To+Kill+a+Mockingbird

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Harper Lee wrote //To Kill a Mockingbird// during a very tense time racially in her home state of Alabama. The South was still segregated, forcing blacks to use separate facilities apart from those used by whites, in almost every aspect of society.

Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama in 1926. She was 34 when the book was published. She won the Pulitzer Prize for this book. She is a descendent of the Civil War Robert E. Lee. The character of Atticus is apparently based on her father, who practiced law in Monroeville. She studied law before she turned to writing. Her book has also been made into an Oscar-winning film. //To Kill a Mockingbird// has remained her only novel. In 2007, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush.

Harper Lee's novel, //To Kill a Mockingbird,// is one of the best-selling books in the nation's history. Within one year after publication, //To Kill a Mockingbird// sold over a half-million copies and has never been out of print. Now it has over 15 million copies in print translated into forty languages. The novel challenges our stereotypes - of the Southerner, of the African-American, the "lady," the eccentric, and the child. Thematically, //To Kill a Mockingbird// deals with racism, an issue that has challenged our society's finest minds an hearts almost from the beginning of our American story. As a historical novel, it provides opportunities to get a glimpse of American history - the decade of the 1930s. A factual view reveals a reflection of 1935 small-town Alabama. An issue-centered view centers on the differences between 1935 Alabama - the year in which the book is set - and a 1960 entry into the decade of Civil Rights activism - the year the book was published.


 * You will soon meet Atticus who gives his daughter, Scout, some wise advice: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of viewuntil you climb into his skin and walk around in it."**

The three major themes of the novel are: 1. Courage - What is courage? Types of courage: physical, moral, intellectual 2. Prejudice - Types of prejudice: racial, class, gender. Can we challenge ourselves to stand in someone else's shoes? 3. Growing up - Passing from the innocence and isolation of a child's world to participation in society. What are childhood fears? What are society's fears? How do we find our place in life? What role does formal education have in our society?

Plot: The conflict of Humanity and Society There are two parallel plots. The first part deals with the neighborhood recluse, Boo Radley. The second part of the novel centers on Atticus's defense of Tom Robinson, a black man on trial for the rape of a white woman.

Setting: Place: The fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Time: 1933-1935

Point of View: The narrator is Atticus Finch's daughter, nicknamed Scout, an immensely intelligent and observant child. She starts the story when she is six and relates many of her experiences, usual interests of a child, and events which break the sheltered world of childhood. Her mother is dead and she tries to keep pace with her older brother Jem.  =Assignments:= You are about to read the novel, //To Kill a Mockingbird//. The story is set in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus Finch is asked to defend a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Through the young eyes of his children, Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930’s. The consciousness of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the quiet heroism of one man’s struggle for justice. To best understand the lessons of this great novel, you must first understand the author, the times, and the place in which the story is set.

[|To Kill a Mockingbird SURVIVAL GUIDE]

Another teacher's wikispace for TKAM

CHECK THE HOMEWORK CALENDAR ALSO

Jim Crow Laws
Assigned Monday, January 4, due Wednesday, January 6. Jim Crow Laws Assignment

Visual Literacy
Assigned Wednesday, January 6 - in the computer lab BRING YOUR FLASH DRIVE ON WEDNESDAY, you will finish this assignment at home. Due Friday, January 8

Going Back in Time
Assigned Monday, January 11 - due Tuesday, January 12 To learn more about The Great Depression please complete the "Going Back in Time" handout. Please use the following website to find all of your answers. The Great Depression Timeline

Scottsboro Boys Trial
Assigned Friday, January 22 - due Wednesday, January 27 This wiki research activity will familiarize you with the famous Scottsboro Boys Trial. This trial was going on when Harper Lee was a young girl. This case parallels the Tom Robinson case in To Kill a Mockingbird. //@Scottsboro Trials//

Vocabulary


For the //To Kill a Mockingbird// vocabulary words, **in your literature spiral**, you will first define the words, and then as we read the chapters you will add the sentence from the book to the vocabulary definition pages (save three lines after the definition to add the sentence from the book).

There will be ongoing vocabulary tests based on the words and the definitions on either the wiki "@TKAM Vocabulary Definitions" page, or if the words have an * after them, the definitions on the "//To Kill a Mockingbird Survival Guide// " website. Sentences from the book also may be included on the vocabulary tests.


 * I recommend that you go on the Merriam Webster’s online dictionary to hear the correct pronunciation of the words. **

I will assign the chapters to define in class, but here is the basic schedule. Please see the board in class and Edline for the chapter due dates.

Remember, you will add the sentences as we read the chapters. Please leave room in your spiral for the sentences.

Define Chapter 1-5 words by Monday, January 11.

Define Chapter 6-11 words by Tuesday, January 19.

Define Chapter 12-16 words by Wednesday, January 27.

Define Chapter 17-31 words by Tuesday, February 2.

Study Guide Questions
Distributed in class.