Harper Lee titles her novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" to illustrate how sinful it is to kill a mockingbird. As shown in the quote, mockingbirds are animals that are made of pure goodness that harm no one. They are also very innocent because they have not been exposed to the horrors of the earth. In the story, some characters represent mockingbirds, such as Scout, Jem, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. This means that they once were, or currently are, very innocent and untouched by the cruelties of man. The difference between these characters is that Boo and Tom's innocence were destroyed, and Jem and Scout's innocence is still intact. Boo was once a polite child who was lured into a gang by evil, and was abused by his father for doing so, which in turn, made him lose his innocence. Tom is an African American man who was exposed to he terrible racism in Maycomb and was eventually accused of a crime that he didn't do. After he was proven guilty, he lost every drop of innocence. Because of this he tried to escape from prison and was shot and killed. Jem and Scout's father, Atticus, is one of the few educated people in Maycomb and believes in equal liberty and justice for all. After witnessing the terrible things that society has done to people like Boo and Tom, he warns his children to not grow up to fast. He wants them to keep their innocence for as long as they can because of the dangerous and unforgiving world. Despite this, he knows that they will eventually stop shooting at cans and going for blue jays. He wants his children to learn that it is a sin to destroy anyone's innocence. Jem and Scout eventually lose their innocence after being exposed to the racism that exists which allows Tom to be proven guilty. They also learn that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird when Scout states that Boo is like a mockingbird and it is a crime to hit him. Throughout the story, the children grow up are exposed to the horrors, but also to the beauties of the world.

Setting of To Kill A Mockingbird

The diction of this passage suggests that this is an old rundown town and that is the location is insignificant to the conflict. The words that made me come to this conclusion were words like, tired old town, no hurry, and nowhere to go. This makes it seem that the people in this town are bored and have no purpose in life. The allusion in this passage is when she says that the citizens have been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself. This alludes to what FDR said, when he tried to comfort the American people in a time of depression. This is used because the town of Maycomb relates to what the whole country was going through during the depression. I do not agree with the critics that Scout sounds too grown up. Throughout the novel it is expressed that she is a very intellectual girl because of the the teachings of her father. I think she tries hard to sound intellectual in an attempt to ack like her father.

A Modest Proposal

In this essay by Jonathan Swift, he proposes that the infants of Ireland be sold for consumption throughout the land to control the population, prevent starvation, and to help the economy flourish. The author is an Anglican, or of the church of England, is an upperclassman, and is very harsh towards Catholics, or papists as he refers to them. He figures that if families sell their children then they can make enough money to keep their families alive, and the food from the babies can be enjoyed by the upper class of society. The children being consumed are only 1 year olds because they are the "most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled..." at that age. He knows this because an American friend of his told him, and since he is an American he must be very knowledgeable. This is making fun of the fact that many foreigners think America is such a knowledgeable country. Also, the children consumed would be mainly male because they need to keep the females alive in order to continue breeding. He offers the readers ways to prepare the children (fricassee or a ragout), as if it will wet our appetite, and this is the first time when the reader could actually take this essay seriously. Throughout the story, he scientifically accounts for the amount of children will be consumed each year and how it will effect the economy. Any logical explanation against this proposal is simply thrown aside by the author because it seems absurd to him that people would not agree with him. It turns out that he is very biased in this account by the fact that he has no children. If he had any children than he might have found this proposal very absurd and outrageous. I found this very funny by obviously Swift did not agree with the proposal he wrote about. I assume that Swift is very opposed to the English rule over Ireland because he said that England would eat all of Ireland if they'd the chance. Also, he does not like the fact that the large landowners have so much power. He believes in giving the lower class citizens more power and taking the power away from the ruling class. Overall, this is one of the better satires I've read.

MLB Promises Next Season Will Be Even More Predictable

This article is about the upcoming baseball season and how it is bound to be as boring and predictable as it always is. It plays fun at the fact that baseball basically sends the same 7 teams or so to the playoffs each year (New York, Boston, Atlanta, etc.), basically the same players put up big numbers each year, and that the same teams get to spend the most money each year. It makes it seem that the league is very happy with it's present state according to the commissioner and various managers. This article is very funny because it shows that if you look at the MLB very closely, it turns out to be a big joke. Not every team gets the same opportunities as others do, and this fact is often overlooked. This article is Horation Satire because it is a playful beating of MLB and it's customs rather than harsh criticisms. A couple of quotes really stuck to me and made me laugh. "Lee, Ramirez, Zambrano, Jones, Hernandez," Selig said. "Players with those names alone will account for a combined 247 home runs and a total of 92 wins." This is said for the fact the primarily foreign players are backing an American made sport and that you always see the same names putting up big numbers. "Ken Griffey Jr. will tear a hamstring within the first week of the season. "There is no harbinger of spring quite like the sight of Junior writhing in pain on the outfield grass after a routine play," Selig said. This is particularly funny because it seems that Griffey gets injured every year with the same injury and it seems that without his regular injury, baseball can not go on. This was probably one of the best articles I've read in a while and it has officially turned me into an Onion reader.

If I was enrolled in the army, which is very unlikely, I would carry my hat. It is my most prized possession and I always have it with me. I guess you could say that I have OCD in that respect. I don't think I have washed it in over a year because I think that it gives me good look in tennis matches. I guess if I brought it into Iraq, then it would give me the luck of not dying. My hat has sweat streaks that have discolored it and that shows how hard I've worked while wearing the hat. It would make me want to work harder in the army if I had the hat with me. Finally it would make me feel comfortable and I would not worry about the war as much. Another thing I would carry is a picture of my family. It would guarantee that they would always stay in my heart and it would make me worry less about them.

After reading some of the American Soldier's Blog it became apparent to me that he is ignorant and very brutal in some respects. When he talks about shooting in schools he thinks that it would not be a problem to put plenty of armed guards throughout every school. It would take a lot of money from schools to supply these guards. Also, he believes that in order to get the full military experience, that he must be in action and killing people. He treats his sniper rifle like his baby and cherishes it in all respects. It seems to show the impact of war on a once regular civilian. He seems very brutal in regards to the death of Al-Zarqawi . He says he hopes that he burns very slowly in hell. Even though Zarqawi was a terrible person, it seems disgusting to hope that on a person. As long as he is dead, there is no need for hopes of him burning in hell. I would say he has an arrogant outlook on the war, but since he is a soldier in Iraq and knows more than me, I cannot. I do admire his passion when he talks about his family and about 9/11. It seems he wants to protect our country and that is a good thing.

I can remember a time in my life when I played soccer at about the age of 12. On Sunday, which was gameday in AYSO soccer, we played a team that was much better than us. We knew that we didn't have a chance, but when we were getting killed it just made us angrier and angrier. It had happened to be raining at the time and everyone was tripping and falling in the mud. The other team was playing very aggressive and our team was getting hurt. After that some of our players started to act " savage" and began to trip the other team. I myself, pushed one player in the mud after getting pushed down. Our team received a lot of yellow cards that day and ended up losing 8-0. After that it seemes kind of stupid to react in the wayI did, but if I had the chance again I would do the same thing. It is protecting yourself afterall.

Jack London's Law of Life: Old Koskoosh is left behind because he is blind, weak, and cannot hunt. If he were to be kept alive, he would be taking the tribe's resources and food, without making any contributions to the tribe. The tradition is that the old people of the tribe that cannot make any contributions to society will be left at the dead camp by a fire and slowly die. This suggests that the tribe values people who can hunt and is able to do things on their own for the good of society. They also feel that if you cannot help the tribe, then there is no reason that you should stay alive. It doesn't seem that there is much love and strong relationships in this society because of these murders. I do consider this a civilized society because it could be that if they do not make these sacrifices, then the weak could end up taking up too many resources and not leaving enough for the core of the scoiety. Also, there don't seem to be any protests by the citizens, therefore it is an accepted law. It would not be accpetable in today's scoiety because we value strong relationships and the we pay for people to get help and stay alive. It would be uncivilized if people tried to escape from there deaths and try to move on with the tribe. The Law of Life is that if one does not contribute to Nature's ultimate cause, then they will be killed of. On the other hand, if one does follow what Nature tells him to do, he will die anyway. Koskoosh recalls the image of the old bull moose because the moose relates to his society's tradition and more importanly of the situation he finds himself in. The moose has been left behind from it's own tribe and was left to get killed by wolves because it was no longer helping it's society. The same thing has happened to Koskoosh and he sees it as very ironic. I have learned that some societies value the greater good of themselves more than the individuals that exist in it.

Since I always read what will happen at the end of the book on line defore the reading I know the fate of the book. But before I did this, I would expect the good people to be killed, and the evil to stay alive, as a twist in the book. I definatley think that Piggy will be killed, becaucse it seems to me that in some books the smartest characters are usually unappreciated and have bad fates. He gets no respect from the other boys and will not be needed on the island. I also think the boys will regret how they treated him if he dies. I think some of the littluns will die by curiosity and exploration. I expect Ralph and Jack to stay alive, so that the two opposite characters will be put face to face. Eventually them and the Littleluns will be saved.
I think they will become more and more savage and unorganized. Eventually Ralph will have no control over them. They will act like this until people start dying off. I don't think they will change even after these deaths, they will just be more carefull. Fianlly they will get rescued by luck. Overall, evil will not be punished, they will strangley be rewarded for them being savages. On the other hand, most of the good people will be killed off to show that good people are not always rewarded.
I feel that I identify most with Simon. He is not a natural leader, but is very sensible, logical, and is a hard worker. He states what he feels, but does it with kindness and thoughtfullness. If I was in his place I would try to act the way he does, listenign to the leader, workind hard, and being nice

The Tropics of New York: The author tried to convey that a man is very homesick. He is now living in New York, but misses all the things that he once knew. The message of the poem is to appreciate your home because one day you might not have it to got back to.

Lady Freedom Among Us: The author tried to convey that people are overlooking The Statue of Liberty (Lady of Freedom). Not all people are receving the rights they deserve, because the people are forgeting that The Statue of Liberty represents that all should have equal freedom.

Political Cartoon: The author is trying to show that even people that do not live in New York are coming together and being supportive of all the people who had to go through the events of 9/11. Most people have nothing to do with these events, but it is important to know that there are people who support you and care.

Manhatta: The author shows how busy and crazy his town is. It seems at first that he is frustrated about how busy his town is, but soon you realize that he loves it for that reason. There is always something happening, and it seems that he needs to be busy to enjoy his life.

Connections: All of these poems are all about New York. They all show how at times, New York can be so wild and out of whack, but then at the times when it is needed, New York stops everything and comes together as one. They always support eachother and that is why it is such a great place to live. Also, there is so much diversity and always something happening that you can never be bored.

I just finished the first week of school and it seemed no different than freshman year. I expect a good year as a sophmore nevertheless. All my teachers seem very nice. I didn't want to overload with honors classes this year so I decided to take only 3. Hopefully, I will be able to maintain my High Honors status that I had all of last year. I am a little worried about the workload, since as a freshman, I barely received 1 hours worth of homework each night. I have to stop procrastinating so much. If I am able to do that, I think I will have a great year. I still can't wait untill summer again though.