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To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 1960

To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 1960. Predict:. The Mockingbird.

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To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 1960

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  1. To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 1960

  2. Predict: The Mockingbird • NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD - Mimus polyglottos Description: The Northern Mockingbird, a medium-sized songbird, is dull gray above with paler underparts. The white outer tail feathers of the long tail and white wing patches are visible in flight. Life History: The Northern Mockingbird is the most widely-known songbird in America. It is the state bird of Texas, but perhaps best known for its singing abilities. Not only can it perform 39 species' songs and 50 call notes, but it also can mimic sounds such as that of a barking dog, squeaky hinges, notes from a piano and even a cackling hen, so expertly that even an electronic analysis could not tell the difference between the mockingbird and the original. • “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird”(103). •  Based this information about the mockingbird and the quotation below, speculate on why the author chose this animal in the title of her book.

  3. The Mockingbird Symbolism: The mockingbird comes to represent true goodness and purity. The novel explores what can happen when an innocent being encounters evil in society.

  4. Theme: Definition • The general ideas about life that the author wants to communicate to his/her readers.

  5. RACISM • A belief that some races are by nature superior to others; also: discrimination based on such belief • All forms of racism come from the inability to see that one who looks, talks, and acts differently from oneself is fundamentally the same as every other human.

  6. STEREOTYPE/STEREOTYPING • Something agreeing with a pattern; especially: an idea that many people have about a thing or a group that may often be untrue or only partly true. • Fixed mental picture that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment. • To prejudge someone as belonging to a certain type. • Race • Social Status • Gender • Age

  7. Stereotypes • What is Lee saying regarding stereotypes? • What is the nature of a stereotype? • How do our ideas of stereotypes form? • What are the effects/results of stereotyping? • Women and Femininity • The Southern Woman • Social Inequality

  8. PREJUDICE • An opinion made without adequate basis • A judgment formed before acquaintance with the facts. • The history of race in America is based on drawing distinctions for the purpose of discrimination.

  9. Prejudice/Racism and Equality • What is Lee saying regarding the effects of prejudice and racism and the importance of equality?

  10. Intolerance • Inability or unwillingness to endure people or situations that are different or unusual • Unwillingness to grant equality, freedom, or other social rights: bigoted Perspective • To gain insight into other people's perspectives on life and the world broadens moral education and social understanding

  11. How do we “learn”? What causes intolerance, racism, prejudice, stereotyping? • Family • Society • Ignorance/fear

  12. Justice/Injustice and Judgment • The administration of what is just (as by assigning merited rewards or punishments) • Can a justice system overcome the biases of the individuals who carry it out?

  13. Courage/Heroism • What is Lee saying/showing us regarding courage? • What does it take to be a hero? • Which characters show real courage? • In what ways? • Which characters are true heroes? • Is there a difference between “courage” and “bravery?”

  14. Education Conflict between institutionalized education and education in the home. What does Lee say about the sources of education? Where is the best education to be had?

  15. Other Themes • Morality and Ethics; Are morals a matter of community standards or individual conscience? • Fear: What does fear make people do? • Family: Can children escape becoming their parents? • Compassion and Forgiveness: How does one manage compassion for people when they are undeserving?

  16. Genre:Coming of Age • Bildungsroman- a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main characters: Focus-Scout and Jem’s growth from innocence to maturity. • What does Lee say about growing up? • What life-changing experiences enable Scout and/or Jem to “grow up?” • How does their understanding of the world change?

  17. Southern Gothic Sub-genre of the Gothic style popular in Europe in the 1800’s: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dracula by Bram Stoker Unique to American Literature: relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot; uses these to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American South

  18. Background • Takes classic Gothic archetypes, such as the monster or the heroic knight, and turns them into American Southerners • A spiteful, reclusive spinster, an uneducated drunk • A quiet, wise lawyer Most notable feature is the “grotesque” • A character whose negative qualities allow the author to highlight unpleasant aspects in Southern culture • Something in the town that is falling apart

  19. HISTORICAL SETTING • Pre-Civil Rights South • Great Depression- 1930’s • Hitler’s rise (1930’s) +World War II

  20. Pre-Civil Rights South • Racial Segregation • Jim Crow Laws • Ku Klux Klan • Scottsboro Trial

  21. Great Depression • Oct. 29, 1929- Stock Market Crash • Bank failures • Midwest Dust Bowl- 1/3 of population farmers • Unemployment • Homelessness-”Hoovervilles” • Starvation • Photographer-Dorothea Lange

  22. World War II • Rise of Hitler’s Regime: racism and prejudice

  23. HARPER LEE • Semi-autobiographical • author = character SCOUT • Born in Alabama in 1926/ 1927 • Monroeville = Maycomb • Father was a lawyer • Family related to Robert E. Lee • Pulitzer Prize in 1961

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