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To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird. “A novel of strong contemporary national significance” –Chicago Tribune. Mockingbird background. 2001 – One Book, One Chicago.

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To Kill A Mockingbird

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  1. To Kill A Mockingbird “A novel of strong contemporary national significance” –Chicago Tribune

  2. Mockingbird background 2001 – One Book, One Chicago “…when people speak their minds and bring to discussion their own varieties of experience, when they receive respect for their opinions and the good will of their fellows, things change. It is as if life itself takes on a new compelling clarity, and good things get done.” - Harper Lee

  3. Mockingbird Movie 1962 Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch #34 on the AFI top 100 list

  4. Mockingbird Movie AFI – top 50 movie heroes of all time 5. Will Kane (High Noon) 4. Rick Blaine (Casablanca) 3. James Bond (Lots of films) 2. Indiana Jones (Raiders) 1. Atticus Finch (TKAM)

  5. Harper Lee • Born in 1926 • In Monroeville, Alabama

  6. Monroeville – 7,000 Monroe County – 24,000

  7. Understanding Harper Lee • Since publishing TKAM, Lee has kept to herself, granting only a handful of interviews. The best look into her life, or at least an understanding of her childhood, is the book itself; many aspects of TKAM are autobiographical: • Monroeville served as the model for Maycomb, where the story takes place. • Lee’s friend and next door neighbor, Truman Capote, served as the inspiration for the character Dill. • Lee gave all three of her mother’s names to various characters in the book. • Finally, Lee has stated that Atticus Finch was based largely on her own father.

  8. Why Just One? • For such a talented writer, many people wonder why Lee would only write novel. • When Lee’s cousin asked her that same question, her answer was, “When you have a hit like that, you can’t go anywhere but down.”

  9. A few facts about the book… • Was Harper Lee’s only novel • Set in early 1930’s (starts in 1933) • Published in 1960 • Won Pulitzer Prize in 1961

  10. A few more facts about the book… • Told in first person point of view • Told by a six-year-old girl– believable? • Based on historical events • Written in two main parts • Part one: characterization of Maycomb • Part two: putting Maycomb in motion, or revealing it during a controversial time

  11. What were some of the factors influencing Harper Lee? • Small town life • The influence of neighbors and family members • The Depression • Segregation in the South

  12. The Great Depression • Following a time of false prosperity and speculation in stocks during the 20’s, America’s financial market fell to its knees in the 30’s on October 29, “Black Tuesday”, the day the stock market crashed.

  13. The Great Depression Black Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1929 For a heavily agricultural region like the South, the Great Depression hit especially hard, and drove an already struggling area of the country to the brink of poverty.

  14. The Great Depression By 1932 Stock prices hit 20% of their previous value International trade down 1/2 25-30% of workers unemployed

  15. The Great Depression By 1933 - 11,000 of the 25,000 US banks had failed

  16. The Great Depression In 1933 FDR’s New Deal – new laws and programs designed to: eliminate unemployment control banks and banking support farmers

  17. The Great Depression 1935-1936 More new laws and programs National Labor Relations Board Works Progress Administration Social Security System

  18. Franklin Roosevelt was President who got us out of the Depression “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” -FDR

  19. Social Perspectives • Blacks still considered second-class citizens • “Jim Crow” laws– segregation by law • Menial jobs– fieldhands • Considered lazy and dishonest • Treated harshly • Themes of prejudice (class, gender, race, social)

  20. "Jim Crow" laws barred African Americans from access to employment and to public places such as restaurants, hotels, and other facilities. In the South especially, blacks lived in fear of racially motivated violence.

  21. An example of segregation-water fountains found throughout Southern towns were separate for the races.

  22. Brown vs. Board of Education desegregates schools 1954 Central H.S. in Little Rock, AK desegregated. National Guard keeps order 1957 1955 Emmett Till killed for talking to a white woman Montgomery, AL Bus Boycott 1960 First of many lunch counter sit-ins To Kill a Mockingbird published

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