Good MorningAfternoon November 7 2011 Have out your

Good Morning/Afternoon November 7, 2011 • Have out your: – Mixed Emotions ROUGH DRAFT – Mixed Emotions PRE-WRITING CHART • Be ready to have them collected.

An Introduction to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee §Born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama §Youngest of four children § 1957 – submitted manuscript for her novel; was urged to rewrite it §Spent over two years reworking it § 1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird (her only novel) published § 1966 - was one of two persons named by President Johnson to the National Council of Arts

Introduction to the Novel About the Author To Kill A Mockingbird is semi-autobiographical for a number of reasons: Lee grew up in Alabama Father was prominent lawyer Experienced Great Depression, Scottsboro Trials “Scout” based on her life; “Dill” based on life of childhood friend Truman Capote

SETTING Maycomb, ALABAMA (Small town where everyone knows everyone and everything)

What do you need to know u To fully appreciate the novel, you need to understand some things about the historical time in which it is set: –The Great Depression –Social Inequality and Racism –The Klux Klan

Introduction to the Novel Background Information 25% of population had no job Hundreds of thousands lost homes, farms and possessions Even those with jobs were affected because nothing was being produced GREAT DEPRESSION A period of extreme drought, poverty and hardships during the 1930 s. Average family income dropped to 50% by 1935 Stock Market Crash caused people to lose billions. Entire banks were wiped out and by 1933 over 60% of population was considered poor The novel takes place during the mid-1930 s at a time when the government was attempting to stop the Great Depression. The President at the time, Franklin Roosevelt, famously said, “the only thing to fear is fear itself” as his government created programs to create jobs, house the homeless and feed the starving.

The Great Depression People lived in Hoovervilles

What is a Hooverville? Shantytowns formed in cities across the United States in the 1930 s, built by people made homeless by the Great Depression. The areas, like this one in Seattle, were nicknamed Hoovervilles because their inhabitants blamed President Herbert Hoover for their plight.

Introduction to the Novel Background Information Racism and Social Classes Although slavery was abolished in the 1890 s racism and discrimination were alive and well during the time of the novel. The novel is based on many historical facts that help to drive the story, (and allow the readers to explore a sad time in American history) including: Jim Crow Laws (1890 s – 1960 s) Social Inequality (Forever)

Jim Crow Laws u The country was divided. u There was a “colored” section, and a “white” section

Jim Crow Laws

"Jim Crow" laws barred African Americans from access to employment and to public places such as restaurants, hotels, and other facilities. In the South especially, Blacks lived in fear of racially motivated violence.

Social Inequality in the Novel This is probably similar to how class structure existed during the 1930’s in the South. The wealthy, although fewest in number, were most powerful. The blacks, although great in number, were lowest on the class ladder, and thus, had the least privileges. Even the law was onesided: Juries were always all-white and all-male. The word of a black man meant nothing against the word of a white man. Examples of each social class: Wealthy - Finches Country Folk - Cunninghams “White Trash” – Ewells Black Community – Tom Robinson

The Roots of the KKK u The Klux Klan of the 1860’s grew out of white Southern anger over the Civil War defeat and the Reconstruction that followed. u Northerners saw in the Klan an attempt of Confederates to win through terrorism what they had been unable to win on the battlefield.

Klu Klux Klan’s Rise to Power u u William J. Simmons, a former Methodist preacher, organized a new Klux Klan in Georgia in 1915 as a revival of the Post-Civil War KKK. It began as a “patriotic, nativist, Protestant fraternal society. This new Klan directed its activity against, not just blacks, but any group it considered un-American, included any immigrants, Jews, and Roman Catholics. The KKK grew rapidly from here and had more than 2 million members throughout the country by the mid-1920’s.

Good Afternoon November 8, 2011 l. Have out your notes from yesterday on To Kill a Mockingbird and something to write with. l Any late Rough Drafts?

Main Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird §Scout (Jean Louise Finch) – six-year-old narrator of story §Jem (Jeremy Finch) – her older brother §Atticus Finch – Jem and Scout’s father, a prominent lawyer who defends a black man accused of raping a white woman §Arthur (Boo) Radley – a thirty-three-year-old recluse who lives next door §Charles Baker (Dill) Harris – Jem and Scout’s friend who comes to visit his aunt in Maycomb each summer §Tom Robinson – a respectable black man accused of raping a white woman §Calpurnia – the Finches’ black cook

An adventure story What is To Kill a Mockingbird?

A tale of high comedy

It contains interesting, relatable characters.

An example of the US court system

An accurate portrayal of the Depression-era South

A satire of Southern philosophy

This novel applies to you too! l Shows contemporary problems of concern to young Americans l Racism and its effects on both black and white people l Hypocrisy and violence of a civilization l The search and struggle for a person to have better values in his own life

TKa. M’s Point of View l First Person l Through the eyes of Jean Louise Finch (Scout’s)

Everything you learn about people and their actions comes to you through Scout: l What Scout says and how she says it reveal her own character. l Scout is generally honest, but her understanding of reality is limited by her own innocence (she is only 6 – think of how you remember things from when you were little) l Sometimes the reader can see and understand things that Scout misses completely.

The Language of To Kill a Mockingbird language of To Kill a Mockingbird is different from that of most novels you have read. l The

The Living Language l Other novels: literary English, standard English l To Kill a Mockingbird: standard English with vernacular dialogue Vernacular dialogue: a nonstandard form of language used by uneducated people who are native to a particular region

To Kill a Mockingbird’s Language l Language spoken by educated and uneducated Southern people during the Great Depression l. You can see the difference in classes based on their speech

To Kill a Mockingbird shows people as they really were: The attitudes and speech of some of the characters may seem disturbing or even objectionable. l Remember that racist words are used and racist attitudes are shown in the novel because they existed, NOT because Harper Lee sympathizes with them. l

Harper Lee l “I would like, however, to do one thing, and I've never spoken much about it because it's such a personal thing. I would like to leave some record of the kind of life that existed in a very small world. I hope to do this in several novels to chronicle something that seems to be very quickly going down the drain. This is small-town middle-class southern life as opposed to the Gothic…as opposed to plantation life. ”