To Kill a Mockingbird I

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 Literature 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

Roadmap

Context - the author and her life

Language in To Kill a Mockingbird

Themes in To Kill a Mockingbird

Literary aspects 

Your opinion

Nelle Harper Lee 

1926 - 2016

Monroeville (AL)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)

Go Set a Watchman (2015)

Harper Lee

She grew up in the 1930s in a small town in Alabama, one of the USA's southern states. 

• youngest of four
• Father = lawyer
• The Great Depression
• Racial unrest 

Truman Capote

1924 -1984

Childhood friend of Harper Lee

Model for Lee's character Dill

To Kill a Mockingbird 

- the movie

(1962)

What's with the title?

'I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird' (p.99)

What's with the title?

'"Your father's right', she said. 'Mockingbirds don't do one thing 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' (p.99).

Main Characters

Jean Louise - Scout-  Finch  

6  years old when the book starts

Daughter of Atticus Finch

Sister to Jem

Mother died

Tomboy, fisty girl

Jem Finch

10-13 years old 

Brother of Scout 

Son of Atticus 

Big Brother 

Atticus Finch

Dad to Jem and Scout

around 50 years of age

Lawyer

Kind, honest, patient, smart

Cal (Calpurnia)

The Finch's cook and general help

Second mother to Scout

Mother to Zeebo

loyal, kind, sometimes very bossy

Charles Baker Harris (Dill) 

One year older than Scout

Stays with his aunt Rachel in the summer

Father is ...? 

Mother can't really take care of him

Small for his age

Arthur (Boo) Radley

Neighbour to Scout, Jem and Atticus 

Mysterious and reclusive person with A Past

Tom Robinson

Field worker

Married with children

Accused of raping a white woman

Atticus is his lawyer

What went on before

Chapter 1:

The main characters, time, and place are introduced 

We're in Maycomb, Alabama in the early 1930s.

Jean-Louise (Scout) Finch tells the story.

Boo Radley's story is told by Jem

Boo got into trouble with the law when he was as a teenager and has been locked up in his house ever since. 

Age 33, he attacked his dad with a knife for no apparent reason. 

Chapter 2

Scout is finally allowed to go to school. Her first day, however, is a big disappointment.

Chapter 3: Let's start!

26 November 2021:

On Learnbeat, finish chapters 3 and 4 and their assignments. Read chapters 9 and 10. 

To Kill a Mockingbird Studyguide

https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/to-kill-a-mockingbird