katie's blog

Thursday, May 16, 2013

the truth of the matter

Ten questions for people that were interrogated for the claimed rape case against Tom Robinson:
1. Bob Ewell, what evidence do you have that Tom hit her? I want to know what real eveidence that Bob has that Tom made a move on her.
2. Bob, Mayella was hit on the right side of her face which means she was hit with a left hand. How do you explain that? I want to find out how Tom could've possibly hit her with only one good hand.
3.Bob, how come all of the other children were all gone when this was happening? I want to know why suddenly all of her siblings were nowhere around.
4. Mayella, who really hit you? I want to know if Tom had really caused those bruises.
5. Mayella, did you call Tom over to help you? I want to know how it all started.
6. Tom, did you really rape Mayella? I wish to know if he or, very possibly, someone else had touched her.
7. Bob, after seeing the scene through the window, what did you percieve as to what was happening?
8. Bob, did you at all punish Mayella for kissing Tom?
9. Mayella, if you were punished, what did Bob do? I want to find out if Tom had really beat her, or if Bob had beat her for punishment.
10. Tom, did you ever beat Mayella? The purpose of this is to just get a fact out there, that Tom had or hadn't beat Mayella.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Chain Reaction

When you've grew with the same people around for all of your life, the home life they provide and the safety they provide is one of the biggest things to impact someones life. You would see them as a role model for you to follow as you get older. For Luis, he saw Alex as a tough guy in a gang and he wants to follow in his brother's footsteps. Luis saw his older brother as a role model. Luis thought Alex was cool and strong and he wanted to look straight up to a strong idol he could be like.
As the chemistry between Nikki and Luis progresses, many conflicts came up between them. Luis wanted to be apart of the LB but Nikki didn't want a guy like Marco. So, what didn't appeal to me was the fact that Luis would throw everything he had with Nikki away just to be in the LB, but he also didn't want to her to leave him. But what stuck out to me was at the end. Even after all of the conflicts and breaks they had, they managed to stay together.
A friend of mine has been dating this guy forever who no one approves of, including her parents. We all say he's a mess and just looking at him someone could tell he was no role model. No one I know approves of them. Many people choose who they would want to date carelessly. Some people just get lucky and find a good person, but others end up in jail because of who they date. We tend to look more into the peole we meet to see if the other person is who they say they are. My advice: Just be careful who you meet. If someone likes someone enought to want to go out with someone who everyone stays far awy from, just don't rush into it. Sometimes we don't look before we fall.
Chain Reaction as a whole was amazing. I prefer this one to the first two because the series comes full cirle with a great last novel. If there were any more books about the Perfect Chemistry series, I would probably want to read it. I can relate to this book a little bit. I knew this guy who was really nice and fun to hang with but my friends told me he wasn't a good person to hang with but did I care then? Not really. I had actually found out everyone was right: he was nnot a good influence for me.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

alternate endings

If Tom had been found innocent, things would be going a little better for everyone but the Ewells. Even if he was found innocent and not put away in prison and not shot for trying to escape, he could've still been killed by Mayella's father who wanted him arrested for something he didn't commit. Even if Tom was found innocent, there would be not so happy who would gladly see him shot, innocent or not. If he was found innocent, he could've led a normal life. He could've carried on his duties as a family man. If he wasn't found guilty, he would alive and free with his children and wife.
If Tom had never died trying to escape prison, he would still be alive and Atticus would've tried to make an appeal. Tom might've been able to be free or he would've been stuck in prison for a long while. If Atticus was able to make the jury see their mistake, if he was able make a statement so convincing, Tom might've been freed. If he hadn't tried to escape, he still had to chance to be a free man. If Atticus wasn't able to convince them, then Tom would be stuck in prison. If that was the case, then he still might've tried an escape attempt anyway and might've still died.

What if Tom had been shot in court? There were plenty of people who wanted to see him dead, and a lot of people could've tried but Mayella's father would've probably had more courage to do it. The drama in court was bad enough and things would've turned worse. If Mr. Ewell had shot Tom then he probably would've been the one put in prison.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Bravery

Bravery to me means someone has the will to do something someone else can't or won't do. Bravery means strength and pride in actions or words. I believ Jem would be the most courageous person in the book. He accepts many of the challenges put out in front of him. He dared to go up to Boo Radley's porch and he went back to fetch his pants from the fence near the radley's place. In real life, the most courageous person to me is my dad. He's not afraid to speak his mind when many others are. He says what some people might never have the nerve to say to other people, and I look up to that. He stands up for my family and himself when someone knocks one of us down.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The Great Depression

The USA began as a country that prospered and had been very optimistic before the Depression. But as we invested too much into the stock market, things went down hill on October 29, known as Black Tuesday. That was the day the stock market crashed. People had been investing too much, which caused the stock prices to lower drastically. It had once been a secure way to invest money to become rich but when thGreatDepression began, people went bankrupt. As time went on, banls slowly closed all over the country. While there were remaining open banks people went to withdraw their savings quickly, and the major withdraws caused more banks to close. People stopped spending what money they had on things they wanted and had decided to conserve money for absolute necessities instead. Many people were laid off since wages had been cut back due to the lack of customers. Some buisinesses were to corrupt to stay open so they had to shut down, leaving many employees unemployeed. During the Depression, farmers in the Great Plains were hit hard by a storm of many dust storms and droughts. This time has been called the Dust Bowl. The farmers that endured this were left with dead crops and so it became hard to feed their families.
As the Depression progressed, people either walked the rail roads or drove around in order to find a job. When a job opened, many people wold apply for that one job. Those that were rejected tended to stay in a small shantytown. These small homes on the outskirts of town would ususally be made of cardboard and anything found on the ground that seemed suitable to add to the homemade house.
President Hoover had tried to speak of optism, but people started to ridicule Hoover for starting the Depression. These shantytowns, also called "Hoovervilles", were named after him. Some other things such as newspapers had been named after Hoover. When Rooselvelt took office, he began to help rebuild America.
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/p/greatdepression.htm

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Elizabethan Era fashion

In the late 1500's during the Elizabethan period, the fashion code was strict.People in this era weren't to wearwhat they like. They had to follow a certain law called the Elizabethan Sumptuary Law, which dictated that you had to wear a certain gown or jewlry. For women they had to wear stockings/hose, corset/bodice, a hooped skirt, stomacher, kirtle, gown, separate sleeves, cloak, shoes, and hat. For the men, they had to wear obviosly a shirt, corset, doublet, separate sleeves, breeches, belt cloak, shoes, and hat. This law governing the dress code was also used to control behavior and that a specific class system was in order. If this law was disobeyed, the penalties include fines, loss of property/title, and in some instances, death. This law also specified what colors and types of clothing that was allowed to be owned. The types of clothing identified a persons social standing or whatever title someone had. Despite the wealth of an individual, everyone had to follow this law and dress accordingly. http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-clothing.htm