Harper Lee’s
Nelle Harper Lee
• Author To Kill a Mockingbird• April 28, 1926 - • Sister, Alice Finch Lee– Attorney who, as of 2014, is age 102
and still practicing law• Parents: Frances Cunningham
Finch & Amasa Coleman Lee• Awards: 1961 Pulitzer Prize for
Fiction; Presidential Medal of Freedom
Opinionaire True or False1. All men are created equal.
2. Girls should act like girls.
3. It's ok to be different.
4. Nobody is all bad or all good.
5. Some words are so offensive that they should never be stated or written.
6. Under our justice system, all citizens are treated fairly in our courts of law.
Opinionaire Continued:
7. The old adage, “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you,” is true.
8. Speaking standard grammar proves that a person is smart.
9. A hero is born, not made.
10. Education is the great equalizer
11. When the law does not succeed in punishing criminals, citizens hould do so.
WHAT MAKES AN ALLEGORY?To Kill a Mockingbird• Atticus Finch
– Attorney; State Legislature• Scout Finch
– Six years old– Avid reader; reads before
she starts school– Tomboy, Calls her father
Atticus• Dill (Charles Baker Harris)
– Scout’s best friend– Odd little throw-away kid
who only visited Maycomb in summer
The Scottsboro Trials• Amasa Lee
– Attorney; State Legislature• Harper Lee
– Six years old avid reader who read before she started school
– Tomboy, Called her father Amasa
• Truman Capote– Harper’s best friend– Odd little throw-away kid
who only visited Monroeville in summer
To Kill a Mockingbird
• Older brother, Jem Finch• Setting– Maycomb, AL 1935– Small town
• Tom Robinson Trials– Begins with charge of rape– White trash status of
accusers– Serious evidence ignored
by jury– Jury had no African-
Americans
Scottsboro Trials• Older sister, Alice Finch Lee• Setting– Monroeville, AL 1935– Small town
• Scottsboro Trials– Begins with charge of
rape– White trash status of
accusers– Serious evidence ignored
by jury– Jury had no African-
Americans
CourageThe ability to physically overcome
something.
“ I wanted you to see what real courage is. . .It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.”
Atticus FinchTo Kill a Mockingbird
Empathy“First of all, . . .if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.”“Sir?”“. . .until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.Atticus Finch
Class Structure in 1930’s South
• Upper Class: White collar Caucasians– Atticus Finch, Judge Taylor, Miss Maudie, Miss Stephanie
• Blue collar, white workers– The Cunninghams, Dolphus Raymond, The Radleys
• White Trash– The Ewells
• African Americans
ConscienceThe one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.
Superstition• The Mockingbird Motif– The destruction of innocence
• Fear of the unknown– The gap that exists between the rational and the
irrational in the perceptions of seemingly intelligent and civilized people
– The fear and ignorance which keep prejudice alive are comparable to those which support superstition
The Coexistence of Good & Evil
The importance of moral education
Lessons Taught vs Lessons Learned:Ethics Responsibility Truth
• Get in groups of 3 – 5. come up with your own definitions for the three terms above. Write down you definitions, and come up with an example for each to prove how your definition works.
• Be prepared to present a short play demonstrating of one of your definitions