A Reading Addict's View on "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Hello! My name is Tanlen Carmen Raubenheimer and I am a reading addict.

I have read many…many…many books in my lifetime and I am about to tell you something incredible.

Recently I was assigned to read “To Kill a Mockingbird” in my AP English class. At the beginning it sounded totally boring but to my big surprise….It wasn’t. In fact it is one my favorite books.

…Shocking I know…

It may not be “modern” compared to Twilight, Percy Jackson, The Hunger Games, Eragon…you name it. BUT it has lessons that ANYONE, ANYWHERE, and at WHATEVER AGE can understand.

It is timeless literature and it doesn’t have an expiration date on it, like milk.

Besides if we are looking for “Modern Literature” I propose that we take some Shakespeare out.

Just saying.

To Kill a Mockingbird teaches you about how you need to understand a person’s perspective before you judge them.

For Example Atticus, Souts’s father, tells Scout “"If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view …until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

That is something I have always had trouble with.

Again…Tis  shocking…

I am a very judgmental person…at times. If you do something stupid I am going to laugh and whisper something to Benj.

It’s not my fault….

…It’s Chandlers….

…And Cheys…

…and Mckays…

…. And… I don’t even know anymore

Anyway…It’s something that I need work on and this book really focused on not judging a person because of their appearances

And let’s be honest.

You probably have the problem to.

We have all heard the phrase to walk in someone else’s shoes but do we actually do it?

That was a rhetorical question, don’t answer it out loud.

We also learn that others, many others, will oppose our beliefs.

 They judge us for what we believe is right. But does that make it wrong?

Should we give them up because others think of it as wrong?

The answer is a resounding NO!

Just like Atticus, we will be judged for doing what is right. However, Atticus never gave up and we should do the same.

It will be challenging and it won’t be easy but it is the right thing to do.

This book gives us true insight to human nature.

And that isn’t something a lot of “modern” books give us.

It is also a story about our history. It may be a history that we don’t like but it is our history nevertheless.

Unless we want a repeat of our history we need to learn from it. How would that happen if we cut ourselves off from the literature that would help us?

To Kill a Mockingbird is a vital part of our education…

…just like ice cream and blonde British boys are vital to me…

I vote that we keep To Kill a Mockingbird in our literature….

THE END!

  

Painting A Picture Of Myself

Tanlen



Who is kind, loyal, trustworthy, and laughable

Who has taller sisters, a small sister, and two young brothers

Who has a love for art, music, and the mysterious

Who feels loved, lonely, and the need for something new

Who needs sleep, touch, and something she hasn't found yet

Who fears rejection, chickens, and not living her dreams

Who would like to see adventures, people getting along, and her family in South Africa

Who lives in a bubble the get popped too much for her liking

Raubenheimer

My Little (Big) Lists Part 2

The 10 People, Places, Things Etc. That Make Me The Most Happy:

• The Beach
• Surronded By Trees
• Disneyland
• Anywhere Where I Feel Accepted
• My Bed
• My Family
• The Art Room
• My Friends And I Laughing
• Photos that Bring Back Good Memorise
• Chocolates From South Africa

10 Places I Will Visit Before I Die:

• Rome
• The Pyramids
• Hawaii
• The Place Where They Flimed Harry Potter
• The Bahamas
• Greece
• The Titanic (Or As Close As I Can Get)
• A Coral Reef
• A Real Castle
• The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter

My Little (Big) Lists Part 1

10 Things I Know To Be True:

• The Church is True
• My Family Loves Me
• Blue is my Favorite Color
• I Have Moved To Many Times
• Art is Like The Best Thing Ever
• I Am No Longer a True Blonde
• I Am Blind
• I Do Not Like The Color Pink
• Merlin. Right Now Anyway, Is The Best Show Ever
• The Saying Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones But Words Will Never Hurt Me Is Not True

10 Objects I Can't Live Without:

• My Toothbrush and ToothPaste
• My No Frizzy Hair Cream
• A Paintbrush
• A Pencil
• A Good Book
• My Glasses
• My iPod
• My Wonderful Soft Bed
• A Computer
• A Hairbrush

10 Things I Should Have Learned By Now:

• That I am Blind And Need My Glasses Everywhere
• That When You Take Things Out Of The Oven It Is Hot
• No Matter How Hard I Try I Do Not Get Math Or Chemistry
• There Will Always Be Someone To Bring You Down
• I Am Unable to Make Cool Noises or Sound Effects
• That Life Can't Be Sunshine And Butterflies All The Time
• The First Thing People Will Ask Me When They Find Out I Am South African Is "Why Are You Not Black?"
• Carlynn, Casey, And I Don't look Related
• People Will Always Ask "Where Is Your Accent?" And I Will Always Feel Guilty For Losing It On Purpose
• People Will Use You Sometimes

10 Of My Greatest Fears:

• Chickens
• Rejection
• Mice
• Judgment
• Needles
• Disapointment
• Not Marrying A Blonde British Man
• Snakes
• Talking In Public
• Reading Twilight

 

How To Make South African Crunchies

Alright all y'all American folk I gonna teach you how to make some South African Crunchies. They are baie lekker (very yummy in Afrikaans.) This is the treat my mom made for the South African lunch that some of you had a chance to taste.  

The first steps are to preheat your oven to 325 degrees farinheit ( I always forget this step...my bad!) and grease your pan. (This is really important)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are your ingrediants...most of them are household items

We are first going to mix our dry ingrediants.

Mix in a big bowl:

·        3 cups of oats (or granola)

·        1 1/2 cups of flour

·        1 cup of sugar

·        1 1/2 cups of cocanut

·        2 teaspoons of baking soda

Now in a different bowl we are going to melt 300 grams of margarine or butter with 3 tablespoons of golden syrup or maple syrup

          (Golden syrup can be found at kohlers, my bad. Riddley's in the international aisle)  

 

Combine the dry ingredients with the mixture of the margarine and syrup. The dry ingredients must be mixed well with the mixture. The texture should be dough like and not too wet.

 

 

 

This is what it should look like mixed

 

Use your huge impressive muscles to press into a pan, use your fingers and to spread it equally.

 

 

 

It should look like this when your done

 

Put it into the oven for 15 minutes. It should be a golden brown when you take it out.

 

 

 

 

Cut them into square WHILE WARM. They harden as they cool.    

 

And there you have it. You have just made South African Crunchies. You could almost pass as a native! Almost is the key word...

How to procrastinate

We all have had the homework we don't want to do. Well the answer is simple....procrastination. It is simple and easy enough for everyone to do. Here are the very simple steps to becoming a procrastinator. 
Step #1
Suddenly forget you have that homework. It isn't hard to do. You can forget your homework folder at school or suddenly forget where you put your backpack. It's easy enough.
Step #2
Watch TV, read a book, listen to music, color in a coloring book. It's simple and sophisticated.
step #3
Go out. Eat food at a fancy place. Go see a movie or a basketball game. (Guess where I am right now ...wink wink...) It will keep your mind off the pending doom.
Step #4
Go take a nap. Hopefully your dreams won't involve homework.
Step #5
Do absolutely nothing.  Go stare at a wall or something!

As you can see procrastination is an art that can be easily learned and mastered.
...This post is not responsible for failing grades, emotional outbreaks, or any other negative consequences... 

Blogger Critic

http://www.jakeandcarla.blogspot.com/

Blog #1:

Blog number one is a blog I follow because the mom use to babysit me in South Africa. She hasn't posted in a while but I know that is because she has been in South Africa for a while.

Carla Denise Geddes is the only member of the church in her family. She converted to the gospel when she was about twelve and she moved to America a little bit after she graduated.

She has been blogging since 2007 and her first blog post was about being sealed to her husband  (who is an American) in the South African Temple. 

Her blog is very colorful, her focus is her children, husband, and in general her life, her audiance is mostly her family and friends.

I enjoy reading her blog because it is so much fun to see what is going on in her life right now.

...And besides we South Africans need to sick together.

http://livoniarecipes.blogspot.com/

blog #2

This blog is for the chefs in the class.

The blog has a fresh (literally) background, the recipes sound amazing, and guess what? They are all Mormon!

They have a index for food so if you are searching for something specific it narrows your choices.

There are a lot of women on the blog so the recipes are all different and individual.

The only thing I wished they had done differently was have put pictures with the food.

There is only one question left...

...Where is Livonia?

 

 

 

 

 

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/

Blog #3

As you can tell from the title this is a craft blog.

I personally love just looking at crafts and think Wow maybe one day I will craft that!

So as you can tell the blog name really sucked me in.

The blog has a cute title page, it has a color scheme, it has advertisements, and it has some of the cutest craft ideas ever! (Enter fan girl squeal here)

It has something for everyone. Some crafts are for beginners and some are definitely not. However, it is a very lovely blog to just scroll through.

Or maybe that is just me because I like to be weird like that.