Harper Lee’s diction and style is very formal and intellectual. Lee’s voice is also paced appropriately and is very informative. This is most likely due to her syntax and how her sentences are organized. “To Kill a Mockingbird” carries a lot of cultural significance in America, so much so that it is considered America’s book. Mrs. Dubose is a universal character, since many books have a cranky and rude, elderly woman. One universal significance or theme of TKAM is people are usually nicer than they seem. The phrase “to kill a mockingbird” is an allegory of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. “To Kill a Mockingbird” does not contain any satires since it doesn’t make fun of anyone or idea.

This week we learned foreshadowing and flashbacks in the context of our book. For example, both books, Bees and TKAM, start at the end then go back to the beginning, meaning that both books are using flashbacks. As for foreshadowing, that is when the author alludes to something that is going to happen. We also reviewed metaphor and simile, which both compare two unlike things, only simile uses like or as, and metaphors do not. Personification is when an inanimate object or non-human thing is given human-like characteristics. “To Kill a Mockingbird” uses many motifs, or things that are repeated throughout the book. For example, a theme repeated throughout the book, making it a motif, is that the amount of education somebody receives plays into their social and economic status. Harper Lee also uses a lot of symbolism in TKAM. I think that the quote “to kill a mockingbird” is a symbol for Tom Robinson’s situation.

This week we looked more into figurative language and examples of figurative language in our books. One example is a hyperbole, which is an extreme exaggeration. The opposite of this is an understatement, which under exaggerates something. Another example is an allusion which references something outside of the story that happened in real life. Authors may also use imagery to describe the setting and people in a story. Irony may also be found to convey humor or confusion by doing the opposite of what is expected. All of these examples of figurative language create the theme or overall message of the story.

Sergeant X read the letter from Esme, the girl he met before he became some half version of himself. He picked up her father’s watch from inside the box. He was surprised to see her give him such an important gift. He noticed the crystals in the watch had broken in transit. Fearing the worst, he wound up the watch, and saw that it still worked. X was filled with a sense of hope, for if a watch could lose part of itself and still work, why couldn’t he? He immediately picked up his typewriter, and began writing the short story he promised Esme. He titled it, “For Esme:–with Love and Squalor.”

This week we learned about the elements of fiction. One element is plot, which is usually displayed in a plot diagram. This diagram starts with the exposition of the story, which introduces the characters and setting. The plot diagram also includes the climax, or turning point, falling action, which is the area where loose ends are tied, and finally the resolution, how the story ended. We also talked about point of view and how this could affect the plot or theme of a story. Point of view is how a story is told to a reader, whether by a character in the story, or someone who just knows what happened. First-person perspective is when the story is told by a character in the story; third- person, is when the tale is being told by an outside person. Whether or not it is told by a character or a regular person, the person telling the story, or narrative, is called a narrator, or speaker.

This week we started our Fiction Unit in English. The first fiction story we read as a whole class was a short story by Roald Dahl titled “Lamb to the Slaughter.” In the story, Mary Maloney murders her husband with a leg of lamb, after he tells her he wants a divorce. The whole rest of the story is her covering up the murder so she, and her unborn child, won’t be executed. After reading the work of fiction, we worked on creating a plot diagram of the story.  This started with the exposition, the beginning of the book that introduces the audience to the characters and setting. We also covered rising action, all the moments leading up to climax, and the conflict/problem, which in this case would’ve been man v.s. society, since Mary is trying to get away with murder. After the diagram was done, we constructed a open-ended outline, whose prompt was to analyze how the characterization of each character contributed to the development of the plot. Characterization is when the reader identifies a character’s personality by using their speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions, and looks or STEAL. Overall, “Lamb to the Slaughter” was a great story and would defiantly recommend.

Last week in English, we did a nearpod that was all about the persuasive techniques writers use; these are ethos, pathos, and logos. Pathos mainly focuses on using an emotional appeal to persuade the reader one way or another. Ethos is more about what the ethical choice is, which may include the use of name-calling or sweeping generalization. Logos uses numbers and facts to persuade, which could include an appeal to numbers, facts and, statistics. However, some people choose to manipulate instead of move the reader. This could be down by adding red herrings, bandwagon references, testimonials from famous people and any other propaganda techniques. Any of these things could mislead or manipulate the reader into something the writer wants them to do, but they themselves don’t. Writers may also use repetition to really drive the point across and end with a circular argument to sum up the idea nicely. Those are all ways and techniques writers use to persuade.

This week we wrote our expository essays about an issue we thought was very important. In order to get information on the topic we read articles from credible sources. Most of these were found in the school databases, like Gale: Opposing Views. While writing the essay, it was important that we cited our sources, whether by in-text or parenthetical citations. All of these sources were then put in a work cited document that shows the reader all the sources that we used.