The Post In Which I Give Information About Harper Lee and Her Book: To Kill A Mockingbird

WORKS CITED
Shields, Charles J., David Kipen, and Erika Koss. "About the Author." The Big Read. Arts Midwest, n.d. Web. 15 July 2014.


So this is the last post I will write about To Kill A Mockingbird.

I thought I would read about Harper Lee and write interesting things I learned about her..

1. Her real name is Nelle Harper Lee. Nelle is her grandmother's name spelled backwords (Ellen). Fancy.

2. The book is loosely based on her life! As a child she was a tomboy. She would beat other children up on the playground. (Sound like anyone? SCOUT). Her father was a lawyer (ATTICUS), and once defended two black men who were accused of murder. Both men were hanged later on, after being deemed guilty...
Lee also had a childhood friend, author Truman Capote, who lived as a next-door neighbor in the summertime (DILL).

3. During the writing process of her novel, she almost destroyed her manuscript. On a winter night, she opened her bedroom apartment window and threw her manuscript out. The pages were later recollected from the snow... and I'm glad they were. Cheers.

4. The book was an instant hit. Sometimes with "classic" literature, their value and worth isn't realized until years after their death. But this was not the case with Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. It was published in 1960 and topped bestseller lists. It remained on such lists for 80 weeks. The novel wins the Pullitzer Prize for fiction in 1961.

5.It was originally titled Go Set a Watchman, then Atticus, and finally To Kill A Mockingfish. (1 million dollars to the person who catches this typo)

6. The first line of the Washington Post's review read: "A hundred pounds of sermons on tolerance, or an equal measure of invective deploring the lack of it, will weigh far less in the scale of enlightenment than a mere 18 ounces of new fiction bearing the title To Kill a Mockingbird."

The Post In Which Discuss The FACT That I Finished My Somewhat-Free-Choice-Summer-Reading-Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird

If you read my title (do you think its long enough) you would know that I completed Harper Lee's true masterpiece To Kill A Mockingbird. And in a word: loved it. (OK in two words). 

The novel was terrific. The writing was simple - but much more complex than I would have expected for a "first-person narrative from the perspective of a little girl."  Scout (said little girl) was absolutely hilarious! Reading the book was nearly like listening to a young, intelligent, Southern chile tellin' a story 'bout growin' up and all the crazy thangs that go on east uh the Mississippi. Harper Lee did a swell job capturing not only the unique voice of Scout, but the individual characteristics of all the folks in the story. 

The books has some deep and meaningful themes (as most books we read for class do)!

1. Racial Discrimination

2. Social Class 

3. Friendship

4. Good vs. Evil (Right/Wrong: Morals  and Moral Education)

I would love to dive into explanation for all of these themes... but I would rather discuss it with people who have read the book. What really makes To Kill A Mockingbird special is that it tells a bittersweet tale from the perspective of a child, mixed in with deep, grownup issues and themes. It was the best of both worlds (fun and meaningful).

And there are some key plot points that arise through these themes and issues and I would hate to spoil that for the folks who haven't read the book. I'm sure this does go without saying (but I will say it regardless)

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK.

 

The Post in Which I Dicuss My First Impressions of Harper Lee's classic novel: To Kill a Mockingbird

I began to read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee near the close of last month. As of today, I am on chapter 10 of 31. I thought today would be a good time to write a blog post. Here is the post (the title truly does say it all):

I watched the classic black-and-white movie last year... no wait.. it was actually two years agooooooo... WOW Time flies. The movie was amazing, and so when i saw the book on the list of books we could read for the AP Summer Reading (Summer Not) I instantly decided that I had to read TO Kill a Mockingbird.

1. I love the voice of the author...

I mean, seriously.. who doesn't love a feisty six-/-seven-year-old girl?! Scout is hilarious and reading this book reminds me of summers I never experienced from perspectives I never had. Its pretty amazing.

2. Its plain fun...

So far the book documents seemingly random escapades of Scout, her elder brother Jem, and Dill (who shows up for summers and is engaged to be married to Scout). Along their way:  Atticus - Scout and Jem's 50-year old father, who is all-knowing, wise, and calm as a cucumber; Calpurnia, their black maid, provides the maternal support and direction for the children; and a uncle and a cousin who have names that I can't remember and some other old people in the town the kids live in. There is a fellow named Boo who apparently eats/kills people... not really sure what his deal is yet (I remember something from the movie but its foggy...) Also -

3. Attitus is a lawyer..

And he has a case that deals with the issue of race. He is defending a black man and this is causing trouble for their calm, normal life.

4. Scout is clever...

I like how smart she is and its such fun to read about how

5. Scout beats people up...

One word: Feisty.


I am looking forward to reading more. July Ninth [90/281]


And now in honor of the novel's title.... I present to thee:

"Wolves" by To Kill A King

The Post in Which I React to My Classmates' First Blog Posts and Other Such

To my Classmates: I say "Good job!" I enjoyed reading your posts and commenting on them.

To YJ, Emma: I feel so left out because I'm not working this summer! You are lucky :D I hope you both excel at your job!

To Hannah, Sarah, and Angie: I enjoyed reading your thoughts on books and other things. Angie, I liked your personal poetic post. It was well written and straight from your heart - so not THAT cheesy, OK? No need to apologize.


I want to hear more about the food you all are enjoying. I also want to hear more about activities you all are participating in.

I have been enjoying ice cream, juice, potatoes, and meat. Today I made dinner for my family.

I just went camping yesterday.. and there were so many mosquitoes we came home early. It was awful.

I will be starting Mockingbird soon; I read like a mad caveman last week.
Proud to say I finished the 800 pages of A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin and I feel like a champion. To be quite honest, it was one of the greatest fantasy tomes I have ever read. If I had to give it a rating (based on 7 stars) I would give it 7. I don't feel like messing around with decimals.. (i.e 6.945)

So now I have to do some school reading.

Simultaneously, I shall be completing a trilogy I began in my youth: The White Lion Chronicles.  I will be reading this on the Kindle - and it is my first Kindle read... I don't like it.

And I hope to finish it soon so that I can read my next 1,000 page fantasy project of the summer: The Way of Kings by Brian Sanderson. I will be reading this book on the Kindle as well, because it was $2.99 to buy it... I couldn't say "No!" to $2.99. But I fear I am missing out from the actual printed book (the way books were designed to be read, by the way) because the tome is filled with great paintings and sketches from talented artists.

So... here's to the 21st Century and cheap (price) e-literature.
*clinks glasses with fellow friends at round table*

Also....

The Post in Which I Write My First Post

June has begun.

Here is a song with June in the title that I quite like.

Yay THE DECEMBERISTS!

This summer I actually have work to do. Besides AP English, I also have Boy Scouts work to get done because I would like to become an Eagle Scout before I cannot.

I must begin and complete quite a few merit badges, probably go camping and do some hiking and try to get as much done as I can while I have free summertime!

On top of all that I have an 800 page high fantasy epic I want to read. And I want to work out my body and muscles and play basketball.

There may be some travelling around scattered throughout my summer.... but not sure right now.

First book for AP I will be reading:

To Kill A Mockingfish.

Ooops. What a typo. I mean't To Kill A Mockinbird ....

by Harper Lee.









(What an awkward error...)

York out.