Atonement

TASK:

Watch the first half of the 2007 movie adaptation of "Atonement". While you watch, take notes and answer the following questions:

1. What sort of social and cultural setting does the Tallis House create? What emotions and impulses are being acted upon or repressed by its inhabitants?

2. A passion for order, a lively imagination, and a desire for attention seem to be Briony's strongest traits. In what ways is she still a child? Is her narcissism - her inability to see things from any point of view but her own - unusual in a thirteen-year-old? 

3. Why does Briony stick to her "version of the story" with such unwavering commitment? Does she act entirely in error in a situation she is not old enough to understand, or does she act, in part, on an impulse of malice, revenge, or self-importance? 

4. As she grows older, Briony develops the empathy to realise what she has done to Cecilia and Robbie. How and why do you think she does this? 

Answers:

1. The Tallis House is a huge house that makes us realize how rich are the Tallis, but the problem of it, I think, is that it seems too far from the city, and that's why I think Briony doesn't seem like a normal 13 year old girl.

2. I think narcissism is normal for a 13 year old girl, they usually want to show their attributes to the world and everyone to see them, but Briony took it to the extreme to a level that isn't normal for any age.

3. I think that her need for attention is so big, that she can do anything to take obstacles from her way.

4. Because she get's a mature point of view that makes her understand what is right or wrong from a better perspective.

Pride and Prejudice

Here I have some other questions taken from CC pp. 287, 288 that will help analyze more deeper the novel:

1. What degrees of emancipation and/or conservative reinforcement of 18th-Century family values does Elizabeth Bennet's marriage to Mr. Darcy support?

2. 

What attitudes to marriage does 'Pride and Prejudice' convey? What other options did Elizabeth Bennet have?

3. How does the introduction made by Vivien Jones affect your reading and approach to the novel?

4. How could the social circumstances and contexts of 'Pride and Prejudice' apply to different cultures and contexts today?

Answers:

1. She had an advanced thinking of society compared with the most of the people back then, she was a free and liberal woman.

2. In the 18th-19th centuries, women had a road to follow during their life, and that road ends with marriage, it was a necessity because women back then didn't had jobs, so they had to get married with someone that they maybe didn't love, someone that had money. Elizabeth managed to change the road to be with the one she truly loved.


3. The introduction made by Vivien Jones is like a tool that help us understand better the novel and approach to it too.


4. The story of Pride and Prejudice, is a story that will always appear in any type of context or cultures in real life, and it will keep on happening while people still have different ideas than each others.

Pride and Prejudice

To start analyzing Pride and Prejudice, a novel written by Jane Austen, we first watched the trailers of modern times versions of this story, after that we answer the following questions:

1. Why do you think "Pride and Prejudice" continues to be a referent for modern tales? 

2. What do you think is the effect that these different authors (film directors, producers, modern writers) want to achieve in today's audiences?

3. If you had to choose one of the previous versions to analyse, which would be the one and why?

Answers:

1. Because it's a story that keeps on appearing on the actual real life and that's why authors get inspired by these feelings of "Pride" and "Prejudice".

2. Authors want us to learn how to relate with feelings of "Pride" and "Prejudice" and also to connect with their story by associating it with real life.

3. I think that Lost in Austen will be an alternative, because in that version we see a "modern woman" perspective of reality back then and we can compare what was right today with what was right in 19th century

"The Help" (Movie)

To get in context with the book To Kill a Mockingbird, we saw "The Help". "The Help" is one of the most thought-provoking and touching portraits of African-American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s. During that time, the Jim Craw laws took place, making people have many racist tendencies. Some examples of Jim Crow laws are the segregation of public schools, public places, and public transportation, and the segregation of restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains for whites and blacks. The U.S. military was also segregated. Because of these, people on the movie spoke of separate but equal.

As we saw on the movie, The maids in The Help took a risk by telling their stories. Even though they knew they could be shot to death in their front yards, they went ahead with the project. If people are not willing to take risks, it's very difficult to accomplish any massive project, like writing a book in the 1960's that involves racial issues. People that do not take risks, in most of the time live with regrets for the rest of their lives, because they keep thinking that they could have done it better.

To Kill a Mockingbird Part 2 Analysis (Chapter 15-17)

Ch. 15

1. What is the Ku Klux Klan? What do you think of Atticus' comment about it?

2. How does Jem react when Atticus tells him to go home, and why?

3. What persuades the lynching-party to give up their attempt on Tom's life?

Ch. 16

4. What sort of person is Dolphus Raymond and what is your opinion of him?

5. How does Reverend Sykes help the children see and hear the trial? Is he correct in doing so?

Ch. 17

6. Choose three quotes from chapter 17. Explain the context of each, the characters involved, and their relevance for the story, themes and overall message of the novel.

Answers:

1.-The KKK is an organization of white people who harass those of different cultures and races. Atticus says that the KKK no longer exists, but that is false.

2.-Jem refuses to go home because he thinks his dad will get hurt if he leaves.

3.-Scout connects with Walter Cunningham, Sr. She talks to him about Walter Cunningham, Jr.

4.-He is considered the town drunk and doesn’t have a good reputation because of his association with the black community.

5.-He allows the children to come to the colored balcony to see the trial because there are no seats in the white section. Answers will vary for the second question.

6.-

a) "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ..... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Chapter 3).

In this quote Atticus is giving Scout a moral advice that changes her development for the rest the novel.

b) “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird (Chapter 10).”

These lines from are the source of the novel’s title and introduce one of the key metaphors of the book: the idea of “mockingbirds” as good, innocent people who are destroyed by evil. 

c) "'Thank who?' I asked.

'Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know it when he put the blanket around you.'

My stomach turned to water and I nearly threw up when Jem held out the blanket and crept toward me. 'He sneaked out of the house-turn 'round-sneaked up, an' went like this!'" Page 72

Even though Scout appears frightened to hear that Boo Radley was only inches from her, she is beginning to realize that the mysterious man is trying to protect and befriend her. Boo gains the sympathy of Scout and the reader in this passage.

To Kill a Mockingbird Part 2 Analysis (Chapter 12-14)

Ch. 12

1. Comment on Jem's and Scout's visit to First Purchase Church. What does Scout learn about how black people live?

2. Explain why Calpurnia speaks differently in the Finch household, and among her neighbours at church.

Ch. 13

3. Aunt Alexandra thinks Scout is "dull" (not clever). Why does she think this, and is she right? 

4. How does Aunt Alexandra involve herself in Macomb's social life?

5. Comment on Aunt Alexandra's ideas about breeding and family, in contrast to Atticus' visions. Who's right, do you think? Why?

Ch. 14. 

6. Comment on Atticus' definition of rape. How suitable is this definition as an answer to Scout?

Answers:

1.-This is a different experience to the kids. They see that racism goes both ways when they are accosted by Lula, who hates them because they are white. They learn that the church members take care of each other when they see how the preacher won’t let them leave until they gather enough money for the Robinson family. The black community is also different because only four members of the church who can read.

2.-She is well-educated but doesn’t want to seem like she is bragging to her people about it.

3.-She thinks Scout isn’t clever because Scout doesn’t talk to Aunt Alexandra. Her answers are succinct and monosyllables.

4.-She joins every club possible and invites the women over to the house.

5.-Aunt Alexandra bases her opinions of family on one person in the family. For example, if one person drinks, the whole family is full of drunks. The only family this doesn’t apply to is her own. She believes that her family is perfect. Atticus sees how upset Scout is at trying to obtain this perfection, so he tells her to forget about it.

6.-Yes because in Atticus's opinion of parenting styles, if a child asks a question, you have to tell them the truth.

Essay Writing

For our Part 1 test of To Kill a Mockingbird, we had to do an essay, this was the first essay of the english year 10 class. The information for the essay wasn't very difficult to get, because of how we have been working in class with different activities and help from Miss Carla Chavez to get into context.