Where does this chapter, or part of this chapter, take place? How is it described, and what significance does that setting have in the book? Why do you think this particular scene was set in this place, and why do you think Harper Lee described it the way she did?
Charlotte (Chapters 2-3):
ReplyDeleteMaycomb, their town in Alabama, is mentioned a lot. Not just the place itself, but how the people are put into categories of "common folk" and folk that no one wants to bother. When Scout's dad is talking about the uncivilized Ewell family, he says the things they do breaking the law are a disgrace to Maycomb. But, since everyone knows Burris' family isn't going to change, it's silly to force them into a new environment. The author makes it seem like if your a good person in Maycomb you will be watched to make sure you're kept in line, but if you're seen as uncivilized you might as well stay out of sight. Take, for example, Scout at the lunch table. Calpurnia tells her not to judge Walter when he pours molasses on his plate. She says, "Yo‘ folks might be better’n the Cunninghams but it don’t count for nothin’ the way you’re disgracin‘ ’em—if you can’t act fit to eat at the table you can just set here and eat in the kitchen!” She doesn't really care about keeping poor, hungry Walter in line with his manners, but she wants Scout to be a good person.
This section takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the early 1930s. I think the setting is important mostly because it is set during the 1930s. At this point, there is still tension a bit of tension between blacks and whites and the only black person we have met in the book so far is Calpernia. On page 12, the narrator says that Calpernia rarely commented on the ways of white people. This shows that Calpurnia doesn't feel that she can say her opinion in front of a family of white people that she works for. I think Harper Lee made this set in the south to show the disconnection and the connection between Calpurnia and Scout based on race.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBlog Post #2 - Settings - (Chapters 4 and 5)
ReplyDeleteThis section takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the early 1930s during the Great Depression. Maycomb is a small town that has a very tightly knit community where everyone knows everything about everyone else. Because of the time period there is a lot of poverty and disrepair in the village and it forces the townsfolk to work together more and try and work with each other with what they have.
During this particular section, Scout, Jem, and Dill are mainly playing in and around the Finch and Radley places. I think that the reason Harper Lee sets this story in such a small town is because it really shows that sense of community that these people have and how because of the Great Depression it forces people closer together and causes the scenes and relationships to have more depth and development.
Most of the story so far, and specifically this section, has focused on the Radley Place and I think that Harper Lee is doing this because most of the conflict is going to be centered around Arthur (Boo) Radley and so by spending so much time describing and showing how important a role the Radley's play in their lives it makes you realize how significant their presence is.
One part of this section that I really liked was Harper Lee's description of the Radley place and how it is old and sunken with a bare lawn and broken shutter with two lives oaks on the side of the yard. The reason she does this is to show how the children see this place as being mysterious and foreboding, but also because of all of the questions surrounding it, it causes the children to become curious which I believe will lead them into trouble and maybe even the conclusion of Jem breaking his arm.
- Griffin
Nick Chapter 8
ReplyDeleteAn important setting in this section of the book was when Jem and Scout were standing out in the night in front of the Radley house watching the fire police try to put out the fire at Miss Maudie's house. The action was shown here through the eyes of Scout. But the setting was in front of the Radley house outside in the night and it had just snowed recently so the weather was still cold. I liked how Harper made it be cold and had snowed recently and the kids were really cold, but witnessing something hot like a fire. But another point that made me want to choose this topic was that Scout was so focused on the fire and the house and making sure Mr. Avery didn't die trying to get unstuck that she didn't even notice Boo Radley had come behind her and gave her a blanket. In the cold weather I think she would have noticed the blanket.
Emery
ReplyDeleteChapter 15
So I think that the jail is a pretty significant place that has been introduced to us in this chapter. The jail is described quite elegantly actually, with a Victorian look. "The jail was Maycomb's only conversation piece: its detractors said it looked like a Victorian privy; its supporters said it gave the town a good solid respectable look, and no stranger would ever suspect that it was full of niggers." (Page 152) So in this quote there is both a positive and negative view on the jail. It's compared to a medieval port-a-potty and admits that there's pretty much only black people in the jail, the positive is that it gives the town a more regal affect, but then again it's only covering up what's beneath the surface. I think that the jail being so embellished and having a much more appealing outside than what it actually stands for is important because that's kind of how Maycomb is. Maycomb acts like everything is ok and doesn't pay attention to the weak links or bad qualities and instead focuses on the positive. There will probably be more scenes surrounding the jail because of the trial about to start.
(Chapter 17)
ReplyDeleteChapter 17 takes place in the courthouse. I think the courthouse is an important setting in this section and will also be important for the rest of the book. It is not really described in this chapter because it was described in the section before. The court starts the trial and the trial is the main focus of this book. I feel that more chapters will be set in the courthouse and the most important scenes will take place here. The Maycomb courthouse seems like every other courthouse. It has tall pillars and looks quite like a Victorian house. I like how Haper Lee introduced us to the courthouse in a subtle way in the chapter 16, and then it becomes the main focus for chapter 17. The courthouse used to be more of a background like the Radley House.
Jordy (chapter 17)
ReplyDeleteIn this section, although no action took place at this location, I thought that the Ewell's house was the most important place. Some descriptions Harper Lee gives are:
"Maycomb's Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin. The cabin's plank walls were supplemented with sheets of corrugated iron, its roof shingled with tin cans hammered flat, so only its general shape suggested its original design: square, with four tiny rooms opening onto a shotgun hall, the cabin rested uneasily upon four irregular lumps of limestone. Its windows were merely open spaces in the walls, which in the summertime were covered with greasy strips of cheesecloth to keep out the varmints that feasted on Maycomb's refuse...made the plot of ground around the cabin look like the playhouse of an insane child: what passed for a fence was bits of tree-limbs, broomsticks and tool shafts, all tipped with rusty hammer-heads, snaggle-toothed rake heads, shovels, axes and grubbing hoes, held on with pieces of barbed wire."
I thought that this passage was very important, because it showed that the Ewell's, if you had not noticed before, were definitely the lowest class white person you would find in this town, yet they were still respected more than the black people who lived right down the road in nicer, more well kept houses. I found it interesting that they would trust a man who can barely read and write, and who's named after the confederate commander Robert E. Lee, to testify against a black man who has never committed any kind of crime before to the best of my knowledge.
Ryan(20-22)
ReplyDeleteThis section takes place in many places. It takes place in the courthouse, outside the courthouse, and at the Finch house. The courthouse has recently been a very big part of the story. They have been building up to the trial in the book and the courthouse is where the trial happened. The part of the trial that was going on this section was the verdict and Atticus's closing statement. Harper Lee described the courthouse in a really quiet way. One of the ways she does this is by Scout wondering again why all the babies are so quiet. The fact that she can pick out that this noise is missing shows the serenity in the courthouse. Earlier in the book, it was said that the trial was a public event. The way Harper Lee wrote this part of the trial in the courthouse made it seem as if everyone was stealing a glance at the trial. Almost as if they were trying not to be there but find out what the verdicts as at the same time.
Nailah Chapters 28-29
ReplyDeleteIn this section, the setting didn't range very far. These chapters have three main settings, which are the high school, Scout's house, and the path between these two locations, mostly near the Radley Place. I think Harper Lee chose to have the Halloween party at the high school because of how close it was to Scout and Jem's house. It shows just how desperate and angry Mr.Ewell was to attack them when they were that close to home. He wouldn't have seemed as reckless had they been further away from home, where no one may have found them. This reveals that he was more angry about the trial than Atticus thought. It's also obvious that Harper Lee chose this area because of Boo Radley, and it clearly shows that he was paying attention to them.
Zach chapters 28-29
ReplyDeleteIn thi section I thought the most important setting was Jems room. I think this is the most important part because it is where scout finally ties in what she started. She said at the beginning of the book how jem breaking his arm all started when the radleys came here. I thought this book would be about a kid breaking his arm which seemed underwhelming. Once I saw it was about the trial I didn't see how the arm would fit back in. Jems room is where scout finally meets boo radley. She had dreamed about seeing him and it not be anything bad and it turned out to be true. I think his room is the holding place for a new friendship and for boo radley to be let free from his house. I wish there was more of the book left though be yase I want it to continue.
Alice
ReplyDeleteChapters 28 & 29
I think that a very important setting from this section is the area between the Finch’s house and the Halloween gathering. That’s where Jem and Scout are at the most risk physically and probably mentally too. This is definitely a climactic moment in the story, and I think the way Harper Lee portrayed the spookiness of the setting really made you feel the fear associated with the dark and what might be lurking within the dark. Jem and Scout clearly had a right to be afraid of the footsteps behind them, but there was something very childish about their attempts to scare away the follower. Scout’s shouted insult towards Cecil was something only a kid would do. In a pretty obvious way, Harper Lee set up every child’s nightmare, and she brought it to life in a clear demonstration of loss of innocence. Walking along an eerie street without the company of an adult I, myself fear. This is the street where Scout’s justifiably naïve innocence is stripped of her. The crushed Halloween costume is a perfect symbol of it. She’s a little kid in a ham outfit when she walks to the pageant, but when she runs home, she’s wearing a tattered and mangled piece of wire. This street is where Scout and Jem’s lives are nearly stolen from their young bodies, and I don’t think anything could be more important.