Final Draft, Essay 3

Colin Burlingham

Mr. H Salsich

8th Grade English

9/29/09

The Power of Words:

An Essay About the Lecture Calpurnia

Gave Scout About Respect

In To Kill A Mocking

Bird By Harpor Lee

_____(TS)A terrible and wise man, Eldridge Cleaver, once said, "respect commands itself and it can neither be given nor withheld when it is due." (CM) Though Cleaver was both an influential writer and involved in the Black Panther Party, he has helped change the world with his wise words. (CM)During the hard times in the 1960's, Cleaver was a very powerful speaker and caught attention from many. (CS)He was one of the few people who truly understood what respect was and how it was earned and in To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harpor Lee, Calpurnia understands respect as well.
_____(TS)What is Respect? (SD)According to dictionary.com, respect is the “deference to a right or privilege, and proper acceptance”, and in the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, Calpurnia believes that one’s "comp’ny" is deserving of the highest respect. (CM)Jem’s company, Walter Cunningham, is less fortunate than herself, yet Scout treated him poorly when he was at her house for a nice and peaceful meal. (CM)Cal told Scout that even though she was more fortunate than the Cunninghams, “it don’t count for nothin’ the way you’re discracin’ ‘em.” (SD)Cal was livid about the way Scout was acting around her "comp’ny," and to be disrespectful to her company is disrespecting herself and her family.” (CM)Cal believes that one must be respectful even if your “comp’ny wants to eat up the table cloth". (CM)Scout didn't understand this and because of her lack of respect, was forced to eat dinner in the kitchen. (CS)As you can tell, Cal has great respect for all people, even those less fortunate.
_____(TS)I too have had experiences where I did not enjoy my company. (SD)Last year, two of my cousins, Julian and Aden, came to stay for the weekend, and I felt that they were very disrespectful. (CM)They immediately started screaming, crying, and arguing, and they also made a huge mess in every room in the house. (CM)The parents, Pan and Robin, sat there and didn't do anything; it was as if Julian and Aden weren't even there and it was extremely rude and disruptive. (SD)Another time, I was eating dinner at my grandfather's house with all the family members on my dad's side. (CM)At the beginning of dinner, Pan leisurely got up and went to the kitchen. (CM)My father then got up and went after him and when my dad got back, he said that Pan did not feel right intruding on a family dinner, which I think is very disrespectful considering he is family. (CS)Due to the rudeness in both of these occasions, the memory has been scarred into my mind forever.
_____(TS)Respect can mean many different things such as kindness or acceptance, but it is what you do with the respect that shapes you and the people around you. (CM)To be respected by others you need to respect yourself, and it is just as important as courage, happiness, or love. (CM) Few people can truly understand how difficult it is to earn respect from those around you and those who have learned this, are those who have practiced it themselves. (CS)As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies with in us;" that is respect.

OutlineThesis: Calpurnia’s lecture about “comp’ny

TS) Respect is…

1. SD) scout brought walter over

CM) Scout’s company treated bad

CM) Cal told scout she disgracing him

2. SD) Cals furious

CM) Cal is

CM) Cal said more fortunate

TS) happened to me

1. SD) Julian and Aden come

CM) making mess

CM) scream, cry, anoying

2. SD) Uncle pan would not eat at table

CM) he was rude/disrespectful

CM) chow thought he was company and ok

Final Draft, Essay 2

Colin Burlingham
Mr. H. Salsich
English 8th
9/23/09

The Misery of Mistakes:
This Essay is About When Scout Couldn't Find the
Right Words to Say in To Kill A Mocking Bird

(TS)A long time ago, when I was around the age of five, I was at one of my grandparent’s parties serving dinner and there was one person who was eating all the food. (CM)I walked up to him, and took his plate away early and then I didn’t know how to tell him to stop eating, so I just blurted out, “You are really fat; maybe you should stop stuffing your face.” (CM)Everyone in the room heard it and started laughing, except the old man. (CS)I was deeply embarrassed and I ran back to my house, but every now and then this happens; sometimes when you mean well, others might view it differently.

(TS)In To Kill a Mocking Bird, this happens a lot to Scout on her first day of school. (SD)Miss Caroline asked Scout to read from a book and she could read very well, but Miss Caroline was not impressed. (CM)“I suppose she chose me because she knew my name; as I read the alphabet a faint line appeared between her eyebrows, and after making me read most of My First Reader and the stock-market quotations from The Mobile Register aloud, she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste. (p22)” (CM)Miss Caroline told Scout that she couldn’t be taught by her father any longer, and made Scout feel mad that she had to act dumb for the rest of the class. (SD) Out of boredom, Scout began to write a letter, to her friend Dill when Miss Caroline walked by. (CM)Miss Caroline caught Scout writing the letter and she got mad again and said, “We don’t script in the first grade, we print. You won’t learn to write until you’re in the third grade.(p 24)” (CM)After this, Scout had lost her enthusiasm for school even though she had been looking forward to it for so long. (SD)When lunch time came, everyone had a lunch except for Walter Cunningham, because he did not have enough money for lunch, and when Miss Caroline offered him money to get a meal, he declined it because he wouldn't be able to pay her back. (CM)Scout immediately thought that, “it was beyond (her) ability to explain things as well as Atticus, so (she) said,’ Your shamin’ him, Miss Caroline (p28)’” to keep Walter from embarrassment. (CM)Miss Caroline dragged Scout behind her desk and slapped her with the ruler, and then sent her to sit in the corner. (CS)Sometimes, things just come out the wrong way and you can get punished for them.
(TS)I hate it when you can’t find the right way to say something. (SD)This has happened to me many times and most often in school like Scout. (CM)In third grade, I was taking a grammar quiz and I could not remember the definition to the word “Hibernate,” so I had to guess and I put down, “to hide and eat,” which is absurd and the teacher got mad at me for not knowing the answer. (CM)This happened to Scout too when she was reading what the teacher asked her to read, and yet the teacher responded negatively and Scout was being punished for doing what she was told to do which is unfair, and if this happened to me, I would be upset with the teacher. (SD)This also happened a few years back, there was a new student, who was really smart, and he would raise his hand all the time in class. (CM)The student thought he was participating in class and wanted to show that he had studied. (CM)All the other students, including my self, thought he was showing off just to get on the teacher's good side. (SD)I especially hate it when you get punished for doing something too well. (CM)I was thinking about when I was in K1, and we had those little paper books to read for homework, and there was another student who could read the books very quickly during class. (CM)The teacher then got mad at him for doing his homework during class and she was also curious of how he became such a good reader. (CS)As you can see, even when you are doing the right thing, you can be viewed differently and get punished for it.
(TS)There is always a time in every person's life when you just can’t think of the right words to say. (CM)There are also times when you mean well, but it is viewed badly. (CM)It is always best to slow down and think before you act or speak. (CS)By the end of the day, I think that Scout will have learned to think first.

Final Draft, Essay 1

Colin Burlingham
Mr. H. Salsich
English 8
September 22, 2009
You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover:

An Essay About Fearing

the Differences of People

(TS)When I was about eleven, I met this man who at the time looked funny but as time passed, I got to know him and found out that it was a battle wound from the war. (CM1)When I learned this, I was thankful, amazed and I was afraid. (CM2)I was scared of the differences between us. (CS)In the book, To Kill a Mocking Bird, this is exactly what is going on.
(TS)The fear of differences in people can really affect the way people act, and this is shown by the people in the town of Maycomb and their fear of the Radley Family. (SD)Mr. Radley was known by the towns people to be a "malevolent phantom.(p.10)" (CM)He lived in the town of Maycomb all his life, but was never seen because they thought he only came out at night when the moon wasn't out. (CM)The towns people started making up rumers about him like "when peoples azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them.(p.10)" (SD)The Radley family was very different from the rest of the people in the town. (CM)They tended to keep to themselves and they never went to missionary circles. (CM)On Sundays, every door in the town would be open wide except for the Radleys' doors, and the Radleys even closed their shutters. (SD)All the neighbors feared the Radley family so much that they would even lock all their door and window at night. (CM)The neighbors started to say that they ate raw squirrels and cats. (CM)They described Boo Radley as having blood stained hands, yellow rotten teeth, drool on his face, and eyes popped out of his head! (CS)As you can see, the fear of the Radleys had affected how the people in the town of Maycomb behave and interact with this family.
(TS)Differences in people can cause fear, which in turn can change how people behave, and I’ve experienced this personally. (SD)When I was 10 years old, I travelled to Hong Kong to visit some relatives, and I felt strange at times because I looked different than everyone else. (CM1)Not only was I the only American boy around, but I was also the only one on the crowded streets that wore a sweatshirt and jeans, while everyone else around me dressed in suits. (CM2)In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, I think this is how Boo Radley would have felt if he ever came out of his house during the day. (SD)On another trip, I went to Spanish Town in the British Virgin Islands, and everyone, even the children, spoke fluent Spanish. (CM1)This made me feel like an outcast because I didn’t understand their conversations, and it made me self-conscious. (CM2)I think Boo Radley would feel very self conscious if he were to socialize more with the people in Maycomb. (SD)When you’re with people who are different, you tend to fear them because of your lack of understanding. (CM1)People aren’t always trying to be different; they just don’t know how to fit in. (CM2)The Radley’s didn’t come out a lot because they didn’t fit in with the town crowd, yet the town’s people didn’t understand the Radley’s either. (CS)Differences in people can cause fear, and in order to relinquish this fear, you need to fully understand what the person is like.
(TS)I remember being eleven and being afraid of a kind, normal man who was injured in the war. (CM1)I was not scared of what his face looked like or any other physical appearance I saw. (CM2)I was fearful of the differences. (CS)The fear in differences can really effect how a person can act, but you have to face your fears and it can really change your life.