Learned' and 'Self Acceptance Is The Most Important Type Of Acceptance'. This is because throughout the memoir Franta speaks out about his experiences struggling with identity, body image, and coming to terms with his sexuality.

'Self Acceptance Isn't Given But Instead Learned'. A large portion of the memoir describes Connor's childhood and teenage life. From the age of about 7, he was unaccepting of his body and grew to dislike his body type due to being called fat. He goes through many emotions while trying to come to terms with the type of body that he has. As he grew older and became an adult he learned to accept his image despite the imperfections he saw within himself. He grew acquainted with these imperfections and learned that everyone is flawed in some way (except Beyoncé, so he says). Besides learning to accept his body image he had to accept his identity. From a young age Franta was interested in the arts and performance. During his adolescence he had the urge to participate in musicals, plays and other artistic activities but felt as if he would be judge for the femininity that was part of his personality. He felt the pressure to be masculine throughout highschool but was naturally a feminine person. Once he stopped caring as much about portraying masculinity to others he accepted his interests no matter how 'feminine' others thought they were. Connor wasn't born accepting every aspect of himself but grew to gain more acceptance for himself.

'Self Acceptance Is The Most Important Type Of Acceptance'. As someone who has read this book and has spent countless hours watching Connor's YouTube videos, it is common knowledge to know that he is gay. For atleast two chapters of 'A Work In Progress' Connor speaks extensively about coming to terms with his sexuality through out his life. He notes that he didn't want to believe that he was gay due to the negative connotation surrounding homosexuality. He writes that due to wanting to be straight he continued to get into relationships with girls despite not enjoying being in relationships with them. As he grew up he learned to accept this part of him. At one point he spoke to himself in the mirror, literally coming out to himself. It took things like this for Connor to accept himself and finally realize that it didn't matter what others thought of his sexuality, and that accepting himself was what was actually important.

Out of the many themes that could be found in Connor Frantas memoir I felt as if these two themes were more detailed than the others that I found within the writing. 

1st Quarter Reflection

Wow, so the first quarter of the school year will be over tomorrow! It's a bit exciting to think that I'm already a fourth through the school year. It's been a very eventful and fast paced beginning of the year. Despite starting school half way through the first quarter and switching both my math and ELA classes, I've learned a lot. 

I've only been in Ms. Larsons for about two weeks but have learned so much already. So far I've read two books for my 40 book challenge. I've read 'Gone' and 'Hunger', which are the first two books in the 'Gone' series. I am currently reading the amazing book 'Pet Semetary' by Stephen King. I've read these books since first entering this class, which I believe is pretty extraordinary. I plan on reading much more besides just fiction stories, I plan on expanding my horizons and reading more poetry and non-fiction. Besides reading and enjoying a lot of different and interesting titles, I've also learned a lot about writing. 

As of late I have written a narrative essay. While writing this essay I've gained a lot of new knowledge that I had previously not been aware of. I've gained the ability to properly revise and correct grammatical, plot, and structural errors. Amongst these abilities I've also just become a better writer in general, I've become better at creating images through my writing as well. Which is a very important key element to have in story writing and story telling. Along the lines of writing are blogs. So far I do not have the ability to tell if my blogging skills have increased as this is only my second blog post ever. Although right now I will say that there is always room for improvement in this area and all areas. Over this school year I will continue to build up this skill and hopefully by my second quarter reflection blog I can say that I have improved since the beginning of this school year. 

Informational and research skills, so far I have actually gotten better at this as well. I can now more easily identify key roles in a story or informational text than in previous school years. I have gained the ability to easily annotate and find useful information. This is extremely helpful because it has helped me be able to easily understand writing and be able to explain it.

In conclusion, this quarter has been very successful for me. I've advanced my comprehension and resource skills, my writing and revision skills have gotten better. I feel that this has been a very successful quarter despite how short it's been. I hope I am this successful in quarters yet to come.

Pet Semetary (Part I)

I am currently reading the book Pet Semetary by the legendary author Stephen King. I have finished the pages 1-213 so far which is Part 1 of the book.

If I got to create a playlist for the first part of this book the songs I would include the following.

1-'Say Something (I'm Giving Up On You)' by A Great Big World. I would include this song on page 60 during the scene where our main character Louis Creed is at work while his patient Victor Pascow is lying on the ground dying. I chose this song because it's a sort of morbid yet hopeful song which relates to the scene because it's a morbid scene of someone dying while Louis is trying to remain hopeful that the man stays alive. The songs chorus is an accurate representation of what Louis was feeling while trying to keep Victor Pascow alive and trying to remain hopeful about the situation.

2-'Sarcasm' by Get Scared. I would include this song on pages 111-125. This is the scene where Louis and Jud go to the Pet Semetary to bury Louis's dead cat Winston Churchhill. I would choose this because it is a more serious song that mentions death quite a bit but also the rythm and the instruments in the song is very strong and the vocals are very rough for part of the song while the rest is in unclean/Screamo vocals and it makes your adrenaline rush and makes you want to run around and jump and in this scene in the book Louis and Jud are running through the forest and scaling hills and have their adrenaline rushing so I feel that it fits the mood of the scene very well.

3-'Caraphernelia' by Pierce The Veil. I would include this song on pages 192-195. This is because this is the scene where Rachel tells Louis about her sister Zelda, who died of Spinal Meningitis at a young age. She speaks about how she cannot forget her and how she looked. She explains that Zelda's death is embedded in her mind and how it changed her. In this song the chorus is 'What If I Can't Forget You? I'll Burn Your Name Into My Throat. I'll Be The Fire That'll Catch You.' Which reminds me of Rachel's explanation of how the memories of her sister are forever in her mind. The line 'I'll Be The Fire That'll Catch You' seems to first in to where Rachel believes that she aided her sisters death, I believe this because a fire is something deadly and Rachel saw herself as sort of deadly and this represents Rachel and the fire that's catching her sister. Another line in the song is 'Baby, Honestly It's Harder Breathing Next To You, I Shake.' Which resembles the feelings that Rachel had whenever she would have to see or take care of her sister. She would say that she would have trouble breathing while looking at her at shake at her touch. Lastly, Rachel said that she will always remember how horrible he sister looked and acted and the word 'Caraphernelia' means when someone leaves and they leave things behind. When Zelda died she left Rachel with all these horrible memories.

4-'Can't Buy Me Love' by The Beatles. I would include this song on page 162. This is because when we learn from Louis about his Father-In-Law. We learn that his Father-In-Law tries to use his wealth to try and buy the love of his daughter and grandchildren by buying them things instead of actually showing them love. Louis states that his Father-In-Law's earth won't change how he feels about him and that he won't accept his money in replace of showing actual care for his family. When Louis says this he basically says that the man cannot buy Louis's love. This is about not being able to buy someone's love so the mentality of the song is the same as Louis's mentality and feelings for his wives father.

5- 'Welcome To The Black Parade' by My Chemical Romance. This song would be suited for pages 50-51. This is because this is a song about understanding and being acquainted with death. On those pages we hear about how Louis was exposed to the death of a family member who was very dear and clos to him at a young age and how at first he didn't understand it but had to become acquainted with the sorrows of death. The writer of the song and Louis have the same feelings about death, they both do not understand it and dislike it in the beginning but become more acquainted with it after time passes and begin to feel indifferent to it and find it normal and natural and not at all terrifying. The mood and mentality of the song matches Louis's mentality very well. 

Links to songs-

1. 'Say Something' by A Great Big World- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BmErRm-vApI

2. 'Sarcasm' by Get Scared- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uo9QW4AMa5E

3. 'Caraphernelia' by Pierce The Veil- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l3RPEtmgljE

4. 'Can't Buy Me Love' by The Beatles- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=524BS0thExg

5. 'Welcome To The Black Parade' by My Chemical Romance- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-q9q6zl3WIs