To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee

1. To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” -Atticus Finch "God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes 'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues. Then you really might know what it's like" -Everlast

2. “Mockingbirds don’t do anything 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.”

3. "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." In the final section of the novel, two characters are compared to the mockingbird. Why is the mockingbird an appropriate symbol for these two characters?

4. SETTING The setting is in Maycomb, Alabama during the early twentieth century (1930s). Due to the Great Depression, poverty is a subject that affects many. Instead of using this as a binding theme, the people in the town use it as an element of separation. Prejudice of every sort runs rampant throughout the town. As you read, determine what was it like to live in a small southern town in the 1930’s. Also, notice the social status of characters.

5. The Great Depression • Millions of Americans lost their jobs. • Many people lost their homes, their land, and their dignity. • They lived in flimsy shacks and stood in bread lines to receive government handouts of food. • At the start of the Great Depression, about half of the African American population lived in the South. • Racial tensions increased during this time. • In Alabama, as in other southern states, segregation was a way of life.

6. The Scottsboro Trials • March 1931 nine African American youths were arrested and charged with raping two white women. • In spite of evidence of the men’s innocence, eight of the nine men were found guilty and sentenced to death. By 1937, after several appeals, four of the defendants were freed, while the others were sentenced to long prison terms. • The Scottsboro trials share several similarities with the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird.

7. Helpful Website To Kill a Mockingbird Student Survival Guide: http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Belmont_HS/tkm/

8. Chapter One Vocabulary • Jem's fears of never being able to play football were assuaged...(p. 7)." • "All we had was Simon Finch, a fur-trading apothecaryfrom Cornwall whose piety was exceeded only by his stinginess (p. 8)." • "In England, Simon was irritated by the persecution of those who called themselves Methodists at the hands of their more liberal brethren(p.8)..." • "Mindful of John Wesley's strictures...(p. 8)" • "So Simon, having forgotten his teacher's dictum on the possession of human chattels, bought three slaves...(p. 8)." • Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance between the North and the South...(p. 8)." • "She married a taciturnman...(p. 9)." • "Atticus's office in the courthouse contained little more than a hat rack, a spittoon, a checkerboard and an unsulliedCode of Alabama (p. 9)." • "The Haverfords...were impudent enough to do it in the presence of three witnesses...(p. 9)." • "They ambled across the square...(p. 10)." • "But by the end of August our repertoire was vapid from countless reproductions...(p. 12)." • "Rain-rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda...(p. 13)." • The remains of a picket drunkenly guarded the front yard...(p. 13)." • "Inside the house lived a malevolentphantom (p. 13)." • "The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb(p. 13)." • "...ladies wore corsets...(p. 14)." • "...an enormous and confusing tribe domiciled in the northern part of the county...(p. 14)." • "...Maycomb's ancient beadle, Mr. Conner... (p. 14)." • "So Jem received most of his information from Miss Stephanie Crawford, a neighborhood scold...(p. 15)." • "Mr. Radley's posture was ramrod straight (p. 16)." • "...not waiting to see if his foray was successful (p. 19).

9. Chapter One Vocabulary Definitions • assuaged (vb.): to assuage is to lessen or to calm. Therefore, if Jem's fears about being able to play football were assuaged, it means that he no longer feared that he wouldn't be able to play the sport. • beadle (n.): a minor city official, lower in rank than either a sheriff or a policeman, whose main duties revolve around preserving order at various civil functions such as trials and town hall meetings. • brethren (n.): in this case, members of a particular church or sect • corsets (n): a corset is a ladies undergarment designed to produce a particular effect on the figure. That effect usually results in a slim (or slimmer) waist and larger busts and hips, like the woman in this picture. • dictum (n.): in this case, a formal statement of principle • domiciled (vb.): A domicile is a house or a place where a person lives. If you are domiciled somewhere, that is where you live. The Finch family lived in the northern part of the county. • eaves (n.): the lower edges of a roof which usually project beyond the side of a building • foray (n.): When you make a foray, you go somewhere or do something that is unusual or not normal for you. It was certainly not Jem's usual behavior to go near the Radley house; thus, doing so was a foray for him. • human chattels (n.): slaves • impotent (adj.): powerless. Simon's fury and anger regarding the Civil Warwould certainly have been impotent because there would have been nothing he could have done about it. • impudent (adj.): To be impudent is to be shamelessly bold, as if you don't care what anyone thinks about you. Since the Haverfords did something illegal in front of witnesses, Lee rightfully describes them as impudent. • malevolent (adj.): evil • Methodists (n): members of a branch of a Protestant Christian denomination. Find out more about the United Methodist Church. • picket (n): a pointed or sharpened pole or stake. Many pickets held together can make a picket fence. • piety (n): devotion to religious duties and practices • predilection (n.): a predilection is a preference, or a preferred way of doing something. Thus, the Radley's preferred way of spending a Sunday afternoon was to keep the doors closed and not receive visitors • ramrod (adj.): rigid, severe, straight • repertoire was vapid: (n. + adj.): a repertoire is all the special skills a person has; vapid, in this case, means boring or uninteresting. So, when Scout says that their repertoire was vapid, she means that the games they had invented to pass the time had become old and had lost their interest. • scold (n.): A scold is a person who scolds; that is, someone who often finds fault with people or things (and usually lets you know about it under no uncertain terms) • spittoon (n.): a jarlike container to spit into; usually used to spit tobacco juice into. See apicture of a spittoon. • strictures (n.): conditions or rules • taciturn (adj.): almost always silent. Apparently, Aunt Alexandra's husband was a very quiet man. • unsullied (adj.): something that is unsullied has been basically untouched or unused. The fact that Atticus's edition of the Code of Alabama is unsullied would, in this case, indicate that he seldom consults this book. • veranda (n): a portico or porch with a roof

10. Allusions • A reference in a literary work to a well-known character, person, place, event, phrase, or another work of literature. • Allusions are often used to summarize broad, complex ideas or emotions in one quick, powerful image • The relevance is not explained by the writer, but relies on the readers’ familiarity with what is mentioned. • The technique of allusion is an economical means of calling upon the history or the literary tradition that author and reader are assumed to share. • The writer assumes will recognize the reference. • Many allusions in literature are biblical in nature. For example, naming a character “Eve.” • Describing someone as a "Romeo" makes an allusion to William Shakespeare's famous young lover in Romeo and Juliet. (Indirect)

11. Allusions in Chapter One • Andrew Jackson: 7th President of the United States (1829-1837). Find out more about Andrew Jackson. • Battle of Hastings: a decisive battle in the Norman Conquests of England in 1066. Find out more about the Battle of Hastings. • Cornwall: a country at the southwest tip of England. Find Cornwall on a map of the United Kingdom. • disturbance between the North and the South: The Civil War (1861-1865) Find out more about the Civil War. • Dracula: the 1931 film version of the famous vampire story. See a storyboard from the film. • flivver: another name for a Model-T Ford. • Jamaica: an island country in the West Indies, south of Cuba. See a map of Jamaica. • John Wesley: (1702-1791) Founder of the Methodist Church. See a picture of John Wesley. • Meridian, Mississippi: Meridian is a city in east Mississippi. Find it on a map of Mississippi. • Merlin: King Arthur's adviser, prophet and magician. See a picture of Merlin and a picture of Merlin with the baby Arthur. • Mobile: a city in southwest Alabama. Find Mobile on a map of Alabama. • no money to buy it with: an allusion to the Great Depression. Find out about the stock market crashthat led to the Depression, and see a timeline for the Great Depression. • nothing to fear but fear itself: an allusion to President Franklin D. Roosevelt'sfirst Inaugural Address. Readthe speech. • Pensacola: a city in northwest Florida. Find Pensacola on a map of Florida. • Philadelphia: a city in southeast Pennsylvania. Find Philadelphia on a map of Pennsylvania. • stumphole whiskey: illegally made and sold whiskey that would be hidden in the holes of tree stumps. • Tuscaloosa: a city in central Alabama. Find Tuscaloosa on a map of Alabama.

12. USING THE WEBSITE TO LOOK-UP ALLUSIONS"...the boys backed around the square in a borrowed flivver...(p. 14)." • flivver: another name for a Model-T Ford. • Model-T Ford (on blocks): The Model-T (also known as a "tin Lizzie" or a "flivver") was Henry Ford's first popular success. Originally produced in 1909, it was affordable and relatively reliable. See a picture of a 1926 Model-T coupe and find out more about the history of the Model-T Ford. A car is put up on blocks for two main reasons: either it no longer has any tires, or the owner can't afford to drive it and putting it on blocks saves the tires from the damage caused by having to carry the weight of the car.

13. IDIOMS: Up to your neck in debt? Or perhaps you are more fortunate. Maybe you are head over heels in love? Laughing all the way to the bank? Perhaps the world is your oyster.  In any case you are clearly suffering from an excess of IDIOMS An expression whose meaning is different from the meaning of the individual words Often an idiom, such as “under the weather,” does not seem to make sense if taken literally. Someone unfamiliar with English idioms would probably not understand that to be “under the weather” is to be sick.

14. Flashback Using a literary technique called flashback, Lee interrupts Scout’s chronological narrative to reach back in time and enhance and amplify the story with prior events. As you read, examine Harper Lee’s use of flashback.

15. Point of View To Kill a Mockingbird is told from a first-person point of view-that is, the narrator uses “I” and “me” to describe events in the novel. Although the narrator is an adult Scout Finch looking back at her childhood, the perspective is limited to what she saw and felt at the time. Scout recalls childhood events with an adult vocabulary.

16. Conflict • At the heart of every novel is conflict, the struggle between two opposing forces. In an external conflict, a character struggles against some outside force, such as another person, nature society or fate. An internal conflict is a struggle between two opposing thoughts or desires within the mind of a character.

17. Themes: By the end of the novel, try to develop theme statements based on the following categories: *Appearance vs. Reality *Racism & Acceptance/ Prejudice vs. Tolerance *Good & Evil *Innocence & Experience What does this novel reveal about human nature?

18. To Kill a Mockingbird-Movie Trailer • http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2330093?htv=12

19. DID YOU KNOW? • Harper Lee based her character Dill upon the famous actor and author, Truman Capote, who lived next door to Harper. Truman was raised by his cousins in a similar manner as Dill. Truman is famous for his works In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany's. • Harper Lee is a descendant of Robert E. Lee. • Ewell is an old form of the word e-v-i-l, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.