“Scout!”I ran to him. Someone had filled our knot-hole with cement. “Don’t you cry, now, Scout…don’t cry now, don’t you worry-“he muttered at me all the way to school. When we went home for dinner Jem bolted his food, ran to the porch and stood on the steps. I followed him. “Hasn’t passed by yet,” he said. Next day Jem repeated his vigil and was rewarded. “Hidy do, Mr. Nathan,” he said. “Morning Jem, Scout,” said Mr. Radley, as he went by. “Mr. Radley,” said Jem. Mr. Radley turned around. “Mr.Radley, ah- did you put cement in that hole in that tree down yonder?”“Yes,” he said, “I filled it up.”“Why’d you do it, sir?”“Trees dying. You plug`em with the cement when they’re sick. You ought to know that, Jem”.”Jem said nothing more about it until the afternoon. When we passed our tree, he gave it a meditative pat on its cement, himself into bad humor, so I kept my distance. As usual, we met Atticus coming home from work that evening. When we were at our steps Jem said, “Atticus, look down yonder at that tree, please sir.”“What tree, son?”“The one on the corner of the Radley lot comin` from school.”“Yes?” “Is that tree dyin`?”Why no, son, I don’t think so. Look at the leaves, they’re all green and full, no brown patches anywhere-““It ain`t sick?”“The trees as healthy as you are, Jem. Why?”“Mr. Nathan Radley said that’s it dyin`.”“Well maybe it is. I’m sure Mr. Radley knows more about his tree than we do.”Atticus left us on the porch. Jem leaned on a pillar, rubbing his shoulders against it. “Do you itch, Jem?” I asked as politely as I could. He did not answer. “Come on in, Jem,” I said. “After while.”He stood there until nightfall, and I waited for him. When we went in the house, I saw he had been crying; his face was dirty in the right places, but I thought it odd that I had not heard him.

In the beginning of the chapter, Jem tells Scout what happened when he went to get his pants and how he found is pants fixed and folded over the fence like someone was excepting him. I feel this is the point where Jem realizes that Boo isn’t actually as bad as the people in Maycomb say. The reason I chose this quote is because it shows the perspective of Scout and Jem, in the beginning they were really afraid of Boo Radley, and they thought that he was a monster and they let the gossip of the town affect their perspective on Boo. All the kids in Maycomb think that Boo is monster and they are deathly afraid of him. I feel like Jem matures a little because he has experienced that Scout hasn’t and I feel that’s why she still is scared of Boo. Scout and Jem started to get little trinkets and I feel like they connect Jem and Scout to Boo and when Mr. Radley put cement in the knot- hole they were disconnected from Boo. It was the only way they could communicate with Boo and the only way Boo could communicate with Jem and Scout. Jem tells Scout not to cry and that everything is going to be okay, this shows how much they got attached to the hole and how their whole perspective on Boo changed and how they actually cared about Boo. Scout talks about how she heard Jem cry at night, this also shows their attachment to the hole and I feel that Jem had a better understanding about Boo; nevertheless, so did Scout she really wasn’t the same as she was in the beginning of the book.

This passage also connects to Atticus perspective and how he sees everyone in Maycomb and how everyone else sees each other. From the beginning of the book Atticus has been a really compassionate, respectful and an honest person. I feel that Atticus is alienated in Maycomb because he is different than everyone else. One thing that makes him different is that he never talks about people behind their backs and always treats them with respect. When Jem asks Atticus why Mr. Radley put cement in the hole and whether the tree was dying, Atticus said that it wasn’t dying and that the leaves looked fresh and looked fine. Jem tells Atticus that Mr. Radley put cement in because he said it was dying, Atticus than changes and says that maybe it is dying and that Mr. Radley knows more about trees than he does. I feel a lot of people in Maycomb wouldn’t have done the same thing, they would have probably told their child that Mr. Radley is wrong and that they know more than he does. Atticus isn’t two-faced like everyone else in Maycomb he actually respects and cares about everyone in Maycomb. I think the reason he tells Scout and Jem to stop bothering Boo is because he knows who Boo really is and that all the people are spreading rumors that aren’t true at all. He never undermines anyone or “throws them under the bus”, because he knows that whatever someone does is their business and that they have a reason for doing it.

It connects to the novel because this is the chapter where you learn that Scout and Jem`s feelings toward Boo are different and they have changed. Some of the motifs that I chose for this passage there: Integrity, respect, innocence. These relate to the passage because Atticus shows integrity and respect when he doesn’t talk bad about Mr. Radley and doesn’t tell Jem and Scout that Mr. Radley is lying. This passage is important because it connects to different parts in the book, for example, when Miss. Stephanie talks about Boo and how he is a monster and how the kids should stay away from him. Atticus tells that kids that they should mind their own business and that Boo is probably in there for a good reason and that he doesn’t want to be disturbed. The main perspectives in this passage are Atticus, Jem and Scouts.

When we started watching the movie, I was confused with what was going on, but as it kept going, I started to understand what was going on. Truman is someone that was literally born into an actor. When he was still in his mother’s stomach, he was being filmed, all the way from his first steps to his wedding. Every single moment of his life was being filmed for an audience in the world. For Truman the “real world” was the fake city he was living in. He did not know any different he had grown up there and was raised there so to him this was the “real world”.  What he did not know was that his whole life was being filmed and shown around the world for other people’s entrainment. His whole is being controlled and manipulated by Cristof, who is the founder of The Truman Show. Everyday it is the same routine, we all know that, but Truman does not know that; however, his perspective on life starts to change when all of the sudden, out of nowhere a stage falls to the ground. Then there is the radio malfunction, all of the sudden your hearing someone voice talking about everything that Truman is doing. Then he sees the actors taking a break behind an elevator, he starts figuring out that this is not real. He finally starts to locate reality, he starts separating the fake things from the real.

Truman has never loved his wife, and in high school, he falls for another girl named Sylvia, but she is not part of his script so she is taken away. Truman has never forgotten her because she was the one girl that he actually loved.  She tries to explain to Truman that this is not reality and that his whole life. If anyone were in his shoes, they would think that she is crazy because they would not know any different and have no idea what she’s talking about. The movie keeps going and finally Truman gets out of the fake world he has been living in. Cristof was smart he surrounded the whole city with water, when Truman was a little kid Cristof killed his dad in a tragic boating accident. Truman has been afraid of the water since, which exactly what Cristof wanted to achieve, he wanted to make Truman afraid of the water so Truman wouldn’t try to leave the city and he would stay there. What Cristof does not know is that Truman. Like any other human, can conquer his fear. Truman set sail for the end of the fake city and when Cristof found out that, he was trying to get out he controlled the oceans current and wind and tried to kill off/ scare Truman so he would not find the end of the fake world. In the end, Truman finds the end of the world and climbs the stairs to the real world where he reconnects with his lost love Sylvia.

At first, I thought that the movie was really weird and confusing, but as I started to understand what was going on I started to feel bad for Truman and started to feel slightly freaked out. All of the sudden I was freaking out wondering if someone(s) were watching my every move. Of course, my friend and family told me to shut up before they got scared. It is funny how Truman means true man which is the compete opposite because Truman is not a true man because his whole life has been one big lie, but in the end he lives up to his name. Critsof name means Christ like which matches him because he is constantly looking over Truman and seeing everything that is going on in Seahaven. I feel that love is one of the main reasons that Truman wants to leave Seahaven, he still loves Sylvia and wants to see her again. Love also helps Truman conquer his fear of the water. I feel that the sea is a symbol of chaos, death, and separation. Because of death, Truman is afraid to cross the water and the water is what separates hi from the love of his life and the real word. I feel that the Truman show is a great movie and shows how anybody can conquer their fears when people are holding you back and gives you a completely new perspective on life, what life actually is, and who is watching us from above.

I didn’t really know what to write about so I thought I would write about one of my favourite books. The book I am going to talk about is The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. This book is about Eddie, an 82 year old, that works at an amusement park. On his 83^rd, he dies in a tragic accident trying to save a little girl. He wakes up in the afterlife and finds out that heaven is not how everyone sees it instead it is a place where five people explain life to you. The people he meets are people that he loves or complete strangers, but they have all changed is path in one way or another. The five people help Eddie see the unseen connections of his life. Eddies desperately seeks redemption in the last act of his life.

I really like this book because it talks about how people interpret heaven to be this peaceful place where nothing happens, but I this book it is interpreted differently. Mitch Albom shows heaven as a place where you find the main meaning/focus of your life. The five people you meet in haven have all changed your path, and I like how some of the people that have changed are complete strangers. The first time I read this book I instantly feel in love with the book and also Mitch Albom`s work. The way he tells the stories is just amazing and I feel no matter what you can connect to the book in one way or another. Even though heaven may not be like this it still makes you think about the five people that have affected to you in your life. Also through the five people, you start learning more and more about Eddie and I think its better then telling the readers who you are and what has happened to you. I like how Mitch Albom spreads out his life experiences throughout the whole book; I feel that it makes the book more powerful.

The first person that Eddie meets is a man that has blue skin. Eddie at first has no idea what is going on and starts to freak out, but then the man starts to tell him about his life and how Eddie affected his life at first Eddie has no idea how he ever affected his life. Then the blue man starts talking about how he use to work with is dad, but then he accidently soiled his pants and his dad totally cut him off. Then he joined the circus and the circus came to Ruby Pier where Eddie was playing with a ball that he got for is birthday. Eddie accidently threw the ball into a street where the blue man was driving. Eddie got away without scratch, but the blue man was not as lucky he ended dying from a heart attack. Eddie soon realizes that he was the one that killed the blue man.

The second person that Eddie meets is his Captain that he went to war with. Eddie, the Captain, and a few other soldiers were kidnapped for a few months and starved, but after a while, they ended up getting out and as they were leaving, they set the place where they had stayed on fire. Eddie and his fellow soldiers stared at it while it burned, but out of nowhere Eddie saw something move and went to see what it was he thought it was someone so when Captain told him to get out Eddie did not listen. The Captain did not want Eddie to die so he saved his life by shooting Eddie in the leg. When Eddie finds out, he is furious because of his leg he could not do anything he even forgot how to run. Then the Captain shows Eddie a scene that changed Eddie’s whole mood. Everyone loaded Eddie into a truck and started to go back so the helicopter could take Eddie, but they reach a part where they could not go around so the Captain grabbed a rifle and went to open the gate so he could get the truck through without anything. What the Captain did not know was that there was a land mine underneath him when he took a step the land min went off. Eddie could not believe what had just happened. The Captain had risked his life for Eddie and Eddie was yelling at him for shooting him in the leg.

The third person the Eddie meets is Ruby Pier, her husband Emile built a amusement park and named it after her. She told Eddie how Emile had gotten really sick and how he ended up in the hospital, but the main reason she was talking to Eddie was because she wanted to tell him how his father died. Eddies dad saw he friend Mickey trying to hurt Eddie’s mom so he tried to beat him up and they ended up running all the way to the sea where Mickey threw himself into the sea. Eddies father saw this and help him back because he knew that he was drunk so he helped him up onto shore. He got sick and was taken to the hospital, Ruby was there too she was in the other room and she heard as Eddies mother talked and cried. What Eddie does not know is that his father died by the window, he tried calling to his wife, Eddie and Joe. He wanted to see them before he left. Eddie never knew how much his father cared about him because he was always mean to him and treated him poorly.

The fourth person he meets is his wife Marguerite who died at the age of 47. She tells Eddie that even though she was up in heaven she was always watching Eddie and that she cared about him. She is one of the five people that Eddie was not surprised to see. She died because she had a tumour in her head and that is when Eddie thought that his life was over. She also affected his life because she was the one person that Eddie was in love with. The fifth, the last person that Eddie saw was, Tala at the first look I thought it was going to be the girl that Eddie tried to save from the accident, but as I kept reading I figured out that she was the one Eddie tried to save when he was a solider. She was the figure that Eddie saw as the house burned to pieces, he knew someone was in there but no one else believed him. When I read that part, my heart fell, I actually thought that on one was in there, and that maybe Eddie just missed his wife and was seeing things. Then Eddie asks the question that has been killing him inside. Is the girl still alive that I tried to save from the accident? Tala lets him know that she is, but Eddie does not believe her.  “But I felt her hands, it’s the only thing I remember”, Eddie said after Tala had told him about the accident. “Not her hands, my hands. I bring you to heaven. Keep you safe”, Tala said. Then the book ended.

I felt myself smiling when I finished the book knowing that Eddie saved the girl and meet five people that had changed his life forever. I think the point of the book was to show that heaven is where your life really ends its where you figure out the real meaning of life and its where all your questions have answers. I think it is a great book to read and I recommend reading it.

Since we are talking about The Hunger Games a lot in class, I decided to write about whether the book or movie was better for my free choice blog.

My opinion is that the book was better than the movie. For me the movie missed a lot of the beginning and a lot of the main plot. For example the Avox girl, I feel that she had a lot of significance because she cared for Katniss and Katniss felt guilty for not saving her. In the movie, they showed the hover craft come down while Katniss and Gale were in the woods, but it really had no significance they just added that for no reason. Another thing I liked better in the book was the characters, I felt that some of the actors did not fit the part that well. For example, I felt that Josh Hutcherson, who played Peeta, did not fit the part to well. I expected Peeta to be taller and more muscular then he was shown. I feel that Liam Hemsworth, who played Gale, could have done a better job playing Peeta because he is more build and looks stronger. Another actor that I thought did not fit the role properly was Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. I expected him to be drunk then he really was. I felt that they could have done a better job describing the tributes because you really did not know which tributes came from which district and what their skills were. I feel that because the movie missed the details it was hard to understand what was going on.

Another thing that I did not enjoy about the movie was the shaking camera. Some people say that it was showing the reality of the tributes and their lives, but personally, I found it annoying because it was hard to see what was going on.  It was hard to see who died when all the tributes headed toward the Cornucopia because the camera kept on moving and it was not focused on one spot or person.  I felt that the book had way more detail so you knew everything that was going on, people that have read books would be able to watch the movie and understand everything that was going on. I feel that if you have not read the book and then you watch the movie it would be hard to understand everything.

They also missed some small stuff, but everyone noticed that they were not there. One was when after Rue died district 11 was supposed to send Katniss bread, but instead they showed District 11 rebelling which does not happen until the second book.  Another one was when Katniss was going to go get Peeta medicine, but Peeta would not let her go Katniss gave him berries and he passed out. I know that they are small things, but they make the biggest difference because of the uproar in District 11 they are going have to change the nest movie because that does not happen in The Hunger Games. In the book Peetas leg didn’t get better instead he had to get a new leg and that was when Katniss really figured her feelings for Peeta, but in the movie that didn’t happen instead his leg got better and they lived happily ever after.

Nevertheless, the movie was good, I really liked how they showed the game makers controlling the environment in the area, and I really liked the people in Panem because they really fit the place and they were different compared to the people in District 11 and 12. My opinion is that the books are mostly always better then the movie because the movies can be so long while a book can go on forever.

Romeo and Juliet is about how two “star-crossed lovers” from different houses, that constantly fought, and how these two “star-crossed lovers” brought the houses together and the Capulet’s and Montague settled their differences and accepted each other. I feel that throughout this whole play the theme is fate. The reason why I feel that it is fate is because I feel that fate brought them together not to fall in love, but to show their parents that fighting with each other killed them and that it has to stop. I never really looked at Romeo and Juliet with a perspective I just read it and passed the tests that came with it. Now that I think of it makes more sense and it surprises me of how much I missed. Fate is the concept that everything happens for a reason and that your whole life is written in a book. You cannot rewrite this book or edit it in anyway. The pages keep flipping as your life goes on. The books keep continuing as your life goes on, but when you end so do the books.

I feel the reason why they were called “star-crossed” lovers was because they were meant to be and that their star crossed each other. This meant that they were born to fall in love with each other, but at the same time help, their families become one. I have always believed in fate and how everything happens for a reason and that, you should just accept it. When I was younger, my parents always taught me that everything that happens, happens for a reason. I never really accepted it I always thought that stuff was dumb and stupid, but as I grew older, I started to learn that fate was real and that stuff does happen for a reason. It might seem like the end of the world but it can always bring happiness. I feel that in Romeo and Juliet fate played a huge role in it. Romeo was in love with Rosaline, but she did not like him, which made him depressed but when he learnt that Rosaline was going to the party he wanted to go too even though it was a Capulet’s party. That is where he meets Juliet and they fall in love instantly; therefore, I feel that fate made it so Rosaline would not love Romeo so that Romeo could go to the party so fate could bring Juliet and Romeo together.

In Juliet’s case, I think fate played a huge role because Paris really wanted to marry her, but her father did not want her to leave him so quickly because she was his only daughter and he did not want to lose her. When Capulet says “The earth swallow`d all my hopes but she”, he is talking about how they have lost many infants before and he was not ready to lose her because she was his only daughter and she was only twelve years old. I think that fate made it so that he could only have one daughter and no more, so that he could he would throw the party because he wanted her to be happy and make the decision whether she wanted to marry Paris or not and at that party, she met Romeo. I think that hey were destined to fall in love and help their families realize that they are not different at all.

Fate is a very strong concept in this play and is the base of the storyline and it shapes the characters and what happens to them and what they do. I personally do believe in fate and I believe that what happened between them was not only for them to fall in love but also to stop the conflict that was going on between Montague’s and Capulet’s and show that if this keeps going on they are going hurt the people that they love the most. In Elizabethan time fate everyone believed in fate and that, everything happens for a reason and that really shows in Romeo and Juliet.