To Kill A Mockingbird

Out of all the pieces of literature we read in English this semester, my favorite would have to be To Kill A Mockingbird. Even if the book was not as interesting in the beginning, it became more engrossing as it continued. While the novel may have been hard to read at first, it became easier to read as it got further into the chapters. Not all books leave a good impression because of how dull or thoughtless they can be, but the novel seemed to prove otherwise in my opinion. I loved the transition of Scout as she grew up and the realizations she came across about society and everyone around her. I admired the fact that at such a young age, Scout was not oblivious or ignorant with her surroundings. Instead of Harper Lee making Scout a weak character, which most authors seem to do with female characters, she did the exact opposite. One part that made me love the novel was the lessons I learned from it. Throughout the book and mostly towards the end, Atticus Finch tells Scout to look at people and things from a different perspective; to look at people as if she were in their shoes. With this point in the novel, I learned one lesson that will always stick with me. Everyone goes through something different and has their own story, therefore we should not judge or treat them differently because we do not know what they are going through. Another part that I loved from the novel was that through the chapters, one major event seemed to pile up to lead to the climax, which became a shocking twist to the novel. To Kill A Mockingbird will always remain with me as one of my favorite novels read in school.

Young Girl Held As a Sex Slave

- "Couple accused of holding girl as sex slave face court hearing" by Tony Perry
- Published on December 1, 2012
- The Los Angeles Times
- http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/12/couple-accused-of-holding-girl-as-sex-slave-goes-to-court.html

    At the age of twelve, a young girl was kidnapped from Mexico and taken to the United States. Marcial Garcia Hernandez and Inez Martinez Garcia, the couple that had kidnapped the young girl, held her as a sex slave and forced her into being a prostitute. During the two years she was taken, she was not only forced to become a prostitute and provide pleasure for older men in order to receive money, but was also forced to provide care for the three children of the violent couple, cook and clean as well, and also have sex, when told, with Hernandez. If she were to refuse any requests or not have sex, then she was beaten and abused. Even though she was underage to work or have a job, she was also forced to lie about her age to work at a restaurant and hand the money, that she had received for her hard work, to the couple. On Thursday, the couple was arrested for sexual assault on an under age fourteen year old girl and for thirteen felonies. For almost two years, the young girl was beaten and abused, both sexually and verbally, all because she was kidnapped. She has finally returned to Mexico and has joined her family again after not seeing them for two years. During any time of the day or at any second of the twenty four hours we live through, someone is either being kidnapped, abused, or killed. We need to be careful at all times to prevent and avoid the dangers from our surroundings and situations, such as the catastrophic experience the young girl had to go through.