Book Cover -To Kill a Mockingbird

I chose to make the cover like this (with a southern background, and a mockingbird in the top of the tree) because I wanted to highlight the southern genre of the book, and by putting on top the black tree, it was like mixing the genre with the main symbol and theme of the book: the mockingbird. And so it made it look old fashioned but the tree and the mockingbird gave it a little of a modern twist in the design.

Lord of the Flies Review

In Harry Hook's 1990 Lord of the Flies film small unimportant details that were changed gave a small twist in every scene, each time blurring Golding's original thinking and theme. The three things that I thought that as a movie following a book, were supposed to be portrayed to capture the real essence of the story,were: the Lord of the Flies, the boy's process to savagery, and Simon's godly spirit.

Being the title of the novel, The Lord of the Flies, obviously is important in the story; the story basically revolves around it… This becomes evident by the middle of the plot when Simon is talked by this evil spirit that is basically the cause of all the loss of innocence and evilness that is destroying civilization between themselves. Yet, in the movie, that part was totally skipped; Simon looks at the sow and leaves. If anyone who hadn't read the book and only watched the movie, wouldn't get the real context that Golding wanted to get across about the evil spirit, that wanted the boys to follow violence, and fall into temptation.

The change in the children, is a support to the theme of Lord of the Flies. It's supposed be evident to the reader the change from when they got to the island to the time they stayed there. The innocence to savagery is not shown as delicately in the movie than in the book. In the movie the evolution from civilization to becoming wild is as if it was just a game from one day to another, and not a slow process toward the pivotal point when they were almost going to kill each other. So it basically leaves you kind of confused, and lost, concerning the inside part of the plot, because you don't see the change with that much importance as it is supposed to be.

Simon is the neutral energy in the island, the Godly figure. The one that helps level the savagery between the kids. In the book, since the beginning, Simon's "goodness" is evident; and as the story goes on, we can see that is more than just a good spirit… Apart from trying to help the little kids, he goes to a peaceful point in the deep forest, relaxes, and connects with nature. By this point, we know that he is more that just a kind-hearted kid. In the movie, Simon doesn't get to be more than a kind-hearted kid, just there; the only part that was important shown by the character of Simon was the scene of his death. Once again the movie abstracted one of Golding main statement, this time of religion.

I believe that as a good reader, you should always understand what you read; stop, analyze, and acknowledge the information. In my opinion, Harry Hook's 1990 Lord of the Flies film didn't portrait the necessary points of the inside and outside plot of the original, and therefore it wasn't as deep and meaningful as the Golding's book.

Jem's Journal Entry

In Maycomb county, a place where most of the people are racists, where everyone knows each other, and where they think they know everything about each family and their members.

My father --Atticus Finch-- is a lawyer (that's what I wish I could be when I grow up), I try following the stteps he tells me to take because I know he knows what he's doing, and by following his wise advices maybe I'll get to be like him someday. He is working on a case that has been tensioning and shaking up the county for the past few months. It is about a young black man called Tom Robinson accused for the rape of a white girl --Mayella Ewel.

In a type of county like Maycomb, everyone's mind will figure that the black man is guilty obviously because, in everyone's head, black are very much inferior to whites and that's what black men would do (rape). But I know he is not guilty, Atticus told me so, and I know he said the truth. The problem was convincing and showing the jury...

The day of the trial, Mr. Ewel, Mayella, and Tom gave their testimony. Mr. Ewel and Mayella's were pretty convincing, however, they was a point which the story was dulled, and made it doubtfull. For example, that how come they didn't called a doctor, that Mr. Ewel was left handed and Mayella's wounds were on her right side, and that how come that the children around hadn't heard Mayella's "scream". All this points were made by Atticus, and I was so proud! I felt that we had got the case. With all those points I was more than convinced, I was sure!

When Tom gave his testimony, everything was more convincing and pretty much self explanatory... If you though about it, Mayella being an Ewell (meaning living next to the dumpster like animals), not having a social life, and being a nineteen-year old; made it very probable that she had made up a story so that she didn't have to say that she kissed a negro. But who would believe a negro's testimony? Not this judge... Even if I felt that we had got it, I knew the veredict even before they had said it. Atticus was devastated, just like me. This wasn't fair, I could see it, why couldn't the others? They always had to have so much pride in themselves....