Nobel Prize

In class we are reading, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It is a masterpiece of American literature, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. So far in the novel, we are introduced to a small number of families, one of whom is the Finch’s. In the Finch family, there are two children, Scout and Jem. Scout has just started school, at first not wanting to go back. After some convincing by Atticus, she reached a compromise to return to school. Atticus is the father of the two, widowed when his…

Have you ever been alone and you wished for a friend to provide comfort and keep you going? Yann Martel, in his novel The Life of Pi, tells the story of a character who needed exactly that, given his circumstances. In his story, Martel expresses and promotes this idea through a long boat journey and some some incredible animals. Using these circumstances, Martel teaches the reader that in the face of danger, people find comfort in even the most unlikely friendships. In the beginning of the…

“Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves,” - Mason Cooley. Compassion is a valuable part of Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, and the representation of this quote can be shown throughout various spots in the novel. Compassion is a rare trait to have, and the people who do acquire it often prosper in academics as well as social skills. Lee does an extraordinary job of showing how being compassionate allows one to thrive and achieve remarkable goals all…

The state of well-being is an arbitrary condition. Though society has and continues to wrap a thin security blanket around citizens’ shoulders, it disguises the fact that welfare can easily be swept away in the span of a second by numerous culprits. Therefore, the inner compass to seek survival is not optional, but rather essential to every self-reliant man’s survival. Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi, stresses this notion through the account of Pi Patel and his brutally desperate survival tactics…

Many people tend to believe in rumors spread by others instead of learning the truth about a person’s life before judging them. Throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley has always been a person of interest for Scout. He lurks in the dark and is a shroud of mystery, the only information learn about him is through rumors. As Scout develops and matures, she realizes that Boo Radley is not as he seems, and learns a lesson from her prejudice of him. Through the novel, To Kill a…

“Sexual Awakening & Performance of Excess in The Color Purple” As preached by the church ladies at The Color Purple, we better lock up all our men and young boys, too because there’s a new Shug Avery in town. Directed by John Doyle, the revival transplanted itself from a successful run at London’s The Menier Chocolate Factory to open on Broadway’s Bernard B. Jacobs Theater on Dec 10. The Broadway revival brought Cynthia Erivo to reprise her role as Celie and the Oscar and Grammy winner Jennifer…

Young and navie children rarely have a sense of empathy towards others when they are still developing their communications. It is an emotion that comes from the heart, and must be genuine in order to be effective. Empathy is often learned through the event of coming of age which is evident in a significant passage in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In this passage Scout can finally see the world from the perspective of Boo Radley, a childhood myth. She walks Boo back to his front porch…

Everyday we talk about hatred and how people slaughter one another, but yet we never truly understand what is beneath the sugar coated lies. To Kill a Mockingbird forces you to wash away that coat and deal with the harsh reality of our world. The novel takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. It describes a rape case and how racism was the true culprit behind both it and its conclusion. The author, Harper Lee uses a mockingbird in the book to express how in this harsh world, there are a few…

Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi focused on the life of an Indian boy named Piscine Molitor Patel, also known as Pi, deals with a different way in that language was misused. The main plotline in this novel is that Pi’s family lives in Pondicherry, India and his father is a director of the zoo, but a political problem in India forces them to sell their animals and move to Canada. On the way the cargo ship they were on sank, everyone in the Patel family, except for Pi, are lost at sea. Pi, on a…

To kill a Mocking Bird CEL One novel that explores the theme of courage is ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. The book is written through the eyes of Jean Louise Finch (Scout) looking back to a key incident that took place in her childhood. The book is set in the town of Maycomb. Lee uses different narrative techniques to convey the key theme of courage. As well as showing the characters courage, Lee also shows the towns courage. She personifies Maycomb town and portrays it as not so…