Mr. Chupak Honors 9 Language Arts –

 Historical/Social Background

  Scottsboro Trials (1931)  Nine African-Americans  Between the ages of 12 and 20  Indicted and tried for raping two white women, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price, while hoboing on a freight train. Historical/Social Background

  Scottsboro Trials (1931) continued  Eight of the young men were sentenced to death in the electric chair.  However:  The women did not have injuries consistent with an attack.  The women did not appear to be under stress.  Those convicted spent no less than 6 years and as many as 19 years in prison. Historical/Social Background

  Scottsboro Trials (1931) continued  Their juries  Entirely white  Their attorneys  Inexperienced  Judges did not give them time to prepare  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the defendants were denied proper legal representation or due process. Historical/Social Background

  Great Depression ( )  Stock market crashes on October 29, 1929, “Black Tuesday,” ushering in the Depression.  1933  The banking system fundamentally collapses  Unemployment rate rises to 25 percent  1939  The U.S. economy begins to bounce back, boosted by manufacturing supplies for the countries fighting the war. Historical/Social Background

  World War II ( )  Germany invades Poland in 1939, and England and France declare war on Germany, thus starting World War II.  Sunday, December 7, 1941  The U.S. military officially becomes involved in World War II. Historical/Social Background

 Author Background Harper Lee (1926- )

  Parents:  Amasa Coleman Lee  Descendant of Confederate General Robert E. Lee  Frances Finch Lee  Both her father and sister practiced law in Monroeville, AL. Her father was also a member of the state legislature.  Her mother rarely left the house because of mental illness (bipolar disorder). Author Background: Harper Lee (1926- )

  She studied in Oxford, England, and also studied law.  She quit law school six months before completing her degree and moved to New York City.  She was a cousin and close friend of Truman Capote, a noted literary figure and the author of In Cold Blood. Author Background: Harper Lee (1926- )

  To Kill a Mockingbird  Published in 1960  Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961  The film  1962  Earned 8 Academy Award nominations  Won 4 awards in 1962  #41 on the American Library Association list of “The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of ”  Harper Lee considered herself “more of a rewriter than a writer.” Author Background: Harper Lee (1926- )

 Literary Devices

  Plot  3 years of Scout’s childhood from age 6 to 8 ( ) in fictional Maycomb, Alabama  2 plot strands:  Boo Radley  Trial of Tom Robinson  Point of View  1 st person (Scout) recounts childhood episodes from the perspective of an adult Literary Devices

  Subject/Themes  Striving to reach adulthood  Racial, social, and sexual prejudices  Man’s inhumanity to man  Definition of real courage  Definition of Christian behavior  Most effective learning takes place through life experiences  Superstition is a result of ignorance and fear Literary Devices

  Symbols  Used to represent abstract ideas or concepts  Objects  Characters  Figures  Colors Literary Devices

  Irony  When what we expect to happen is in fact the opposite of what really does take place  Example: Calpurnia’s church  Foreshadowing  The use of clues to hint at events that will happen later in the plot  Examples:  Jem’s broken arm  The reclusive Boo Radley Literary Devices

  Foils  A contrasting character  Gothic  A style of literature featuring supernatural occurrences and gloomy and haunted settings.  Bildungsroman  “Novel of education”  Focuses on the maturation and coming-of-age of its central character Literary Devices

  Local Color  Distinctive characteristics of a region:  Peculiarities of speech  Quaint local customs  Distinctive modes of thought  Stories about people Literary Devices