Final Blog

Jem

I consented to taking Scout to her Halloween pageant. I really didn't mind Atticus had to many inconveniences in his life right now. It was a nice warm night out for the end of October and I was eager to see how scout would do. Besides, no one else was going to be there to watch her. We were walking to the school and we noticed that is was pitch dark outside we could barley see each other when we were standing close. I cold tell scout was a little scared even though she said she wasn't. I didn't believe in hot steams anymore, those were childish. We were shuffling our feet so we wouldn't trip when all of a sudden scout screamed, that little pest Cecil Jacobs came up behind her and scared her! We walked the rest of they way to the school with Cecil by our sides. When we got inside I gave Scout her 30 cents and went off to people my own age. There wasn't much there for the older kids, nothing kept us interested. It was almost time for Scout's performance to start, so I sat down and waited. I waited through all of the other kids dressed as various foods, when I heard "po-rk!" I knew it was time for Scout to come on stage. "Po-rk!" yelled Mrs. Merriweather again. Nothing happened. The show ended and finally I saw Scout run on stage at the last moment. Oh Scout, I thought to myself, I bet she fell asleep. After, I went backstage to see her, I was right, she had fallen asleep. We sat there until all of the parents and kids had left then we started home. It was still black outside, we couldn't see a thing. I could kind of see scout but that was it. She was still in her ham outfit, I knew I had to help her out of it but she said she wanted to leave it on. As we were walking I heard something. I stooped walking and told Scout to hush. The noise had stopped. We started walking again and there it was. Scout said she heard it to but she didn't know what it was. We figured it must be Cecil again and we kept walking. The noise got louder and this time when we stopped the noise didn't it got louder and louder.
"Run Scout!" I yelled
Whoever was behind us was now wrestling me to the ground, I could her Scout's screams but I couldn't do anything about it. The person got my arm and twisted it until I could hear it snap. I screamed and I couldn't move. There were more noises but I couldn't get up. I heard someone breathing heavily and then I felt someone pick me up and carry me somewhere. More noise and then I could feel my own bed, After that all I remember is Atticus saying something about me allegedly killing someone and Scout's voice faintly saying "Hey Boo." I must have been dreaming...

Journal #7- Chapter 20-24

Calpurnia

Mr. Finches case had been goin' on for a couple of hours now. I was tryin' not to think about what was goin' to happen but I just couldn't help myself. I just knew that Tom was goin' to lose, and it killed me to think of what they would to him if he did. Mr. Finch'l probably be closin' up the case by now. I was just thinkin' when I heard Mrs. Alexandra walk into the room.
"Where are the children?" She asked.
I thought for a minute and realized I hadn't heard them in a while. This predicament upset me.
"I bet those children went to the court house, you better an' go get them, their not supposed to be over there."
I couldn't believe they had left, they were told not to go anywhere! I quickly wrote a note to give to Mr. Finch and I ran to the court house. When I got there I walked inside, I was apparent that the final statements had just been made. I walked right through the middle of the court and handed to note to Mr. Finch. He looked up at the balcony and said "come down here Jem" They came down and Jem pleaded to stay and watch the rest. I was so mad that they had left when they knew not to that I wouldn't have let them ever come back. But Mr. Finch sad to let it be, they had already seen most of it. I took them home for dinner. Miss. Rachel came, she had been worried sick about Dill all day. I gave them my best lecture on why they shouldn't have gone. Kids their shouldn't be listenin' to the facts of cases like those! It was improbable that they even listened to a word I said.
After they went back to the court house I was left again to wonder what the jury had come up with even thought I had an idea. After about an hour I saw Mr. Finch walking towards the house with the children behind him. He had no expression on his face but the children looked like they were in pain. I knew just by looking at them what had happened...
When they were inside Jem was cryin' and Atticus still had no expression. He said everything would be better tomorrow. The next day was a sad one. The kids went to talk to Miss. Maudie and Atticus went out to the post office. A while later I heard that Mr Ewell had spit in Mr. Finches face and threatened him. Poor Mr. Finch, people will never get over this one, it's inevitable.
A couple of days later Miss. Alexandra had one of her get-togethers. Jean Lousie got all dressed up for it cus' Dill and Jem weren't with her. They talked for a while while I served them until something strange happened, Atticus came home and it was the middle of the day. This filled me with apprehension, something must be wrong. He called me and Mrs. Alexandra aside. He asked if I would come over to Helen Robinsons house with him, he said that Tom was dead. Shot. He tryed to escape but they just shot him without givin' him a chance. Poor, poor Robinson family.
A couple of days later

Journal #6- Chapters 17, 18 and19

Mayella Ewell

's court day. Father helped me with what I'm goin' to say. We went over the story many times so that I would get everythin' right 'n court. As I was lookin' out the window I saw loads of people comin' into town. I hoped they weren't all comin' to see the case. I tried washing my face but nuthin' would come off of it, so I gave up. Father told me that if I cried on the stand tha' I would make the jury feel bad for me.
We walked up to the court house the back way so no one saw us, then we sat an' waited for the people to come inside. I saw that nigger sitting on the other end of the court room wisperin' to Atticus. I couldn't even look at Atticus I knew all the questions he had planed were goin' to be hard for me to answer. Everyone filled in the court room, more people then I had ever seen. It looked to me that Judge Taylor was falling asleep. The court was brought to order and the first person brought to the stand was Heck Tate. He was bein' asked questions 'bout when he came to our house after I was attacked, the same story that I had heard over and over again. After the cross-examination father was asked to come to the stand. They asked him to say what happened in his own words the night I was raped. He said the story that we went over, he looked in the window and saw Tom hitting me. He ran inside and Tom ran away, I was beat up and it had been that nigger that had done it. I knew that it wasn't all the way true, it's true that I was with Tom but that is not the real story. I knew tat I would be called to the stand next, I thought about the story and got ready to start crying.
"Mayella Violet Ewell!" It was time for me to go up. I looked around at everyone watching me. Mr. Gilmer asked me easy questions, about where I was and what had happened, I told him what I had to. But after a few of the questions I didn't want to answer anymore. I looked down and I started to cry, louder and louder. Judge Taylor finally said I needed to stop my crying, and he asked me what I was scared of. I looked at Atticus and gave him the biggest glare that I could
"Him!" I shouted. They asked me why I was scared of Atticus and I said that he was going to ask me questions that would make me look like I had done somethin' wrong. They took a minute for me to stop and then Atticus needed to stated my questionin'. He went about callin' me "Miss Mayella" like I was lower then him, like I was nothin'! I told him that he needed to stop makin' fun of me if he wanted me to answer his questions. He told me he wasn't tryin' to scare me but I knew that wasn't true. " He just wanted me to tell the truth" But he just went along treatin' me like dirt. He asked me if I loved my dad and he kept repeating the questions to try and get a different answer out of me. He kept this up and after a while I just stopped asking the questions. But then he asked me if it was tom or my own dad that abused me. I couldn't answer that, he was making me mad. So I told him I had one last thing to say I told him everything we had been over and then I stopped talking. They took me off the stand.
Next Atticus called up Tom. He asked the same kinds of questions but all of his answers were different, His were the truth.

Journal #5 13,14, and 15

Aunt Alexandra

Atticus asked me at Christmas if I would be willing to come to his house at watch his kids for a while because he was going to be busy with the case he was working on. I told him I really didn't want to watch his uncontrollable kids but I would because he is my brother. I came that summer and no one was home. I sat down on their porch and waited. About 5 minutes later I saw those kids wearing fancy clothes, walking with that nanny of theirs. It was the first time I had seen Jean Louise in proper clothing for a girl. I said hello as nice as I could, and I tried to make conversation with Jean and she gave me short answers. I told them that I would be staying with them for a while. Both of the kids looked confused as to why I was staying and Calpurnia had a pensive look on her face.
It was very awkward being with the kids, no one really talked until Atticus got back. I was talking about family members at dinner and Jem asked about one of them. This shocked me. Atticus should be teaching his kids about this family and the reputation that we have here in Maycomb. I let Atticus know this and he said he would talk to the kids, I hope he kept his word. Those kids have so much to learn about being proper and living up to the expectations we have for this family. The next day me and Atticus had an argument about their "nanny" Calpurnia. I just don't think that Jem and Jean Louise needed an nanny at this age. I mean Jean wanted to go over to that woman's house! They have just grown to attached to her and Atticus has let it go on to long. We also talked about how Scout needs to learn more about being a lady, she can't run around outside all the time playing with a bunch of boys. He is just oblivious to the fact that his children are out of control. Later that night Jem and Scout had a fight, I didn't care what it was about it was just so immature of them. Atticus broke it up. When the kids Finally go to bed, what do you know, I can hear them again and this time there is someone else there too. I hear Atticus walk into their room, then he goes back to the kitchen to get some food. I asked him what had happened. He told me that one of the kids friends had come for a visit he said amiably.
Other then the children's antagonizing arguments and behaveior I loved Maycomb. I would have people over to the house for tea very often and I loved to listen to all the latest gossip. Everyone seemed to like me very much. One night Atticus went out. The kids looked upset but I thought I could trust them to stay and wait. I guess I was wrong, those kids snuck out and followed Atticus. They are just awful, they have a infallible sense of what will make me mad.

Journal #4- Chapter 10,11, and 12

Mrs. Dubose

Today I heard lots of yelling about a " mad dog" I don't know what that is at all but everyone said to stay in the house. I didn't care about some ol' mad dog, I wanted to stay on my porch but Jessie said I should come inside. I looked out my window and the only person I saw in the street was that nigger-lover with a gun, it was pointed at some poor old dog. Then he just shot the poor thing! No one bothered to tell me why he needed to shot the dog...
A few days later I was just sitting on my porch when those two ungrateful, improper Finch children walked by my house. They walked by everyday and I just couldn't stand it.
"Where are you two going at this time of day?" I just knew they were playing hooky
Those two nasty kids contradicted me, they said it was Saturday! Then they started lyin' to me bout' and I told the girl that she should be wearing overalls like a good girl not nasty overalls. Finally I told them a little bit about their father. I told them how he was a nigger-lover. I could see that the boy was gettin' mad so I kept going. Finally they left me alone.
I went back inside my house a little bit later but I sat at my window looking through. Bout' a half hour later those two kids come back with a baton. The boy stopped and looked at my house with what looked like madness in his eyes then he took the baton from the girl and ran up to my cameilla flowers and swiped the tops off of them. I couldn't believe this! What a terrible little monster! I called up the Finch's house and told Clapurnia what that child had done. She said Atticus would take care of it. I doubt that man can handle those kids at all. I waited and waited for someone to call or come over and apologize. Finally that boy came and mumbled in an inaudible tone that he was sorry. I told him that he should be and that I wanted him to clean up my yard. Then I thought that it would be nice if he would read to me after school. I told him to come by every day after school for two hours and on Saturdays. He looked like he was in peril when I told him this, he was so mad.
The next day he came with his brat of a sister. They sat down and I handed them the book. Before he started to read I made sure to tell them about their father again just in case they weren't clear the first time. I didn't really listen to the reading, after a while I would just blank out and forget what happened, and by the time I woke up they would be gone. It went like this for a month, everyday before he started to read I would insult them in some way. I didn't care. The next days passed quickly, I had freed myself and I knew that it was growing closer to my time. Atticus helped me with my will, I wrapped up a camellia flower and asked Atticus to give it to Jem, I hoped that he knew what it meant. My time has finally come. . .

Journal # 3- Chapters 8-9

Atticus

Poor Ms. Radley died this winter. I went over to see what had happened but it looked as if nothing had changed. I asked Mr. Radley how she died and he told me it was of natural causes. I came home that day and I could see that my kids had something to say. I could almost tell what they were thinking. I was almost sure they believed that Aurthur Radley had killed his own mother. Ever sense that night last summer when the gun went off at the Radley's I was suspicious about what had really gone on. I think that this town should just leave them alone and I am trying to teach my children that.

This has been the coldest winter we had had in a really long time. school was canceled and Scout and Jem decided to make a snowman. I was very busy with the case I was working on so I couldn't stay home and watch them, but they did show me once I got home. When I first looked at the snow man I didn't notice the resemblance but with the second look I could see that it was exactly like Mr. Avery. I was sure they did this on purpose and I must admit it did make me laugh some. I told them to get rid of some of the belly. That night was very cold. I had just checked on my children when I saw the sky outside turn reddish and cloudy, I looked outside and saw that Miss Maudie's beautiful garden was on fire and so was the first story of her house. I could see that the wind was blowing in our direction, so I knew we had to leave. I walked calmly into the hall accepting that there was a fire and I got Jem up. Then we walked into Scouts room. She looked so peaceful sleeping; I didn't want to wake her up. I did, and I could tell that she didn't realize it wasn't morning. We walked outside in the freezing cold, I told Scout and Jem to stand by the Radley's gate and wait for me while I helped. I felt bad about leaving them in the cold. We rescued some of Miss Maudie's furniture and the fire didn't quite reach our house. Miss Maudie didn't seem to shaken up so we went back to the house and made hot chocolate. We will be going to Finches landing soon...I hope Scout can get along with her cousin Francis.

I had recently told Scout to stop all of her fighting but I guess she just can't help it. It happened after Christmas dinner. Us adults were just sitting around talking when we heard Francis yelling that Scout had locked him in the old kitchen. We just left that be. But then about 5 minutes later we heard Francis yelling and crying. Then we all ran outside and Francis said that Scout called him a whore-lady then punched him in the face. This disappointed me very much, we just had a talk about all of her cussin'. I took her home after she shouted at uncle Jack that she hated him. Later Uncle Jack came to talk to her about it. I didn't know what they were talking about but Scout seemed like she felt better afterwards. Then me an' Jack had a talk about what had happened and about how people are going to start talking about me when the trail starts and how I wanted Scout to trust me and not listen to the folks in town. I knew that she was listening to us the whole time but I didn't let her know that.
"Jean Louise...go to bed" I hoped she understood everything that I had said.

Journal #2-Chapter 4-7

Jem


Finally school is over. I can relax and I won't have to worry about evading my sister. me n' Scout made some new discoveries. I came home one day an' scout was chewing double mint gum, I asked her where she got it and she said that she found it. Gross, she found it, I bet she got it off the ground, I thought to myself. I told her that she can't just go around pickin' up gum and eating it. She said she found it stuck to the Radley's ol' tree in their yard, it had gum rappers around it. I thought this was a little strange.

The next day we were walking past the Radley's place and there was a shiny little box on the same knot-holes the gum. Scout shouted and I reached up to pick up the tin foil. It was one of those boxes that hold wedding rings and inside there were two Indian head pennies. They were nice and polished so it was obvious they belonged to someone, but who? This was our new mystery for the summer.

Dill was coming again for the summer. I liked it when Dill came, he made my summers more fun. We were very bored and too lazy to do anything the first day we were with Dill. Scout went to go and get the tire so she could roll in it. I pushed her so hard and she was going so fast the she ran right into the Radley's door steps. I kept yelling at her to get up but she was taking really long, finally when she got up she forgot to get the tire ans she told me to go get it. I ran as fast as I could to get it and ran back. Just then Calpurnia called to us that it was lemonade time, we finished our lemonade and I had a great idea for a game to play.

"I know what we are going to play, something new and different!"

"What?"

"Boo Radley"

I still hadn't exactly figured out what it was but I had a pretty good idea about how it was going to go. I was going to be Boo Radley, I figured this would be the most fun to play. Dill was Mr. Radley and Scout was Mrs. Radley. We played this game for most of the days, reenacting all of the Radley rumors and one day Atticus heard us playing, he saw me reenacting stabbing. He asked us what we are doing and I lied. Scout was afraid to play the game now, I didn't care so we kept it up. Scout told me she now knows for sure that someone is in the Radley's house cus' she heard someone laughing, and that's why she doesn't want to play. I think she just being a girl

Me an' Dill are planing things together without Scout, cus' she always ruins our plans or she act to much like a girl. Miss Maudie Atkinson made us the best cakes the other day. That lady is a chameleon, she does everything from gardenin' to bakin'. Her n' Scout talked for a long while about Boo Radley. Miss Maudie Atkinson believes that Boo just doesn't want to come out of his house. I think that he is crazy. The next day me an' Dill made a note for Boo. We was goin' to stuck it onto a fishin' pole and stick it in his window, Scout was scared but we told her she had to help us if she wanted to play with us. The note got stuck on the fishin' pole and I couldn't get it off, then Atticus came and he got made at us for tormenting and makin' fun of Mr. Radley. I was about to start quibbling with Atticus but I knew that wouldn't get me anywhere.

Dill had to leave the next day. Me n' him were really upset that we didn't get to see Boo Radley, so we planed on going at night so no one could see us. Unfortunately Scout was with us when we were going for our "walk" and we couldn't get rid of her so we had to tell her what we were up to. she whined and pleaded like a little girl and told us we were crazy. I told her she was becoming more and more of a girl and that made her shut up, she decided to come with us. We went through the back yard and saw it was even worse then the front. we walked as slowly and as quietly as we could. finally we got up to the window, mean' Scout lifted Dill up so her could see, but the curtains were drawn. I volunteered to go to the front porch and look. As I was standing there on the Radley's porch I teetered back and forth. Then I saw a shadow behind me, it was the shadow of a man with a hat on. My knees buckled and I suddenly couldn't move. The figure raised his arm and put it back down again, I could hear Dill an' scout runnin' so I bolted down the steps to follow them. I could see that scout had fallen and I was about to go and help her when I heard the gun shot. I yelled at Scout to hurry to the school yard. She got up and ran with Dill. I tried to got out of the fence after them but my pants got caught, I pulled them off as fast as I could, and then I ran.

We got back to our house and saw that everyone had gathered around the Radley's place. We better go over there I thought. Me, Dill an' Scout went over there too. Miss Maudie Atkinson asked what had happened and we lied ans said we didn't know. Then she looked me up and down and asked "where are your pants Jem." I didn't know what I was supposed to say.
"I won them from him" Said Dill I blanked out on the rest of the conversation cus' I was still shaken up from what had happened. Then I heard Atticus tell me to go and get my pants from Dill so we walked to his house said our goodbyes and went home.

I couldn't sleep at all, nethier could Scout. I told her I needed to get my pants or else Atticus would find out what we had done. She begged me not to go said I was goin' to get myself killed. But I had to go. So I did.

School started up again. Scout wouldn't stop complaining 'bout how bad 2nd grade was. I was very quite sense that night and I had a secret that I hadn't told Scout yet. That night when I went to get my pants they were not in the same place I had left them. They were sewn up and folded by the gate, like someone knew i was comin' to get them. I was so scared that I couldn't tell Scout for weeks. After I told her we started finding things left in the knot-hole in the tree. First we found soap carvings of us, then gum, then a medal and one day the biggest surprise of them all. We got a watch with a chain and a knife. This was a little creepy but we were thankful so we wrote a note. We went to go and put it in the tree and saw that Mr. Radley had clsoed up the hole, he said the tree was dyin'. I cried all night.

Journal #1- Chapters 1-3

Sorry It's so late.
Dill
I was all alone, sitting in my Aunt Rachel's collard patch when I first met my two summer friends. As I was sitting there, thinking about what I was going to do in Maycomb Alabama for a whole summer I heard a noise at the fence. I looked up and saw a girl with short hair and freckles and a boy a bit taller then her.
"Hey" I said, excited to see some kids around my age.
"Hey yourself" they boy said. This boy's age and manor of speaking intimidated me just a little bit, but I knew that I would be needing some friends for the summer so I smiled and told him my name that I was so proud of. He told me his name was Jem and the girl was Scout. Then I told the both of them that I could read. Jem and Scout seemed to think that this couldn't be true, so I told them that I was goin' on seven years old. Back in my indigenous area called Meridian Mississippi everyone would question my age cus' I was so small, sometimes I wished I was just a little bit taller. Me and Jem and Scout talked about who we were and where we come from for a while and then Scout asked me about who my father was.
"You haven't said anything about him."
"I haven't got one"
This was something that I would always pronounce when I met new people. Everyone seemed to be confused by it but everything just made perfect sense to me.
Everyday for a long while we would see each other and play together but one day I finally asked the one question that I wanted to know. There was this house one the corner, I had never seen anyone go in or come out of it and it fascinated me. Jem and Scout warned me about it but that just made me more interested. Finally they told me the story. They say that a man lives in there but the story of why he never comes out has never been confirmed. It was called the Radley Place. Th Radley's all used to live there. One of the sons, who everyone called Boo Radley was in one of the first gangs in Maycomb. They were arested on many charges and Boo was supposed to be sent to an industrial school. Mr. Radley wouldn't have it so they kept Boo inside and he wasn't seen for fifteen years. This part of the story irked me, how could anyone stay inside for fifteen years. Anyway one day Boo was sitting g in a chair cutting up the news paper and suddenly he stabbed his father with the scissors. No one had the heart to put him in jail, so he stayed in the basement of the courthouse. the dad eventually died and he is said to be living with his older brother.
This story did scare me like it seemed to scare the rest of the town. So I proposed an idea. I dared Jem to go an touch the house.
"Lets try to make him come out" I said
I could see on Jem's face that he was scared cus' of all the rumors about Boo, but he said he ain't a sissy. So he ran up to the house as fast as he could touched and ran right back down to us. I laughed at how scared he looked.
The rest of our summer consisted of rumors and story telling about the Radley's and lots of lemonade. Right before I left me and Jem made a compromise, that next time I would have to touch the Radley's house, but I'm not planing on it.

Refection

Zoe Bonillas
3/31/09
Humanities

Project Reflection

I really enjoyed my Literature circle book; A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. It was about a boy in Sierra Leone who was forced to fight in the war. This book was my first choice and I am very glad that I got it because I learned a lot about a topic I didn’t know about. I didn’t know that kids were forced to fight in war and had their families killed in front of them. I think that one thing that would improve the LC process is if we checked in once a week with our group, just so we knew where to read to for the next post. I liked using the blogs better then the in-person meetings because it was a lot easier to say what you wanted about your book and how you felt instead of just following the order of quotes and vocabulary. The only thing that was a problem was if I couldn’t use the computer at the time. I felt like my group all pretty much felt the same about our book. We all thought that is was very sad and we were surprised that something like this actually happened in the world.
The next part of the project was creating a painting that somehow symbolized your book. We had choices on how we wanted to portray the book in our painting. I decided to paint a scene from the book because there were many powerful scenes in this book that I thought I could portray well in a painting. We could also do a picture of the theme, a recreation of a famous painting, a scene, and a few others. I decided to do a scene where Ishmael, the main character is standing on a hill watching his parent’s village being burned down. I think that there was a connection between the painting and the book because the feeling that I get from looking at the painting is the same feeling that I got when reading this part of the book. Also I did the painting from what I pictured the scene would actually look like, so to me it really looks they way it should. In my painting Ishmael is standing on a hill that is to the side and he is looking down on a burning village that his parent’s are in. I was happy with the emotion in the painting, but I think I could have made the actual painting look a little better. I tried to make Ishmael look like a real person but it didn’t work out to well. Also it was hard to paint Ishmael because he was so small. I think if I had slowed down a little bit and made the small details a little bigger then it would have turned out a lot better. I learned that if I slow down everything will turn out a lot better.
The final part of the project was interviewing someone who had actually immigrated to America. Most people had adults to interview but there were not enough adults to interview so some of us got to go to the IRC. IRC stands for International Rescue committee. They rescue kids that are refugees. So we went to their high school to interview them. I was a little nervous about interviewing people from the IRC because I had never met them before and I didn’t know how much English they spoke. I didn’t know if I would understand them or not. When we got there we sat with the person we were going to interview and some of them gave presentations on their home counties. Most of the teenagers there had moved pretty recently. I got to interview a 15 year old girl named Aye Aye, from Burma. At first it was a little awkward because she didn’t know what to say and I didn’t want to just start my interview. Then we started asking questions about each other and it got easier. It was a little hard to understand her some of the time but by the second interview I was used to it. The people that didn’t get to go to the IRC had to do 3 interviews, one by e-mail, one on the phone, and one in person. I didn’t have to. I only had to do two interviews and both of them were in person. I think that I would have liked doing the three different methods because it would be different each time, but I am glad that I did them both in person because I felt like I got to know Aye Aye even better. Both of the interviews were so interesting. I learned so much about what her life was like, and what made it interesting was that it was so different from mine. Talking to her also made me a little sad because she had been through so many terrible things. Some things that I found interesting from the first interview was that she immigrated from Burma in 2007 with both of her parents and her two brothers. Also that she had to leave her grandparents and her aunts and uncles in Burma. I also learned about why she moved and we talked about all the different reasons in both interviews. One of the biggest reasons that she moved was that people were killing people where she lived. There was war going on and many people were being killed. Also her family didn’t have very much money, so they couldn’t afford food. She was also telling me that she could not go to school because they would kick you out if you didn’t have supplies and her family could not afford the supplies. One more thing that I found interesting was that one of the things she liked about America was school. This interested me because I always here kids complaining about going to school, but she doesn’t because she is just so grateful that she can go at all. Having this opportunity was great because I learned so much and it really opened my eyes to what is going on in the world. It also gave me a better understanding of the unit on immigration we learned about in class. After doing the interview we had to make a gift for our person. We had a choice of what we wanted to make. I decided to make a calendar. For my calendar I used pictures of Burma, like celebrations and landmarks. I also used the pictures we took at there school. I wanted to make the calendar because I thought I could make something that reminded her of her home country and also had pictures of America and the friends she has made here.
During this unit we had to learn about immigration during the immigration boom. Like Ellis and Angel Island. This was interesting because I had never learned about it before. Also this unit cam at a good time because I am going to Ellis Island on the 8th grade trip, so now I know what it was used for. After learning about it I have seen and heard so much about it. I really enjoyed this project because we really got to get out and hear really stories about what it was like to immigrate. Also I learned about things that I didn’t know about. One thing that I would have changed about this project was I would have tried to think about some more questions for my immigrant because I ran out of questions and there were a couple of awkward silences. Also I would have tried harder to improve upon my gift after each check-in because I got points off for not have more of it done on the 2nd check-in. But all in all I like this project, it was a lot of fun and I really liked meeting Aye Aye and all of the other kids in the class.

A Long Way Gone

Said by: Ishmael
Page: 173
Quote #1: "At the hospital Esther put the Bob Marley cassette on the tape player, and we began to mime "Three Little Birds" together. "Don't worry about a thing" we sang "cause every little thing gonna be all right..."

Significance: This quote was said after Ishmael met his uncle. I think that this quote is significant because it shows that he is happy about his uncle. But I think that he is still a little unsure about leaving to live with him. I think this because he is a little afraid to love anyone, and he is probably used to being where he is and going to see Esther everyday.

Character Judgement: So far being at this camp has helped Ishmael so much. When he first came there he got into fights and ignored the staff there. Now he is almost all better and he has lots of friends like Esther and Mohamed. I think that this is great for Ishmael, and I'm glad that he can go and live with his uncle.

Question #1: If you were in this position would you be excited about living with your uncle, or would you be a little hesitant? explain

Said by: Ishmael
Page: 177
Quote #2: "We walked so many times on the same gravel road that I could close my eyes and still avoid all the big rocks on the road."

Significance: I think that this quote was significance because it shows the Ishmael is getting used to his uncle and he really trusts him. He takes long walks with him and they talk about Ishmael's life before the war and about his father. I think that this is really nice for Ishmael because he has someone to talk to about his life before the war.

Connection: I can relate to this quote because I think that it is good to talk about your past and especially for him because it makes you feel so much better and it is nice to talk to an adult because they listen better and understand you more.

Connection: If you were Ishmael would you feel comfortable taking to your uncle after just meeting him or would you wait a little? explain

Quote #1
Said By: Ishmael
Page: 160
"I hated that "it is not your fault" line that all the staff members said every time anyone spoke about the war."

Significance: I thought that this quote was significant because I would feel good if someone told me that it was not my fault. I understand why Ismael feels this way though. I'm sure he thinks that he is tough and brave and when people tell him it is not his fault he doesn't feel that way anymore.

Character Judgement: I think that Ishmael is getting a little bit better. Going to school is probably taking his mind off the war and violence a little. Also I think that talking to Esther (the nurse) is also helping him even though he doesn't realize it.

Question: Do you think that Ishmael and Esther will become friends, and do you think that this will help Ishmael recover? Why?

Quote #2: "I am your nurse and that's all. If you want to be friends with me, you will have to ask me and I will have to trust you first, she said. I smiled, because I was thinking the same thing."
Said By: Esther and Ishmael
Page: 153

Significance: This quote is significant because now that Ishmael is in the city and he is getting some help he can make some friends and try to live a more normal life. This quote made me very happy because he is making a friend and because he smiled. I think that Esther will act as his therapist and as his friend

Character Judgement/Connection: I think that from what I have read, Esther sound very kind and caring. I think that having her around will really help Ishmael. Also I can realte to this because being around my friends always makes me feel better.

Question: What other help do you think Ishmael will get while he is in the city?

A Long Way Gone #4

Quote #1: "We would fight for hours in between meals, for no reason at all. During these fights, we destroyed most of the furniture and threw the mattresses out in the yard."
Said by: Ishmael
Page: 139

Significance: This quote is significant because it shows that even though the boys have been rescued from war, they are still in that mindset, the mindset to kill. I think that part of the reason they are acting like this is because they still have drugs in their systems. Recovering will probably take a while because they are just used to death and fighting now.

Character Judgement: The difference between Ishmael in the beginning of the book and Ishmael now is so surprising. It's like he is a completely different person. In the beginning of the book he is very sweet and caring and now the war and the drugs have ruined him. It is very sad to read this because it is just unbelievable.

Question #1: What do you think it is going to take for Ishmael to get better?

Quote #2: "As the truck begin to pull away from the base, I started to boiling with anger, because I couldn't make sense of what was happening."
Said by: Ishmael
Page: 130

Significance: This quote relates to the question "what was their life like in their home country?"This quote is significant because it shows that the war and that base is just a part of Ishmael now. He is so used to it that he doesn't even want to leave the war. It's like a habit; going out and killing people.

Connection: I can relate to this because it is very hard to get rid of a habit. Also it is very hard to accept change, especially change this big. I think that he will eventually get better and accept it.

Question #2: If you were in this situation do you think that you would be upset about leaving or do you think you would be happy about getting a new life? explain.

A Long Way Gone #3

Quote #1:
Said by: Ishmael
Page: 84
I was so happy that my mother, father, and two brothers had somehow found one another. Perhaps my mother and father have gotten back together, I thought.

Significance: This quote is significant because it really got my hopes up about him seeing his family again and it made me happy that his friends might get to as well. The second part of the quote is significant because it is Ishmael wishing that his parents got back together. I liked that he added that in the book because this is a book that is so different from our life's but he gives us something to relate to.

Connection: I can tell from the paragraph that Ishmael is so happy that his family is alive and near him. I can relate to his feeling of happiness and relief that him and his friend feel. I think that they will be able to "relax" a little bit more then they have been able to for a while.

Question: Do you think that Ishmael will get to the village in time to see his family?

Quote #2:
Said by: Ishmael
Page: 84
I didn't sleep that night. My hands begin to shake as soon as my friends started snoring. I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. The dogs begin to cry and ran from one end of the village to the other.

Significance: This quote is significant because it makes me wonder why he was thinking something bad was going to happen when he just got such good news. Also I liked the quote because it is an other sign that they saw. The first one was the bird and now the dogs. Also I can relate because I get this feeling sometimes.

Connection: I can relate to this quote because sometimes I get the feeling that something bad is going to happen and normally you can tell when I feel this way because my hand shakes also. Also I can't sleep when I have something important on my mind.

Question: Do you think that Ishmaels feeling is correct? If so what do you think will happen?

A Long WAy Gone #2

Quote #1:
Said by: Saidu
Page: 70

"Saidu spoke in a very deep voice as if someone was speaking through him, how many more times do we have to come to terms with death before we find safety?"

Significance: This quote relates to the question about what life was like before immigrating. It is significant because it shows how these boys have had to grow up very fast to survive the war. They have been almost killed many times already. I think the deeper voice is symbolizing maturity in Saidu.

Character Judgement: So far it seems like the boys Ishmael is traveling with are very kind and are feeling the same way Ishmael is feeling. I think that he is being very quite while he is with them because he is so sad and he thinks that nothing he could say will make anything better.

Question #1: Do you think that the boys will be separated? if so, how do you think that will happen?

Quote #2: The most difficult part was the loneliness. It became unbearable each day.
Said By: Ishmael
Page: 52
Significance: This quote is significant because it is right after Ishmael has been separated from his brother and his friends. I also chose this quote because for me this was one of the saddest parts because being alone for so long would be torture, and not knowing if his family and friends had been killed or not.

Connection: I can't really connect to this quote, I know what it is like to be lonely but I can't imagine loneliness to this extreme. It must have been terrible.

Question #2: Do you think that Ishmael will be taken by the rebels? If so, how?

Field Trip Reflection

Part 1: From Haven to Home
The purpose of going to this exhibit was to learn about Jewish history. What I found most interesting was that the underground railroad was originally supposed to be for hiding Jewish people, not African Americans. Also that there was a synagogue that helped out a lot in the underground railroad by giving people a place to stay and food and water. I also learned that when a Jewish person wanted to get married they were sworn in on the Christan bible. They didn't like that so they passed a law called the "Jew Bill" to change it. In the 1880's millions of Yiddish speaking Jews moved from Russia. A man named Judah Benjamin became the first Jew to be in the presidential cabinet. In 1924 we set immigration boundaries that limited the immigrant Jews from coming over from Eastern Europe. In Europe Jews weren't allowed to own land so they would buy things and then sell them, they would go around in a wagon doing this for a living. Most department stores that we have now were founded by Jewish people, like Macy's and Bloomingdale's.

Part 2: Children of Immigrants
Photo: I chose a picture of a little girl holding an American flag. I was taken from the back so you couldn't see her face. The picture was taken a t an immigration rally. I liked this picture becuase she is and immigrant and she is walking with an american flag. I think it shows that she likes America.

Quote: "If we stayed in Bonsnia we would have probably been killed. Although no one can predict the future, just imagine a 7-year-old child wondering if he would be killed that next dayor spared in this world we call home."

I chose this quote because it made me think about how different there world is compared to ours. That they would be killed if they came back.

Essay: I read Paul Train. It show me that it must have been so hard to come to a new school in a totally different country. Also it show me how different her life was before coming to America.

A Long Way Gone #1

Quote #1
Said by Ishmael Beah
Page: 6

"I loved the dance (Hip-Hop) and particularly enjoyed learning the lyrics because they were poetic and it improved my vocabulary."

Significance: This quote is significant because it tells me a little bit about the character. Also because it make me think about how sad it is that he has no idea of what is about to happen to him and his family and at this point he is thinking about music not war.

Connection: I picked this quote because when people think of children in Africa they think that life there is so different and foreign to us. But this quote show that we are not so different and we can relate to people with different cultures and people who live all around the world.

Question #1: How do you think the Hip-Hop will tie in to the rest of the story?

Quote #2
Said by: Ishmael Beah
Page: 1

"There were all kinds of stories told about the war that made it sound as if it were happening in a faraway and different land."

Significance: I think this quote is significant because this is how most people here view the war that is going on in Africa, and yet he is saying this while he is living in Sierra Leone.

Connection: I connect to this quote because I feel this way about the civil wars in Africa and the war in Iraq also. They seem like they are happening in a totally different land.

Question #2: How do you think Ishmael felt when he realized that war had come to where he lived?

Immigration

To me immigrant means someone who was born in a different country and came to America. There could be many reasons why they would want to move to America. A lot of people think that America is more advanced and would be an easier place to live and make money or raise a family. Someone may also want to move here because of all of the freedom that we have, or maybe because it is easier to get a job. Many people want these things so bad that they will move here illegally. I am connected to immigration because in California we are so racially diverse because of all of the people that have immigrated here from other countries. So I am connected because if some of these people’s parents wouldn’t have immigrated then I wouldn’t have some of the friends I have now. I know a few people that have immigrated form other countries. I know someone that grew up in Brazil and someone that grew up in Ireland. You see the effects of immigration everywhere in San Diego. For example, the food. We have so many different types of food in San Diego Mexican, American, Chinese, and some many other types. Another example is language. We speak so many different languages here. You’ll hear English, Spanish, French, and so many more.
If it weren’t for immigration we wouldn’t have all of the foods we like, we wouldn’t be learning different languages in school, and we wouldn’t have the friends that we have now!