Melanie

(green font = after book was finished)
== Plot - S o far, the book has been about the murder of Mantoli and how Virgil Tibbs is first thought to be a suspect but turns out to be a police officer himself. He is recruited to help solve the murder because of his expertise in homicide investigations and because if he doesn't find the murderer, Gillespie is off the hook. But if he does solve the murder, Gillespie can then take the credit for catching the murderer. The book has also shown just how racist the people living in that time used to be. == == As the book progresses, Sam Wood begins to actually like Virgil. He starts to change from being someone who is very racist to someone who likes and admires Virgil. Bill Gillespie begins to change as well. By the end of the book Gillespie shakes Virgil's hand, which is a big step for a person who was extremely racist and didn't want Virgil in Wells at all in the beginning. Gillespie still hasn't completely stopped being racist, but by shaking Virgil's hand, it shows that he at least accepts Virgil. ==

Setting - T he setting is in the city of Wells, South Carolina. TIME
== Characters - T he three main characters are Bill Gillespie, Virgil Tibbs, and Sam Wood. Bill Gillespie is the chief of police, doesn't like Virgil at all, and wishes that he could just get rid of him. Virgil Tibbs is from California, a homicide expert, and a police officer which, because he has dark skin, makes many people in Wells dislike him and want him to leave. Sam Wood is also a police officer and works under Gillespie. At first, he disliked Virgil along with mostly everyone else, but now that he is getting to know Virgil, I think he is beginning to change his mind about being so racist. == == Bill Gillespie accepts Virgil now and actually slightly likes him. He appreciates Virgil's work on the murder case. In the end, Gillespie didn't take the credit for solving the case; instead, he told everyone the truth: that he didn't solve it, Virgil did. I think Virgil Tibbs is glad that the case is finally over because he can go back to his town, where he can be treated fairly by everyone, unlike being in Wells. Sam Wood started out by disliking Virgil, but by the end of the book he changed his mind. He was brought up to be racist, but now I would say he knows that being racist is wrong. He knows that just because someone doesn't have white skin doesn't mean that that person isn't good. ==

Conflict - there are quite a few different conflicts in the book.
== External - one of them is Virgil against the city of Wells (person vs. society). The majority of the people living in Wells dislikes him because of his skin color. It also doesn't help him that he is educated and very smart, because then some of the people feel that he's 'trying to act like a white man'. ==

I think the majority of Wells still doesn't like Virgil, but since he successfully solved the case and proved that he is a good person, some people have decided that Virgil is okay.
== Another external conflict is Gillespie against Sam Wood (person vs. person). They dislike each other, but Gillespie tends not to show it quite as much as he does with Virgil. I think that Sam thinks Gillespie isn't a very good police chief, and he might even think that he would like to see Virgil beat Gillespie in solving the murder. == == I would say that Sam has maybe accepted Gillespie a little more because Gillespie himself has accepted Virgil. When Sam was doubting that being racist is good and Gillespie was completely racist and rude to Virgil, I think he disliked Gillespie more than he does now. == == Internal - an internal conflict is Sam Wood (person vs. self). He isn't completely sure whether or not he likes Virgil Tibbs. At some points in the story, he dislikes Virgil, is mad at him, and wishes he would just leave Wells already. For the most part of the book though, he seems to get along well with Virgil. He is starting to change his mind about always being racist. ==

By the end of the book Sam has mastered his internal conflict and decided that he does like Virgil Tibbs. He knows that being racist isn't right and that Virgil is a good person.
== Point of View - the book is written in the third person, which means a narrative point of view. It tells what happens as if someone was impartially watching the whole thing without telling too many overly-specific details about different people's opinions and thoughts. ==

I still agree that the book is written in the third person.
== Theme - the message that the author is trying to tell everyone that reads the book is racism and discrimination. The way the book was written shows just how racist and unfair everyone was to anyone that didn't have white skin in that time. The author is trying to show to people that everyone should be treated fairly and equally, no matter what they look like, how they act, who they are (their personalities), etc. ==

__1) What have you learned from reading this book? Do you think this is an important book for students to read? Explain. Do you think reading this book could make a change in society? Explain.__
===I have learned a lot about how racist people were in that time. I knew that people then were racist, but I never really thought that it was that bad. It must have been very difficult for Negro people at that time because of how awful they were treated. I can't imagine myself being treated like that just because of my skin color.=== ===Yes, I definitely think that this is an important book for students to read. It really shows how bad racism was then. I knew about racism being bad then, and it opened my eyes to how bad it really was, so for someone who doesn't know about that, it would for sure open their eyes about it as well.=== ===Yes, I do think reading this book could make a change in society. Like I said above, if people who don't understand the racism back then, the book would be very good for them. And if more people read that book and understand what it would be like to be treated like that, it could help everyone to prevent racist behaviour now.===

__2) Do you think reading this book has changed you? Will it affect your life going forward? Does seeing how the characters in the text think and act affect the way you think or act?__
===No, I don't think this book has really changed me. I already agreed before I read the book (and still agree) with the author that racism is bad and unnecessary, so my beliefs didn't change at all about that. The only thing that has slightly changed is my knowledge of how bad racism was back then.=== ===I don't think that reading the book will affect my life except for one thing: That I might be more attuned to when/if racism is happening. I have a better understand of how someone might feel if they were being treated like that, so I think I will try harder to stop racism if I witness it happening.=== ===No, I still think and act the same. Reading it hasn't changed anything about the way I think and act. This is probably because I already had the same opinion as the author about racism before I read the book.===

__3) We all agree that the evil of racism is the main theme of this book. How does the author convey this theme to the reader? (Three ways)__
===i) The first and most obvious way is by showing the readers many examples of the shockingly rude behaviour racist people displayed towards people with dark skin. Instead of just writing that a character said a rude, racist comment, the author actually wrote out what the character said so the readers can get an idea of some of the things that were said to Negro people.=== ===ii) When many white people were extremely racist to black people, they had a lot of stereotypes about black people. Some of them were that they couldn't get good jobs, they couldn't earn lots of money and if they did they couldn't keep it, they were uneducated, and had poor manners. In reality, none of those stereotypes are true. So, to prove that to the readers, the author made the personality of Virgil Tibbs exactly the opposite of those stereotypes. He does have a good job, he does earn a lot of money and does keep it, he is educated, and he is always exceptionally polite to everyone, even if someone is insulting him.=== ===iii) The last way is that the author purposefully made all the racist characters in the book rude, unpleasant, unattractive, and overall not someone the average person would like to be around. This way, the readers associate racist people with rude people, and because a reader wouldn't like a rude person, they wouldn't like a racist person either.===