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Intro to To Kill a Mockingbird

Intro to To Kill a Mockingbird. Mr. Chupak Honors 9 Language Arts 1-18-2011– 1-19-2011. Historical /Social Background. http:// cdn.pastemagazine.com /www/system/images/thumbs/www/articles_2009_11_26/harper_lee_300x481.jpg?1273927322. Historical/Social Background. Scottsboro Trials (1931)

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Intro to To Kill a Mockingbird

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  1. Intro to To Kill a Mockingbird Mr. Chupak Honors 9 Language Arts 1-18-2011– 1-19-2011

  2. Historical/Social Background http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/system/images/thumbs/www/articles_2009_11_26/harper_lee_300x481.jpg?1273927322

  3. Historical/Social Background • Scottsboro Trials (1931) • Nine African-Americans • Between the ages of 12 and 20 • Indicted and tried for raping two white women, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price, while hoboing on a freight train.

  4. Historical/Social Background • Scottsboro Trials (1931) continued • Eight of the young men were sentenced to death in the electric chair. • However: • The women did not have injuries consistent with an attack. • The women did not appear to be under stress. • Those convicted spent no less than 6 years and as many as 19 years in prison.

  5. Historical/Social Background • Scottsboro Trials (1931) continued • Their juries • Entirely white • Their attorneys • Inexperienced • Judges did not give them time to prepare • The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the defendants were denied proper legal representation or due process.

  6. Historical/Social Background • Great Depression (1929-1939) • Stock market crashes on October 29, 1929, “Black Tuesday,” ushering in the Depression. • 1933 • The banking system fundamentally collapses • Unemployment rate rises to 25 percent • 1939 • The U.S. economy begins to bounce back, boosted by manufacturing supplies for the countries fighting the war.

  7. Historical/Social Background • World War II (1939-1945) • Germany invades Poland in 1939, and England and France declare war on Germany, thus starting World War II. • Sunday, December 7, 1941 • The U.S. military officially becomes involved in World War II.

  8. Author BackgroundHarper Lee (1926- ) http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/images/elmockingcont01.jpg

  9. Author Background:Harper Lee (1926- ) • Parents: • Amasa Coleman Lee • Descendant of Confederate General Robert E. Lee • Frances Finch Lee • Both her father and sister practiced law in Monroeville, AL. Her father was also a member of the state legislature. • Her mother rarely left the house because of mental illness (bipolar disorder).

  10. Author Background:Harper Lee (1926- ) • She studied in Oxford, England, and also studied law. • She quit law school six months before completing her degree and moved to New York City. • She was a cousin and close friend of Truman Capote, a noted literary figure and the author of In Cold Blood.

  11. Author Background:Harper Lee (1926- ) • To Kill a Mockingbird • Published in 1960 • Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 • The film • 1962 • Earned 8 Academy Award nominations • Won 4 awards in 1962 • #41 on the American Library Association list of “The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.” • Harper Lee considered herself “more of a rewriter than a writer.”

  12. Literary Devices

  13. Literary Devices • Plot • 3 years of Scout’s childhood from age 6 to 8 (1933-1935) in fictional Maycomb, Alabama • 2 plot strands: • Boo Radley • Trial of Tom Robinson • Point of View • 1st person (Scout) recounts childhood episodes from the perspective of an adult

  14. Literary Devices • Subject/Themes • Striving to reach adulthood • Racial, social, and sexual prejudices • Man’s inhumanity to man • Definition of real courage • Definition of Christian behavior • Most effective learning takes place through life experiences • Superstition is a result of ignorance and fear

  15. Literary Devices • Symbols • Used to represent abstract ideas or concepts • Objects • Characters • Figures • Colors

  16. Literary Devices • Irony • When what we expect to happen is in fact the opposite of what really does take place • Example: Calpurnia’s church • Foreshadowing • The use of clues to hint at events that will happen later in the plot • Examples: • Jem’s broken arm • The reclusive Boo Radley

  17. Literary Devices • Foils • A contrasting character • Gothic • A style of literature featuring supernatural occurrences and gloomy and haunted settings. • Bildungsroman • “Novel of education” • Focuses on the maturation and coming-of-age of its central character

  18. Literary Devices • Local Color • Distinctive characteristics of a region: • Peculiarities of speech • Quaint local customs • Distinctive modes of thought • Stories about people

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