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