I think the purpose of this book was to make us think out side of what we are taught. To make us realize that even though you hear a rumor about somebody doesn't mean it's true or that the person is a bad man everyone is aloud to have their opinion.
Besides trying to expand our concept of literature I believe that we were assigned this book to better understand social acceptance. We see through out the novel Atticus standing up for someone though he knows he will be mistreated and seen as an outcast. Everyone should stand up for what is right even if the whole world is against them may be another concept as well.
I believe the teacher chose this book for us because they wanted us to see/read what it was like back then where racism and inequality were happening. This book tells us about how badly society was about racism. “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads- they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s word, the white always wins. They’re ugly, but these are the facts of life”. Referring to what Isaac said, we need to get to know a person first, before we judge them on how they look, or what the color of their skin is.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a continuous theme of good versus evil. I believe the teachers wanted us to read this classic book to give us a better sense of what history used to be like and what it seems to be like today. Good versus evil has always been a part of life. However, societies interpretations of the matter is ever changing. An example would be when Mr. Cunningham was seen as a good person to the Finch's, but through the events of the trial and jail with Tom Robinson, those views obviously changed.
Post by samuellongwell on Aug 12, 2016 20:17:14 GMT
In my opinion we got assigned this book for a couple of reasons. The first is to introduce us to a classic novel that teaches us valuable life lessons. The second is to show us a close up of what racism was like back in the day. In movies like "42" the Jackie Robinson movie we are looking from the African Americans point of view. I think this book shows us that a lot of white people didn't know any better and just treated African Americans badly because it was a common trend to juat discriminate them because of skin color.
I believe the teachers are trying to get us to work together to find a plot in books that are complicated to figure out. Just like when i was reading the book i had a hard understanding of the book. So i cam on here to see what others thought and finally came to understand the plot(somewhat).
I believe the reason for our English teachers to choose this book for us to read is because that in many ways we could connect with the main character Scout since through out the book she struggles with the pressure of what her community believes in and whether or not she should take on the beliefs. I believe this is what connects us with Scout because a lot of the time we ourselves are contemplating our beliefs and whether or not we should believe them anymore as we grow up.
I think it was pretty obvious that this book wasn't as hard of a read as Brave New World, so I would come to think that a reason we were reading this book was so we got slowly brought into the school year with at least one easy book, but then I remembered the English teachers have no mercy and that just can't be the case. One main reason I think we were assigned this book is because the topic of racism, and I believe throughout the first semester we will be discussing the topic of racism in our world and this book was used to kick off that conversation. Also, the unusual point of view from Scout I think is an unusual way of writing a book, so I think that opens a discussion on points of views and how to be better writers ourselves. One last major purpose of reading this book I believe is for the highly developed characters and for all of their traits. Once again, knowing all about well rounded characters and how to make them will turn us into better writers. Also, sense these charchters are so well put together, it leaves a lot for the classes to analyze.
Post by Hannah Burgess on Aug 14, 2016 16:57:44 GMT
I think the purpose to reading this book was to learn about life and life lessons. Also to show how racism was throughout society at this point in time.
I believe the teachers had us read this book because they wanted us to pick out the themes and problems in this book and analyze them. With the theme of racism, we saw how it was back in this time and we could relate it with our time today in the world and society we are living in. This novel is also a classic with a lot of learning parts.
I believe this book was chosen because the theme for sophomore year is social criticism. This book shows how criticism based on peoples' race, gender, etc. is different for each generation. For example, when discussing race Scout and Jem disagree on how equal different races are, Scout believed everyone is equal, Jem however, believed the opposite because he grew up thinking those of a different race were below him, Scout on the other hand started growing up believing everyone was equal because of her relationship with their servant Calpurnia.
I believe the purpose of reading the book was to give us a glimpse of the US's past through the eyes of an innocent child. She is encountering prejudice for the first time and is learning to deal with it.
I believe that a major reason the English teachers assign us books to read is to give their students an example of what timeless writing looks like. I believe a lot of these books are examples of beautifully written novels that should be an inspiration to others to write as well and include as much small details as these authors. I agree with Madison and believe that a reason they could have chosen this book was to teach the youth reading them to make choices morally and to choose the right choice that won’t hurt them in the long run. A lesson that is overlooked but said a lot is to "make the right choice," but do people really listen? I don't believe they do. If teenagers would act upon that quote alone that they wouldn’t be doing drugs or drinking or failing a class. Therefore, I believe that another reason they chose this book was to teach us a valuable lesson. Even though some students might not listen to the advice given by the book, some will and it could really make an impact on their life.