8C help vlog

After hours of writing, rehearsing, filming, editing, and yes, uploading, 8C is ready to present their (unintentionally comical) vlog!

The Help Talk Show 2011

Our Vlog! By Emma S, Loretta M, Jess B, and Sarah S

Poor Starving Children of Africa

Well I know most of us have finished the book but I think its worth commenting on how the league raised money for "Poor Starving Children of Africa" when they are mistreating the african american people in their own town. Why do you think the league chooses to support the people in africa more then their own neighbors.

The Ending

So a lot of people have been saying they loved the ending, and to be honest I didn't. I'm very particular about endings, and I didn't think this one was great. I liked the way Minny's ended, but I wish we had heard about Skeeter doing great in New York, maybe a little epilogue and like a wedding invitation or something. And I wish Aibileen hadn't been fired, only because I would have liked to see if Abilieen had been able to change Mae Mobley.

I would have liked to see Miss Celia have a healthy baby, and maybe Stuart at Skeeters wedding, or reading the invitation and wishing he hadn't broken up with her, but maybe him reading it now? after realizing its not bad.

Also, I wish I'd've seen Hilly get her comeuppance. Or more of it I guess.

Like I said, I'm very particular, and I didn't think it was terrible, but not great.

Song mentioned in The Help

Hey guys,

first of all, I thought the ending was perfect, not predictable, not unrealistic, just right.

Anywho, as I was reading the acknowledgements at the end, and Kathryn Stockett thanked people for letting her mention the song "Times they are a-changin" which brought me back when Skeeter listens to that song in her car. I think the reason Stockett chose this song was because at the time in the book where it is mentioned, Skeeter is going through all sorts of tough times in her life, which I really like how they connected it.

So incase anyone wanted to listen to the song I found a live performance by Bob Dylan on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhJfyWsKqiM

Aibileen- Old dogs CAN learn new tricks

Hey you guys,

So this week's reading was the last we'll ever have because the book is ending :( But I personally LOVED the way it ended.......I thought it was really sweet and really thoughtful and it was just so powerful when Aibileen walked off I started crying :'( But in general I thought it was perfect. One excerpt that I especially paid attention to was:

"The sun is bright but my eyes is wide open. I stand at the bus stop like I been doing for forty-odd years. In thirty minutes, my whole life's......done. Maybe I ought to keep writing, not just for the paper, but something else, about all the people I know and the things I seen and done. Maybe I ain't too old to start over, I think, and I laugh and cry at the same time at this. Cause just last night I thought I was finished with everything new." -pg 522, last paragraph of the book

I think it's really interesting how even though Aibileen is old, and has been through a lot, she's still wise and open to new things. Although her life is almost over she's still looking far ahead. I guess old dogs can learn new tricks.

The Ending

I finished the book yesterday and have been thinking about how it ended. In my opinion, I was very disappointed in the ending with Aibeleen walking off from the Leefolt's house. What did you think? My problem is that I am not quite sure how I wanted the book to end, so I guess I will just have to settle for this ending. Do you like or dislike the ending? How would you have wanted it to end?

Connection!!!

On the front of all our books, it says "one of the most important pieces of fiction since To Kill a Mockingbird". I agree with this 100%

In the Help, To Kill A Mockingbird is mentioned several times.

"God, I am the town's Boo Radley, just like in To Kill a Mockingbird." (pg. 414)

The Help

This week's reading was probably the most hilarious of the whole book. Everything about the assigned reading was funny. From Miss Celia's dress to Minny pooping in the pie, the reading went very fast, and was very enjoyable.

What Will Leroy think?

So I've been thinking about how everyone is worried about what Hilly will do and say to everyone in Jackson, but after seeing how Leroy abuses and hits Minny, even for no reason, I've been wondering,

What do you think he will do when he finds out about the book?

Will he be happy because his wife was changing the world, or will he hit her even more for even trying something so dangerous?

What do you think his reaction will be and do you think it will be dependent on the rest of Jackson's reactions?

Will Mae Mo be the same as the others?

Aibileen has mentioned a few times, how she takes care of children, and then when they grow older they turn into their parents. They turn into demanding, unloving adults. Do you think Mae Mo will follow this pattern, do you think she will turn into another "one of them"?

Miss Hilly Talking to Aibileen

So in chapter 34, what did you think about the way Miss Hilly was talking to Aibileen? Was it over the top, or just normal Hilly? Miss Hilly says to Abibileen; "Low and cold, she say, 'You spilled some, Aibileen.' 'I'm sorry, I-' 'Wipe it up.'" All because she spilt a little, tiny drop of Iced Tea on Hilly's plate.

Skeeter's Mother

Hey guys. So I was wondering if you guys think if Skeeter's mom will be ok, or if she will only get worse from here, and maybe die soon/later? Will Skeeter look back, and ask if she could have been nicer to her mother if she dies? What are your thoughts?

Stuart and Skeeter

It was sad when Stuart told Skeeter they needed to break up. And when they go back out to their families they act as if nothing happened.

Do you think Stuart and Skeeter will get back together??

If they do get back together do think Skeeter will tell Stuart about the book?

How do you think Stuart will react to it?

Interview with Kathryn

Check this out! It is a a really interesting interview with the author about the characters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lKMBzS2xlE&feature=relmfu

Tell me what you guys thought!

I think it's cool to know how she thinks of her characters.

Miss Celia

Hey Allie Rachel Siggi Gracie and anybody else that happens to be reading this!!!

In this weeks reading what I thought was most interesting was when the naked white guy tried to get into Miss Celia's house, and that whole episode. I thought it was fascinating when Miss Celia took on such a non-stereotypical gender role, and beat the creepy dude senseless. We saw a significant change in gender identity, and we learned a little bit more about Miss Celia (she was a bad-ass! :)) Any other white lady would have screamed, hid under a bed, and hoped that their help would take care of things but nooooo Miss Celia got right up in there and protected Minny. I thought it was great that we could see a different side to her. Also I thought that the whole situation was kind of awkward. everybody try to comment!

Senator Whitworth

Okay, so I know he's kind of a minor character, but I found Senator Whitworth's (Stuart's daddy) to be really interesting. What did you guys think about his political views, and how they connect to the common opinion of 1963. Do you guys think that he embodies the type of politician that Hilly implies when she says "you can't fight with the government"? Oh, by the way, anyone in the Help group 7C, i'm the lead blogger, so reply!!! (Sarah H., Gracie, Siggi, Rachel L, this means you!)

Pgs 214 - 307

I liked this portion mostly, except for Miss Celia's...incident? I'm not sure what to call it, but it was terrible and sad, and I'm guessing she won't ever be able to have a baby, which is even worse. On a happier note, I was so happy when all those maids volunteered to help with the book, and I loved how the money they could have taken, almost everyone donated to Yule May's sons college fund. The fact that she couldn't pay for them both to go to college was heartbreaking too, how could she have picked? She couldn't. I hope that she ends up getting enough to send them both off to college.

I still think Stuart is just great, but I get the feeling his and Skeeter's families won't mix well.

I'm excited to read the next portion, and I'm curious about how the book will end up.

Skeeter's dinner with Stuart's family

I thought the dinner Skeeter and her family went to at Stuart's house was a little crazy. It was weird when it was Stuart wasn't there at first and the topic of Patricia. It also kinda bothered me when Stuart's dad talked to Miss Steeker about her even though he actually didn't know what happened with them.

Mrs. Celia

This weeks reading went by very fast. It was not my favorite portion from the book however due to Mrs. Celia's predicament at her house. I felt so sorry for her, and I finally realised why she could not tell her husband about Minny. And i wondered what the tonic was made up off and was it a hoax or was it making her throw up?

This week's reading: Miss Celia

So there's been a lot of conversation about Miss Celia, and her behavior at the benefit. They make out her dress to be super loud and inapropriate, but think about the difference from then and now, a dress like that probably wouldn't be as offensive now as it was back then. Although at a high society event, a dress like that probably wasn't the best choice. Then again, Miss Celia doesn't have the best track record for making good choices.

This weeks reading

Once again, I've been sucked into this book. I cannot put it down! Which is unusual for me haha. Oh my gosh the whole Benefit fiasco was CRAZY! I cannot believe Hilly is still sane after what happened. Seriously! Miss Celia also might want to consider slowing down on her drinking next time... oh and dressing a little bit more appropriate.

Sugar Ditch

So I was curious about where Miss Celia was from and so I looked up Sugar Ditch.
This is a little of what I found, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunica,_Mississippi
Also, this is where Sugar Ditch, (which is in Tunica) is

The Help: This week's reading

So I feel like this week's reading was really intense and a ton of stuff happend. The situation at Miss Celia's house kinda freaked me out and I feel really bad for Miss Celia, and Minny because she had to deal with that and help Miss Celia even when she was really grossed out and Miss Celia was crying and freaking out. It was also really nice to see when Minny or Aibileen got so many people to help Skeeter with their stories. I seriously hope they don't get caught by Hilly or someone.

Music from that era

Stevie Wonder was mentioned in the first reading and i thought that this had at least some kind of relevance. If not then, well, sue me for good music.

so, please ignore the (happy pictures) and enjoy Stevie Wonders music. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyj54nIIvc0

Jim Crow Laws

So I know that the Jim Crow Laws were introduced in the last section, but I thought this was a really good site, so I should share it anyway.

On this site I found a whole bunch of things that I never knew, like Jim Crow laws weren't just in the south, they were almost as bad in the rest of the country.

Check it out

http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/resources/lessonplans/hs_es_jim_crow_laws.htm

The Help

The Help is really getting intense, as it shows you the hate and reality of the 60's towards blacks in the south. In the assigned reading, there were a lot of unbelievably cruel parts and a lot of sweet parts. For instance when Hilly sent out the letter, it was outragously racist and demeaning. And when the NAACP officer got shot, it was really gruesome. I thought it described that in a little to much detail. But I really enjoyed reading the moments between Mae and Aibileen, and reading about Skeeter and Stuart.

The Help (pgs. 105-213)

I really liked this section and the book so far. I love Aibileen and I think she is just the sweetest to Mae Mobley. When Aibileen was teaching her how to go to the bathroom, because her mom refused to, even though Aibileen knows about a thousand times more than Miss Leefolt in any subject (other than how to fake fitting in with the other socialites). And now, Mae Mobley tries to use the colored bathroom, and her mom hates that. Also, I hate how her mom hates that she's a 'fat' baby. Mae Mobley probably will never be how her mother wants her to be, and that is just so sad, because Miss Leefolt's not changing her ways any time soon.

The story about the segregated hospitals, was just horrible, and I'm sure thats actually happened though, thats the worst part.

I really liked meeting Mister Johnny, but I'm still confused about Miss Celia. And, I can't understand why Mister Johnny would have gone out with Hilly for so long...

I'm really worried about what Hilly is going to say about Skeeter now that she knows. Or how much she knows. And lastly, I'm wondering whats going on with Skeeter's mom that she's not telling anybody about.

Emma Stone as Skeeter

So im sure you guys have all seen ads and stuff for the Help the movie, so I was wondering what you all think about Emma Stone playing Skeeter. Since I started reading, I had this vivid mental image of what she looked like, and then as I saw more and more of stuff for the movie, the movie character kind of ruined it. (sort of)In the book they described Skeeter as really tall and plain, and not particularly pretty, but Emma Stone was medium height and had perfect smooth blonde ringlets. In all movie interpretations, you have to expect some changes, but this one really bugged me.

The Help

Once again, i really enjoyed reading the pages assigned to us this week.

I thought it was funny that Aibileen mentioned that she wanted to read "To Kill a Mockingbird". Since the book was about the south and racism, I thought it was a nice connection.

I was happy to see that Aibileen finally agreed to be interviewed for Skeeter's book but also a bit disapointed that he very opinionated Minny did not come forward at first. The amount of courage it took was an huge amount. Another main point I found in the assigned pages was the letter that Hilly sent out, claiming that by getting a seperate bathroom you would rid your self of "colored" germs. This really shocked me even though we had seen examples of the racism and hatred in the 60s, that it was this bad 50 years ago.

The Help

I am really liking the book so far! I think that it is really good. I noticed that a common theme in the book is food, so I was looking at some websites about the food in The Help.

http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/the-help-southern-food
They used all home cooks which I thought was really cool.

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/gutcheck/2011/09/the_help_food_tie-ins_inspired.php
Also, I think that more people are probably using certain products now if they were featured in the book.

~Sarah S

Pages 105-213

I really enjoyed the reading this week. I specifically remember when Elizabeth hit Mae Mobely and Aibileen said "You're a smart girl" and waited till Mae said it. Then said, "You're a kind girl" and kept repeating it till Mae understood. Aibileen is the best thing that happened to Mae I can't imagine what would happen to that poor girl w/o her! Aibileen is such a kind loving person. But, how could Elizabeth hit Mae? She's the cutest thing in the world! But then again... how could you ever hit your kid in general?!

Bog for 105-213

Hey girls :D So I was wondering how you reacted to the answer about what all of the "mysterious" blood stains on the floor were from. So what are your thoughts? Was this something you saw coming when you read about the spots within pages 1-104.

Miss Celia and "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Hello Everyone,

Has anyone noticed the connection between Miss Celia and the lady from "The Yellow Wallpaper"? Miss Celia seems to be lying down a lot and doesn't leave the house very often and she is also socially awkward. She also goes upstairs and spends a lot of time in the empty rooms. The book even says they are colorful rooms for children. CREEPY!

If there is anything else I missed please comment!

Carrie

(props to Miranda, Savannah, and Izzy)

The Help Video

Hey guys, sorry I posted this a while ago but I think I accidentally deleted it so here it is again! Its really interesting. The video is about the making of the "The Help" movie and also it compares a town like the one in the book in its present day to the town in the book. Its really cool to see how towns like this have evolved and how they have or haven't changed.

NY Times Review

Hey people,

I found this article about The Help on New York Times, I thought is was really insightful about the characters.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/books/19masl.html

I read on Wikipedia that this book was rejected by like 40 publishers, I bet they're all kicking themselves now, she's sold 5 million copies!!!

Segregation of Hospitals- Spoiler Alert (pg 176)

On page 176, Aibileen describes and experience she previously had taking care of a little white boy. They were fixing a fan, and he badly hurt his fingers and was losing a lot of blood. When she took him to the bf hospital, the black doctor refused to operate on him because he was white even though he was severely injured. I'm pretty sure that a white hospital would never operate on a black person, so it's not a huge surprise that the black hospital wouldn't do the same, but what do you guys think? Is this segregation right? Someone could die because they don't have immediate access to medical attention.

The Help---Guessing for later

So after reading pages 1-104, I was thinking about what would happen next as the book is set up for a lot of things to happen. Now, as I have started the next group of pages, there are many bad and many good things that could happen. What do you guys think will happen next? (Besides everyone finding out about the book Skeeter is writing.....do you think they will understand?) Also do you think Skeeter will find out about Constantine or let it go? How do you think everyone will turn out in the end?

The help is so different from most books. It really focuses on gender roles and racism. The Help shows the differences between men and women, and black men and women. Its hard to believe even 50 years ago, there was that kind of discrimination between races. Skeeter for instance was shunned for bringing home a diploma and not a man. Where as a man would have been congratulated instead. It was almost never that a black man graduated, or a black woman even finished highschool in the south.

Similar to everyone who is reading The Help, I love this book. I was hooked from the start.

One of the things that I really like about it is that the characters speak in southern accent's.

Because of that, it's a lot of fun to read this book aloud.

1-104

So far I'm totally in love with this book, which is a lot more than I can say about most books. Haha. I'm really annoyed with Ms.Celia and he secret keeping, and how sneaky she is like why can't she just tell Mister Johnny. Most of the (white) houses have help, so why would Mister Johnny mind if she had help... Its not like it's a new thing in the neighborhood. I really like how the book is written. It's like little vignettes. It is a interesting way to write, and very captivating. I'm already done with this weeks reading hah >.<

Pages 1-104 Response

I really like this book so far. Some of the characters have a lot of depth and we haven't seen all of it yet and I think that's really interesting. I like that Skeeter speaks her mind and stands up for herself and what she believes in even though at times she's the only one. I also think it's interesting how she is forming a friendship with Aibileen, and how Aibileen was telling her some of what happened to Constantine. I wonder what happened to Constantine and her daughter. and if Skeeter will ever find out the truth. It also really bothers me that Miss Celia is being so secretive and was keeping Minny a secret from her husband.

Response for pages 1-104

I really love the way this book is written, in the three person narrating thing. Its nice how we get to see the perspectives of three very different people about similar experiences. Does Skeeter remind anyone else of Daphne from Nation? They both try to kind of reinvent themselves from certain expectations, and neither of them have much of a relationship with their mothers. She is definitely my favorite character.

Blog Post about pgs 1-104

So, like everyone else, I'm loving the book so far. It really bothers me the way the maids were treated then, and the more I think about it, the more I think that it went on a long time after the 60's too. I also have some questions and things I've been wondering about. Like Constantine, what happened to her? I really don't have any predictions or inklings. I know her and Skeeter's mother must have had a fight, and it must have been big, but then how does her father not know about it? And after the fight, what happened to her? Couldn't she have stayed in Jackson? But she didn't, otherwise Skeeter probably would have found her. And why didn't she contact Skeeter? That I really don't understand.

I also don't know about Miss Celia. I really don't understand why she won't tell her husband? Is he against black help? It doesn't feel right to me.

And lastly, I think that Hilly is a lot worse than she seems right now. And probably more influential. And Elizabeth is obviously a terrible mother, but Hilly, she really seems really bad to me.

Blog Post-pgs 1-104

Heyy :) I hope I'm writing a blog post for the correct pages, I think it's supposed to be meeting-meeting. Anyways, I thought that this was a very interesting way to start the story. Once all the characters were established, the plot started. The two things I was most interested in were Skeeter's relationship with Constantine, and her dissapearance, and the very secretive Miss Celia. Like we talked about in our meeting, Skeeter recalls seeing a picture of a white girl at Constantine's house, and wondering who it was. Aibileen also mentions so Skeeter about Constantine having a baby girl, who was white, so she had to give her up. Maybe the girl in the picture was Constantine's daughter, but when she was pale as a baby, people assumed she was cheating on her husband and chased her away? I'll bet it would be a huge deal for a white woman to cheat on her husband, but a black woman? Completely unacceptable. As for Miss Celia, I don't know why she's so secretive, but she obviously can't cook for her life, so how has she lied to Mr. Johnny all these years? And how will she continue lying? And what's so bad about her husband that she's terrified to the bone about admitting to him that they have a black maid. If he ever finds out, what will he do to Minny? I hope you guys like this and comment and stuff :) yay loud group

Blog Leader (pages 105 through 213 )

Hey guys. So there are some charters in this book that seem very similar to other fiction, movies, TV (tee-vee) shows, or books that are very alike to this book. Do tell what connections in characters you have made. Or that they seem vaguely farmilar to other stories.

For instance, I realized that Miss Hilly, and Abby from The Crucible. They both are liars, and they both want to stay on top of the hep. In Hilly's case she wants to continue being at the top of the social network in Jackson Mississippi, and will do almost anything to do so. In Abby's case she is a little more determined in the sense she will do ANYTHING to stay alive, and get revenge, and get exactly what she wants. They also use their friends as puppets, and get them to be their followers in their web of lies.

The Help (Blog for the week as a response to 1-104)

I think the book is supper good so far. I know there are also a lot of question un answered at the moment. So I was just noticing that there are some "reading between the line questions." Does anyone have any question such as those, and you want someone else's perspective on your question. Or you could just say something that was going though your head at the time, and you wanted to share. Go ahead, and share. :D

The Help

The Help is such a good book. It reminded me of the themes of the assertion essays we did last year. It also made me think if how in my family, we would never use Crisco like Minny does. Then, it was natural to use it, but now, more people know that Crisco is really unhealthy.

The Help (Responce to pages 1-104)

I think that Miss Skeeter is strong, and stands up for what is right, and what she beives in, regardless what people think. She stood up to her childhood friend, Miss Hilly saying, "Maybe we ought to just build you a bathroom outside Hilly." When Miss Hilly was talking about the "The Home Help Sanitation Initiative" Miss Skeeter was not afraid to speak her mind, and say that is not okay. Black and white are equal, they are not dogs, who go to the bathroom out side.
After their conversation, Miss Skeeter apologized to Aibileen, because she knew that she herd there conversation, and it was not a good one for a black maid to hear.
Miss Skeeter is a strong, and confident person.

Jackson MS...whoops

if anyone cares...

Hey giiiirrrrrllllieeeeees :D What be up?! this is soooooo easy ! yayayayayayay!!!!!

heyy all this is an awesome site. the book is awesome my favorite character is skeeter. BEST GROUP EVER!!!!!!!!!! :D

The help is AWESOMEEEE

So far i reallly realllllyyyy like the help! I think my favorite character is Minny she's so cool and so strong. She's a real women! haha. But, tell me, who's your favorite character?! Also, i think that Ms. Hilly needs to shut her face because she's really bothering me.

Yes, Wordpress is annoying

It made me feel like this guy.

But Blogger makes me feel like this:

The Help!

Let's use a blog software that we can all actually understand!