American Civil War

Here is a short summary of the American Civil War:

The American Civil War is a civil war in the United States from 1861-1865. This war is between the Union (Northern American States) and the Confederacy (Southern American States). The eleven Southern slave states wanted to continue the black slavery, unlike the Northern states, therefore they decided to secede from the United States. After President Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860, the war quickly started, with the Confederacy initially having the upper hand, but they were finally decisively defeated by the Union on April 9, 1865.

The House That Jack Built-Nursery Rhyme

  In my opinion, this nursery rhyme is overly long and switches between tenses too often for young children to comprehend. Despite the title, the nursery rhyme isn't about Jack building a house or Jack's house, but showing how the house can be linked to things and people. The sound "-orn" is present throughout the poem, perhaps as a sound.

  Below is the most modern set of lyrics for the poem:

This is the house that Jack built.

This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the rat that ate the malt

That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cat that killed the rat

That ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the dog that worried the cat

That killed the rat that ate the malt

That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cow with the crumpled horn

That tossed the dog that worried the cat

That killed the rat that ate the malt

That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the maiden all forlorn

That milked the cow with the crumpled horn

That tossed the dog that worried the cat

That killed the rat that ate the malt

That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the man all tattered and torn

That kissed the maiden all forlorn

That milked the cow with the crumpled horn

That tossed the dog that worried the cat

That killed the rat that ate the malt

That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the priest all shaven and shorn

That married the man all tattered and torn

That kissed the maiden all forlorn

That milked the cow with the crumpled horn

That tossed the dog that worried the cat

That killed the rat that ate the malt

That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cock that crowed in the morn

That waked the priest all shaven and shorn

That married the man all tattered and torn

That kissed the maiden all forlorn

That milked the cow with the crumpled horn

That tossed the dog that worried the cat

That killed the rat that ate the malt

That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the farmer sowing his corn

That kept the cock that crowed in the morn

That waked the priest all shaven and shorn

That married the man all tattered and torn

That kissed the maiden all forlorn

That milked the cow with the crumpled horn

That tossed the dog that worried the cat

That killed the rat that ate the malt

That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the horse and the hound and the horn

That belonged to the farmer sowing his corn

That kept the cock that crowed in the morn

That waked the priest all shaven and shorn

That married the man all tattered and torn

That kissed the maiden all forlorn

That milked the cow with the crumpled horn

That tossed the dog that worried the cat

That killed the rat that ate the malt

That lay in the house that Jack built.

TKaMB Blog Prompt Five

  Harper Lee’s novel is full of interesting and richly painted characters. Which character was your favorite and why?

  In To Kill A Mockingbird, my favorite character is Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch represents justice and equality in the novel, standing up for the human rights that the Blacks are rightfully entitled to. He is also a great father, treating his children wisely and teaching them about what is morally correct, instead of what is politically correct.

  Atticus Finch is regarded as the novel's most upright character, a gentleman, and therefore, a pacifist-he condones violence in any form. He is also brutally honest, moral, open-minded, accepting, and devoid of prejudices that influences most other Maycomb residents. He has been described as a hero who fights for causes that he knows is right faithfully, even when the cause is hopeless. No, especially when the cause is hopeless.

  Although Atticus Finch is appointed to defend Tom Robinson by Judge John Taylor, he took the case as a personal mission to defend the Blacks from Bob Ewell. He is also open-minded and accepting of others, like when he teaches his children to not strike back at other children, and he greets Mrs. Dubose politely every time he meets her, in spite of her consistent insults (her favorite one being "nigger-lover").

  Despite Atticus's occupation, which requires him to defend his clients no matter what his personal feelings, Atticus is guided by a moral compass which seem to be present on him alone, which is contray to the popular image of modern lawyers. Atticus is well respected by his children as their father, and they also admires him for his sense of justice and equality. The latter value, to some extent, is displayed when he decided to stop shooting despite being the finest shot in Maycomb County, as he "feels that God has given him an unfair advantage over other living things".

  Atticus Finch could also be described as a maverick, as his whole character is entirely different from the other townsfolk; he raises his children flexibally and treats them with respect, and not physical threats and demands for letter-perfectness like the "traditional" Maycomb way. He also thinks of them as his equals, as his children calls him by his name instead of "Daddy" or "Dad", and he will consider his children's arguments respectfully and sometimes revising his decisions.

  In conclusion, I think Atticus Finch is a character that is the very shining example of forthrightness, courage, resilience, and unbiasedness, completely deserving of the title given to him, "The greatest hero in an American film". 

TKaMB Blog Prompt Four

  As you followed the action in the courtroom, which character did you empathise with most? least? Explain.

  As I followed that action in the courtroom, I empathize with Atticus Finch most, as Atticus utilizes the Kantian mindset, taking his actions because of moral reasons, or shall I say, reason-"Because it is the right thing to do". Even when Atticus knew fully the potential consequences of his decision to defend Tom Robinson-namely, him being rejected by Maycomb's white community, his children being mocked and teased, even being physically threatened, to name just a few-he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, even when he came under enormous pressure from every single white, even members of his own family. However, Atticus fails to acknowledge that a belief/stereotype that had been drummed into the society's mind for hundreds of years could not be changed in the instant. Despite this, Atticus still putted up a valiant effort to reason with the jury, and although he failed, he went down fighting, which could not be said for much of the other characters in the novel.

  As I followed that action in the courtroom, I empathize with Bob Ewell the least, as Bob Ewell is one of the most racist characters, and despite being a dreg of society himself, at the lowest caste of Maycomb's white community, he is very proud that he is superior to the Negros. He often beats his daughter up, and even uses his daughter's feeling for Tom Robinson to push the blame to him. By using Tom Robinson's skin color, he manipulated the jury into convicting Tom Robinson despite the lack of any medical evidence, just because he is a "nigger".

TkaMB Blog Prompt Three

  Did the ending of the novel surprise you? If you were the author, would you have ended the story differently? Explain.

  The ending of the novel surprised be due to the appearance made by Arthur "Boo" Radley. As the character Boo Radley had been largely negated in the later parts of the story, focusing instead on Tom Robinson's trial. This had managed to lull many readers into temporarily forgetting about Boo Radley, which might be exactly the effect Harper Lee intended to create. Boo Radley's appearance in the story is rational, as Boo had repeatedly demonstrated his goodwill and feelings for the Finch children in the earlier sections of the novel. However, the appearance of Boo in the final scene might be a little too abrupt, as this does not reflects the theme of the story. If I was the author, I would have ended the story with Sheriff Tate, Judge Taylor, or perhaps even one of the Negroes stopping Bob Ewell, thus, ironically, paralleling the scene of the "rape" which the Ewells claimed. The story would have ended with Atticus deciding to not pursue legal action against Bob Ewell on behalf of Scout and Jem, thus emphasizing again Atticus's gentlemanly character and his compassion, and at the very end, Bob Ewell would have either be touched by Atticus and changed his ways, or disappears due to his shame. 

TKaMB Blog Prompt One

What memories of your own childhood come to mind as you read about Scout’s experiences?

As I read about Scout's experiences, the first childhood memory that comes to my mind will be my first days of school, where my experience was pretty much like Scout's; at that time, childhood was carefree, when most, if not all, of the things we do at school are simple and fun, and the teacher was also often exasperated. Also, like Scout, we were also extremely curious about the whole world, ignoring political correctness and just asking whatever we wanted to ask, even regarding sensitive issues such as racism, prejudices, just as Scout, who, on one notable occasion, even asked Calpurnia about rape, completely disregarding that it would not be politically correct to ask a woman about rape, especially if the questioner is also female. However, throughout the story, Scout matures, being able to, at least partially, understand the weighty issues of racism and prejudice when she was not even ten.

Narrative Point of Views-A Summary

  I shall summarize in this post the reasons for and the times when First and Third person point of views should be used.

  The first person point of view should be used when we wants to:
-Focus the reader's attention on a particular character, usually the main character, as the first person point of view enables the readers to view all of the character's being, including his thoughts, his emotions, his personality, and the underlying reasons behind his actions.
-Limit the information that readers can access; this is usually used in mystery/crime literature to keep the readers in the dark about the key of the conflict, "keeping them on their toes".

  Meanwhile, the third person point of view should be used when we wants to:
-Update the readers constantly of the latest developments in the plotline, this is usually used in action novels, to "not allow the readers to catch their breath" by hitting them with one new piece of information after another.
-Describe the settings of the novel, as with the third person point of view, the author would be able to show the readers an intense and rich description of the settings, "materializing it before their eyes".

Anti-Immigrant stances and Xenophobia

  In many First World countries today, much of the population has a distaste or even hatred for foreigners and immigrants, especially unskilled laborers. In many cases, it is the rulers of the place which had sanctioned or ignored these, even the more violent cases, treating them as "isolated incidents", and sometimes even declaring this stance publicly. Personally, I think it is often because of stereotypes and/or political/economical reasons.

  Those anti-immigration and/or anti-foreigners stance that many countries, states and cities is taking are often caused by or at least influenced by the ruling elite and/or the local population’s xenophobia due to their stereotypes that the new immigrants and/or foreigners were to blame for various social problems including, but not limited to, crime rates, unemployment among the local population, inadequate public services, et cetera. Often, this is not the case, but the population needs a scapegoat to  blame the host of social and ethnic problems on, causing racial, national and ethnical hatred, and, is fueled by extreme sentiments and radical elements/thoughts, may result in violence and/or discrimination. For example, in the American state of Texas, a Sikh student working part-time as a pizza delivery boy was assaulted by four white men, being thrown into a swimming pool and kicked at for 20 minutes. From the fact that his turban was kicked off, it could be told that they were targeting not only him, but his Sikh identity as well. Another example is the January series of attacks against migrants in Rosarno, Italy, which had a long history of tensions and even bloodshed between the migrants and the local Italians, leading to the series of attacks leaving to 37 casualties. A possible source that might have helped fueled the bloodshed is the heavy-handedness of the Italian center-right government against immigrants, illegal or otherwise. Surely the whole government could not be ignorant of the circumstances of the immigrants? But despite Italy being led by well-educated and free-thinking men, immigrant workers are living in inhumane conditions, unhealthy cabins without water or hygiene, further fueling the extremist and radical sentiments of immigrants.

Racist Policies and Indifference

  Why had the many racist policies and administrations throughout history had lasted for relatively long periods of time? A key factor is the indifference displayed by most, if not all, of the less affected or benefited group of the policies. 

  

  Racist policies had been a historical part of many countries before reforms, as they had frequently been integrated into politics. In those instances, members of the “beneficial” or unaffected group usually do not care much about the racist government.  More extreme and radical instances of governmental discrimination include genocide, the mass and systematic murder of a racial, religious or ethnical group. The most famous genocide in all of human history is doubtless the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, with an estimation of the deaths of six million Jews living in Nazi Germany and the Nazi-occupied Europe and Soviet Union. However, most Germans are, although aware of The Holocaust, simply not caring about what happens to the Jews, and instead are far more interested in the war. As laconically put by the British historian Ian Kershaw, “The road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved with indifference.” Sometimes, after significant reforms in a country and the reversal of roles, the formerly oppressed group could try to take “revenge” on their former oppressors, resulting in tragedies like the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 members of the minority Tutsi, whom had ruled Rwanda for centuries, are annihilated by the majority Hutus over 100 days and directed by the inner circle power group consisting of close friends and relatives of the head of government, the then-Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana, known as the Akazu.