...Throughout Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, family is used to set extreme examples of how families react during times of incredible hardship. In doing this, Harper Lee solidifies the important role that family has to play in the story of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird.’ By making each family represent a quality, whether it be positive or negative, Harper Lee creates a world with feels real to the reader, and hammers home all the points that she is trying to make. Specifically, Lee uses the Finch family, the Ewelle Family, and the Black Community, to emphasize the importance of family within the novel. In ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ the Finch family is used as a pillar for how to be an exemplary American in the town of Maycomb. The Finch family represents...
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...THE GLENCOE LITERATURE LIBRARY Study Guide for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee i Meet Harper Lee at the same university. In 1949, however, she withdrew and moved to New York City with the goal of becoming a writer. While working at other jobs, Lee submitted stories and essays to publishers. All were rejected. An agent, however, took an interest in one of her short stories and suggested she expand it into a novel. By 1957 she had finished a draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. A publisher to whom she sent the novel saw its potential but thought it needed reworking. With her editor, Lee spent two and a half more years revising the manuscript. By 1960 the novel was published. In a 1961 interview with Newsweek magazine, Lee commented: Writing is the hardest thing in the world, . . . but writing is the only thing that has made me completely happy. To Kill a Mockingbird was an immediate and widespread success. Within a year, the novel sold half a million copies and received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Within two years, it was turned into a highly acclaimed film. Readers admire the novel’s sensitive and probing treatment of race relations. But, equally, they enjoy its vivid account of childhood in a small rural town. Summing up the novel’s enduring impact in a 1974 review, R. A. Dave called To Kill a Mockingbird . . . a movingly human drama of the jostling worlds—of children and adults, of innocence and experience, of kindness and cruelty, of love and hatred, of humor...
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...“To Kill a Mocking Bird”: Teaching Tolerance Through Empathy Mary Ellyn Fogarty December 8, 2012 America in the mid 1950’s and 1960’s was undergoing a profound social metamorphosis. Events such as, in 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, with the Supreme Court ruling public school segregation illegal, which many believe sparked the civil rights era, in 1956 Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, “precipitating the Montgomery bus boycott, led by Martin Luther King Jr.” (To Kill a Mockingbird: Civil Rights Era, 2012), in 1957 federal troops were sent to Little rock Arkansas to protect nine African American students who were going white high school, per the court ordered desegregation of school, were challenging and for some forcing the way in which Americans lived, their beliefs and their treatment of African Americans that had been indoctrinated into their consciousness from the time they were born and many did not understand why this treatment was inappropriate, prejudice and unconstitutional. For some these changes were viewed as not an intrusion or criticism of their way of life but as...
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...protagonists in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, must endure this evolution with the help of their father. Atticus, an honest and righteous...
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...To Kill a Mockingbirdwas first challenged in Eden Valley, Minnesota, in nineteen seventy-seven (Banned,1). The book was challenged at Park Hill, Missouri, in a middle school for containing a bunch of racial slurs. It was challenged in Bentwood, Tennessee, middle school for also using the n-word. It was retained in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, for using the n-word. Black parents in Casa Grande, Arizona protested against the book in an elementary school district. It was banned from Lindale, Texas because the book “conflicted with the values of the community.” The book was banned from classrooms and other schools in Accomack, Virginia (Allen,1). In Accomack County, there are about 5,000 kids in their schools and about thirty-seven percent consists of blacks. Schools in Warren, Illinois, said the book To Kill a Mockingbird does “psychological damage to the positive integration process” (Banned,1). According to the Vernon Verona Sherrill, New York school district, To Kill a Mockingbird is a “filthy, trashy novel.” To Kill a Mockingbirdwas...
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...‘It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.’ (Chapter 11, p 111) ------------------------------------------------- Discuss the various ways in which Harper Lee explores the concept of courage in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. One of the central issues in Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird is the idea of courage and the very different ways it can be displayed. As each character face their own journeys with courage, not only does the reader learn that even the smallest, most subtle acts of courage make a difference, but Scout and Jem’s idea of true courage is challenged as their minds mature and develop. Atticus and Mrs Dubose play a large part in this for Jem, as he distinguishes the difference between physical courage and emotional courage; while the court case of Tom Robinson teaches Scout how moral courage is sometimes hard to find in Maycomb, however it is the most important type of courage to have. Firstly, during the orientation of the novel Scout and Jem both have an attitude that the only form of courage is physical; as in being able to use a gun or win a fight. Jem believes that Atticus is less of other fathers as ‘He did not do the things our schoolmates’ fathers did: he never went hunting, he did not play poker or fish or drink or smoke. He sat in the livingroom and read’ – in short, believing Atticus was lacking courage. Atticus somewhat reaches his son’s expectations...
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...The book that I chose to read is by Harper Lee, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ The novel’s setting features the Deep South and envelops an intense portrayal of prejudice and race narrated through a little girl’s eyes. Filled with impressive evocations of American life at the peak of the Great Depression that shook the nation in the 1930s, whilst also underpinned by caring and moral susceptibility, the novel proofs as both an excellent rendering of a particular place and time as well as an all-inclusive tale of how old and wicked perceptions can be triumphed by understanding. It was published by J.B Lippincott in New York in 1960 (Topham, 2018). ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has received both positive and negative feedbacks from a wide audience of readers. However, over the past few decades, the book has been challenged by most learning institutions as well as readers which have led to its ban and censorship from several learning institutions. The objective of this paper is to establish why the book has been challenged. As a classic novel, Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ received the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. Although it has been considered a classic literature by several readers, the novel still remains in the top list of the banned books. The novel’s profanity, racial content, and its references to rape have provoked many...
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...write stories which are a reflection of the attitudes and the norms of their time and contemporary Southern fiction reflects this. The southern part of the United States has always had a large percentage of people of African descent living there. At the beginning of the twentieth century, two states actually had an African-American majority; South Carolina and Mississippi. However, the White community was, and still is the socially and economically dominant group and this can be seen in much of Southern contemporary. Several aspects of race were explored by various authors and they include: Racist words against blacks Contemporary Southern fiction frequently contained a lot of racist words, lines and dialogue. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird,...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird, by Nelle Haper Lee was published in 1960, after the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education and during a time of increasing civil rights unrest (Johnson). It was also a time of great social change in the United States, and a novel about the racial injustices of 1930s Alabama carried a powerful message to its readers. After the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, literature and literacy were used to expose and educate on racial injustice (Prendergrast 2). The dominant theme of the novel is prejudice and ultimately the courage needed to overcome prejudice. There are three main types of prejudice that are explored in the novel; racial prejudice, social prejudice and fear of the unknown. Racial prejudice is present throughout the novel in the people of Maycomb’s everyday life, as it is a novel set in the ‘deep south’ of America in the 1930’s. This period is not so long after the American civil war, so slavery’s abolishment had occurred not all that long ago, and the horror of slavery was still on the mind of many black people at the time (Brundage 86). Because of this, most people’s attitudes towards black people had not changed very much. The situation that shows the best examples of racial prejudice is the trial of Tom Robinson. In his trial, Tom Robinson is misjudged and mistreated because he is black. One of the clearest examples of this is the way in which Mr. Gilmer, Tom’s prosecutor, calls Tom “boy.” He uses a tone of voice towards...
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...28/6/2011 In what ways does Harper Lee engage your sympathies for Tom Robinson during the trial? During the trial, Harper Lee makes the reader become sympathetic towards Tom Robinson due to many techniques, for example she paints a picture of him as being incapable of doing such a crime due to him being handicapped. Lee illustrates that Tom Robinson is not capable of committing a crime that could cost him his life when we first meet him. This is at the beginning of the trial when Tom takes the oath and tries to place his ‘rubber-like left hand’ on the bible but it slips off. Tom tries again but the same thing happens. The reader’s sympathy is engaged here as they can clearly see that Tom is incapable of taking Mayella Ewell around the neck and raping her. As well as being physically handicapped, Tom has a handicap that he has no control over, his skin colour. Harper Lee Makes the reader feel sorry for Tom Robinson before he has even given his testimony so that the readers see the rest of the trial through sympathetic eyes towards Tom. The reader feels that Tom Robinson is being accused by a bunch of rough people, the Ewells. The examples of the Ewells being rough compared to Tom is shown through their speech. Tom’s dialogue is very respectful towards Atticus and Mayella, this is shown when he testifies and says ‘Miss Mayella, Sir’. The exact opposite can be said for the Ewells, when Mayella loses her temper and describes Atticus and the other...
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...Of all the characters that I’ve “met” through books and movies, two stand out as people that I most want to emulate. They are Attacus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird and Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham from Field of Dreams. They appeal to me because they embody what I strive to be. They are influential people in small towns who have a direct positive effect on those around them. I, too, plan to live in a small town after graduating from college, and that positive effect is something I must give in order to be satisfied with my life. Both Mr. Finch and Dr. Graham are strong supporting characters in wonderful stories. They symbolize good, honesty, and wisdom. When the story of my town is written I want to symbolize those things. The base has been formed for me to live a productive, helpful life. As an Eagle Scout I represent those things that Mr. Finch and Dr. Graham represent. In the child/adolescent world I am Mr. Finch and Dr. Graham, but soon I’ll be entering the adult world, a world in which I’m not yet prepared to lead. I’m quite sure that as teenagers Attacus Finch and Moonlight Graham often wondered what they could do to help others. They probably emulated someone who they had seen live a successful life. They saw someone like my grandfather, 40-year president of our hometown bank, enjoy a lifetime of leading, sharing, and giving. I have seen him spend his Christmas Eves taking gifts of food and joy to indigent families. Often when his bank could not justify a loan...
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...Of all the characters that I’ve “met” through books and movies, two stand out as people that I most want to emulate. They are Attacus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird and Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham from Field of Dreams. They appeal to me because they embody what I strive to be. They are influential people in small towns who have a direct positive effect on those around them. I, too, plan to live in a small town after graduating from college, and that positive effect is something I must give in order to be satisfied with my life. Both Mr. Finch and Dr. Graham are strong supporting characters in wonderful stories. They symbolize good, honesty, and wisdom. When the story of my town is written I want to symbolize those things. The base has been formed for me to live a productive, helpful life. As an Eagle Scout I represent those things that Mr. Finch and Dr. Graham represent. In the child/adolescent world I am Mr. Finch and Dr. Graham, but soon I’ll be entering the adult world, a world in which I’m not yet prepared to lead. I’m quite sure that as teenagers Attacus Finch and Moonlight Graham often wondered what they could do to help others. They probably emulated someone who they had seen live a successful life. They saw someone like my grandfather, 40-year president of our hometown bank, enjoy a lifetime of leading, sharing, and giving. I have seen him spend his Christmas Eves taking gifts of food and joy to indigent families. Often when his bank could not justify a...
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...In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch displays many characteristics that impact his children and community. Of the many characteristics, his integrity, respect, and reliability are just a few of his strongest qualities. He displayed each of these daily, and his actions had a strong effect on others. He showed his integrity by defending Tom Robinson. In a southern community during the 1930s, it was unheard of for a white lawyer to defend a black man, but Atticus ignored the prejudice and did what was morally right. He did not see his actions as a big deal, for he was only doing what was right and said, “I’m simply defending a negro—his name’s Tom Robinson… if I didn't [defend him] I couldn't hold up my head in town. I couldn't represent this...
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...react to certain circumstances. Friendship is one of the many qualities that people have, but it also goes along with playing a significant role in order to keep a family together. We already know that both subjects have a momentous affect on us all, but do we really come to realise what they actually mean to us as an individual? Paragraph 1 : Our outlook on things, and how we recognise our own beliefs is clearly linked to the personalities and values of others. ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ displays a thorough understanding of family and friendship. As the majority of the novel is based around the Finch family, we come to see the moral education that Atticus teaches Jem and Scout. His morals about life, and coming together with different races astounds both children, but they do eventually grasp the idea of Atticus being like this. He evidently expresses that you “can’t really get to know a person until you get in their shoes and walk around in them.” When parents teach the right morals and beliefs to their children, it creates a positive atmosphere for everyone that you’re around. I know that when my parents teach me the right morals, I take their view into consideration. It may clash with my own perceptions, but I would then have a distinct perspective on things. You tend to see the difference to those who are taught the right morals, to those who aren’t. But by being taught this, we see a change in different personalities, and how one person, or many people can effect our beliefs...
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...Teacher and Author: Teaching Middle and High School Using Literature Sandra Coleman Grand Canyon University RGD 545 Professor Karen Foster February 27, 2008 Teaching Middle and High School Student Using Literature Outline: I. Short Stories a) Activating Prior Knowledge b) Responding to the Selection c) Short Story Selections 1. Suggested Activities to use with Various Groups II. Oral Tradition Literature – Tall Tales and Folktales a) Analyze characteristics and plots of Folktales and Tall Tales b) Understanding Hyperbole c) Writing a Tall Tale d) Selections of Oral Tradition Literature III. Novel Studies a) Previewing the novel b) Defining and Understanding Elements of c) Character Analysis d) Problems and Solutions of the story IV. Historical Fiction a) Activating background/prior knowledge b) Setting a purpose for reading c) Writing about historical fiction V. Realistic Fiction a) Evaluating Realistic Fiction b) Responding to the selection c) Distinguishing between Fact and Opinion d) Summarizing the Story Chapter 1 – Short Stories: A short story is, like the name...
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