Period D - To Kill a Mockingbird - Ms. Bergman's Virtual Resources

Period D - To Kill a Mockingbird

1/31/2011

Choose one of the following topics and write a few paragraphs in response. You may want to write it in Word or Pages then copy and paste it as a comment on this blog post.

Write a diary entry from the perspective of Miss Maudie. Discuss her conversation with Scout about Boo Radley.
Write the scene where Jem loses his pants from Jem's perspective.

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23 Comments

Kassie S.

1/31/2011 02:24:14 am

Spoke with Jean Louise today about Mr.Radley today. She was asking many questions about what he was like way back when and if I have seen him since. If I had a penny for every time someone would ask me a question about him I would be a very rich woman. She was asking me about weather he did go crazy or not. I told her that he was a foot washing Baptist, and she asked me “aren’t you a Baptist?” I said yes but I am a different type of Baptist, for I am not as strict as the Radleys. At one point I was told that me and my flowers were going straight to hell because it didn’t have to do with sitting in a house all day reading the bible. That girl had so many questions that I barley and time to think about them, let alone answer them. But I told that girl one thing that I hope she remembers, that Arthur was a good boy when he was young sweetest thing to me, and just cause he sits in his house all day don’t mean that he’s crazy, its his home and he can do what he wants.

Katie R.

1/31/2011 02:29:43 am

Miss Maudie is very opinionated about the Radley family. Arthur is very nice, to Miss Maudie. From what she says Arthur and her got along well. Arthur use to talk to her and be very courteous towards her. Miss Maudie says that Arthur is a Foot washer Baptist. Arthur told Miss Maudie that her and her flowers will go to hell, because she spends most of her days outside gardening, instead of being inside reading the bible.
Scout asks Miss Maudie if Arthur stays inside all day long because of him being serious about his religious views. She asks if Arthur reads the bible all day to stay away from the women. Scout talks about what other people had said about Arthur and his family, and she asks if they were true. Miss Maudie is very defensive with it, and tells Scout that these people should stop talking about it, and that it isn’t true, she knows Arthur herself.
Miss Maudie talks about how Stephanie Crawford had the incident where Arthur watched her at her window. Miss Maudie personally takes that offensively. She says to Stephanie, what did she do, and had asked her if she made some room for him to sleep in the same bed. Scout and Miss Maudie had said that Arthur should be crazy by now because of how long he was trapped inside that house.

Dayna W

1/31/2011 02:29:51 am

Dear Diary,
Sittin on my porch today I had a conversation with Miss. Jean Louise. Shed asked me all sorta questions dealing with Arthur Radley. Not seeing the boy in years I didn’t know what to say. I did my best to answer, but boy does she get more like her uncle Jack everyday. Jean louise asked why I thought Arthur aint been out of the house in such a long time, and if I thought he was still alive. I gave her my best answers, that yes he’s still alive, and I know because I aint seen him carried out yet. Jean Louise an I talked about him being alive for a short time, then spoke about wantin to come out of the house. We talked about about Mr.Radley bein a foot washing Baptist, and him believing that people should be inside reading the bible, maybe that’s why I haven’t seen Arthur. Jean louise is curious, so I told her what I could. She got on the topic of Arthur goin crazy, He was sweet as a child, but bein cooped up in a house lord only knows what goes on behind closed doors.
Jean Louises questions got me thinking all about the Radleys, bein a Baptist, and een my past, I’m glad shes a curious young lady.

Dan R

1/31/2011 02:30:36 am

Hello I’m Jem. I reckon that the worst time to lose my pants was the day we made the letter. I opened the gate and I saw the horrendous site of Boo’s house. We were sneaky as we were walking through his territory. When I got inside the house I stepped on a step and it squeaked. Then we saw a shadowy figure right there. Then a shot gun went off. We left s fast as our little legs can take us but I lost my pants leaving in a wired fence. I had no time to go back and get them so I kept running. Then when they ran they saw Atticus. Atticus asked me where my pants went. I lied and said I lost them in strip poker. They believed us and then we went back to Dills to get my pants.

Cameron Strause

1/31/2011 02:30:38 am

Dear diary,

So today I had a talk with Scout about Boo Radley. Scout asked a lot of questions about Arthur. The one question Scout asked is if I thought that Arthur was crazy. I said how could he not be. He had been living alone in that house for such a long time so he would have to be psycho. Also since his family was so religious that could have screwed with his head a little. Such as when he walked out of the woods one Saturday and told Scout that her flowers are going to hell. Because all he does is sit inside and read the Bible. Another thing we talked about was if Arthur was still alive. Overall we did get a lot in with our talk and it is always great to sit down and talk to a good friend about stuff along that nature, it’s interesting.

Nahdirah B.

1/31/2011 02:31:22 am

Well today Dill, scout, and myself went down to Boo Radley’s place. You see here we was trying to write him a letter that just said that we wanted him too come out and I reckon that wouldn’t be sucha problem. Scout watched the streets and so did Jem as I used a long pole to try an put the letter up ob the sill. So on with ma story, we trying to put the letter up and all of a sudden somebody comes out a gun shouts were fired, POW POW!! Soo we started running and we tried to scoot under the fence and I let Dill and Scout go first but when it was my turn… MY PANTS CAME OFF! So imagine so boy just running down the street in his drawers, sure it may have been funny but I was so frightened that I didn’t even care. So when we got back to the house, Atticus came and I asked why I was in my under garments and I didn’t wanna tell him about us goin to radley’s place. So I mae up a story and said that we was laying strip poker with matches. Bad excuse I know we got away with it so in the end it was okay. I wonder if I’ll ever my get my Briches back? Soo yes'em.

Nathaniel F

1/31/2011 02:31:29 am

Last night I decided to go to the Radley house with Dill and Scout to look in the window with the loose shutter. It didn’t end to well.
Our first problem was the squeaky gate. We had to spit on the hinge so it would stop squeaking. Then we ran to the window and discovered that I was too short to see in the window. So I had Scout and Dill boost me up, and then I could see. There was a light on in the distance, so I ran to the back of the house to see in the back door. Then as I slowly crept up the stairs of the porch to see I the door a shadow appeared. So Dill, Scout, and I darted to the gate and then ran to the wire fence and Scout and Dill got away but my pants got snagged so I just took them off and ran away.

John G.

1/31/2011 02:31:50 am

Dill and I were talking about going up to Boo’s house to see if there’s anybody in there. We were all sitting by the fishpond and then Scout wanted to know what we were talking about. We told her if we tell her she has to do whatever we say and not tell Atticus. She agreed and we walked up to Boo’s house.
When we got to his gate we had to spit on the hinge so it wouldn’t squeak. After that we went to the back window and Scout and Dill had to lift me up so I could see inside. All I could see was a small light in the distance because of the curtains. So we went around front and looked in through the porch widow. As I was doing that Boo Radley came outside through the door and scared me half to death. When I was running away I got my pants caught in the fence I was so scared he was gonna get me. So I ripped them off and ran in my shorts.

KaitlynnS

1/31/2011 02:32:15 am

When I was talking to Scout about Arthur Radley, I said that Arthur Radley is his real name and he likes to stay in his house. Arthur Radley is still alive because I haven’t seen them carry him out of his house yet. Scout Finch asks how I know that they just didn’t shove his body in the chimney. Scout Finch has been acting more like her uncle Jack Finch asking morbid questions like that. I said, “you know how Arthur Radley was a foot-washing Baptist.” I’m a Baptist as well but my shell’s not that hard, I believe in foot-washing in the bathtub. A foot-washing Baptist believes anything that’s pleasure is a sin. Some foot-washers came out of the woods one Saturday and told me that me and my flowers are going to hell. Scout Finch couldn’t believe that happened.
I said,” Yes ma.am. They’d burn right with me. They thought I spent to much time outside. When I could be inside reading the Bible.

Courtney Spohn

1/31/2011 02:33:27 am

My conversation with Scout was quite interesting. She asked me if I knew Boo Radley was alive, and I told her his name is Arthur. Scout asked how I knew Arthur was still alive, and I said I know because I haven’t seen him carried out yet. Then she told me Jem had said they stuffed him in the chimney. Then I said Jem was becoming more and more like Jack Finch. After that I asked Scout if she didn’t want to come out of her house if she would stay in. Scout answered yes, then said but I would want to come out. Then we were talking about how Arthur is a Baptist that believes in foot-washing. Then I explained to her that a person who believes in foot-washing, believes anything that is pleasure is a sin.

Morgan link

1/31/2011 02:33:33 am

This afternoon Dill, Scout and I were at Miss Rachel’s fishpool and we were saying goodbye to Dill because it was his last Day in Maycomb. We were there until we came up with the idea that we should go for a walk. It was almost night out and it was getting dark outside. We decided to go to Boo Radley’s place to look into his window to see what he was up to. This probably isn’t the smartest thing to do but at least were havin’ fun.
We were on our way down to the Radley’s place and as we were sneaking to the side of the house the gate started squeakin’ and we had to use a lot of our spit o we wouldn’t get caught. When we went to the side of the house the window was too high for us to see into Boo’s house. So I told Scout to link arms with me so we could lift up Dill. We linked arms and Dill went up to the window and said he saw nothing but a small pool of light in the distance in the house. That wasn’t enough for us to be satisfied and leave so we went around to the back of the house to see if we could look in. I started to walk up the back steps and it squeaked and my heart nearly stopped. I looked in the window just then Scout and Dill had this look on their face of fright. This dark figure was looking over me and we started running to get over to the fence and get out of here. Dill and Scout got through and when I tried to go under the fence my pants caught on and I was thrashing to get unstuck and make my escape. My pants were left under the fence and I saw running in my shorts. Just as we got home we saw that there were people standing in front of the Radley’s place.
We went down so nobody thought that something was strange about us not bein’ there. Some people asked us about why im standing there in my shorts and I felt a little worried we would get caught. Anyways, Dill came up with this crazy idea of us playing strip poker with matches. In the end we didn’t really get caught.

Joel Litschi

1/31/2011 02:33:39 am

I think Dill is a good friend we got closer and closer as years went by. My sister beat him up two times during last summer. Most of are summer we spent it at Miss Maudie’s house. She was a nice lady and we had a little conversation about Boo Radley. She told me his real name was Arthur, I asked her if he was still alive. She told us that he just stays in the house all day and never wants to come out. She also told us that Mr. Radley was a foot washing Baptist. The Radley’s seem to take there religion way to seriously. The next morning me and Dill were planning to send Boo Radley a note. So we went to the Radleys and I got the note to him. I was caught by Atticus and he didn’t like what we were doin. I also lost my pants but it was an interesting experience, but also embarrising.

Kharissa D

1/31/2011 02:35:54 am

Today Scout came to my house with Jem and Dill. The children played in my yard as I tended to my flowers, tsking at the weed that grew in my grass. We talked for a while, and the name Boo Radley popped up. We were outside on my porch and the summer breeze was hot. As I rocked in my rocking chair I over heard them talking about Arthur. Arthur had been such a nice boy as a child he was always the kindest to me and used his sweetest words he could possibly manage. The children sat and talked nonsense about him being a crazy. They talked about how he wasn’t alive so I decided to tell them a bit about Arthur. Scout turned around and asked me if he was crazy. I told them all that he had to be crazy by now if he wasn’t crazy before. I also told them that he was raised to be a foot washing Baptist. The ‘literal Baptist didn’t like me and said mean things about my flowers and I. They turned up there noses and called them sinners saying that they took the Bible too literally had already explained so much to them that I decided to keep talking. I told them that Arthur’s house was a sad one, and bad things happened behind closed doors. Scout got defensive when she thought I was talking about her father but the situation was fixed. As I talked to the children I could tell that they were thinking up a plan of some sort. Every once and a while they would stumbling on his name almost calling him ‘B---Mr. Radley’. After all the playing and talking the children left.

Darian S. link

1/31/2011 02:36:11 am

Dear Diary, today I talked to Scout. We talked about Arthur “Boo” Radley. Scout had asked me if I thought Arthur was crazy. I recon he is if his daddy is a foot Baptist and he’s stuck in a house. We also talk ‘bout if Arthur was still livin’ I said that of course he’s alive just because he isn’t known outside his house doesn’t mean he ain’t alive.
Scout asked me why I was told to “go to hell with my flowers.” I told her it’s ‘cause them foot-baptists have stronger beliefs then us who only believe in baptizing our feet in our bathtub. I told that little Scout that if Arthur really wanted to come out of his house he could. And if he don’t wanta then he don’t wanta. I explained how I can shut up a person by settin’ them straight.
Arthur Radley was a pleasant young boy always sweet. I rekon he is the way he is because of the way his parents reach him to be. Mr. Radley can sit on that porch just as me or you. Radleys are just private people as if they don’t belong. Just gotta get ‘em out of there hard-shells.
Ms. Maudie

Jesse Angier

1/31/2011 02:36:49 am

Jesse Angier
To Kill A Mockingbird

Jem
One day when I was really young, I tried somethin’ real stupid. I tried to get Boo Radley a note askin’ him to come outta the house. Scout n’ Dill were helpin’ me even though Scout was actin’ like a girl ‘bout it. Anyways, we was sneakin’ over to his house all stealthy like, when Dill wanted to take a look inside. Just to show I’m no ‘fraid of nothin’ I volunteered meself to take a peek. I saw lots ‘o dusty things and weird looking shades. I was tryin’ to get a better look inside when Mr. Radley came out the back and fired his shotgun in the air yellin’ like a crazy person. I don’ think I ever ran faster then that day. In my hurryin’ though my pants got caught on the fence, and I just kept runnin’. When we got home, Atticus asked me where my pants got too. I was stutterin’ over words when Dill said, “ We were playin’ strip poker by the river.” Atticus asked us if we were usin’ cards and Dill said, “ No matches.”. I’m not sure if Atticus believed but he let us go. The next day I tol’ Scout I was goin’ to get my shorts back. She got scared again, and I told her to stop actin’ like a girl. When I got back home that night, I was so scared, that I wouldn’t even talk to Scout. I will tell her about it later.

Lillian G.

1/31/2011 02:37:37 am

`Last night Dill decided when Scout, him and I were sitin around his aunts pond to go for a walk. But nobody in Maycomb just goes for a walk. Especially durin the night, and Scout had to be a girl. So we told her to either keep her big mouth closed and go home or be quiet and come along. When reached the light post by the Radleys place we snuck ‘round back. Once again Scout was actin like a girl and I told her to either shut up or go home. She decided to shut up.Then I held up the wire fence for Dill and Scout, but I had a hard time gettin threw. Once I was finally threw we snuck up to the window but it was to high, even for me. So I grabbed Scouts hands and we made a seat for Dill to get up higher and see in through the window. But Dill couldn’t see anything cause of curtains. Except for a dim light off in the distance. ggThen I moved onto the porch to see, but ended up crallin instead. Then all of a sudden a shadow appeared and walked right on past me. Once gone we ran for the fence. Scout and Dill went under first, but I couldn’t get threw. Except they were off, and then came back for me. And in all I lost my pants. Then all of a sudden a gun shot went off. So we really did run for the hills. All the way back to are house.

Lauren E

1/31/2011 02:37:46 am

Today I had a conversation with the little precious Scout Finch, Atticus’s child, and my neighbor. I let her, her brother, and her friend play in my garden. Those kids adore it so much. It was nice spending some time with her, instead of being in my garden, home, or porch by myself. She was very concerned with poor Auther Radley. We talked about how she finds them a little on the odd side. She says how they never come out of their house, but seeings how they always have been footwashing Baptists as youngins I find it very normal for them. Its not their fault that they always used to have to always be inside reading the bible at all times and never had time to come out. The bible kept them busy. Of course, it is a little obsessive how that’s all they had to do… But it was their religion, and I respect that. The girl thinks that poor Auther has no life and is weird.. Well, that poor man is just keeping to himself.
I feel that at her young age she didn’t really understand the whole concept the Radley’s life and how they aren’t like other people. Anyways, I just hope she doesn’t provide or listen to rumors with all her little friends. However I sent her home with a piece of poundcake, nothin’ like some fresh cake on a summer’s day!

Mckenna Achenbach link

1/31/2011 02:38:23 am

PANTS:
I really wanted to look in that window to see if Boo really lived in there or was even alive. Scout, she is so annoying like seriously she was gonna go tattal on me and Dill for just take’n a peek. We got her to not tell Atticus. Anyways… the urge I have been feeling to go see if Boo was in there, it was killing me. The first time we all tried to give him the letter we failed. This attempt to discover if there was life in that house was GONNA work!
So it was a cold dark night and it was Dill’s last night here before he had to go. We choosed this time cause we aint gonna miss days in the summer. If we were gonna miss days it was gonna be during school. We all had to be sneaky and quite or we could get caught. Me and my sister Scout, gave a boost to Dill and he peeked in the window. He saw a light in the distance and then fell. We all got very frightened then we saw a shadow and it boo he came out and we ran he shot the gun into the air, we freaked out! Terror was in our eyes.
Next we ran as fast as we possibly could and I got stuck, I knew at that moment I was gonna have to leave my jeans behind. We ran and we came to the adults, who were very curious to were we have been. Dill came up with the idea we were playing strip poker with matches. Boo blamed it on niggers, but we all knew it was us. We went and said bye to Dill, him and Scout kissed, which was a surprise to me. After the goodbye I retrieved my pants at two in the morning, when Atticus was asleep and came back, I was bewildered to find out that the jeans were not tangled in the fence they were just folded. I was freaked out! From then on I wanted to know who patched and sewed the up.

bethany horst

1/31/2011 02:59:28 am

Hello, its Jeremy (most commonly known as Jem) my side of story on how I lost my pants started when Dill and I went to the fishpond that day to discuss what we were going do that day. As usual Dill was up to no good. That’s when my sister scout came over to us. When she heard we were going over to the Radleys’ house she freaked out, I could tell she was trying to hide her terror. After we got scout to keep her trap shut we decided on what and how we would get in.
That night we slowly crept out of the house after Atticus was sleeping. We all got under the barbed wire fine but then we came to the old creaky gate. I thought we would never get that gate to stop squeaking. After that episode, that was when we found out that there were chickens. After we got Dill up to the window by my holding scouts arm in what we call a “saddle” he told us that he couldn’t see because of curtains.
That is when we had to bail out of the yard. After scout and Dill were out of sight is when I got stuck. When they came back to see what happened I had to leave my pants.

Robert R.

2/7/2011 06:55:16 am

Dear Diary, Scout and I had a rather interesting conversation today. For reasons I will not try to fathom, she kept asking questions about Arthur. I told her to doubt most of the things she has heard about him. I also explained that I knew him as a boy and he was very kind. I understand that for now it is only simple curiosity, however I truly hope they do not keep going to the property. Their attempts to draw him out may bring more danger than pleasure. Even if it is only out of friendship it may endanger them. I can only sleep on the issue.

Matt F.

2/9/2011 06:29:10 am

Dill and I (Jem) were very curious to see if Boo really did live there. So I opened the gate and my pants got caught on the fence. They got ripped off. I didnt know what to do. I then looked up and saw an unclear figure on the doorstep. But then there was a sudden "BOOM" The sound of the shotgun took me off of my feet think i would be in big trouble. Me and dill then started running and we met Atticus. He asked us what we why i had my pants off. Dill then replyed "We were playng strip poker." That day was the worst day to write the letter.

sebastian althouse

2/11/2011 02:00:58 am

Sebastian.Mockingbird

sebastian althouse

2/11/2011 02:04:04 am

This summer I've had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with little Scout Finch, Atticus Finch’s youngest. It's awful nice seeing as I usually spend most of my time alone in the garden and kitchen. Today we had a rather disturbing conversation, she being a curious girl; I suppose it was only a matter of time till she asked about Arthur Radley. She asked me if I thought he was still alive, I told her yes because I haven’t ever seen him being carried out of his house, and she told me she thinks he is just shoved up in the chimney. The man just keeps to himself, and suddenly every one in town thinks he's lost his marbles, and that Stephanie Crawford don't help none. That dumb gossiper, she'll do anything for attention. Heck one time she told me he stared right in the window at her while she was sleeping. I told scout of a time years back when Arthur was just young boy, almost her age, told her how he was one of the most well behaved kids I ever spoke to. But his father was a foot-washing Baptist. He believed that anything that someone does for pleasure is a sin, and that you'll rot in hell for it. I think I may have shook little Scout up when I told her that sometimes a bible in the hands of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hands of her father. But I sent her home with some fresh pound cake so I think we’ll be all right. I do hope she stops worrying about the rumors of poor Arthur.

Period D - To Kill a Mockingbird

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