To Kill a Mockingbird

1. To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee

2. Quick Facts about our Author • Harper Lee is a WOMAN • Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama • To Kill a Mockingbird is HL’s ONLY published novel!!!!! • It was published in 1960 and to date has sold more than 30 million copies • The book takes place in the 1930’s in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama

3. What was going on in 1950? 1954- Brown V Board was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. 1955- Emmett Till - Till's murder is noted as a pivotal event motivating the African-American Civil Rights Movement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8QXNyCvDP4 Jim Crow laws enacted between 1876 and 1965 in the United States at the state and local level. They mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern states of the former Confederacy, with “separate but equal" status for African Americans. The separation in practice led to conditions for African Americans that tended to be inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematizing a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages.

4. What was going on in 1960? 1960-Lunch Counter Sit-In at Woolworth's in Greenboro, NC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO49GEwUx5A 1962- Freedom Riders Challenge Segregation on Interstate Buseshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcvsWXrS2PI 1963- Martin Luther King- I have a Dream; JFK assassinated 1964- Civil Rights Act Passes 1965- Malcolm X Assassinated 1968- MLK Assassinated

5. Themes • The Coexistence of Good and Evil • Are people essentially good or essentially evil? • Can good and evil co-exist? • Is it necessary for good and evil to co-exist? • How do good and evil co-exist in our society today? • Is there a “loss of innocence” at a certain point in life?

6. Themes 2. The Existence of Social Inequality Social Inequality= an unfair situation in which some people have more rights or better opportunities than other people in society. • Race • Status (wealth v poverty)

7. Inequities Today- One example

8. One example continued

9. Themes 3. The Importance of Moral Education Moral Education: Moral education is the guidance and teaching of good behavior and values • Is moral education important? Why or why not? • Does moral education look different in different places? Why? • Does moral education impose on different people groups/cultures/religions? • Who (in the ancient past) advocated moral education?

10. MAJOR SERIOUS ISSUES In addition: • Race • Socioeconomic status We will address: • Racial slurs (the n word is used 48 times) • Rape • Incest • To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most challenged classics of all time and still ranks at number 21 of the 100 most frequently challenged books of 2000–2009.

11. Symbols: Mockingbird “Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. “Your father’s right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Character named Boo Radley