The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.  is a classic. It has warm, friendly characters and a storyline that captures all reader’s attention. I enjoyed reading this novel because it is written from the perspective of a six-year-old girl. It has a raw innocence to it because the girl is so young and has an untaintedview of the world and what goes on in it. Within the story line of To Kill a Mockingbird there is a mysterious quality–Boo Radley himself. This character is appealing to readers because it is something unknown to them, they can only picture him from Scout’s (the six-year-old girl) perspective. I think that the mysteriousness about Boo spikes the readers curiosity and keeps them reading till they figure out the mystery that is Boo Radley. Another reason To Kill a Mockingbird became a classic could be because Shout’s view of Maycomb and its society is unusally blunt. She expresses her fondness for men over woman due to their directness, she looks at racism as an uncalled for judgment of people who do nothing wrong, and she thinks that people shouldn’t stereotype others; believing that all people are the same.

I don’t feel that the book has as much relivance to racism in todays society. Blacks do have rights and aren’t given seperate doors to enter and schools to go to. However, in the novel the people of Maycomb look down upon Hitler for killing Jews unnessesarily and lieing to his people about how the Jews commited crimes they never did. Scout points out that taht is the exact same thign the people of Maycomb County do to Blacks, yet they look down at Hitler for commiting those crimes. It holds some relievance to Society today because it gives a message about how people can be ignorant about their own way of living and acting, when they lok down upon others. I still think that To Kill a Mockingbird is good to read now adays because it does have other messages in the novel other than ones about racism.

Take a look at Troy’s blog for his interesting view on the novel.

This video is of Atticus (the Father of Jem and Scout) giving his final speach in the court house.

From birth my parents read to me nightly, most of which were fairy tales. I have a fondness for fairy tales because i grew up with them and they were a large part of my life. Back then i didn’t find anything wrong with or weird about them; they were a good story that held my interest quite well. Now, looking at some fairy tales i find that there are some odd messages and happenings in the stories. For instance, in “Little Red Ridinghood”, Little Red’s Grandma lives in the middle of the woods where it’s dangerous; which could teach kids that its okay to be dangerous and not worry about what could happen. Some people have ‘cleaned up’ fairy tales so they are more politically acceptable, therefore they are modern fairy tales I dint believe that changing tradition and stories that have been around for a century or more should be changed unless there is evidence that these children who have fairy tales read to them grow up to be criminals or non-functioningmembers of society. Also, why should we clean up fairy tales when they are teaching truthful lessons? They may not be good lessons, for instance, when the Witch in Hansel and Gretal gets killed because she was a bad Witch. Its not necessarly a good way to teach the lesson but its showing that all actions ahave consequences–good and bad decisions results in good or bad consequences.

Some of my favourite fairy tales were Cinderella, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast. These are still around today and any little kid you ask about them will know what you are talking about, however, there are also modern tales that have more in the box lessons. These modern fairy tales have gender equity and racial equality, everything is equal and boring. Its surprising that the new Disney movie the Princess and the Frog (Redone) is a children’s story that will live out its actors. It is surprising because the Princess is African-American and the storyline is very politically correct. I hope my kids will read the classics i grew up on–Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Jack and the Bean Stock, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretal, Etc. Those stories are what make my childhood what is was and give me joy every time i think about them, they are important to pass on to future generations.

I was looking at Sarah’s blog and like what she had to say about fairytales. A very simplistic view which was nice.

Here is the Trailer for The Princess and the Frog. Even just watching the trailer you can tell that it will become a classic, as all the other Disney movies have.

Over the years I have developed a strong relationship with my parents, a lot of times we disagree but there is a still a profound respect for one another that doesn’t falter even when we fight or have problems. From a childhood relationship to a teenage one, the relationship i have with them has grown and changed from teaching to guidance. I would like to have a close relationship with my parents as an adult. I would like to be able to talk to them freely and ask for advice as well as give them guidance and advice. I’d like to be able to come home whenever Ineed to welcome arms and a good home cooked meal. I want my children to grow up with their grandparents in their lives and them to be a big part of my parents. I would like to have a long lasting relationship with my parents even through hard times.

In the Movie Wizards of Waverly Place, the Russo family goes on a family vacation where the the three teenage kids don’t want to be a part of any family activities,wanting to be on their own and do their own stuff. The kids don’t want to have anything to do with their parents, they think they are annoying and embarrassing. The parents, however, want to spend time with their kids and enjoy their presence, but are saddened when the children don’t want to. The parents are very supportive and try to give children what they want and compromise on the vacation time spent with family. Even when the parents give them this leeway they don’t appreciate and complain that they still don’t get enough time spent on their own. The siblings and their relationship is strained as well, they don’t want to spend time together either. They are always fighting with one another and never agree. These relationships are made for TV because they give humour to the show when the kids fight and the relationship with the kids and parents is relatable to the teenage audience.

Heres the Trailer for Wizards of waverly Place Movie. For those who have seen the movie you know that it’s message of family strength is a great one.

I looked at Zac’s blog and like what he had to say about relationships with parents. Also his examples are good especially the Hannah Montana one.

I have found during this ELA 20 Unit of childhood memories and recollections that most, if not all, of the literature we study involves an author looking back on their childhood memories or confronting their pasts. It is interesting to see what these people think about their  childhoods now that their adults and can look back at it all in a different light. They lost the simple naivety of their youthful minds and  have gained a whole set of knowledge to help them realize what experiences helped develop who they are today. I think that authors write about their pasts and they confront them because it helps them in the present to understand an issue or conflict that maybe never got resolved as a child. One of the stories “Penny in the Dust” by Earnest Buckler had a great example of what a childhood conflict can effect later on in life. This story was about a  father and son struggling to have a normal loving relationship, however neither had the capability to have that open relationship. What brought these two people together sin the end is a shiny, new penny that the father gave to the son. When the son lost the penny the father ended up finding it and kept it for years to come, after the fathers death the son found this penny in the vest pocket of a suit, realizing that this penny was what represented their whole relationship.  Even though they couldn’t show love for one another they both loved each other very much and the penny was a symbol of that. The author must have written that story to help him realize that yes his dad did love him even though he never vocalized it. Earnest is like many authors in that his recollection of his past helped him in the present with his relationship.

Being only 16 i can’t fully relate to the authors who write stories about memories and their past because i have so much more to experience of my childhood. I can sympathize and try to understand from short years of childhood memories i have. However reading these stories and recollecting on my memories has changed my view of those past experiences. I realize that the time i fell off my bike and ended up getting hurt was a lesson learned that I’ve carried on into my teenage years. I believe that in the future as an adult i will most likely cherish my childhood memories because they will have more meaning. Whether or not i end up back in Kenaston as an adult or somewhere else in the world the memories i have from my childhood will always be the root of my character and individuality, they are what makes me who i am and who i will be.

Amy had an interesting view on reaching back into her past, check it out on her blog.

This video relates to memories because Sydney Crosby is showing what he remembers of hockey and how it relates to every Candian. I especially love the part at the end where it fades from him now a day to finishing the sentence when he was a lot younger.

In this experiment a teenage girl goes into a pharmacy to get her birth control prescription filled. The test is done with a innocent looking girl and a girl who looks more promiscuous. First, they use the innocent looking girl, where she goes into the pharmacy and asks for the prescription to be filled. The pharmasist then sees the prescription and rudely tells the girl he won’t be filling the prescription because he doesnt think that it is necessary to allow young girls to have birth control because he believes that it is wrong for them to even be thinking about intercourse. All the while the bystanders in the pharmacy are over-hearing this conversation and some choose to step in but most don’t. Over half the people say something about the pharmasist and the girl, four felt the pharmasist was right. The same thing happened with the promiscuous girl. One lady especially stood out amung all the rest, she stood up to the pharmasist and told him he was in the wrong.

The pharmasist is a good example of cognative dissonance. He feels he’s doing the right thing but for all the wrong reason. Its not because he has her safety or anything like that in his interest he just thinks it’s wrong for young woman to get birth control allowing them to go sleep with guys. I really didnt like this video, it made me angry because no one has the right to not fill a prescription no matter what they felt was right. Also, wouldn’t that man be happier she sought out protection than not being safe.

Amy did a really good job on explaining how cognitive dissonance plays into this experiment, read for yourself.

The reaction by the woman in this video really shocked me. I am amazed that she had such a profound reaction to the sales clerk being very rude to the black woman shopping. I can’t believe she actually started crying. I actually had to sit back after I watched this and question why she would react like that. It was astounding to me.

For this woman to actually confront the sales clerk took some guts. Most people in this experiment just watched, one man even agreed with the sales clerk and when confronted about it in front of camera basically denied it. It is amazing how people will act off camera than on. The motivation it took to make that woman talk to the sales clerk must have been huge, because she was deeply upset by the treatment of the black woman. Also, this experiment helped prove that people discriminate against blacks and shabbier people than white high class looking people. A homeless person with one nice outfit would be treated better than a homeless person with five dirty outfits which is sad because no matter what case that person would need our help. That was just an example of how we discriminate and judge others.

Sarah had a good explination of the video. Heres where to look.

In Psych we just took a Multiple Intelligences Quiz. I’ve always liked quizzes like that because its neat to see what I am stronger at and what I need to improve on. As you can see the right side of my test results are a lot higher than the left side. One thing i would like to know with this test is whether they were put on the sides for a reason or not. My highest ranking intelligence is Logical (Number Smart). This isn’t at all surprising because I work well with numbers and I love math. My lowest ranking intelligence is Musical (Music Smart). That isn’t surprising either, I am not very musical and I haven’t been brought up with band or anything like that at all.

These tests results seem accurate, I think i could have guessed the results before i took the test. People who know me that look at this will probably agree with the results. I can be both independant and work together in a group. I like math and it  comes naturally as well English is a pretty good subject for me.  I find it interesting that my naturalistic is so high. I dont usually like or am comfortable with stuff with that except that I love being outdoors.

Take a look at Nicholas’ scores here, they seem to reflect who we see daily.

After watching the video Responsibility of Strangers-Social Experiment, it left me wondering whether or not I would stop someone from stealing a strangers personal belongings or not. In the video there was an actress who went to the beach and either ignored or induced small talk or was very rude to the strangers at the beach. Then there was a thief (an actor) who came and stole something from the woman once she left her belongings alone. The purpose for this experiment was to see if bystanders would stop the thief or not.

The results from the experiment varied in different ways. When the woman ignored the bystanders and didn’t interact with them they didn’t stop the thief from taking the belongings. However, when the woman used small talk with the bystanders they seemed to be more likely to stop the thief. Even if she was rude to the bystanders, the fact that she made herself known to them made it more likely of the bystanders to stop the thief. What was learnt is that no matter how much contact you have with the people surrounding you — strangers or not — gives you a greater chance that people will stop a thief from stealing your stuff than if no one really notices or pays attention to you.

Also, they did the experiment with a more attractive person. Some people were very eager to help her compared to others. This all relates to the attribution theory, where beautiful people are treated differently. In this situation it seems that woman feel threatened by the pretty person and especially wives are when the pretty woman started to flirt with the persons husband. She was treated differently because she was beautiful if an uglier person would have came up and did that the wife wouldn’t have been as threatened and she would have helped but because it was the gorgeous girl the wife didn’t stop the thief.

Heres a link to Adam’s blog, who has a interesting view on the video.

As assigned in class, we had to interview different people on their lives. We had to ask if they had had a life changing moment and what that moment changed, and the last question was what advice could you give that people learn a little to late.

Deanne’s (My step-mom) answer to the second question really hit me. She said that “parents aren’t stupid, they actually know what they are talking about”. It also made me laugh because my parents are always telling me that even though I might not listen to them, they do know a thing or two. But it hit me because we don’t like to listen to our parents, we want independence even when we need help and we think not knowing something or doing it our way is bad or wrong. It just struck me also becuase when I am a parent i will probably say the same thing to my kids and they won’t believe me till they are older. It seems that if we learnt this lesson a lot sooner we would have less problems as teenagers.

I’ve always had the value of never regretting things and that I wouldnt regret bad things that happen, but as I listened to the things people wished they would have learned sooner, I realized i would always regret some things. I may regret what i didnt choose to do, or regret the path i chose to take. There will always be regrets in my life.

Trevor had a good interview sum up, check it out.  He made some good points.

Every single day everyone in the world faces pressures. Whether they be from parents, peers, siblings, teachers, etc. It doesn’t matter your race, gender, age, or ethnicity we all give pressure and get it. In the past ELA unit we discussed some of these pressures, reading lots of materials on subjects related to them like stories involving choices and decisions.

One story we read that stuck out to me was The Michelle I Know by Alison Lohans. It was about a girl with cancer in the hospital waiting for her boyfriend, whom was late, to show up. Through her waiting she met an interesting person who has had cancer a lot longer than her, which gave her new found insperation. All the while, her boyfriend was late because of the heavy fog outside. Once there, she realized she has a lot to live for and that even though she has cancer she can still be herself. It was a good story, with a great message. It was good in the way it brought out emotion from the readers.

We all have people who will stick with us till the end, its just a matter of choosing the right people for the job. We all face decisions and major choices in life, I hope we all pick the right paths for ourselves and not the ones everyone else takes.

Heres a commercial about standing up for cancer, it fits the story great. Make the choice to stand up for something you believe in.

Go to Sarah’s blog and check out her opinion on Life Pressures, i think you’ll find it very interesting.