Introduction to:
To Kill a Mockingbird’s place in American Literature Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 Voted by librarians as the best novel of the century Made into a movie in 1962 & was nominated for 8 Academy Awards In a “Survey of Lifetime Reading Habits,” researchers found that, out of 5,000 respondents, TKAM was one of three books “most often cited as making a difference” in people’s lives (Johnston, 2002)
Setting: 1930s Alabama Segregation between black people and white people: Jim Crow Laws: kept black people and white people separate It was illegal for blacks and whites to have sexual relationships and/or marry African Americans did not have the right to vote
Setting: 1930s Alabama The Great Depression (1930-1939) – the stock market crashed on October 24, 1920 Many Americans were left without jobs and had very little money to support themselves and their families
Who is Harper Lee? Born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama Began writing TKAM in 1957 Maycomb, Alabama is a fictional town based on Lee’s childhood in Monroeville, Alabama The character Scout in TKAM is loosely based on Lee’s own childhood
Why is Lee’s novel so significant in literature? It demonstrates the relationship between blacks & whites as the battle for integration and equal rights was at a high point (Johnson, 2002) The reader can see the viewpoint of people different from themselves The reader can experience the naïve viewpoint of the world through the eyes of a child It challenges the stereotypes of the Southerner, the African-American, the child, and the young lady (Johnson, 2002)
Main Characters in TKAM: Scout Finch The narrator of the novel She lives with her father, Atticus, her brother, Jem, and their black cook, Calpurnia She is a tomboy
Main Characters in TKAM: Jem Finch Full name = Jeremy Atticus Finch Scout’s older brother by 4 years In the beginning, he and Scout are playmates; as he gets older, he separates himself – he enters adolescence during the novel
Main Characters in TKAM: Dill Jem & Scout’s summer neighbor and friend He is small but very confident with a big imagination He becomes fascinated with Boo Radley Represents childhood innocence in the novel
Main Characters in TKAM: Atticus Finch Father of Scout and Jem Is a lawyer in Maycomb County His wife died shortly after Scout was born He is the novel’s moral backbone
Main Characters in TKAM: Arthur “Boo” Radley He is a recluse and hardly ever leaves his home Scout, Jem, and Dill are fascinated by the mystery surrounding him He was an intelligent child who was emotionally damaged by his father He is a good person and is a symbolic “mockingbird” in the novel
Main Characters in TKAM: Calpurnia The Finches’ black cook She is very strict with the children She is the children’s connection between the white world and her black community
Language in TKAM: Racial slurs Derogatory (offensive) terms referring to African Americans: “nigger” “colored” More acceptable term in the 1930s: Negro (but this term is not used today; African American or black is acceptable now)
Language in TKAM: Southern dialect “Over yonder” = over there “Reckon” (verb) = to think or to perceive Multiple negation (e.g. I don’t buy nothing) Deletion of has/have (e.g. The school been there a long time) Use of ain’t (a contraction of am not) – used instead of have not (e.g. I ain’t seen nothin’ Adverbial use of “right” (e.g. I’m right tired) to mean quite or fairly
Internet Resources http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/ gcse/mockingbird.htm#24 (LOTS ofbackground information!!!) http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Belmont _HS/tkm/ (Good information about vocabulary and allusions) http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mock ing/ (general information)