The Many Different Kinds of Prejudice

Today in class, we discussed the holiday homework set to us, which were 3 essays. I think the most in depth area we discussed would be the different kinds of prejudice that were in the book, To Kill A Mockingbird.
So the first kind of prejudice discussed was social prejudice, in which people of different social class discriminate against others. For example, in the text, the people of Maycombe were very prejudiced against the Ewells because of the way they lived and because they carried themselves without dignity. Also, Aunt Alexandra also said that the Cunninghams were "good folk but not our[their] kind of folk". As the Cunninghams were poor while the Finches were somewhat of higher "class", Aunt Alexandra thus portrayed social prejudice in the form of her snobbish attitude towards people of a lower class.
Next, there was also gender prejudice, in which Aunt Alexandra also played a big role. This is because when she comes to the house to stay, she tries to impress upon Scout the way a girl should behave, in this case, more ladylike, instead of tomboyish, like Scout was then. However, this should not be the case as Scout should have the right to behave as she likes, as long as it was not criminal. Also, Scout also showed some "girly" actions because she is able to view Dill, her supposed "husband-to-be" from a girl's perspective. So, from Aunt Alexandra's attempt to impress ladylike-ness on Scout, we can see that, although it somewhat failed, it showed that Aunt Alexandra had a biased view on how a girl should act.
Next, moving on to one of the biggest themes and problems seen in the text, racial prejudice. One major example would be how the jury, which consisted fully of white people, had biased views on Tom Robinson's case and concluded that he was guilty of raping Mayella Ewell because of that. Although Atticus showed, in his argument, evidently that Tom Robinson did not assault or rape Mayella Ewell, and it was in fact Bob Ewell who hit his own daughter, the jury still gave a very biased decision and gave the verdict that Tom Robinson was guilty. From this, it is evidently shown that racial prejudice, and possibly discrimination are present in the setting that Harper Lee puts the book in.
So, these are the three kinds of prejudice displayed that I think are the most important in the book. What are your feelings about these kinds of prejudice and are they present in the society now? Write in to comment and share.

Holidays that are already over

Hello people once again! So the title of my blog post speaks for itself. The holidays are OVER. *sigh* But I'm guessing that many of you out there are still in the holiday mood. So, what did you do during the holidays? I'll tell you what I did.
So, on Monday, I looked at my holiday homework for the first time and thought that it was a piece of cake. Who knows, when I did history and literature homework, I ended up spending two hours frustrating myself. So, with only merely a quarter of work done, I gave up for the day.
Next, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Aphelion had their CIT camp. That is, councillor-in-training camp. Being a councillor, I naturally had to help out in the camp. To tell you the truth, I thought that ---censored---. Sorry that part had to be censored. It was confidential after all.
Anyway, moving on to Thursday. I finally continued my homework, and to my surprise, spent 3 hours finishing up my history homework, and after taking time of for entertainment, left no more time for literature.
Okay, so Friday trots past. I walk, and still keep up with it. I finished my literature!!! Then, at the end of the day, I remembered that I also had French homework as I nodded off to sleep.
Saturday came and went, and I spent the whole day on entertainment, and the situation of remembering-my-french-homework-as-i-went-to-sleep repeated itself.
Then, Sunday. My mother suddenly asked me,"Li Yang, is there homework for French?" But, as she says the last word, I am already in my room, rushing through the complicated accents and vocabulary to complete a composition.
All in all, this holiday was actually a very good one, in terms of achievements, of course. Well, that's because this was one of the few times I finished my homework that was set for the holidays.(Whew!)
So, what did you readers do for the holidays? Relax and forgot homework? Or did you rush out your homework for the coming term? Write in to share.

Exams are finally over!!!!

Okay.... I think many people will think that this post is a bit lag..... However, this is actually quite true for me because I also have 3rd Language and the 3rd Language test was a week after all the school tests, on Friday. The weekends were for celebrating, so I'm posting this now. So, to all readers, I would like to share my results and experience of tests, one of the banes of students' lives.
Well, I actually got A's for most of my subjects, but they all seemed to fall short of A1, so I think I'll have to work harder for the coming term. Overall, I think I did quite well, considering the jump from Sec 1 to Sec 2, as the first year of secondary school life in Hwa Chong is dubbed the "honeymoon year".
I don't want to disclose ALL of my results, as my resulting MSG would disgrace me. To those who REALLY want to know, it's above 2. Yeah, yeah, mum. No more 1 point something. I'll work harder.
So, what about you readers? How were your Term 1 results? Are you happy? Disappointed? Write in to comment.

Multiple Intelligences Intrapersonal Question (a)

I think I would like to be friends with Atticus, one of the protagonists of the book, To Kill A Mockingbird. This is because he is kind, brave, respects all and does not discriminate against others, is non-judgemental and moreover, is good-natured and does not lose his temper easily.
I think that one of the main points I want to be friends with him is because of his bravery. In the book, there is no show of bravado from him, but rather bravery. This is because he stands up for Tom Robinson, knowing that he is right even though it is against the public view in Maycombe. However, even under this pressure, he does not falter in fighting the court case for Tom Robinson but rather works harder as he goes to the jail in Maycombe to look after Tom Robinson and console him somewhat in the night. I would like to befriend Atticus because I admire this point about him and I would like to learn more about this.
Another main point of being friends with Atticus is that he does not discriminate against anyone, respects all who are around him and is non-judgemental. He fought the Tom Robinson court case in spite of Tom Robinson being a black, showing that Atticus does not discriminate even people who are lower than him. He is also non-judgemental as he is able to see everything from both points of view and therefore is somewhat in the "neutral" or middle ground of matters. He also displays his trait of being able to respect all the people around him in the book. When Mrs Dubose insulted and humiliated him in front of his children , Atticus could still admire and respect Mrs Dubose for dying beholden to nothing or nobody. I think that I lack in these virtues and mindset therefore I want to befriend Atticus as I will have more virtues and be able to make other friends because I am able to view everyone possibility.
The third, and most important point of being friends with Atticus is that he does not lose his temper easily. He is able to explain calmly to his children about certain sensitive matters without blowing his top or acting rashly like most adults might do in face of these kinds of situations. I therefore admire him as he displays this trait and therefore would like to be his friend as I would, through frequent friendly conversations, somewhat be able to "pick up" this virtue and stay calm in all situations.
Hence, I would like to be Atticus' friend because I admire him for the many positive traits that he posseses.