A Time For Review and Reflection

This first marking period of my junior year has thus far been very challenging.  The many tough classes I have elected to take have not failed to produce many tough assignments.  Tests, essays, and homeworks have clouded my life for the past month, creating a very stressful beginning of the year.  And this is amid the SAT work, too.

But anyways, Mr. Mogg’s 11th grade language arts class has overall been great.  To start of the class, Mr. Mogg had each of us create a mantra for ourselves.  The mantra I chose was “Knowledge is Power”, a line that I try to apply to school and my life everyday.  Learning is a very powerful thing, and Mr. Mogg’s language arts class has not failed to teach.  The assigned themes have been very interesting, improving my writing.  I enjoyed writing about a current issue that interested me for the first theme and about the great hero of Atticus Finch for the second.  Along the lines of Atticus Finch, our first marking period core novel was fabulous.  Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird was a great read, as it is one of the greatest American classics of all time.  The work we did along the lines of Lee’s novel, from the blog on which I am writing on now to the musical connections we have found to the book, was very informative.

The beginning of my 11th grade year has been a fun one so far.  Language arts is no exception.  I hope that Mr. Mogg’s class continues to provide me with a wealth of knowledge throughout the next three marking periods, as it has done so very well in the current first one.

To Kill A Mockingbird: The Musical?

Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird presents many important messages.  One key theme of the book is that of the discrimination of races.  Set in the 1930’s in Maycomb County, Alabama, African Americans are mistreated constantly and face hate on a regular basis.  Atticus Finch, a white lawyer, is assigned to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, in the court of law under the accusations that Tom raped a white woman.  Because of the setting and time period, much of the Maycomb townsfolk oppose Atticus’s decision to defend an African American, sparking conflict.

In singer Marvin Gaye’s classic song “What’s Going On”, there is a clear message that resonates well with the situation in To Kill A Mockingbird.  He sings: “Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong.  Oh, but who are they to judge us, simply because our hair is long.  Oh, you know we've got to find a way, to bring some understanding here today”.  Tom Robinson and the African American community of Maycomb County can relate to these words very well.  They are judged on a daily basis, simply because they are black and, as seen in the trial, everybody (the white men and women) thinks that Tom Robinson is wrong.  Atticus, representing Tom, aims to create an understanding amongst the court house that just because Tom is black does not mean that he committed the crime.  “What’s Going On” emphasizes a message of equality among people, just as Atticus does in To Kill A Mockingbird.

Social Injustices Today

Throughout our world’s history, social injustices have popped up time and time again.  Even in today’s modern society, discrimination is still alive.  In the United States, this is evident when observing the view that many Americans have of Muslims.  Ever since September 11th, 2001, when Islamic radical extremists hijacked planes and committed unthinkable acts of terrorism, the face of Islam has never been the same.  Americans now feel that all Muslims are terrorists, and view the Islamic people and culture in a hateful manner.  Common, and ignorant, views of Islam from the American perspective are that it is a religion of hate and war.  But these views are completely and utterly incorrect, as Islam is a religion of peace, love, and compassion.  Muslims who have been living in the US for years now and who have adapted to our society are suddenly being subjected to unjust acts of discrimination due to these false beliefs.  It is the innocent, the free, who are enduring the hate, even though the beliefs displayed on 9/11 by the terrorists was one of extremism, beliefs that the majority of Islamic followers do not have.  Most Muslims look down upon and despise the radical beliefs for its violence imposing message.  The social injustice that many Americans place on Muslims is beyond measure, for we are shunning people who have lived in and contributed to American society for years: our own people.

But Muslims are not the only people seeing social injustices today.  Currently in America, gays and lesbians are seeing more and more hate.  Due to the recent uproar in gay marital rights across the states, homosexuals have come out in a negative view.  To many Americans, people with a different sexual orientation are in fact different people.  Gays are rejected in many parts of the country simply because they share a different set of feelings than others.  This is an inexcusable social injustice since gays deserve all of the rights that other Americans do.  The basis of America was built on equality, so by excluding homosexuals from our society, we are breaking the very morals that uprooted our nation.  As an American people, we must not commit social injustices, for it is only disrupting the social unity that our country was created on.  We as a country must learn and preach tolerance so that we can accept all people of all races, ethnicities, and beliefs.