Jim: character or caricature?

Jim's beliefs, actions, and feelings:
1. Family
2. Equality
3. Freedom
4. Gentle
5. Superstitious
6. Caring
7. Practical

Jim's physical appearance:
1. Tall
2. African-American
3. Poor

The picture that I chose to illustrate the words that I used to describe Jim is a photo of Jim hugging Huck. There is a caption in the photo that says, "Jim he grabbed me and hugged me." I chose this photo because it shows the qualities of Jim being caring, gentle, and practical. He is being a caring person by offering a helping hand to Huck when he is in need of comforting. While the photo depicts Jim as being a very tall black man, who could be stereotyped as being aggressive,  it is clear that he is very gentle while being showed hugging someone else.


The picture that I chose to illustrate the opposite of my description is the one showing Huck aiming a shotgun at Jim. I don't think that this correctly describes Jim or his relationship with Huck because to me are good friends and care too much for each other to be in this situation. The picture illustrates Jim as being a bad person because it is stating that he did something to deserve to have a gun pointed at him by a child. However, Jim is a very gentle and caring person who doesn't deserve what is being shown in the photo.


The image that most faithfully illustrates the novels text of the book is the one that shows the book cover with Huck and Jim standing on the raft, heading downstream on their quest for freedom. I think that this picture shows Huck and Jim working together to accomplish their similar goals. Huck is on a search for a life with no rules or restraints, and Jim is on a search for a life of freedom and individual rights. When showing them on a raft that they created themselves, Twain is depicting that even people that there really is no difference between the two individuals but their skin color, and that the color of ones skin should not hold them back from accomplishing what they want to in life. Twain uses this book cover to show that Jim is a strong person that goes after what he wants, and that doesn't worry about the consequences, or let anything hold him back. Twain shows him to be a thoughtful and freedom seeking human being, and one that cares for others besides himself. While some may stereotype Jim in some of the photos, by giving him features that most would relate to an African-American, this photo does a good job of showing him as a character, and not a caricature.

Be yourself!

"Whoso would  be a man must be a nonconformist."

1828+tariff= The 1828 Tariff (and states rights)

Key Details about the Tariff of 1828 and States Rights
- The tariff of 1828 was passed by Congress on May 19th, 1828.
- The purpose of this tariff was to protect business in the Northern part of the United States because they were being forced to go out of business from goods that were low in price and had a high tax on them.
- The tariff of 1828 affected the Southern parts of the United States negatively because they were then forced to pay extreme prices on good that their area didn't produce.
- Because of the many different increases in taxes during this time period, it was known as a time of economic downfall, and the tariff of 1828 was one of the highest taxes made in history.
- To Review: the tariff of 1828 affected the Northern states in a positive way by protecting them from competition for goods. It affected the Southern states in a negative way by limiting the amount of agricultural goods that the Southern states could make.

Connection to George Washington and Farewell Address
The tariff or 1828 relates to George Washington and his Farewell Address because credit and other financial issues such as tariffs were a main issue that Washington discussed in the address. He talked about how sometimes it is necessary to spend money but that we should try to work as a whole to stay away from debt. A couple of the ways we can do this is by avoiding war and trying to steer clear from borrowing money from other countries/states. Although sometimes the states government does need money, and to get this money the government puts taxes on things. The tariffs that were raised in 1828 did help some of the states in regards to their financial and agricultural needs, but on the downside, it also affected some states for the worse. The tariff helped the Northern states because it eliminated a lot of the competition they had in regards to their imported and exported goods. In turn, the tariff negatively affected the Southern states because it made it more difficult for them to make their agricultural goods. Washington stated several times throughout the address that he as a leader would and did make several mistakes (although not intentionally), and that the only way we can change and improve from our mistakes, is as a Country as a whole.

Event Assessment
The tariff of 1828 can relate to what we have been learning this year so far because it shows that sometimes things will be done that do not help every single state, or every single person, but they will still need to occur. In 1828, many of the Southern states were upset by this tariff, but it was necessary for the Northern states to help them and to keep their businesses on good ground. We have learned about how the Constitution was made to create equality and unity throughout the United States. Even though this document was made in hope that none of the states would fight or have war, because that would ruin the peace, war still and always will occur. This just goes to show that even though the Tariff in 1828 caused some positive things to occur, it still caused some controversy as well. This may be interpreted as an expansion of liberty in the opinions of the Northern state residents, because it helped to prevent their businesses from going out of business. On the flip side, the residents of the Southern states may see not see this as an expansion of liberty, because they did not benefit from it. Overall, I think that the tariff of 1828 could have been made to help benefit all the states, but sometimes that is not always possible, and it still established justice for many of the states that were suffering financially and agriculturally.

Connecting Historic Documents to Today

"'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will somtimes run through a country. All nations and ages have been subject to them." (52)
I paired this quote and this picture together because often times when countries do not get along with eachother, they think that the only way to solve a problem is to go into war over their controversies, or to hurt the other country in a way that they think will make thier point. When the World Trade Center was hit by a plane on 9/11, no one expected it to be from the cause of a terrorist attack, and no one was ready for the devastation it brought to New York and the rest of the country. Although it was a surprising day, the panic spread throughout the counrty very quickly and this panic can be seen on these peoples faces in the picture, in their reaction to the attacks. Everyone was affected in a different but heavy way, no matter what age they were, and people are still affected to this day.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Sept. 1st 2011.

3. How does the variety of images, layout, typography, and narrative voice affect your reading and understanding of the story up to this point.  Select 1-2 specific examples to use in your response.

The book "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" uses a lot of different writing techniques throughout the book. Each page is significantly different. Some have a lot of words on the page and some have none at all, but they all have deeper meaning that reveals more and more about the story. The book has a section where it shows different types types of things that people would write when testing a colored pen on pages 45- 49. They did this to show the reader that most of the time the people write down the name of a color, and that it would be not be capitalized. Others would write down their names and it would be capitalized. This information helped Oskar to find out more about the envelope/key he found, and it helped the reader understand this more too. I like that they did this because it changes up the the typical pattern of the book and makes it more unique. An image that they use a lot throughout the book is the picture of the door lock. It appears on page 115, 134 and many others. This lock is brought up many times to show that Oskar is constantly trying to find the lock that the key he found will match up to. Different images and layouts are a good way  to help the reader fully understand the story and have more interest in continuing to read and understand the graphic. The author of "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" does a very good job with this.