Chattahoochee River
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
To Kill A Mockingbird Section 1
After reading each chapter I like to go back and summarize what happened. I found myself not only re-reading my notes but often re-reading some of the actual chapter. As I looked back on chapter one I recalled the fact that in the opening of the book, Scout and Jem are arguing about what the events were that lead to Jem breaking his arm. All of this happened in the first two paragraphs and as soon as you get to the fourth paragraph no longer are you reading about the events leading up to Jem breaking his arm but now you're learning a little bit about their family history. I didn't notice that until I looked back on the chapter and I was wondering if that was brought to anyone else's attention? Is anyone else wondering who or what started the events that lead to Jem breaking his arm at all or am I the only one?
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I am totally wondering the same thing. The initial paragraph was very dense and had a mix of setting, characters, and plot thrown at you all at once. I believe that was purposeful on the part of Harper Lee, as she was trying to catch the readers attention. Although the following paragraphs only further unfold the setting and develop characters, I feel as though eventually she will detail the mystery of how Jem broke his arm. As I was reading, I was actually trying to pinpoint locations at which Jem could have broken his arm; I though it might have happened when he was running away from Boo Radley's place. Thus, even if she never reveals how Jem broke his arm, it is a powerful introduction that keeps the reader engaged through the daunting first couple of chapters.
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ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who's waiting to find out how Jem breaks his arm, but it's interesting to me that that stuck with you throughout this first section. There was so much detail about other things, like you mentioned, that my attention was averted from the opening paragraphs to me wondering what her uncle was doing at that specific time, and what their mom looked like, and I was even curious to know what position her brother played. I'm feeling like all this detail is going to hinder me from deciphering what's important and what's not.
ReplyDeleteAaliyah, I agree as well and would like to know how he broke his arm. It just left us hanging. I thought as I read further along the story, it would talk about it again but so far it hasn't. It was a great way to start the story though because it caught my attention. But now I'm just left hanging and wondering the possibilities of him breaking his arm.
ReplyDeleteI love what Harper Lee does with her story structure! She plants the seed about Jem's arm in the beginning. The whole book is filled with the events of 2 1/2 years leading up to the incident. And everything in the story matters.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Jasmin, the opening of the story was very good I loved it and I'm enjoying the rest of the book as well. I feel like I'm going to constantly have to remind myself that every event they're talking about is leading up to us figuring out how Jem breaks his arm. This book is really good Mrs. Schulz but the fact that everything matters scares me a little because there's so much going on within each chapter.
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