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To Kill a Mockingbird. Everyone’s a learner … . Day One…. Scout’s first day of school was in 1933 and things didn’t go well. Her teacher didn’t like Scout being confident. Have a look at how each individual reacted to the issue. Differing points of view. Learning about school ….
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To Kill a Mockingbird Everyone’s a learner …
Day One… • Scout’s first day of school was in 1933 and things didn’t go well. Her teacher didn’t like Scout being confident. Have a look at how each individual reacted to the issue.
Learning about school … • Read the chapter relating Scout’s first day at school. • What are the main topics of discussion in the classroom? • What are the things that upset Scout? • How does Atticus react when he hears Scout declare that she is done with school and didn’t need to go back?
The author as our teacher … • Harper Lee is, by describing this incident, opening a discussion about the education at the time. • How do children learn? • Who should teach them? • Scout’s learning is our learning – what did Scout learn on her first day at school?
What is Harper Lee’s message? • To Kill a Mockingbird, is considered to be a social commentary - the author was telling a story to make a comment about a society’s beliefs and values. • Part of studying this novel is to understand what the author wants the reader to think and change. • ACTIVITY – Research Harper Lee on the internet.
In the Beginning… • In this lesson you will learn about the importance of the first chapter of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, in introducing the main characters and providing a context to the text. • The first chapter of any novel is important. It is the ‘hook’ that draws the reader in and it sets up the story. It is similar to the opening sequence of a movie where you learn the information that you need to understand the: • narrator • main character(s) • setting • atmosphere. • By the end of the chapter, you are likely to know what the ‘catalyst’ is. What has happened that means that the characters have to react and ‘change’?
The story begins with Jem’s broken arm: ‘When he was nearly thirteen my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow...His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right;’ (Chpt 1) We are taken to the end – this is called a circular structure.
Understanding the setting • The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, first published in 1960, • is still a best seller today and • is widely studied by high school students in many countries around the world. • has been a controversial novel that has been, at times, banned in some parts of USA. Harper Lee is a mysterious author. She has not written another novel since To Kill a Mockingbird, has rarely talked about her novel and declines most interviews.
At the time To Kill a Mockingbird was written and published (late 1950s – early 1960s) the Black Civil Rights movement in USA was developing strength. Like the Civil Rights movement, Lee’s novel presents ideas of justice and equality. • Lee set the story in the 1930s, Alabama. The story was inspired by a similar case in Monroeville, Lee’s home town. It was also inspired by other cases of injustice of the time – The Scottsboro Boys and Emmett Till.
