WEEK 4 ENGLISH HOMEWORK

A reflective response to chapters 9- 11 A few weeks have passed since Mrs Dubose died and Jem has had some time to think about the events of the last few months. In role as Jem, write a response in which you reflect on these events and what they mean. Post to your blog by Thursday 4 pm.

It's changin' now; the way I viewed things as a young boy, it's all changin'. Things are happenin' differently, and I have more of a responsibility now, more of a expectation to behave as any gentleman would I s'pose. We got toy rifles for Christmas from Atticus, which is what Scout and I had hoped for. We also learned that Atticus used to be the best shot in Maycomb - gavin' to take down a mad dog. I gotta watch out for little Scout, these past weeks have really put her patience to test. She's not quite old, or mature, enough to understand the situation that Atticus is in, defendin' the Negroes, and why everyones reactin' so harshly. She's not a wimp, I'll give ya that, and she'll fight anyone who ever said a bad word about uz - so it's partly my job to help her control that, she can't keep carryin' on like this. But it was only ever other kids, at school or cousins, that'd say nasty things about uz, calling uz nigger-lovers and sayin Atticus was givin the family a bad name. When Mrs. Dubose, the old lady in our neighbourhood started saying' it too, worse even, that's when it began to get to me too. She was nasty, she was cold and she didn't give care one bit about what she was actually saying' and how it waz upsetting uz. I did my best to control it, but a few wrong words and I'd lost it. She'd gone too far, and I took it even further - cuttin' down her prized flowers and ruinin' em. Of course, there was a punishment, and Atticus was real disappointed. I read to her every day, Scout by my side. I hated every minute of it. She was boring and rude and never satisfied. But what I didn't realise then was how strong Mrs Dubose was, she was fighting the battle of her life. If I'd had known it, I wouldn't have been so tough on her, but how was I expected to realise? And I gotta admit, at times, I found her with a grin on her face every now and then when I was reading' to er. Mrs Dubose died later that month, and I waz glad I read to her while she still her, it made me feel kind of good, rewarded inside. Atticus always said Mrs Dubose was a brave woman. I never thought it. I thought of her as cranky and rude and mean. But, she was, indeed very brave. Brave because she was passionate about what she believed in. She viewed things from a different angle than what others did and she never let anyone tell her otherwise. She fought her illness, and found the courage to stop relying on the morphine - she fought every step of the way, even though she knew she waz gonna die. I think that's what Atticus was getting at - that real courage comes from denying giving-up, to keep trying, to stand for what you believe in. Because of this I guess, Atticus thought of her az the bravest woman that ever lived.