To Kill A Mocking Bird Post #1

Journal #1

Chapters 1-3

Perspective: Scout

Dear Journal,

Today I had my first day of school. It was absolutely awful. My teacher, Ms.Caroline, was so mean to me. She said that Atticus was teaching me how to read and disrupting my education. Her eccentric teachings were a result of a new form of teaching she learned at some fancy college. It's called the Dewey Decimal System. Jem told me that and I have no reason to doubt his pronouncements. But I don't care where she learned how to teach. She is mean and I hate school. She doesn't know how Maycomb works and she doesn't know anything about the people here. She would probably walk right into Boo Radley's house. Which is completely insane. I mean, it took Jem days to summon up the courage to touch the house. But the looming intimidation of the house probably doesn't bother her.

I don't know why I first irked her. I don't know what first mad her mad at me but by lunch I was standing in the corner, the back of my hand stinging from the hard wood of the ruler. From the start of the day I don't think she realized who she was teaching. Maybe where she came from in Winston County in Alabama the book she was reading to us made children happy. But here stories of cats buying chocolate covered mice just don't interest people. Maybe because we are all from a farming town and we were, for the most part, raised practically. None of us had much patience and weren't used to sitting down for so long. But Ms.Caroline just kept teaching. And when she had people trying to read and I actually could read she got mad.

I didn't understand that at all. I thought teachers were supposed to help you learn and if you already knew the stuff they are teaching you they are supposed to be happy that kid is smart. But she seemed mad. I still can't figure out why. And it's not like I should just stop reading. I don't know how I can read. Jem says I was born reading. But when I told her that she got mad at me. Ms.Caroline may be educated at some college in some fancy form of teaching but I don't like it at all.

-Scout