Jem and Dill's Friendship and Scout and Miss Maudie: Summary of To Kill a Mockingbird - Chapter 5Jem and Dill become closer friends and start excluding Scout with their games and plots. Scout feels left out and spends more time with Miss Maudie Atkinson. Miss Maudie is their neighbor next door who is a widow and spends most of her time in the garden or in the kitchen baking goodies. She also spends her evening under the twilight sitting at the front porch. She is a childhood friend of Scout's uncle Jack, Atticus' brother.Miss Maudie's Understanding of Boo Radley: To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter Summary - Chapter 5Miss Maudie knows a lot about Boo Radley and tells much to Scout, including the reason behind his being a reclusive person. Boo is a victim of her father's cruelty. She also tells her that the stories about him are all lies. Boo is a very nice, polite person. He was friendly when he was still a child.Jem and Dill's Ice Cream Plan for Boo Radley: To Kill a Mockingbird P
lot Summary - Chapter 5The two boys, Jem and Dill, progress with their plan and ask Boo to have an ice cream with them. They stick the invitation, a small note, in one of Boo's windows by using a fishing pole. Scout no longer agrees with the idea anymore, but they threaten her and she becomes part of the scheme. Atticus catches them. He forbids the children to torment the man or even set foot on his property.
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Saturday, September 1, 2012
Ivory Simone Talks About Her Novel 'Havasu Means Blue Water'
Author/Activist Ivory Simone has forged a gripping story that masters the importance of speech and dialogue relaying the emotions and strengths of the solid characters presented in the tale of Lyla Amir whose research for her master's thesis brings the past into the present.'Havasu Means Blue Water' examines the long ago lynching of a black farmer and his wife but while this is the main foundation of the story we are introduced to subplots linked to the contemporary story of Lyla, her research and her life.The story, past and present, of fictional Wilburn, AZ where the subjects of Lyla's research lived and died is both repellant and bittersweet. It is also where Lyla finds strength and an unexpected ally.Ivory talks with us about writing 'Havasu Means Blue Water'Lynnette Phillips - What inspired you to write Havasu Means Blue Water?Ivory Simone - My family history. I grew up listening to my grandfather who told me stories about his grandfather--a black Indian who came out of
slavery as a boy. I found a 1780s census record with my great-great-grandfather's name and background information. The record confirms my grandfather's oral history was correct. This family history took on new meaning when I worked for a Native American Tribe years later. Both of these invents laid the foundation for Havasu Means Blue Water.LP - Does "havasu" mean blue water?IS - Yes, it does. In the Mojave language it means "blue water". One of the characters in the story is a descendant of a Mojave tribe decimated by disease and other anti-Indian government policies.LP --Why should readers buy your book?IS -- It's a snapshot of the cultural wars we see in the Southwest--in places like my home state of Arizona. The inhabitants of the fictional town of Wilburn, Arizona are threatened by outsiders. They have a history of crushing groups who are different. However, the violence unleashed against outsiders is also used against the women and children of the town. Hate is a monst
er that's never satisfied. When it runs out of enemies to eat, it'll start devouring its own. Havasu Means Blue Water is a cautionary tale about the price a society pays for remaining passive in the face of racial and cultural intolerance.LP -- "The legacy of injustice" will be the topic in two author Facebook chats that'll be held on July 10th and July 16th at 3:00 p.m. (EST). Why is this an important issue?IS - I want people to think about what happens to a community when a grave injustice is allowed to fester. I want people to talk about what they can do to promote the healing of any festering wounds of injustice that divide and weaken their own communities. Justice is not optional--it's essential to the well-being of a community and its people.LP -- The love between the two murdered victims, Mary Alice and Nathaniel Venerable, is central to the novel, why?IS -- I believe love is the greatest force on earth. It's far greater than hate, far greater than the tyranny of viol
ence. We first meet Mary Alice and Nathaniel as victims. However, I want readers to remember them for the deep love they shared. It's their love story that reaches out from the grave to influence the living, to propel events that bring about change.LP -- Mother-daughter relationships are also explored quite a bit in the novel. The relationship between Lyla Amir, the heroine of the story and her mother and the relationship between Amber Goody and Bonnie Good, a dysfunctional daughter and mother--are both important threads in the plot. Why?IS -- I'm a daughter and a mother of daughters. A daughter's relationship with her mother helps determine the type of women she'll grow-up to be. I wanted to show how certain acts and omissions mothers/women make in their lives shape the women their daughters become.LP -- Lyla Amir is an unusual heroine. She's an Arab-American of mixed parentage (her mother is African-American) investigating the murder of a black farmer and his wife. Her her
itage is one of the story lines that adds tension to events that unfold in the novel. Why did you make her Arab-American.IS -- Lyla Amir's heritage is important because I believe Arab Americans now understand what Black Americans already know--what it feels like to be an undesirable "other". Lyla self-identifies as black but she has racially ambiguous features. This presents problems for her when she goes to Wilburn. It's her Arab heritage that becomes the source of hatred and conflict for her.LP - The question of identity is also one of the issues Firestone Matise, the descendant of Mary Alice and Nathaniel Venerable, faces, too. Why?IS -- I think people are quick to label others based on appearance alone. I wanted to challenge the notion we can know a person's history based on his or her racial profile. Racial stereotypes get in the way of Americans' ability to form positive relationships with one another. The browning of America will make such thinking a liability in the
future. I believe that's a good thing in the long runLP -- What do you want readers to know about Ivory Simone?IS - I'm a writer and poet who dreams a lot. I have a vivid and active dream life that makes my journey in the world fascinating and sometimes strange.LP -- What's it like living in Bangkok, Thailand?IS -- There's never a dull moment. More importantly, I'm able to move about in relative safety and ease.Thank you, Ivory, for talking with us and for your wonderful novel 'Havasu Means Blue Water'
View this post on my blog: http://www.yourgamebook.com/ivory-simone-talks-about-her-novel-havasu-means-blue-water-2.html
slavery as a boy. I found a 1780s census record with my great-great-grandfather's name and background information. The record confirms my grandfather's oral history was correct. This family history took on new meaning when I worked for a Native American Tribe years later. Both of these invents laid the foundation for Havasu Means Blue Water.LP - Does "havasu" mean blue water?IS - Yes, it does. In the Mojave language it means "blue water". One of the characters in the story is a descendant of a Mojave tribe decimated by disease and other anti-Indian government policies.LP --Why should readers buy your book?IS -- It's a snapshot of the cultural wars we see in the Southwest--in places like my home state of Arizona. The inhabitants of the fictional town of Wilburn, Arizona are threatened by outsiders. They have a history of crushing groups who are different. However, the violence unleashed against outsiders is also used against the women and children of the town. Hate is a monst
er that's never satisfied. When it runs out of enemies to eat, it'll start devouring its own. Havasu Means Blue Water is a cautionary tale about the price a society pays for remaining passive in the face of racial and cultural intolerance.LP -- "The legacy of injustice" will be the topic in two author Facebook chats that'll be held on July 10th and July 16th at 3:00 p.m. (EST). Why is this an important issue?IS - I want people to think about what happens to a community when a grave injustice is allowed to fester. I want people to talk about what they can do to promote the healing of any festering wounds of injustice that divide and weaken their own communities. Justice is not optional--it's essential to the well-being of a community and its people.LP -- The love between the two murdered victims, Mary Alice and Nathaniel Venerable, is central to the novel, why?IS -- I believe love is the greatest force on earth. It's far greater than hate, far greater than the tyranny of viol
ence. We first meet Mary Alice and Nathaniel as victims. However, I want readers to remember them for the deep love they shared. It's their love story that reaches out from the grave to influence the living, to propel events that bring about change.LP -- Mother-daughter relationships are also explored quite a bit in the novel. The relationship between Lyla Amir, the heroine of the story and her mother and the relationship between Amber Goody and Bonnie Good, a dysfunctional daughter and mother--are both important threads in the plot. Why?IS -- I'm a daughter and a mother of daughters. A daughter's relationship with her mother helps determine the type of women she'll grow-up to be. I wanted to show how certain acts and omissions mothers/women make in their lives shape the women their daughters become.LP -- Lyla Amir is an unusual heroine. She's an Arab-American of mixed parentage (her mother is African-American) investigating the murder of a black farmer and his wife. Her her
itage is one of the story lines that adds tension to events that unfold in the novel. Why did you make her Arab-American.IS -- Lyla Amir's heritage is important because I believe Arab Americans now understand what Black Americans already know--what it feels like to be an undesirable "other". Lyla self-identifies as black but she has racially ambiguous features. This presents problems for her when she goes to Wilburn. It's her Arab heritage that becomes the source of hatred and conflict for her.LP - The question of identity is also one of the issues Firestone Matise, the descendant of Mary Alice and Nathaniel Venerable, faces, too. Why?IS -- I think people are quick to label others based on appearance alone. I wanted to challenge the notion we can know a person's history based on his or her racial profile. Racial stereotypes get in the way of Americans' ability to form positive relationships with one another. The browning of America will make such thinking a liability in the
future. I believe that's a good thing in the long runLP -- What do you want readers to know about Ivory Simone?IS - I'm a writer and poet who dreams a lot. I have a vivid and active dream life that makes my journey in the world fascinating and sometimes strange.LP -- What's it like living in Bangkok, Thailand?IS -- There's never a dull moment. More importantly, I'm able to move about in relative safety and ease.Thank you, Ivory, for talking with us and for your wonderful novel 'Havasu Means Blue Water'
View this post on my blog: http://www.yourgamebook.com/ivory-simone-talks-about-her-novel-havasu-means-blue-water-2.html
Brain Fitness - Changing Your Brain
Growing up, I learned about Phineas Gage, the railroad construction foreman who survived an incredible accident in 1848 that shot a large iron rod through his brain, destroying the frontal lobes. Although Gage survived for another decade, his personality changed profoundly. The brain science books I read in the late 1980's still used the over century-old example to introduce the idea that every function had a special location in the brain, and everything was hard-wired for life once you finished childhood. It turns out the hard-wired model of the brain was dead wrong, and academic opinion and dogma had led research down the wrong path for over 100 years.Dr. Michael Merzenich, founder of Posit Science and one of the world's leading brain scientists helped disprove the old "what you have is what you get" brain theories. In the 1980's, Merzenich's team developed the cochlear implant, a device that stimulates nerves in the inner ear with electrical signals that correspond to soun
d. With the "bionic ear", people with profound deafness have learned to process the electrical signals and hear again. Merzenich went on to show that the brain can adapt and change based on all sorts of sensory input. How neurons wire together not only changes based on our experience with the world, but also based on our own thoughts. Posit Science applies this new knowledge of brain plasticity to brain training and brain fitness products that improve memory and processing speed to treat age-related cognitive decline.I asked Dr. Merzenich: If I were to read just one book about the state of the art in brain science and better understand the background for Posit's brain fitness research, what would it be? He gave me a copy of "The Brain that Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge, M.D. With compelling cases studies ranging from recovery from brain injury and stroke to overcoming learning and physical disabilities, Doidge details the radical advances in the science of brain plasticit
y of the past couple of decades. Now that we can measure brain activity down to the firing of individual neurons, we can see without a doubt that the substance of our thoughts changes the wiring of our brain. The experience of the world around us-what we sense, what we do, what we concentrate on-can change the brain even into old age.Dispelling the myth that we only stand to lose our minds over time is great news, especially to baby boomers worried about memory loss and cognitive decline as they get older. With rising health care costs, an aging population, and economic uncertainty, baby boomers will be looking for brain fitness and training to stay productive in a highly competitive information-based global economy.My English teacher in 7th grade used to say-to much teasing-that the brain is just like a muscle: You need to exercise it every day. It turns out she was right. The other side of brain plasticity, however, is that our brains can get set in their ways by the same
principles of brain plasticity: Neurons that fire together wire together.Dr. Merzenich described neural connections as like cow paths in a pasture. When cows continually tread the same paths over and over, the paths become ruts and the cows grow ever more fearful of treading anywhere else. Unless someone kicks the cows off the path, the ruts can become deep and permanent. Our thoughts are like the cows. We need to learn something truly new to make sure that our neurons keep growing and strengthening new connections.Merzenich showed that the biggest changes in our brains take place when we engage in "massed practice", or efforts that demand intense concentration over a period of time. It also helps to be unique, striking, dangerous, or emotional: When the brain sees a new idea or skill as important, the brain goes into building mode and generates millions of new connections.What struck me most about the book was the extent to which the scientific community had impeded progres
s in an area so obviously vital to everyone. Rather than looking at examples like Phineas Gage as evidence that the brain can adapt and change, Gage was used as an example of the opposite. For over 100 years, the academic community refused to consider the idea of brain plasticity and refused to support, encourage, publish, or even give a fair hearing to the few scientists who challenged convention. The social network of academia was much like their outdated idea of the hard-wired brain: Set in its ways with the same cows treading the same ruts.Luckily for us, Dr. Michael Merzenich and his peers defied their academic advisors and department heads and went on to quietly pursue brain plasticity research. Their breakthroughs and discoveries have spawned a new wave of brain research and brain training innovations that could improve the lives of millions of people for years to come.
View this post on my blog: http://www.yourgamebook.com/brain-fitness-changing-your-brain.html
d. With the "bionic ear", people with profound deafness have learned to process the electrical signals and hear again. Merzenich went on to show that the brain can adapt and change based on all sorts of sensory input. How neurons wire together not only changes based on our experience with the world, but also based on our own thoughts. Posit Science applies this new knowledge of brain plasticity to brain training and brain fitness products that improve memory and processing speed to treat age-related cognitive decline.I asked Dr. Merzenich: If I were to read just one book about the state of the art in brain science and better understand the background for Posit's brain fitness research, what would it be? He gave me a copy of "The Brain that Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge, M.D. With compelling cases studies ranging from recovery from brain injury and stroke to overcoming learning and physical disabilities, Doidge details the radical advances in the science of brain plasticit
y of the past couple of decades. Now that we can measure brain activity down to the firing of individual neurons, we can see without a doubt that the substance of our thoughts changes the wiring of our brain. The experience of the world around us-what we sense, what we do, what we concentrate on-can change the brain even into old age.Dispelling the myth that we only stand to lose our minds over time is great news, especially to baby boomers worried about memory loss and cognitive decline as they get older. With rising health care costs, an aging population, and economic uncertainty, baby boomers will be looking for brain fitness and training to stay productive in a highly competitive information-based global economy.My English teacher in 7th grade used to say-to much teasing-that the brain is just like a muscle: You need to exercise it every day. It turns out she was right. The other side of brain plasticity, however, is that our brains can get set in their ways by the same
principles of brain plasticity: Neurons that fire together wire together.Dr. Merzenich described neural connections as like cow paths in a pasture. When cows continually tread the same paths over and over, the paths become ruts and the cows grow ever more fearful of treading anywhere else. Unless someone kicks the cows off the path, the ruts can become deep and permanent. Our thoughts are like the cows. We need to learn something truly new to make sure that our neurons keep growing and strengthening new connections.Merzenich showed that the biggest changes in our brains take place when we engage in "massed practice", or efforts that demand intense concentration over a period of time. It also helps to be unique, striking, dangerous, or emotional: When the brain sees a new idea or skill as important, the brain goes into building mode and generates millions of new connections.What struck me most about the book was the extent to which the scientific community had impeded progres
s in an area so obviously vital to everyone. Rather than looking at examples like Phineas Gage as evidence that the brain can adapt and change, Gage was used as an example of the opposite. For over 100 years, the academic community refused to consider the idea of brain plasticity and refused to support, encourage, publish, or even give a fair hearing to the few scientists who challenged convention. The social network of academia was much like their outdated idea of the hard-wired brain: Set in its ways with the same cows treading the same ruts.Luckily for us, Dr. Michael Merzenich and his peers defied their academic advisors and department heads and went on to quietly pursue brain plasticity research. Their breakthroughs and discoveries have spawned a new wave of brain research and brain training innovations that could improve the lives of millions of people for years to come.
View this post on my blog: http://www.yourgamebook.com/brain-fitness-changing-your-brain.html
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