October came and went and the weather stayed hot for the most part. On the last day – Halloween there was a pageant at the school. I was unable to attend, in fear there might be some sort of emergency or I'd receive a call. Mostly everyone was at the pageant anyways. It was lonely and the day was ending. I was tired and wanted to sleep, but suddenly my phone started ringing.

“Heck? Heck Tate? It's Atticus Finch.” Atticus's voice seemed full of panic.

“Yes?” I asked. There was a inconvenient fuzzy noise blaring in the phone that died away.

“My children – someone's been after them.”

“Where?”
“Between here in the school. Jem's hurt and I can't leave him. Please go out between here and the school and see if anyones there?” He asked. I didn't think anyone would still be there, but I headed over there as quickly as possible anyways. I guessed there could still be a chance.

After I was on the grass field, I pulled out my flashlight and had grip of my gun. I stopped every once and a while and occasionally looked behind me. The only thing I found was a small pink dress and small strips of fabric. I picked them up and put them in my car. Five minutes later I walked over to the oak tree, the only place I hadn't checked. It was a very large tree. There was no one there. I finished walking around it hastily and found myself tripping over something. I turned around and shone my flashlight on what I expected to be a large root.

Bob Ewell's eyes were rolled back, and some sort of foam was coming out of his mouth. I shone down my light farther and saw a kitchen knife stabbed up into Bob's ribs. I was shocked, taken aback. I'd seen dead bodies before, but this was unexpected. I consented to go tell the Finch's.

I drove over to the Finch's house to tell them the news. They were all visiting Jem so I decided to join them in his room. I stood by the door until Atticus invited me in.

“Did you find anything? I don't see anyone so low to do this but I hope you got him.” Atticus said, locking eyes with me. I glanced around the room, and then I told Atticus he should sit. He sat and got me a seat. He got seats for everyone in the room except this man standing in the corner who I didn't recognize at all.

I told him that I had found a dress- which Scout said was hers. The fabric was also part of her costume. Finally, I told them about how I found Bob Ewell.

“He's got a kitchen knife stuck up under his ribs. He's dead, Mr. Finch.” I said, slowly. I than rose from my seat. I allegedly believed that he fell on it.

“You sure?” Atticus asked, not accepting the news. I told him he was dead and would leave his kids alone. That wasn't what he was worried about though. They wanted to head to the living room, but I thought differently. My assessment I wanted to see Jem while Scout discussed what happened. Alexandra left, thinking she was no use.

Scout told us everything from when they left to the pageant to the fight, and the return home. She said someone helped her – the man in the corner. I looked over at the man, with pale hands and hallow cheeks. He had gray eyes, his hair was thin and he wore khaki pants and a torn shirt.

“Hey, Boo.” Scout said. I blinked, thinking that at a point I'd open my eyes to see him not there. That was Boo Radley, right in front of me. I was amazed.

Atticus already knew who he was. And corrected Scout from calling him Boo. We all moved to the front porch. We talked about how Bob Ewell could have died, and Atticus thought it was Jem acting in self-defense. We argued for a bit and than I told him finally, after becoming exasperated -

“Bob Ewell fell on his knife, that's all.” I said as my final words and left.

The car ride home was slow, I called someone to get the body. I was still in a stage of not accepting that I met Arthur, how I longed to have seen him. It was a impressive memory – but I didn't know if I'd even tell anyone, or wear it like a trophy. I wondered why he didn't say a word. And finally - I knew I'd probably never see him again.

The children still hadn't showed up. Aunt Alexandra was just as worried as I. I could only hope they were safe. I didn't expect them to just run off like that – I knew they wanted to go out and about today but Atticus told them to stay with Alexandra and I. When he was serious, they mostly obied. This was very improbable. It had already been hours without them, and I wanted to march down to that courthouse and tell Atticus.

“You can't.” Alexandra argued. I asked her why, and she smirked.

“It's unacceptable that they've gone away, and Atticus takes full responsibility. He need to realize how misbehaved his kids are. Then he might let me help a little more.” She said with a nod. Now, it was my turn to smirk and disagree.

“No. Now you write him a letter so I can give it to him, or I'll write it myself. Aren't you at all worried about them? We need to let your brother know – or else he might come home and blame you for not telling him.”

“He wouldn't”

“If he didn't, I will.” I stated. She glared at me.

“Get me a pencil and paper and I'll write the darn note.” She mumbled. I smiled at her.

I went down to the courthouse, and asked Judge Taylor's permission to give the note to Atticus. I knew he would give it to me. He was the opposite of a hypocrite. He was kind and caring to people of all color. Atticus's face turned pale when I handed them the note, and he told Judge Taylor that his kids were missing.

“I know where they are.” A man said, who I believed was Mr. Underwood. He pointed to the balcony where the colored folks sat. And there the three were, the same place they had been all morning. Atticus told them to come down, and go home with me for supper.

They argued – they wanted to hear the verdict. I didn't want them too at all, I wanted to argue with Atticus to keep them at home. They agreed to come have supper, but they didn't have much of a choice.

“Ashamed.” I repeated as we lived the courthouse. I had many harsh words to say to the children, but I sustained most of them. I could see apprehension in their eyes, but it didn't matter.

“Don't you want to hear about it, Cal?” Was all Jem could say. I found that rather rude, he wasn't listening to a word I was saying. He was even laughing on and off. I knew that he had a pursuit to become a lawyer like his dad, so I guess it was a good thing that he was so excited. It didn't matter, I was exhausted anyways.

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I got to the courthouse early, but it wasn't early enough. many people were already crowded around the entrance but the case wasn't starting for a while. I opened the door and people quickly shuffled in. I knew this was going to be a complex case, but one with little fighting. I've known Atticus for many years and he was not the type to get angry. Everything he does was done amiably
The case started and the first person was called to the stand. It was Heck Tate, I knew him from before. He was the town sheriff. His point of view didn't really help. He did not see the accused rape happening, or have real solid proof of anything. He simply recieved a call from Mayella's father saying she was just raped. He came down to their house as fast as possible and brought Tom Robinson, who Mayella thought raped her. She confirmed that it was him and he took him to jail. When we asked him to describe the injuries that Mayella had, he said she had a bruise on her right eye and her arms were beat up. He stepped down from the stand.
Next up was Mayella's father, Bob Ewell. He said that he heard Mayella hollering and screaming at the top of her lungs. He ran up to the window and saw Tom raping his daughter. He ran inside and pulled him off of her, and then chased him away. He seemed really into his story and like it would have to be true, he also seemed extremely confident in his story as well. Atticus asked him if he could read and right, and he said he could. Mr. Gilmer said an objection and said it was irrelevent, but I overruled. We found out that she he was left handed. Atticus was obviously trying to prove that he might have been the one to beat up Mayella. But that was not enough proof.
Mayella came up to the stand and told us that she was 19 and a half. There was something very different about her, different from the rest of the Ewell family. She seemed rather clean and like she cared at least a little bit about how she presented herself. She immediately started crying. He was afraid of Atticus, and he didn't want to make her look left-handed like her father. She only had a few years of education, obviously. She was very oblivious. She didn't understand what the point of showing that was. Her story was that she asked him to cut up some chiffarobe for him, and when he was done she went inside to get him a nickle for his work, but he attacked and than raped her. Her father came in after he hand ran away and said "who'd done it?" Over and over. I saw confusion in Atticus' face, and I didn't realize why until I remembered that Bob Ewell said he saw the rape happening. If he saw it, he'd knew who had done it. Once Atticus pushed her for answers, she started crying again. She thought he was mocking her. I once again saw lack of education. She was not used to being called ma'm. I also noticed something strage, she kept giving stealthy.
Atticus's only person he called to the stand was Tom Robinson himself. His side of the story was completly different from everyone elses. He had often went past the gate because he felt sorry for her being alone. Mayella said she had a job for him inside so he came in. She pointed to some chiffarobe for him to bring down, and once he did she hugged him and began kissing him on his cheeks. He tried to leave but she would not let him. When Bob Ewell came home he was terrified so he ran away.
Harsh questions were asked to Tom, but there was no objection. He kept calling Tom 'boy.' Than, a lady came in and handed Atticus a note. He told me that his children were missing. Mr. Underwood announced that they were up on the balcony with the Reverend. Atticus had a talk with them, and the case went on. Even I was unsure what point of view was fraud.

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Journal 5: chapters 13-15 in the perspective of Aunt Alexandra.

When I saw the lovely two children, I gave them a kind smile. I glanced and saw Calpurnia though, which made my smile drop. They had approached the house already, and didn't know why I was here.
“Well, It's a nice surprise ain't it?” I asked.
“Yes.” They both mumbled. Without a ma'm at the end. How suspected of them – but that was why I was there, anyways.
I handed Calpurnia my bags and told her to put them in my room. I noticed the pensive looks on Scout's face.
“You do know why I'm here, don't you?” I pestered.
“Nome.” She replied.
“Your father thought that I should come live you you guys for a while to teach you how to act like ladies and gentlemen.” I smiled. The returned the favor, but not willingly. Atticus had raised them all wrong, and I was here to set them back on track.
Soon enough, I was joining things in Maycomb. I caught on quickly with the community, there weren't that many people. I seemed to fit in well enough. Everyone shared with me how lovely Jem and Scout were. That shocked me. They obviously hadn't really gotten to know them yet.
Later that night Scout was telling Atticus about her visit to First Purchase with Cal. I was upset with everything they did. I didn't know what to say, and when she asked if she could visit Cal's house I bursted out.
“Of course you can't.” She could not go to that filthy ladies house. I wouldn't let her step outside the house with her again.
“I wasn't talking to you!” She spat. Once Atticus had took her out of the room, I emerged from the couch. I told him in the nicest ways that he needed to get rid of her. She was doing no good to the family. I expect him to leave the room and immediately come out dragging that filthy thing- and toss her outside. But he didn't. He actually disagreed- something extremely unusual of him. He said she was a loyal member of the family. I acquired a lot of disappointments, but said nothing.
He left the room leaving me upset. I glanced to my right and saw Calpurnia shaking her head at me from the kitchen. So what? I didn't care. At dinner, I introduced Scout to her cousin Lily. She wasn't so excited to see her, in fact she seemed disturbed. She didn't even know who Lily was. A girl her age should know everyone in the family – especially since she was a Finch.
I extracted Atticus from the dining area and told him that he needed to have a talk with the kids after dinner if not now. He needed to tell them what it meant to be a Finch, and that they need to have more manners and behave better because right now they were acting horrible.
Soon, another child joined the family, his name was Dill. He was small child – I wonder if he was fed enough. Now he'd be. I wasn't so happy for him to be here, another child to influcence Scout negatively. But I would just have to treat the thing the same. He seemed to have manners, at the least.
Knocks on the door jerked me out of my thoughts. A voice on the other side of the door alerted me that it was Heck Tate, who I had met before.
A crowed came in, friends and family of Atticus. They talked and argued, and I felt left out because I didn't know a lot of them as well. But I eventually talked to a few people. They left, and another crowed came in with not so happy faces. They were screaming and arguing as Atticus tried to defend Tom Johnson. I wanted to join that mob, but my brother would kick me out of the house for sure, and I cared about teaching the children to much.
I didn't pay much attention, and they finally left. It had been a long day. Atticus locked the door shut and let out a sigh. I couldn't understand how he had indulgence and faith in himself.

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Journal #4- Chapters 10-12 from the perspective of Atticus
I knew before it was mentioned that when Scout and Jem returned to school that there would be a lot of trash talk about me and the case. I knew that Scout would have a urge to fight even more now, but I had convinced her stop fighting. Although I could see that Francis was an exception. They would always be cantankerous.
I knew before it was mentioned that when Scout and Jem returned to school that there would be a lot of trash talk about me and the case. I knew that Scout would have a urge to fight even more now, but I had convinced her stop fighting. Although I could see that Francis was an exception.
Later that day, I got a call from Calpurnia. She told me that a mad dog was coming down the street, and it sounded absurd to me. Not in this time of there year – there couldn't be. But she was fretting, and I could tell that she wouldn't lie. I came quickly, and she was right. Heck Tate was there already, which I was greatfu for. We watched the dog as it stopped in different areas of the street. It stopped in the middle and started to twitch violently. Heck was to afraid to shoot the dog.
“This is a one shot job.” He said. I told him I hadn't shot a gun in years. But instead of shotting the dog himself which I'd hope, he told me he'd be 'might comfortable' if I shot the dog myself.
If that was the way it was, so be it. I was a little shaky, and my glasses fell of my face. I focused on the dog and I pulled the trigger. I had to be very pensive in order to hit the dog – which I did. A little to the right, of course. The poor thing didn't know what hit him. I noticed Calpurnia trying to keep Jem and Scout from seeing me, but they were peeping underneath her arms. Scout was obviously surprised, she probably thought her dad couldn't do nothing. But that sure wasn't true.
I told Jem and Scout later that day that I didn't take pride in my talent and anyone in the right mind would not. She disagreed, and wanted to tell everyone at school that I was the best shooter in town. I heard Jem tell scout she couldn't because he was a gentleman like he was.
A few days later, I sent Jem and Scout in town because Jem wanted to by Scout a baton for 17 cents. I thought this was very kind of him. When I came home that day I noticed Ms. Dubose's yard all destroyed. I saw a baton and I knew it was Jem. I extracted the baton and some flowers from the garden and went home, upset.
“Why'd you do it?” I asked him as soon as I walked in the door. Ms. Dubose had called me harsh words and it made Jem lose his temper. I told him it was no excuse and I sent him over to her house to have a talk. Scout tried to leave the room but I brought her back in. We had another long talk about why I had to pull through with the case. I told her I had to do it because I knew it was right, and that if I didn't follow through I would not feel comfortable praying to God knowing I had gone against my own moral.
Jem came back and told us what Ms. Dubose said. Before he started I could tell he wasn't happy by the way he emerged from the door. She wanted him to read to her for two hours everyday for a month. He was miserable and he didn't want to do it. But I told him he had to.
When I came back the next day he told me he wasn't afraid of her, but Scout was. I told Scout she had no reason to go with Jem unless she wanted to. She said that she wanted too. I could tell it was only because she was afraid for Jem's safety, as if he was in peril.
After the month was over they continued another week because Ms. Dubose asked and expected them too. I was glad how maturely that took it. Scout was still tagging along as well, and I'm sure Jem liked some company. I went over once and I told Ms. Dubose what time it was. Her alarm clock was set to go off at 5:00. It was than Scout realized that the alarm clock was their time to leave, and that was all Ms. Dubose cared about. She was waiting for the ring.
Ms. Dubose was very sick. She was pale, weary eyed and her mouth was constantly wet. She seemed miserable. But she was fairly kind to me, which surprised Scout because of how rudely she talked to me. A couple days after the kids were forever excused from reading to her, Ms. Dubose passed away. I talked to the kids about why she was so rude, and it had to do with her morphine addiction that was subscribed as a pain killer. I gave Jem a box that she had left for him, and inside contained a perfect snow top camellia. He threw it on the ground and yelled at her to leave him a lone. I told him it was her way of saying everything was okay. She was a nice lady.
The Summer quickly approached. Dill was unable to come because he had a new father. Jem was starting to grow up, a little quickly but I can't stop it. Scout spent more time in the kitchen with Calpurnia and they became very close.
Sooner than I wanted, I had to leave the kids out of town. Calpurnia would take care of them, and I expected Aunt Alexandra to come soon. Why, the kids didn't know – but I couldn't find the right time to them. They'd be in for a nice surprise.

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Journal #3- Chapters 7-8 from the perspective of Uncle Jack
It took me just a short period of time to pack up for Maycomb. I had a list that stayed the same for years, I brought the same things each time. I was excited to see Scout and Jem like always, and each year they'd seem to have grown so much more than before. I could only hope they were to be please at my arrival as well. I suspected them to be, as they always seemed. Scout had been getting in trouble lately and I wondered if that had died down at all. I knew Miss Maudie would look as beautiful as each year before, and of course she'd ignore me as I yelled to her to marry me. I loved her sun hat, the way it glistened in the sun. I supposed she didn't see me quiet the same, and even though I was mostly joking, I think she took me not at all serious.
Once I arrive to Maycomb, excited as ever – I waited as usual in Maycomb Junction. Sometimes I'd wait a very extensive amount of time, but mostly they were there fairly soon. I heard Jem call my name, and I soon saw the whole family approach with shimmering smiles. The waited for my two large bags to be placed down for me, and Atticus and I kissed each other on the cheek. This amused Scout and Jem, as they never saw any two men but us kiss. I decided because of that, their welcome greeting would not be as hearty as before. I simply shook Jem's hand and lifted Scout, but nowhere as high as usual. Because I had not lifted Jem, I could tell he felt somewhat isolated. Looking at Scout, I could tell she had some perplexity in why, but I ignored it.
“What are those packages?” Scout asked, passing her confusedness.
“None of your business.” I replied, and it wasn't. We started a conversation about Rose Alymer, my nice little cat. The kids were always fanatical about her. I always joked that she was the only women that I could stand for keeps – and it was true for the most part. I told the kids they were getting fat- and Scout surprised me with her response.
“Aw, that's a damn story.” She said casually. I gave her a shocked look and sent it over to Atticus. He told me she had been cussing often lately according to Cal. I was surprised Atticus wasn't already next to her and whipping her. I let it slide, hoping to not hear her foul language again.
At dinner, Scout asked me to pass the damn ham, and I willingly did but told her I needed talk to her afterwards. After dinner I told her that if she wanted to grow up to be a lady, which she did that she better stop using words like damn and hell. She didn't have much to say. I ignored that as well and we went to go decorate the tree.
The next day, Christmas day – we went to Finch's Landing. Jem and Scout didn't like going but the rest of us looked forward to it. I was to getting weary of the place but it was always nice to see Francis Hancock. He was quiet a character. Aunt Alexandra was rather perky as well. Finch's landing was beautiful though, it had 366 steps down a high bluff. Beyond the bluff there were streams and an old cotton landing that used to have working Negroes. They unloaded blocks of ice, flour, sugar, and farm equipment.
As the day went on I noticed, not for the first time that Scout and Francis didn't get along very well. I would just say they were acquainted with each other. They constantly argued, and I found Scout avoiding Francis all together. But I did see them argue once again about what they had gotten for Christmas. I reckoned they both thought they had received a better gift than each other. Suddenly, they broke loose. They started flying harsh words at each other and they began insulting each others family members. Aunt Alexandra came in and hushed them up, but I waited a while in case things heated up again. She yelled at Scout for saying hell, which she denied. I heard it clearly though. Obviously my talk with her made no difference.
As soon as Aunt Alexandra left, just as I expected they started up again. They started to argue and I saw Scout punch him right on his teeth. That was enough. I expected her to be more mature than that. I ran up and grabbed her arms and pinned them to her side. I yelled at her to stand still. This was to much. Aunt Alexandra got a hold of Francis. I wasn't there for the start so I demanded to know who started the argument. Francis blamed Grandma, and Scout agreed.
Scout broke out and started telling me that she hated me. Later that night after I had given her time, I went up to her room.
“Do you hate me?” I asked her. She said she didn't and she still loved me and entrusted me, but that I didn't understand children. Of course I did, I was once one. She said I wasn't fair and that I never got to hear her side of the story. She furthermore told me, and I began to understand. The little girl seemed to have taught me a lesson. I confronted Atticus, and apologized for romping on her. She was right, after all. Atticus chuckled. He never hurt her, threats would do. Atticus realized that Scout was watching – and he quickly told her to hurry off to bed. But both he and I hoped she had heard everything.

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Journal #2- Chapters 4-7 from the perspective of Jem
The school year ended a lot quicker than expected, both Scout and I could agree. Out of nowhere, Scout and I began finding things in a huge tree. I pushed her to take them, telling her they were probably put there for us. She thought otherwise, and said it was someones place to put private possessions. I was curious whose they could be though. She finally realized no one took them back, and somethings were obviously weird to be “precious,” like the gum we had found earlier. We started a habit of regularly checking the tree and taking whatever we found. I had a special place for them, and I had a feeling that Scout didn't trust me, but how could he younger one hold these items? They might mean something, anyway.
As the Summer went on, Dill came once again. Being older, neither Dill and I wanted to play the same games. We wanted more creative stories than the classics. We wanted to make some up. The topic of Boo Radley continued to come up that Summer, so Dill and I decided to play Boo Radley, a game where we'd take turns being Boo Radley and his father. This happened when we were pushing each other down a hill in a box, and Scout rolled into the Radley house. She got somewhat hurt, but that's when Dill and I came up with the idea. Scout thought it was a bad idea, but of course she wouldn't understand. She's always been changing lately, acting more like a girl. She was even becoming a litte tyranny. We'd tried to convince her to play but sense she was stubborn we basically stopped talking to her all together. She was fun, but not when she was holding Dill and I back from our game.
Dill and I continued to play the game and talking together without Scout all Summer. Besides during the game, we talked about Boo very often. We wanted him to come outside of his house desperately, to see what he looked like and if the stories were true. We were convinced they were as well as all the other kids in the neighborhood, we just had to prove it all to our parents. I came up with the idea to send Boo a letter, asking him to come outside and simply have a conversation with him. We just wanted to meet him, and how could he turn down two friendly kids? I attached the letter to a stick and tried to slide it into the shutter of the house. Scout saw us and threatened to tell on us, but I convinced her not too. Even though she didn't tell, Atticus did catch us. He told us to leave Boo alone. He thought we were tormenting him. The look on his face was very disappointed, and Dill and I decided not to try again.
Dill and I were getting very frustrated, we wanted to see Boo somehow, but if the rumors were true he'd might hurt us. I was sort of glad the letter didn't work out because he could of hurt us. We decided the only way to see him was to spy in the shutter window and see if he was there. I was more afraid of nothing than seeing him. If years of wonder had been wasted, I'd felt like I'd wasted so much time. Scout sees us as we're approaching the house and she got very upset, yelling at us. But even she was scared because she was still quiet sense we were by the Radley house. I knew she believed Boo was there as well. I told her to shut her mouth, and she kept her eye out and agreed to ring the dinner bell if someone started to walk past the house.
As I looked into the window, all I could see was dark curtains. Deep inside the house was a small light, but I wasn't even sure. I was extremely disappointed but Dill decided to look in another window- and of course Scout apposed. But she had nothing to do with it, and if she wanted to be a little girl she could whine to Atticus. I told her that, and she kept quiet. I was sure not just my tone of voice, but my evasion helped. When I looked into the other window I didn't even get a real look, I ducked down when I saw a shadow below me coming from the inside of the house. My heart was pounding and I could see worry in Dill's and Scout's eyes. The shower stopped very close to the window, than walked away. I was to terrified to look inside again so I dashed out as quickly as possible. My leg caught onto the gate as I was running out and my pants ripped. I had no time or thought to fix them so I took of my jeans and dashed back home.
Dill soon left, and the Summer was quickly over. School started again, and later that next night I decided to go back for my pants. They weren't cheap and I really liked them. Ripped or not, maybe Cal could fix them or something. Scout obviously fought back but I ignored her, there was no quibbling needed. I ran as fast as I could to the Radley house. I froze as soon as I saw them, folded up and sewed up. The stitches were messy, and I was shocked. The jeans looked malignat. I came back home faster than I left, and slept quickly.
There was suddenly items in the tree almost every day after school. We found grey twine, a pack of gum (which was delicious), a medal, a pocket watch, and the most scary thing – two soap carvings of Scout and I. Whoever was leaving us these gifts knew we were taking them, and didn't mind. Scout was scared of them more than I, but I didn't comfort her. She was acting like a baby about it. Scout and I decided to write a letter to whoever was leaving the gift. A letter of thanks, of course. This person was leaving us kind things and we decided that when he left us another he would get our letter, and perhaps write back. But I wasn't sure on that one. We ran to the house, to see that the tree hole was filled with concrete. Mr. Nathan said he filled it because the tree was sick. Scout asked Atticus about the tree, and he said it was extremely healthy. When he asked why'd she'd ask – he said Mr. Nathan knew more about trees, anyway.
Later than night on the porch I was crying and Scout didn't ask me why. I thought she wouldn't notice, but obviously she did when she saw me. My face probably showed. I slept deep that night.

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Journal #1- Chapters 1-3 from the perspective of Miss Caroline.


Moving to Maycomb, Alabama wasn't my intention. I'd been all over the country traveling, up until the Great Depression. I wasn't quit as foolish as everyone else, and I still had a bit of money. But not enough to go back home for a while. I tried to find a job which was much harder than normal, and was finally offered a job here in Maycomb, Alabama as a teacher. Not a place where I ever imagined ending up. But her I am, in this old town. I could have easily said no and found another job, but I decided to come out to Maycomb and persevere my childhood dream of teaching. Besides, I was indeed from the north part of Alabama. I suspected Maycomb to not be much different.
I decided to take quick walk around the neighborhood to familiarize myself. I saw a rather peculiar house, and started to slow down to get a better look once I had reached the other side. The house looked dreary and like it hadn't had feet walk upon it's crooked steps in years. Like new shoes eventually tired, the white color looked quiet the opposite of white, more of a gray. Three children where arguing by the house, and one started approaching the house. He threw open the gate and sprinted up to it, - I could tell he was a eccentric child. As soon as he got to the house he slammed his hand on it and quickly dashed back. From what I had seen, I could understand that this home was a home which was feared, and I could see why. As he reached the other two children they started running with him away from the house. I think I saw a movement in the window, but ever sense I could remember I'd seen silly things. I continued to take my stroll, and by the end there wasn't anything that interested me,except that weary house.
A week later was the first day of school. I had never taught first grade before, and I was sure that they would all be pleasant children, young and full of energy. I was confident to start the day to follow a hopefully good year. I had even put on my lucky crimson fingernail polish, which I assured myself would stay on the rest of the year with constant new coats. I was wearing a red and white striped dress and my red heels, and wearing colors made me even more excited for the new day.
The students were kind as I expected. I introduced myself, and began to read a story. I reached the end of my cat story, and walked to the blackboard and wrote the alphabet.
“Does anyone know what this is?” I asked, expecting confused faces. If anyone knew, they certifiably didn't know what it was for or could recite it. Surprisingly everyone nodded, and I than remembered they had mostly failed the grade. I called on a girl, Jean to ask her a question- but she instead began telling me the alphabet. This irked me, especially her horrible smile she had when she was done. Who had taught her?
“Now Jean, you tell your father to stop teaching you. It's interfering.” I said sharply, and she started to argue. She told me he father hadn't taught her. Her told me her brother said she was born reading.
“Let's not get our imagination carried away.” I said sternly, and told her to have a seat. She mumbled something, and I decided to let it slide. I smiled back to the class, and asked those who had brought lunches to show me. I reached a boy by the name of Walter, who had forgotten his lunch. I walked back to my desk and got him a quarter, but only received confused students and Walter's frozen face. Suddenly, that same silly girl stood up. She ranted on about how I'd learn about the indigenous families eventually, and how the Cunningham's didn't accept what they couldn't repay. I was furious from her pronouncements, she obviously thought she was smarter than I. I marched up to her, hoping I wasn't being an intimidation to any students. In no mood for a compromise, I smacked her hand and the class giggled. I put Jean in the corner and yelled at the class for their bad behavior. As the bell rang I melted into my seat. My confidence was gone.
After lunch, a horrid thing, a creature like thing had popped out of boy's hair. I shrieked and yelped as the boys handled it. He explained to me it was a cootie, and I didn't care what it was. After putting myself back together, the boy told me his name was Burris, and he didn't know how to spell it. I told him to go home and bath himself and return clean tomorrow. He refused, and a student stood up to tell me his families customs. Apparently, his family only goes to school the first day. I was concerned and pressed the case farther, but it somehow resulted into tears. He seemed satisfied by them, and he left.
My students crowded around me and told me he wasn't a good student anyway. I supposed they were right. They were a good bunch of students for the most part, it seemed. The pushed me to read another story, which I willingly did.

Comment.

Grace Shefcik
In the immigrant project, I read the book Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat. I didn't get a chance to really learn about other books, but I think this book was a good one for me. I didn't feel like it was easy but sometimes we did have to read a lot. I liked the story and a lot of things I agreed or I felt like I could relate to as a experience or could agree too. This book changed how I looked and my perspective at some things in life.

Something that what significant that I got from this book was how differently people look at life and death. A story was told in the book when the Angel of Death and God both asked an old lady for water who was running low. She refused to give God water, claiming he played favorites. She said that he made some beautiful, some ugly. Some rich and some poor, some sick and some healthy – but the Angel of Death takes everyone. The Angel of Death received water from the old lady. I think some people might disagree with this part of the book because they believe that someones life is in their hands and their fate, not God's. A quote that stood out to me talked about how life is just an hourglass and death is just a journey. It says the moment you are born an hourglass is turned, and you start your journey towards death. If people realized this there would be mourning and births, and people should rejoice over death because it is what happens at birth. Death is simply the other side of the hourglass, and if you cry over death it is because you do not understand it. I agree with this quote and I think it changed my outlook on life. It made me look at life as if even if there is no afterlife than it's okay because no matter what comes after it's simply the other side and life and death have to come together.

I think that I worked as well as I could on keeping posted on lit circle meetings. I had all of my posts up but one, which was on a day where I was very busy. I didn't find it to be a problem for the most part to be able to post it by the time deadline. I liked being able to do discussions online instead of in person. I felt like I could write more instead of at school and having limited time to speak. I felt like my group members had to pay more attention to what I said because they had to respond to what I said which didn't always happen in discussions in person.

I noticed that some of my group members picked quotes that I almost did and some I didn't think to respond to at all but they had a response behind it which I would not have seen before. That changed the way I looked at the book in some parts and the way I read. They helped me really understand some confusing parts in the book. I really enjoyed the new way of lit circles because it made me more aware of the book compared to before. I also really liked the book that I read.
I decided to do a book cover art piece because the original one was very plain to me. I wanted to keep it simple but put more significance in it. I think that it was easy to incorporate into an artwork for me . I think my final piece came out very nice and I am proud what I did. After fixing my minor mistakes I think that there is nothing I would change if I could at this point.

I had the opportunity to interview Antonio Morales, who is an immigrant from Mexico. I think that everything went well though our three interview. I felt comfortable having a conversation with him. Some of my questions were unclear to him so I had to restate them which were difficult for some of them so I had to restate them which was hard for me with some of the questions. I liked being able to interview him in different ways as I gradually learned and developed more questions about his life and journey to America.

During out first interview I learned that he has three daughters, his youngest is still in school. He came to American mainly because of their education and so that they could have a successful life. The second interview I learned that his way to America was easy. He had already been to America for work and his parents worked in America, so he had already somewhat adapted to the culture. At the third interview, I really learned the differences between the cultures of America and Mexico, even down to the small things like he never saw a corndog until he came to America. They had more parties and comfortability with neighbors in Mexico. He noticed Mexico had more plants and America had more industries and technology. It helped me understand how hard a new country can be to get used to even if you've already been partly familiar with it.

I made Antonio a painting as his gift. It is a painting of the two countries he lived in, titled Cultural Differences. On one side is Mexico, with more people around each other and having fun and parties. There is a mango tree because it is one of their main grown fruits. There is a younger him with a soccer ball on his schools dirt field. In America, he is in the grass fields that the schools here have. When he saw them he thought that he must be in Heaven. There is a different tree to show the difference, and no people outside. His wife, who misses Mexico a lot even though they visit around once a week is reaching for a mango in the tree of Mexico to show that she loves it there. Although there are things that separate his life between Mexico and America, a lot of things are the same. To represent this I show a joining sun and the joining road.

This project was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. It opened my eyes about views on life and showed me an immigrants process to America. I would defiantly do this project again if I had the chance because I was very interested in everything I learned.

Quote one: Page 208 "I thought you might have some cravings," she said. "Unsatisfied cravings can lead to birthmarks on the baby." -Tante Zi.
Significance: It really shows Tante Zi's part in helping her and the family and how much she cares about the family and helping taking care of the baby. It makes me realize how many different cultures and beliefs there are in this book, because when someone else was pregnant (who was that again?) She was kicked out of her own home. And even though she was younger and not married it makes me realize how different families feel and support each other.

Character Judgment: This quote really shows how closely their family is bonded and how safe and loving they are around each other. Overall through this whole book I have really felt like this family was always one to stick through for each other no matter what.

Question one: do you think that if this family was almost torn apart that they would lose contact/stop helping each other - or contact less?


Quote two: Page 209 "Joseph Dantica." He pronounced his name in the French way, putting the most emphasis on the last syllable. Though a error on my father/s birth certificate had made him a Danticat, giving us a singular variation on the family name, we still promoted our sur names the same. -Joseph Dantica

Significance: I had no idea that her name/families last name was originally Dantica, and everything changed just because of a mistake on the birth certificate. It made me wonder if they could have gotten that fixed like they do today.

Personal connection: I can connect to this quote because one of my ancestors came from Germany. He lived in New York and he was trying to get a job there and nobody could pronounce his last name. It was very heavily German. (I don't know the spelling but it was said something like sehvuck). Because of the troubles he had to go through he decided that it was a new life, a new him so why not a new last name? He made up a new last name...Shefcik.

Question two: Do you think that they tried to correct Edwidges father's birth certificate name or did they just not bother? Why do you think Edwidge or any of her brothers and sisters decided not to change it when they turned 18... or anyone else in the family?
comment?

Quote one: "Okay," my father said, "but don't frighten the others in Haiti. Don't tell them about the hospital and the oxygen. Don't make it sound like I'm on my death bed." -Edwidge's father.


Charecter judgment: This really shows what kind of a loving and caring person he is. He doesn't want anyone to know that he is dying and even though it's not actually like a death bed, he has the possibility of dying and does not want anyone to worry about him. He puts others feelings first and you can just really tell here what kind of a person he is.

Question one: When Edwidge's father told Edwidge to walk Uncle Joseph outside do you think that it was to keep her from seeing him cry like she assumed?

Quote two: "Tell Ferna not to worry," he said. "God is with me." -Uncle Joseph page 178

Charecter Judgement: I think that it shows that even though people want to kill him he doesn't worry or care and he knows he is going to be okay because he's keeping his religion close to him.

Question two: Why does he turn his voicebox down?

comment.

Quote one: "If I could do anything else," My father finally said, "I'd be either a grocer or an undertaker. Because we all must eat and we all must die." -Edwidge's father page 123

Character Judgment I think this shows that her father is someone who considers everything deeply. I have noticed this with other quotes in the past, like 'have you enjoyed your life,' but this one really stood out to me. It sort of confused me and I had to re-read it. It shows that he's thoughtful and considerate and probably one to not make quick judgments. I don't really see how these things could be a dream, because when you ask someone else what they'd want to be if they were not what they were you'd expect something elaborate or probably something that made a lot of money. Even though this does take place a long time ago I still think what we wants are very simple.

Question one: What does he mean by "everybody most eat and everybody most die"? I know that is true but I don't get why he would want to work with the things that make the necessities of life.

Quote two: "She attracts bad, just like she did Pressior," Uncle Joseph would say, "but she's not a bad person." Uncle Joseph said about Marie Micheline, page 131.

Character Judgment: I've always known that Uncle Joseph was a really kind person, but this quote shows me that he looks farther than first impression. I think this is a really good thing to have, and I think it's more of doing it yourself then personality. It showed me that Uncle Joseph is a kind, generous and forgiving person who wants nothing but friends and family that love him. (:

Question two: Who/what is Pressior?

Comment.

Quote one Page 61: "Maybe we're all dying, one breath at a time." -Edwidge Danticat says reciting from memory what her uncle has told her.
Importance: This quote really struck out to me. It did because it was a strange way of looking at death and it made me reconsider what death really is.
Personal connection: I am connected to this quote because I have thought this exact same thing sense sixth grade. Everything ends, nothing lasts forever. Life is a death trap. I thought that by thinking that everyone was getting closer to death every second wasn't very positive- but it made me reconsider a lot of things. I thought of life sort of reversed, like death is life and life is death. I think that looking at life this way is sort of strange because people don't consider each other "dying" unless they are fatally ill and know they don't have long to live. But in reality, we are reaching closer to death all the time it just is if you consider it 'dying'.
Question 1: How do you think this quote will effect/has effected the family's view on life?
Quote one page 73 bottom paragraph: "Death is a journey we embark on from the moment we are born" he'd say. "An hourglass is turned and the sand starts to slip in different direction as soon as we emerge from our mother's womb. Thank God those around us are too blinded by joy then to realize it. Otherwise there would be weeping at births as well. But if we weep at death it's because we do not understand death. If we saw death as another kind of birth, just as the Gospel exhorts us to, we wouldn't weep, but rejoice, just as we do at the birth of a child." -It's not clear who says this.
Importance This quote really brings out whoever who said this' character. I can tell that they are someone very inspired by life and has probably been through a lot just by this quote. I think that Edwidge Danticat remembers this quote so clearly because it inspired her and maybe she will look back on it on the death of her father and the birth of her child. Also, it was very vivid and I felt like I could see a hourglass and a baby and a funeral in front of me - the words were strung together nicely.
Personal Connection: This quote is somewhat similar to the first. I feel like this quote has really twisted my view on birth and death. This quote says birth is very close to death and they should be looked at the same way. It really inspired me because I have somewhat considered this but this quote really put it out there and explained it nicely and makes you really wonder.

Question two: Who said that quote? (page 73)
comment.

Quote one: "What would you like to happen after I'm gone?" -Edwidge's father, page 19.
Significance: This quote shows that the father's life is soon to end, but his part in the story is obviously a big one. She would have included a lot of information about him if he wasn't an important part of the story. I believe that his death will play a big role in them leaving.
Charecter Judgement: I think her dad is someone who is compassionate and wants his death to be as easy as possible on the family. I can tell that he wants them to move on easily by this area in the book and wants them to believe that death is okay and they will be fine.

Quote two: "He believed that his life had been spared for some reason and only in Haiti could he discover why. He could have moved to New York when Maxo and I came and he could have moved after that. but I don't think he ever really wanted to leave Bel Air for any place in or outside of Haiti." -Edwidge's father says quoting what Uncle Joseph said. Page 42.
Significance: This talks about how he moved to Haiti from New York after losing his voice. I know that this must play a part in where the story ends and where it leads to. It plays a part in what the story is about and I believe that if he didn't move this story would be completely different - for reasons I don't yet know.
Personal connection: I can connect to this through my family. I realize from this book that immigration and every choice leads to a change in the family's generation and who will be born, and everyone involvement's fate. It really makes me think about what would my families life be like if they never immigrated from Vietnam and Austria.
Questions: When their father dies, how badly do you think they will react to his death?
How do you think Uncle Joseph's life will mostly change without a voice and in Haiti?
Comment?

From Haven to Home
In 1654, 23 Jewish individuals came on a boat o New York. They traveled in hope to make a stronger community in America. Jewish people came to America because they believe that education is important, and all success is from learning through educations and others mistakes.
The Jews started to build synagogues. They thought even if they were not born in America, they still had rights to be able to practice their religion and worship and pray freely. The “Jew Bill” was what allowed them to declare and practice their religion and belief. This bill was passed in Maryland during 1827.
Even though they were freely and proudly living in America, they carried their culture and tradition with them when the immigrated to the United States. Most Jews still follow their culture. Saturdays, they are meant to rest and not work. Saturday is a day for them to attend a temple and they pray. The only language they pray in is Hebrew. They also carried their food religion. They do not eat milk and meat in the same meal. They do not eat pork, or fish without scale like shrimp for example. They believe the reason why this started was because a long time ago before the technology of refrigeration, if you were to eat a rotten shrimp you would get very sick or die. So they thought it was a sin to eat. They only eat kosher meat, which means there is no blood on the animal. When they purchase meat they first boil it in salt water to get rid of the blood. In May of 1902 20,000 Jewish woman in New York broke in kosher butcher shops and threw meat on the streets and set it on fire. They were upset that kosher meat was double regular meat – which was 18 cents as pound. After the boycott was over the price of kosher meat dropped to 14 cents per pound.
Slowly, the Jews started building their community and making a difference. They were able to build their first synagogue in 1854 in Boston, Massachusetts. The first Jewish Cabinet member was in 1960. The first Jew to be a Supreme court judge was in 1916. Bess Myerson became Ms. New York City in 1945. A marriage certificate was issued for the first time in the U.S called a Ketuban for the first time in July of 1977. Benjamin Stegal was the founder of Las Vegas, although he was not a good man – he was a murder. Later on in his life he moved to Las Angeles with his girlfriend and was assassinated in her apartment. A Jewish man was founder of Hotel Del Coronado, which is known world wide. They helped with the development of rock and roll music and Broadway. From 1880 to 1924, many Jews came and established themselves in the US and made Kiddush speaking communities. This language is like a slang language of German. If you know Kiddush you can understand German as well. These Jews came from mainly Russia and Hungary. They were successful in America and often sent money back to their family to what they called their “old country.”
Although they made many accomplishments – it wasn't easy for them to gain their rights and make it that far. They fought in the Civil war. 9,000 Jews fought for the Union, while 3,000 fought for the Confederacy. Jews participated in the Civil Rights Movement, they defended their principle of legal rights and liberty. During World War II (1920 – 1945) People started doing boycotts. They had posters telling people to boycott movies, music and to stop the practice of Nazism.
Jews came to America in hope of a new start, and a new chance and better education for their later generation. They went through many struggles in order to make it as far as they have today.

The photo I chose features a boy getting his fingerprints taken by a man, as he entered to he O'Hare airport. The boy looked scared and sad. The hands holding his seemed huge compared to his small fingers. It made me feel sad, even though I didn't understand what was happening in the picture, which was taken in 1999.

The quote I chose says “When I left my country Vietnam, I didn't know I would probably never come back again. I was just ten years old. I knew my life would begin from this moment.” -Ngoe Nguyen.
I chose this quote because it seemed very eyeopening. This girl had to leave her home country to a place where she had never been to before. I also never thought about what was running through my mom's mind when she left Vietnam for America, knowing she too may never come back. It makes me wonder about how hard it must have been for not only people in Vietnam, but immigrants overall to leave their home and everything they were used to and adjusted to, to come to a completely different country.

The story I chose was by a seventh grader named Roger Yan who attends Challenger middle school. I chose this piece because the first paragraph struck me the most out of all of the stories. His father, Xuan witnessed horrific things like death and suicide. He was Chinese/Vietnamese and came to America from Vietnam. It talked about his struggle he faced in order to just come to America for a better future for himself and his family. He was only six years old when he left Vietnam. I was shocked by what some people have gone through, and how racism was such a big deal at the time – even teachers sometimes teased the students. I didn't know the journey to America could be so hard and rough.

These exhibits made me think of how much our world has changed from how it was hundreds of years ago, and I wonder what it would be like if these historic events never took place. I wonder what the world will be like hundreds of years from now.


comment?

From my knowledge, an immigrant is someone that moves from one country to a different country where they were not born to live. There are legal and illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants are people who enter a country without being a citizen, and without approval.
I am connected to immigration because my mom was a immigrant from Vietnam. During the Vietnam war she moved to America and traveled all over the United States and Chile with her brother-in-law Bob and her sister Hanh. They were stationed in Taiwan at the tame because bob was an American solider. Bob flew to Saigon where my mom and her family lived and gathered them and they all flew to Hawaii the next day. One of her sisters came with her husband and two stayed in Vietnam and still live there today. All of her cousins and her one of her aunt's came, and there was a total of 14 people. Without immigration and the Vietnam war, I would have never been born.
I think so many immigrants come to the United States because it is a new start for them. They may live in a country where they don't have the amendment rights we do, and they want to be able to express and do things more freely – like express their religion, to make a better life for themselves and sometimes to escape a tragedy in their country at the time United States is open to everyone.
All around San Diego, there are people of different races. Without immigration, San Diego as well as the rest of the United States would only be one race. People in the United States would all basically have the same religion, and would not have any cultural variety. I think having immigration is a good thing because it helps us see different points of view and lifestyles, which help us build as a character. Although there is a problem with illegal immigrants, I think immigration is a wonderful opportunities for families wanting a 'second life'.

The Lovely Bones
By Grace Shefcik
The Lovely Bones is by Alice Sebold. She wrote this book off of her memory when she was eighteen years old. She was raped in a tunnel to an amphitheater. On her campus, she saw her rapist when she was going to class. She called the police immediately.
The Lovely Bones is about a girl named Susie Salmon who was raped when taking a shortcut home. She was persuaded to go into a den underneath the the cornfield where she was rapped and then stabbed to death by her neighbor Mr. Harvey. He cut her up into pieces and put her in a large bag. He disposed of her by putting her in a safe and getting her dropped into a sinkhole. There are remains of Susie Mr. Harvey is unaware of that point to her murder. A murder case is set up and they try to find Susie's murderer. This book is about being able to bring a fallen apart family together. It is hard for them to get over and accept her loss. The story is told from Susie's perspective in her Heaven.
The Lovely Bones has a lot of characters, like the following... Susie is the main character. She is a bit chubby. She isn't very smart, and was the oldest child in the family. Her dad's name is Jack, and he has a hard time accepting her death. He works for an insurance company in Pennsylvania. Susie's mom is Abigail, and she has a hard time handling the whole situation. Lindsey is Susie's younger sister who dates Samuel and it makes Susie happy to see them together. Lindsey also throws up when she hears about Susie's death. Buckley is Susie's four year old brother who sees Susie watching him sometime. Abigail's mom, grandma Lynn comes to live with them after Susie's death to help them handle it. George Harvey, or Mr. Harvey is the rapist and he leaves the town when they try to find him because he is a suspect for the murder. Clarissa was Susie's best friend on earth. Holly is her best friend and roommate in heaven. Ruth writes about the dead people she can see, and was Susie's friend on earth but they barley knew each other .Ray was the first and last person to kiss Susie. Len is the head of Susie's murder case who later has an affair with Abigail, and Franny is Susie's counselor in heaven.

This book is for people that like a different type of narration. This book jumps from heaven, to memories, and watching her family and friends on Earth. It is sort of confusing but it is a smooth transaction. This book would not be enjoyable if you are a reader who does not like detailed description because it may alarm and disturb you. This book also has medium foul language and may not be suitable for someone younger aged. I would rate this book a 9/10 for the great description and the different narration. I could not really relate to this book but the emotion created through the book I could also feel. The characters are very likable and you really get to know them.

This book was a lot better than I thought it would be after reading the first few chapters. It is really grabbing and it is really hard to let go of. Overall, I would recommend this book for female teenagers who can handle descriptive deaths and sad emotions.

Chapter nine: The deadly Chants: Piggy's Journal.
The feast was in only a few minutes, I assumed. Not like we had time here. I looked up into the bleak, cloudless sky. Ralph, Samneric and I start walking through the forest to meet their tribe.
We all reach at the feast, and start eating. After a few minutes, Jack stands up and starts to make an announcement. He, (once... again) announced that anyone who hasn't yet joined can still join his tribe. He makes himself sound so great, boasting about himself and the others. Many of Ralph's tribe agree to his offer, and I look around.
What is left of our tribe is not much. There are a few pointless littuns, with no use. I'm glad Samneric haven't left us yet. I wasn't sure they'd stay with us even this far. Other than that, it was only Ralph and I.
Everyone is somewhat silent, and I can hear the water crash some rocks down below. We have all finished eating soon. It was delicious. I wish Ralph could hunt, and I didn't have my asthma so I could help too. I wonder if Jack would even let me join his tribe if I wanted to. He hated me so much. He called me fatty, spat at me in disgust, and has even hurt not only my feelings but my actual skin. And that is what bothers me the most about Jack. He thinks he's so much better than everyone! Thinks he can order everyone around (He pretty much can, except Ralph's tribe) and he is just plain rude. I know that the only reason why most of the people flocked to his tribe is for the meat. All for the meat. I wouldn't do what was wrong for nothing! Not for all the meat in this island. I knew what was right, to stay with Ralph no matter what.
Jack asks if everyone is done eating. I am a tad bit more hungry, but I can live without it. No one is hungry anymore, so Jack starts talking about the hunts. They reenact a hunt like they had practiced it many times. Ralph and I stood a bit more farther back in the distance. Jack is telling everyone to do the dance, and they all are. Saying the evil words of kill, pretending Roger is a pig. They looked to happy, so excited from even a fake hunt, grinning, satisfied. I know their chant now, and I am saying it in my head. Soon, I am rocking back in forth in place to their stomps in their circle. Then, I squeeze in a bit, but much closer to the end of the circle then most people. I look around, and Ralph is in the circle to. He is chanting, and so am I. The excitement is so great, I can see why they love hunting. But I would never be as obsessed as them. Never.
A dark figure creeps out slowly, silently behind a few trees. We spot it. IT'S THE BEAST! They all run over to it and throw it down, and it's on it's hands and knees. The beast, would finally die, finally end it's days on this island. Stop scarring the littleuns in their sleep, stop haunting us. The beast is real, but not for long! Everyone is attacking it. It speaks barley audible words, about a dead man on a hill. Distraction, I am sure. What is he speaking of? If there was some sort of dead man, Jack would have found it.
The attacking becomes more vigorous. Everyone is using their hands, top poling on top of the beast. I do not jump on it, only watch. It is dead.
The beast falls over the edge of the cliff, where I am close by. As Ralph and I see it fall, The hair seemed to be the same color of Simon's, along with the bodies height. I look over to Ralph, and I think he's seen the same thing.

Chapter Ten: Mistaken Death: Piggy's journal
I am sitting down, early in the morning on a rock. Ralph comes up to me and starts talking to me. He knows it was Simon we killed. I know. Everyone knows. He calls it murder, but I disagree! It was NOT murder. It was NOT! Murder is when someone kills INTENTIONALLY. We did not kill him on purpose. We didn't even know it was Simon! And why is it our problem? He shouldn't have been sneaking around the island. He's been doing lots of that lately. He should tell us before he goes off and disappears. Makes us worry. I tell this all to Ralph, but he only shakes his head.
He calls it murder.
Maybe Simon is alive still, maybe Simon was joking! Maybe he is perfectly fine and will come skipping through the trees any second now, yelling he fooled us all, laughing away. I only tell Ralph half of that. The other half I keep to myself.
We were part of this "murder" is all Ralph says. BUT WE WERE NEAR THE BACK! At least, I was. I wasn't hurting Simon. I wasn't. I never would have. Ralph finally says that we were in the back.
And as far as anyone else needs to know, we left early. We saw nor participated in any mistaken death.
Later that day, we try to relight the fire. Failure, again. We have four people that can be trusted to keep the fire up, and that isn't enough. The fire goes away soon, and is only a bit red with no smoke. We lost interest, we don't bother to try and re lite them.
We climb into our shelters, getting in a comfortable position to sleep. My eyelids droop down, and I fall into a peace full sleep.
Ralph wakes me and tells me to be quiet. I think I hear something outside. He creeps out and calls for me, but tells me not to respond. We soon realise it's Jacks hunters! They must be hear for something. I step outside, and I think I have a asthma attack, I fall to the ground. I roll down a bit, the rocks edges pressing into my skin. I lie there a bit, and I think I punch someone.
When I get up, my glasses are gone. They've been stolen, and I know it's because they want a fire, and can't use any other way. How are WE supposed to get a fire going then? I'm sure the one that was dying is out.
Simon talks and brags about how he hit one of the hunters between their legs. He says they won't be back, assuming from the howl the hunter admitted. Some uneasiness about Ralph draws my attention, but soon he seems fine.
We make our ways back to the shelters, tired and wanting some rest.

Chapter 8: Jack's shameful tears : Ralph’s Journal

The Beastie had been spotted! I didn’t actually fully believe in it until I looked it right in the eyes. We all frantically ran away, to reach the bottom of the mountain where the other boys were waiting.

We saw the Beastie! We told everyone, and they suddenly looked frightened and started talking to each other. We run back to the edge of the island so that we can gather a meeting.

When everyone is in their spots, Jack starts talking about how we spotted the Beastie. He doesn’t allow me to say anything. I am forced to sit down and listen to him babble, he makes me sick. Jack starts talking about something that greatly alarms me. I always knew that he was a bad person, but I wasn’t expecting the words that came flying out of his mouth, harsh, rude, and in spite. He told everyone that I was a coward, that I stayed further back when we inched toward the Beastie, and that I was a horrible leader. How I never paunched a pig, how I was friends with Piggy, and how I wasn't at all a prefect. He talked about how he could be a leader, and how great he would be. I couldn’t believe it. He was acting the exact opposite of demure.

Jack casted a vote. Whoever wanted him as leader should raise their hand.

No one raised their hand. I could see the anger building up in Jack’s face, and then it turned into sadness and shame. Tears started to build up in his eyes, and he placed down the conch and starred at everyone. He was going to create his on tribe. He didn’t need us- apparently. He ran as fast as he possibly could, into the forest.

I called out to him, but he only yelled No in response. I knew he would be back though, guilty and sorry.

I start feeling very sad and bad about this. Maybe everything he said was true about me. But no one voted me out. Everyone thought otherwise. Or maybe, they just don’t like Jack at all! I don’t really know what to make of this.

Things start falling apart, I’m always a bit gloomy, and everything seems to be a bit more carefree. A few people went to join Jack- but I wasn’t surprised. I expected more to join later. Piggy tries to cheer me up with his idea: To build a signal fire on the beach! It gets me a bit more pumped, and I want to do it. We start moving down the fire.

*********

Piggy and I are sitting down at the beach, talking about who left with Jack. Neither of us had seen Simon lately- but I didn’t think he was the kind of person to leave us for Jack’s tribe. But Piggy doesn’t seem at all shocked. I just hope Simon is somewhere else besides with Jack, I didn't think he was that demoniac to leave us. Loud, shrieking noises and chants come out of nowhere, as if they were the air. Then Jack and his tribe (which is smaller than I thought) came running towards us and they grabbed some of the burning sticks off of the fire. I am not surprised; they probably don’t know how to make a fire without the specks so they came to steal ours. But what did surprise me is they went for the fire.

I was sure they were heading for the conch, as soon as I saw them- that was what I thought. I’m not quite sure why, I just had a feeling. They announce that anyone can come for the feast they were having tonight, and they might let them, they might not.

Trying to recruit members, I’m sure. I don’t know what will be the future… I frown at the thought of it. There seems to be some sort of taboo surrounding me, and it was to not mess with Jack.

Chapter 6: We'll hunt it down!: Jack's journal

I am lying awake, and the wind is rough. The shelters are becoming less sturdier each day. A wisp of hair intertwines with another as I turn around and lay on my side. I reach and pull them apart, wishing I had a brush. My hair was so long! I rubbed my touch on top of my teeth. I could feel the plaque and dirtiness around it. I wish I had a toothbrush. I wish I had many things, and life here would be much better. I sighed, and embraced the fact that, we won't be getting life's essentials anytime soon. If- at all. I shuddered, and wonder what would happen if we were never to be rescued. I pulled that thought way in the back of my head- and instead thought about Ralph. I won his wanted attention over, fair and square. I showed everyone how much of a heroic and better leader I could be. If only Ralph could see this too, then-
Suddenly Sam and Eric are by my side, shaking Ralph and I. They exclaim they saw the beastie, and it was flying and attacking them, with big eyes and sharp teeth. When they told their story, their arms were flailing everywhere and using examples. I believe them, and I am astonished. We all get up and out, and Ralph hesitates to blow the conch. I don't know exactly why, but I think he doesn't want the beastie to be attracted to it, or maybe he just does not want to rouse everyone up that way.
Once we are all gathered by Sam and Eric running frantically telling everyone the beastie is here, Ralph is waving the conch in the air to let everyone know this is a meeting and he is speaking.
He tells everyone the beastie is real, the littleuns shake and look even more frightened. A few of the older boys seem like they don't believe us, but as the story unwinds, they to, start to shake a bit but not as nearly as much as the littleuns.
Where have I not hunted? I thought, than tell everyone that I haven't been in a little area by these rocks. I suddenly exclaim that we will go hunt the beastie in the morning, when we can see him. As soon as the words come out of my mouth, I become filled with confidence. When I strike the beastie , everyone will elect me as leader and kick Ralph out. Everyone seems to agree, and I don't want Ralph to come along, but he feeds his way into it.

Later on, we start trudging around the island, all of us eager to find the beastie.
Ralph and I are actually agreeing on everything so far, and I'm waiting for us to get mad at each other again. We stop and rest a few times, and we are all fixing our messy hair and getting them out of our face. We reach what seems to be a cave, and we go in.
Simon and I don't like if very much, but Ralph seems to be fine with his surroundings. Simon and I exchange a puzzled look, and we come back out of the cave.
Me and some other boys start pushing off boulders again, once we reached the top of the mountain. We were having a great time, laughing and yelling in triumph. Ralph only stood and watched us, and didn't look very pleased with us, in fact he seemed rather waxy.
He told us he wanted us to focus on more "important"things. So typical of him, after all he wast he one who suggested fun first. I stand in front of the boys and lead them down.

Chapter 7: The beastie buldge: Jack's journal

We kept walking until Ralph started jumping up and down, exclaiming he though he had seen the beast. When he explained what he saw, we all knew it was a boar, not the beastie. I shook my head in shame at him, and he kept going on and on about how he wounded the animal. He seemed so victorious he was making a fool out of himself. No one was very impressed, nothing compared to the admiration I got when I caught the first pig.
I knew from the start, this was mainly to gain back the attention that I had took from him. We all started at Ralph in his happiness, only waiting for him to get over it. The only think he said for a few minutes was "I wounded it!" When none of us cared as much as he thought we did. Well I killed one, and if he wanted the attention that I was receiving, he'd have to kill dozens. Almost everyone was preferring me over Ralph as chief and he just needed to accept the way things were now. Ralph finally calmed down enough to be quiet and move on to chasing the boar. When it was over, we were all excited and thrilled. We were reminding ourselves of the fun we had.
We made a circle and pushed a boy, Robert in the middle. We pretended he was the animal, and we circled in on him and started lightly tapping him with out spears. He made a few playful cries of pain, and then we accidentally hurt him a bit. He cried out with more of an alarmed and bravado sound in his voice, and soon stepped out of the circle.
When it was pretty dark, everyone wanted to rest. We sent Simon back to tell Piggy we'd be back soon. We just had to take care of our poor little Piggy. When Ralph brought up the idea, I had hated him again. I was not sure what to think of him now. When we were out exploring we got a long fine normally, but back at the island we were always mad at each other, yelling, and disagreeing about the ways the island should be ran.
Everyone but me sat down and got into a comfy spot, as if they were ready to sleep.
Ralph brought up a horrible idea, to wait until morning to go see the beastie so we can see it better. He was probably just afraid of it, and it would give him nightmares if he searched in the dark.
I was going up the mountain to look for the beastie- now. If no one was going to come with me, I would be fine with that. Ralph stood up, along with Roger and they decided to come along too. Everyone else seemed very dun with the idea of moving on right now. Many people looked at me imperviously. I didn't think Roger was up for this, but I shrugged and we started climbing.
We were soon sitting on the top of the mountain, and Roger started talking about some sort of "Bulge" in the mountain. What kind of creature bulges? Nothing we knew of. We crawled closer to the bulging area, and then we SAW IT! The moment I looked into it's eyes seemed interminable. It was horrible, with big eyes and teeth! Scrambling back up on our feet, we started to run back to tell the others.

Chapter 5: Maybe the beast is real: Simon's journal
UNFINISHED:: HAVE TO ADD VOCAB WORDS
I hear the conch bellow loudly... another meeting just like Ralph had promised. I looked up at the sky. It was rather dark... we weren't used to late meetings like this. I shrugged and followed the sound of the conch.
When I got there, people were all talking and Ralph seemed to be in deep thought. He was rubbing the conch preciously, and he kept taking in deep breaths. I remembered when he told us we were going to have fun on this island. He did not seem like he had some fun news for us right now. I bit my lip and stepped farther out of the circle.
Well, I was right. When Ralph started talking, he wasn't in a good mood at all. He was yelling at everyone for not helping build the huts, except me. I stayed with him the whole time. He yelled at the hunters, the littleuns, everyone. Everyone was acting in ways that was inappropriate and how we would never act back at school or home. I knew this was because we didn't have anyone to tell us what to do. We had Ralph and Jack ordering us around, but they did not make a big impact on some of us.
Suddenly, Jack grabs the conch and starts yelling at the littleuns for their fear of the beastie. He tells them how the beastie isn't real and how they need to get over their nightmares. One boy announces that he had a bad dream, and he woke up and saw the beastie, which is his proof he was awake. No one but the littleuns believe him. When we ask where he would hide during the daytime when the hunters were hunting, he said in the water. I announce that the beastie might be on e of us, and admit I was out in the forest last night. But I wasn't trying to scare the littleuns! Just trying to go to my special place. Because I can't tell them where I went, Jack doesn't believe me. He thinks I'm trying to frighten them, and he suddenly gets very angry. I think by the time we are done talking, he believes it isn't me. But I'm not to sure. After a while of silence, Jack frowns, and announces he will kill the beast. The hunters yell in excitement, and start dancing about. That makes me shudder. He is so obsessed with killing things now, compared to when we first came he couldn't even slit a pig's neck.
When the assembly is over, Ralph comes down to where Piggy and I are standing. He announces he might quit being leader. Piggy and I try to convince him to stay leader, because he's the best leader there can be and we need him to guide us. I'm not sure if he'll stay leader on not, though. As we huddle to sleep, the littleuns are making fearfull noises in the distance. I worry about them, and if the beastie is real. I think it is. But who?

Chapter 3: A ship! : Piggy's journal.

 

 I lay down on the hot sand, and it feels warm against my belly in a soothing way. I was all alone, which made me very rapt with my thoughts. The little ones are playing around in the sand, laughing. I wish they could be useful, but who was I with asthma laying around wanting them to be helpful? Simon and Ralph were out making huts, and Jack was hunting. The hunters had already returned, but not Jack. I supposed he must have continued on hunting alone. He probably wanted to catch the first pig by himself to brag about, or some other excuse and dismissed the hunters early. The hunters seemed fine that they could take a break- they looked like they were enjoying it as much as I was. 

 I wondered if Jack and Ralph had talked to each other lately in the forest and if they were getting along. They seemed to be good friends when we first crashed, but their relationship seemed to be fading. Now they were arguing more, and Jack wasn't being very nice to me either. He was always calling me Fatty, and it hurt more than when Ralph told everyone that Piggy was my nickname. Even if I told everyone my real name, they would still call me Piggy and Fatty. I don't think anyone understands how much it bothers me. Whenever I speak up, no one listens. No one understands my great ideas, and I think if they would just listen they'd see what great ideas I have and appreciate me more. I sighed, and slowly drifted to sleep.

Chapter 4:

  The next morning, I woke rather abruptly, but I think it was just because of my asthma. I started breathing a bit steadier after a while, and I felt my heart pace slowly become regular. I walk outside to see the little ones whispering and almost in tears about how the beastie came to get them last night. I could only shake my head and wish they'd grow up a bit faster- just to understand the beastie isn't real. When they talk about the beastie, it reminds me of the boy with the mulberry mark and makes me feel guilty. I'm sure a lot of people feel guilty, but I was supposed to take the names. Another thing no one understood. Everyone was just running about- They wouldn't listen! I had a strong compulsion to become more bold, and somehow make everyone listen to what I have to say.

  I go splash some water on my face, very tired. When I turn, a middle age boy is stomping on the little ones sand castle. He seems happy and proud of it, but when he walks away he says a susurration and he has an expression of disappointment but entertained at the same time.  I waddle into the water a bit.  Ralph and Simon come over for a bit, when Ralph suddenly exclaims he’s seen a ship! I stand up on the rock, and I can see the speck of a ship, in the distance. We all run to the fire, Ralph still naked. As soon as we reach the mountain, filled with suspense and eager to be rescued- the fire is out.

 A few steps away was Jack and the hunters, with Sam and Eric holding something carefully.

 We found out that they got a pig. They are all very excited, and Ralph kept telling them they let the fire out. They didn’t understand until we told them there had been a ship, and we could have been rescued. There was a blank look on all of their faces, and they suddenly didn’t look so happy.

  I started to talk, but then Jack punched me in the stomach. I fell on a rock, and the pain surged through me. He growled and punched my head and repeatedly called me Fatty very rudely and blatantly. My specks fell off and I was almost in tears. I started to develop even more of a belligerence toward Jack. Simon kindly picked them up for me and one lens was broken. I told Ralph he would pay, how dare he break one of my lenses. I could barley see- who knows how long we were stuck on this island. I knew I couldn’t handle a messed up vision very long.

   As we trudged down the mountain, Jack started giving out the meat and telling the story of his hunt, all the hunters were talking at once making the story inscrutable. I was very alarmed when he mentioned all the gouts of blood that had been released from the pig. When I asked for a slice he ignored me. He threw a piece at Simon’s foot, and Simon kindly gave it to me.  I know Simon is someone that might actually be listening to me.

  Ralph says he’s going to have another meeting. Now. I knew it was about all the vicissitudes we were encountering... I wasn't sure what to expect from Ralph or the reactions from everyone else.

Chapter two: The trees catch fire: Ralph's journal

I gathered another meeting to announce our discovery. Jack and I helped explain about how we were on a Island. Other boys kept butting in, and I was getting fairly annoyed. I knew that had questions, but we discussed how we were going to do hands up like at school. Obviously, that wasn't going to work for long. I rubbed the shell in my hands. Suddenly, I came up with a brilliant idea. I announced that from now on, whoever was holding the shell was the only one that could talk.

Everyone seemed to agree my idea was great. I sensed a sign of envy in Jack's eye, like he wanted to be the one making the rules. We continue talking about our new lifestyle. Suddenly, Piggy reaches out his hands for the conch. I give it to him, hoping he has a good idea.Piggy states that no one knows that we've crashed here. As hard as it is to admit, I know he's right. Our family thinks that we are heading home... and why would they even look on this island? There are a lot of other places we could have crashed. Jack said all the islands were discovered, but would anyone ever find us? He states we'll be stuck here for probably a long time. Not many people seem to acknowledge this.

A small little boy with a mulberry colored mark on his face looks horrified. He starts talking about a snake-like thing he called a "beastie" that came out at night and scared him. Jack and some others start laughing. They tease him a bit and then settle down. We tell him it was just a nightmare, and there was nothing to be worried about. But I could tell by his expression he didn't believe us. He went on telling us over and over, trying to induce us that there was a beastie. I needed to draw the worries from the child; he was young and was probably dreaming or imagining the "beastie." I thought about what to say, and the conch was passed back to me. I rubbed the smooth and rough edges in my hand, thinking about what Piggy had said. There had to be a way to let others notify we were here. Eager eyes looked up at me, waiting for what I had to say. I started talking, hoping the right words would simply fall into place.

I announced that ships coming bye would not see us. A Fire would work! I said, and then realized the brilliance of my words. The boys all started talking amongst themselves. We decided that the fire needed to be high, so it would be visible on all sides of the island clearly. The boys seemed so excited by the idea, we all went running off, with Piggy shuffling his feet far behind.


We got to a high point on the mountain and start running around gathering wood. I wonder where Piggy is, but I assume he'll show up soon. With his ass-mar it might take him a while to reach us. A while later, Piggy comes up looking exhausted. We still haven't managed to get a fire going, none of us knew a fast way.

Finally, we used Piggy's specks. He wasn't very happy of the idea of us pinching them, but he let us use them after a while. When the fire was up, we were full of ebullience. Jack was constantly telling Piggy to shutup, and was being very errant to the rules of the conch.The fire died down, and made us upset. We quickly and carelessly remade the fire- and it caught onto the trees.

We did a head count, just to be sure we had everyone. We soon realize that the boy with the mark on his face isn't there. We look out at the fire and were rapt. We are all speachless.
I am full of nothing but shame.