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Burris Ewel in this extract.
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“Well, Burris,” said Miss Caroline, “I think we’d better excuse you for the rest of the afternoon. I want you to go home and wash your hair with medicated soap. When you’ve done that, treat your scalp kerosene.”
“What fer, missus?’
‘To get rid of the, er, cooties. You see, Burris, the other children might catch them, and you wouldn’t want that, would you?”
The boy stood up. He was the filthiest human being I have ever seen. His neck was dark grey, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his finger-nails were black deep into the quick.
“And, Burris,” said Miss Caroline, “please bathe yourself before you come back tomorrow.”
The boy laughed rudely. ‘You ain’t sending me home, missus. I was on the verge of leaving – done my time for this year.”
Miss Caroline looked puzzled. “What do you mean by that?”
The boy did not answer. He gave a short contemptuous snort.
One of the older members of the class answered her, "He’s Mr Ewell’s son, ma’am. He come first day every year and then leave. The truant lady gets him here ‘cause she threatens the family
with the sheriff, but she’s give up tryin’ to hold him. You are supposed to mark him absent for the rest of the year….”
“What about his parents?” asked Miss Caroline, in genuine concern.
"Ain't got no mother," was the answer, 'and their father's right contentious."
Burris Ewell was flattered by the remark.
“Been comin’ to the first day o’ the first grade for three year now,” he said.
Miss Caroline said, “Sit down please, Burris,” and the moment she said it, Burris flashed to anger.
“You try and make me, missus.”
Little Chuck got to his feet. “Let him go ma’am,” he said. ‘He’s a mean one, a hard-down mean one……..” “Burris, go home, If you don’t I’ll call the principal,” she said. “I’ll report this, anyway.” The boy snorted and slouched leisurely to the door. Safely out of range, he turned and shouted: “Report and I dare ye! Ain’t no school teacher ever born can make me do nothing! You ain’t making me go nowhere, missus. You just remember that, you ain’t making me go nowhere!!” He waited until he was sure she was crying, then he shuffled out of the building. Soon we were clustered around her desk, trying out various ways to comfort her. Miss Caroline smiled, blew her nose, and said,” Thank you, darlings.”
Adapted from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
*cooties: head lice * truant lady: an official from the Ministry of Education who monitors absenteeism of students
Have you experienced such an incident as described in the extract in your class? Describe what happened and how you felt at that time.
6 comments:
I have never experience such an incident before but I hope I will never have witness such incident.The boy is very dirty who does not bathe."His neck was dark grey, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his finger-nails were black deep into the quick."This sentence tells me that he is an unhygenic person.
CatherineChoo: You mentioned that you hope never to witness such incident in your class. Why is that so? Why wouldn't you like to have a classmate like Burris? Beside being unhygienic, what else dont you like about him?
I have never experienced such an incident before and I have I hope I will never experience such an incident. Because if my classmate is like Burris, I may catch the cooties and if more and more people catches the cooties, other people will feel uncomfortable being with us. We might not be able to concentrate in our school work and grades will start to drop.
I have never experienced such an incident before and I have I hope I will never experience such an incident. Because if my classmate is like Burris, I may catch the cooties and if more and more people catches the cooties, other people will feel uncomfortable being with us. We might not be able to concentrate in our school work and grades will start to drop.
No, i have not experienced such an incident before.I would not want a classmate like Burris because he is such an unhygenic person. His neck was dark grey, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his finger-nails were black deep into the quick which makes him a very dirty person.
No, i have not experienced such an incident before.I would not want a classmate like Burris because he is such an unhygenic person. His neck was dark grey, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his finger-nails were black deep into the quick which makes him a very dirty person.
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