To Kill A Mocking Bird: Chapter 8 Summary

Jem and I sure felt guilty for this calamity. It hadn´t snowed in Maycomb County since 1885, and legend has it that when kids disobey their parents, bizarre changes in nature occur. Another tragedy happened as well, Mrs. Radley died, and Jem was convinced Boo had finally caught her. Atticus had gone to the Radley´s place to pay respect; while my brother wondered if Boo had the guts to show his face after murdering his own mother.  

Like I said, it was our fault for the cold—Mr. Avery thought so too, and by the way he accused us, I apprehended the man thought that out household was in state of anarchy. But the snow was already here, and there was nothing better to do than enjoy it; especially on a day free of the shackles of school.  Jem and I decided to build on of those snowmen—We conspired to make it ginormous, the best one humanity would ever see. We started building, until we realized there wasn´t enough snow in our backyard. Jem wore his kindest face when he asked Miss Maudie if we could borrow her snow; surprisingly, she gave us permission. But even that wasn´t enough, and we were forced to make a base out of mud and cover that with what little snow we had available.

As for the face, Jem and I had a dissension at first, whether it would be a boy or girl. Until we came to the agreement of making our creation a fat, mean masculine figure: Mr. Avery. We were so meticulous about his body parts, nose, arms and even his “private” part. Jem had gotten quite offended by Atticus´s surprise that the boy was smart enough to make the man out of mud and snow. Atticus assimilated all the details, and realized that the snowman was meant to be Mr. Avery. But what really caught Atticus off guard was Mr. Avery´s “private” section, although he didn´t mind—He just said we needed to disguise it. But, by the look of Miss Maudie´s face when she saw our addition to the snowman, it was imminent she would freak, which she did.

The hours elapsed into a short day; and my sleep wasn´t long either. Atticus woke me up, ordering me to put on my robe and go outside. I felt this sweltering heat as soon as I stepped a foot out the door—It was a fire next door at Miss Maudie´s. Atticus ordered my brother and I to stand by the Radley´s place, to keep out of trouble, and that’s exactly what we did. But, Atticus didn´t exactly believe so. He started interrogating me about a blanket I had, he said that if we had stayed where he told us, I would have not had that blanket. Now I tried to make memory, but I didn´t remember anything ‘bout someone covering me. Then Jem spoke,

“Mr. Nathan was here at the fire. Scout you were too busy watching you didn´t realize that he put the blanket around your shoulders!”

I sure felt confused, that man I far from lionized actually cared for me? But I couldn´t help but think of anything else at the moment than the second recent death. Yes, the pumpkin like, muddy, chubby, morphodite: Mr. Avery the snowman.

Zack, You Are Still Dear To Me

Dear Zack,

            I hope you read the article I wrote for the New York Times—its about when you arraigned and interrogated that assassinator. When you busted his ass, remember? I just can´t believe all you have achieved on all these years that have elapsed. Congratulations on all your success.

            New York is great, very metropolitan-very big. Although I have my dream job (although, I´m not lionized or anything,) I still miss Tiburon like you have no idea.  I might of whined about the sweltering summer days back then, but I sure miss them when it´s December over here.

            I talked to August a few days ago; she sure misses you and me when we would conspire making the honey. She also mentioned that you and your wife, Annie, celebrated little Ebony´s fourth birthday last weekend. Please wish her a happy birthday for me; I want to meet that little girl that I hear so much about.

            I still await the day when I can fall in love again, just like you did. The world was so bizarre, unfair back then when we were young. Such anarchy, they even prohibited us from being together. By the time that changed--it was too late--you had moved on with your life. But it’s nothing to regret, I mean you found Annie and now have your little Ebony to treasure, it’s a fact no one can have a dissension on.

            I look back, and meticulously read the stories I wrote in that journal you gave me—so I can assimilate every detail. I cry sometimes, when I remember my lonely nights in the honey house, the Calendar sisters, the bees, the shackles of T-Ray. But when I remember you I always gain hope. Zack, I am getting older by the second, and at thirty-four I still haven´t fallen in love more than once. But then again, I remember you--Zachary. I remember that summer, our summer love.    

            So I wanted to thank you-for showing me I am capable of falling in love, I have apprehended it is possible. If I didn´t have those memories to go back to, I´d think I´d be lonely forever, that my life would be nothing but a calamity. You will always be my first love, but not my last. I know it´s imminent that I will find my better half. Farewell for now.

Love,

Lily 

The Problem We All Live With Analysis

    The Problem We All Live With by Norman Rockwell is a painting from 1964, around the time negroes were segregated. His painting takes place down in the Southern part of the US. Specifically, a little girl walking down a sidewalk, on her way to William Frantz school. This is important because it has to do with the Brown VS Board case, and that day was the first time in history when a school was to have both whites and blacks.

   The little girl is Ruby Bridges, at the time she was six-years-old, so young but yet made such an impact on history. Four bodyguards are escorting Bridges to school, at the same time she is being discriminated against. On the wall the word “nigger” is written in pale-gray ink, and a tomato is splashed on the wall. The bodyguards´ faces are not showing, most likely because they are not important or aren´t the focus of the painting. The bodyguards are simply there to show how much protection this little girl needs by them being from the government, we can tell by their bands and pins. They only show their white hands, and huge figures. Compared to Bridges, who is black and tiny, this gives the feeling and thought that the bodyguards are superior than her because they are white. Also about the bodyguards, they are dressed in pale and dark clothes, which doesn´t really grab much attention. Even the bright red tomato is placed at the bottom of the painting, so it doesn´t grab attention. The wall and concrete are a very boring and lifeless colors, plus the lighting is pretty crappy.

   Ruby Bridges is actually the only thing that stands out. Even the color of her skin, she might be a blackish-brown, but her skin has this beautiful sheen that makes it POP. I also noticed that she is wearing a white dress, which stands out a lot considering all the dead colors. I thought of her white-black combination representing acceptance of both races, what the William Frantz school is going to look like now that she is there. I also considered her white dress representing innocence and purity since she is only a child.

   The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this picture is how the same event can have different effects on different people. We can see how the whites consider Bridges being in the same school as them an insult, but obviously her race is proud of her.  I also had the impression that this little girl had tons of courage. Just the way she holds her head up high, you can see she is walking forward and that all this discrimination doesn´t seem to bother her. It proves that we can all make a difference; we just need perseverance and courage.

   I believe Norman Rockwell´s intention with The Problem We All Live With, is to prove the world´s ignorance and how much this affects the world. Like I said, the focal point is the little girl. Bridges couldn´t look more fantastic in her white dress, this is proving that black and white can got together, no problem. And again, the dress represents purity and innocence of a six-year-old child. A child with barely any knowledge, a child that probably doesn´t even know racism. Rockwell wanted the world to see how ignorant they were being to treat this little girl, who obviously could not do any harm, like a criminal. Like the title says, we all live with this case because racism happens everyday, and we are so ignorant that we treat other people badly because we are prejudiced.   

Last Weekend of Liberty

   At the moment, I have laid before my eyes my binders, laptop case, papers, school bags, all in the process of being organized for tomorrow... I cannot believe four weeks have gone by so fast! My last weekend of liberty wasn't anything too exciting, but I will be happy to share some of the highlights.

   The one thing I made sure to really enjoy these last few day was sleeping in! I told myself the earliest I would wake would be at ten AM. Unfortunetly, this made my days seem significantly shorter by getting rid of my mornings. For example... On Saturday I woke up, took a shower and got a haircut (excited for you guys to see it.) When I arrived home I helped with lunch and afterwards got dressed and ready for my little cousin's birthday party. I bowled for a while and had some pizza, arriving home at eight.

   Sunday seemed like a short day as well... I woke up and directly took a shower to go out for some lunch, ( I woke up THAT late!) My brother and dad wanted to go see Sherlock Holmes, so we went at 3:40. It was a long movie, we went directly to the groceries at 6:00... Unfortunetly it was really full, so we didn't arrive home untill 8:00...

   I got to say, the highlight of the weekend was my dog's breakfast. You see, she didn want to eat anthing. So what did I do? I was kidding at first... I grabbed a plastic spoon and started feeding her! She actually ate it all up that way! HAHA

   I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas break! Mine was deffenetly a busy one, but it was alright...  Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

(All the girls of the family)

   Just recently it was my grandmother´s birthday. Which was spent in my "favorite place in the world..." The beach. You see, my parents always wanted to wake up hearing the ocean tide, but it was sort of impossible living way up north in Canada. So even before buying a car (our main method of transportation,) my parents bought a beach apartment when we first moved.

   So if you are reading this then you are probably tired of hearing me whine about Coronado. You might be thinking what´s wrong with this girl? And yes, I do think that there must be something wrong with me since everyone says it to my face, and I seem to be the only person that thinks that way. But it´s been six years since I last spent a birthday with my grandmother, so the whole family decided to go to her favorite place, Coronado. I had a change of heart, for her,  I decided I would make the best effort to have a good time.

   Thank God my cousins went, I mean I can handle the babies and the little girls for a while, but I was sure thankful my big cousin was there. He practically lived with us for the weekend, just slept in his hotel room and from there went over to our apartment to have a good time. His name is Luis, but I call him Luigi. Luigi is just two years older than me, and to me is more like a brother, I always have a good time laughing and joking with him, if it wasn´t for his presence I would of been bored as hell.

   But after all the weekend was all for my granny, so we went over to my auntie´s beach house and had a BBQ in honour of her 65th birthday. I don´t think I have ever spend so much quality time with my family. For about three hours straight I was playing soccer with the little dudes, carrying them around, running with them and chasing bubbles.

   By the end of the trip I didn´t have to make an effort to have a good time, because good times just happen spontaneously when your are sorrounded by people who love you. Really, this was all so my grandmother would have a memorable birthday, and it sure was. The ninth of January of 2012 was the first in seven birthdays that my grandmother spent with all her children and grandchildren!

Happy New Year

   Everything started the late night of December 30th, when my dad and mom started putting up decorations and organizing everything for the NewYears party, which was to be at our house.

   I woke up quite late on the 31st because I had stayed up late helping my mom download music, (she just discovered how to.) Since then, my whole life was directed towards the party, cleaning up my room, going to pick up food, etc. But the time had finally arrived.

   The party was with my mom's side of the family, but my dad had invited my grandfather from his side of the family and his brother as well. It was deffinetly and fantastic New Years. My family hadn´t spend New Years together since I left, that was almost seven years ago! And one always misses their roots, even if you try to deny it, you always need your family. My favorite part was getting to count down till 12 am, I was in charge for keeping track of time!

   When the new year started everyone started shouting and partying, wishing each other,"Feliz Año Nuevo!"From there, the house was no longer quiet, it was non-stop dancing. To be honest, I did not like that part at all, because it was all music from like the 80's or early 90's, so I rushed upstais with my brother and cousin. For the rest of the night I had long conversations with my cousin, untill everyone left and we fell asleep.

    The next day on the 2nd, I had a party from my dad´s side of the family. So I woke up at 11, and only had about 7 hours of sleep, I was so tired. We stayed at that gathering untill six in the evening, I was DEAD by that moment. But I wouldn´t get any rest soon, because as soon as I got home I started packing my bags for the beach.

   This is where I am at, at the moment. Sitting here watching a movie and writing this blog, I can´t wait to go to sleep, and finally get a well deserved rest!

To Be A Maha

To have the name of Maha, you must gain it. To be a “Maha” you must be audacious, be joyful in profusion, when needed, serene. But most importantly to be a “Maha” you must be ghetto. A “Maha” doesn´t feel the need to be conscientious, she will even approach a new student for the first time quite ecstatically, quite cheerily. One of a “Maha´s” greatest talent is for literature, she can make a paragraph so descriptive that one can depict every detail. A “Maha” could also be sort of a detective, they are always curious, always want to know everything. Even if they have the slightest inkling, they will stop at nothing while seeking the truth. “Mahas” have hearts of gold, they never pilfer, they don´t make someone weep, even if they were to rebuke, it would be constructive criticism. In the eyes of the world a “Maha” is so perfect that even the most slovenly mess they have created, is flawless in our eyes. Now it is time to ask the real question… Do you have what it takes to be a “Maha?”  

     Maha, thank you for being my first friend in Balboa Academy. I remember it like it was yesterday,

“Oh my God, are you new? Hi, I´m Maha.What’s your name?”

Well who knew we would be such friends in such little time, thank you for that. Like I said, you posses everything in order to be a “Maha”, and because of those talent I and everyone in the school will truly miss you. Because of those talents I am sure you will do just fine in Atlanta as well. You are beautiful, kind, smart and funny, you posses everything to be successful in life! Good luck in you new adventure!

Will miss you,

Ana Lorena Garcia