An Introduction to Harper Lee’s

___________________________

Harper Lee Born on ____________in

Monroeville, Alabama

Youngest of four children

1957 – submitted manuscript for her novel; was urged to rewrite it

Spent over ___________reworking it

1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird (her only novel) published

1966 - was one of two persons named by __________________to the National Council of Arts

SETTING

Maycomb,

____________

Autobiographical Elements:Harper Lee vs Scout Finch

Born in Monroeville, Alabama

Grew up in ________ Father was a

lawyer Mother’s maiden

name = __________

Born in Maycomb, Alabama

Grew up in ________ Father (Atticus) is a

lawyer Last name =

_______

Narrative Point of View:

TKAM is told in the ________person, from the point of view of Scout Finch, a young girl.

The story is not told by the younger Scout Finch. It is told by an older Scout,_____________________.

____________________________ Scout (Jean Louise Finch) – eight-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

What do you know about the Great

Depression? What do you wonder?

When was it?How did it start?

How did it affect people?In the next 2 minutes, jot down everything you remember, then be prepared to share in class.

Introduction to the NovelBackground Information

GREATDEPRESSION

A period of extreme drought, poverty and hardships during

the 1930s.

25% of population had no job

Even those with jobs were affected because nothing was being produced

Average family income dropped to 50% by 1935

Hundreds of thousands lost homes, farms and possessions

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-1930s 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.

On this slide, write a reflection on how you feel upon seeing the picture displayed on the overhead. Consider how you would feel if you saw the public sign as a white person, and then as a black or minority person.

Introduction to the NovelBackground Information

Racism and Social Classes

Although slavery was abolished in the 1890s 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 (1890s – 1960s)

Scottsboro Trials (1931)

Social Inequality (Forever)

Introduction to the NovelBackground Information

Social Inequality Wealthy

White Town/Country

People

“White Trash”

Black People

__________________________

________________________________________________________

_______________________

________________

Even the law was one-sided: Juries were always all-white and all-male. The word of a black man meant nothing against the word of a white man.

Setting and Theme

Themes in the novel are based on the concept of racial prejudice which was so much a part of society at that time.

Lee stresses the need for human understanding to __________

__________________________________________________________.

"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."