Journal Entry 4

"Atticus ain't ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanta keep it that way." (Jem, p. 62)

EITHER: Describe a time you got in trouble, and were ashamed.

OR: Write a reflection about what this quotation tells us about Jem's relationship with Atticus. Include other text references to support your ideas.


I was four years old and it was around Christmas time which left me quite happy and playful. Luckily for me, my birthday is twenty-two days before Christmas so I always had some presents before my brother. When we did something bad, or broke something, he would always be blamed for it, even though most of the time it was me. For some reason me and Alex were throwing Thomas the Tank Engine toys at each other which in hindsight was a bad idea. It was all fun until I threw a small train figurine straight at a $2000 glass statue which my mother loved. Alex did get the blame for it and I felt guilty ever since. I think my mum knew it was me but wanted to wait till I was just that little bit older to tell me. Several years later this did happen, I felt bad all that time but the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders.