It's quite a famous book, and I recall that my fifth grade teacher recommended it to me. But at the time I wasn't particularly interested in it, so I figured I might read it when I was older, if I ever ran out of books to read (in other words, there was almost no chance that I would read TKAM of my own accord).

I think I'd actually made the right choice by not reading the book then because I ended up reading it this year as part of the 9th grade literature curriculum. I really don't like to read books twice (there are so many good books out there, I'd much rather be reading those than reading something that I already know the ending to), and besides, if I'd read it back then, I probably wouldn't have been able to understand as much of it. (Not that TKAM is a difficult book to comprehend or anything. At least the author doesn't write with thy's and thou's and other such old language.) I really don't remember much of the books that I read when I was younger, though...I guess my brain thought other things were more important.

I actually thought the book was quite interesting, and enjoyed reading about a trial, as well as seeing a mysterious character make an appearance at last (can't reveal more than that if you haven't read the book). The movie was a disappointment in comparison. It seemed too rushed since it left out a lot of content and changed what it did put in, though I suppose moviegoers don't have as much patience, and it would be a pain to make a really long movie anyways. Well, of course, there is a general rule that books are better than their movie counterparts (which makes me fearful about the Twilight movies; I've heard some say it was good and others say it was "meh", so I don't know who to believe. But I don't really want to watch them anyways because the books were rather bland). I ought to read the Howl's Moving Castle book, but of course I keep putting it off. In fact, I really haven't been doing all that much reading these days. I really have to get back to the books.

In the case of TKAM, the mockingbird represents someone who was punished even when he/she hadn't done anything wrong. But after hearing a friend's description of a mockingbird that lived in her neighborhood (an actual bird, mind you, not a person), I'm not sure if a mockingbird is the best symbol of innocence. Although TKAM says that mockingbirds must not be shot because they sing beautiful songs, my friend (I shall refer to her as SNK) says that the mockingbird near her house is very annoying. It imitates the sounds it hears and makes a racket at nighttime, which disturbs her sleep. Eventually it either went away or got shot by a neighbor (I hope not, that's a pretty gruesome end to a bird, even if it was disturbing the peace). Another friend of mine says she'd like to have a mockingbird as a pet, though, since it is able to imitate sounds it hears (apparently it could even imitate the tunes from songs for the piano and violin. Not bad!). Wonder if they can be raised as pets. I used to want a squirrel as a pet, because I like their fluffy tails, but I suppose it would probably have rabies.

Labels: bird, book, death, disappointment, harper lee, howl's moving castle, imitation, mockingbird, movie, noise, novel, pet, repeating, rule, squirrel, story, to kill a mockingbird

I often hear students exchanging information about the content of a test. I have the bad habit (or is it a good habit?) of eavesdropping on conversations. Many people either don't realize how loud their voices are or they simply don't care.

One student, for instance, said, "It's usually choice C! If you don't know which one, you should pick it." I actually have seen that some tests seem to have a lot of C answers. Wonder if that's a coincidence or if people really have a tendency to make C the answer when they're creating tests.

My science teacher has caught onto it, though, and she told us, "Don't think I haven't heard you guys saying 'Pick C!' " She and my math teacher have been reminding students not to reveal what's on the tests to our friends, which unfortunately I am guilty of having done before (though I'm trying to be more vague about what I say).

Last year I overheard some students talking about what was on a science test. They were really talking about very specific things, too, which was rather unsettling. I couldn't bring myself to report it because I didn't want to be thought of as a tattletale and because I thought that maybe the students would all deny it, and I wouldn't have enough proof or something, so I would look like I was just trying to get them in trouble out of spite.

I always make excuses about everything, because it makes it so much easier to run away if I have some other reason for it. I really should have just tried to put a stop to all that sharing of test information that goes on, but I'm still not courageous enough. There are a lot of things that I realize I should have done, looking back on my past. Lots of things I should have said, or shouldn't have said. I can't change the past. What I'm afraid of is that I'll keep making the same mistakes as time goes on. I don't ever seem to learn. It sets me to thinking about what sort of person I really am. People say that it's what's inside that counts. But what if I'm rotten to the core? I'm fearful of what I'll find.

Labels: academic, coincidence, courage, horrible, information, inside, mistakes, option c, past, repeating, report, school, sharing, students, teachers, test

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