1. Teacher-of-English.com To Kill a Mockingbird Key Characters

2. Jem & Scout Objectives: To learn how Harper Lee introduces the characters of Jem and Scout to the reader

3. Characterisation Read the opening chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird. What are your first impressions of the characters? Consider the description of the characters, their actions, interactions and the dialogue the characters use.

4. Scout Scout What are your first impressions of Scout? Write down words or phrases to describe her.

5. Jem Jem What are your first impressions of Jem? Write down words or phrases to describe him.

6. Dill Dill What are your first impressions of Dill? Write down words or phrases to describe him.

7. Boo Radley Boo Radley What are your first impressions of Boo? Write down words or phrases to describe him.

8. First Impressions last… The words you used about the characters probably describe their appearance and personalities. Authors create characters through description, dialogue and action. These are known as literary devices and are the tools used by writers to make characters come alive. 12 th September Boo Radley

9. Remember the three techniques used to create characters. Look out for these techniques as we meet new characters in the novel. Consolidation Description DialogueAction

10. Using your knowledge of description, dialogue and action write a paragraph explaining how the writer presents two characters to the reader. You could use some of the sentence starters on the next slide to get you up and running. 12 th September Scout My first impression of Scout is that she is a… Introducing Characters

11. What have you learned already about Scout, Jem, Dill and Boo? Below are a few sentence starters to help with a paragraph about Jem. 12 th September Jem Finch The first thing we learn about Jem is... Jem is described as … The way he speaks tells the reader that… The way he talks to Scout gives us an insight into their relationship…

12. Teacher-of-English.com To Kill a Mockingbird Reading Between the Lines

13. Infer & Deduce Objective: To learn how to infer and deduce information from a text

14. Infer and Deduce Look very closely at this picture. What can you see? A young or an old woman? We all see different things when we look at an image, read a book or watch a movie. Being able to infer and deduce is about looking closely and picking up clues that tell us more about the character or plot.

15. What can you see?

16. Infer and Deduce Look at the following image. Discuss what you think has happened. Use evidence from the picture to help you.

17. Infer and Deduce Look at the following image. Discuss what you can deduce. Use evidence from the picture to help you.

18. Key Quotation Read the following extract from To Kill a Mockingbird. Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop... somehow it was hotter then... bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three- o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.... There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself. What do we learn about Maycomb from Scout’s introduction to the town in Chapter One?

19. Reading between the lines response What do we learn about Maycomb from Scout’s introduction to the town in Chapter One? In this extract Scout emphasises the slow pace, uncomfortable heat, and old-fashioned ways of Maycomb, in which men wear shirt collars, ladies use talcum powder, and the streets are unpaved and turn to “red slop” in the rain. Maycomb is a sleepy Southern town; Scout even refers to it as “tired”. The description also provides clues about the story’s historical context: Scout speaks of mule-driven carts and dirt roads, and makes reference to the widespread poverty of the town. Such images are typical of America during the Great Depression and Scout’s reference to “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” (the famous line from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first inaugural speech, made after the 1932 presidential election) make it reasonable to assume that the story begins in the early 1930s.

20. Reading Characters Look at the following quotes from Chapter 1. What does each quote reveal about the character? Try to ‘read between the lines’. QuoteCharacterWhat it suggests The tradition of living on the land remained unbroken until well into the twentieth century, when my father went to Montgomery to read law. AtticusAtticus is an intelligent man. He is also not afraid to break with tradition as he turned his back on farming to study law at university. He seems to be ambitious and determined. We came to know Dill as a pocket Merlin, whose head teemed with eccentric plans, strange longings, and quaint fancies. Dill People said he went out at night when the moon was high and peeped in people’s windows. Boo Radley In all his life Jem had never declined a dare. Jem (Calpurnia asked) why I couldn’t behave as well as Jem. Scout

21. Discuss your answers with a partner. Do they agree or disagree with your suggestions? Plenary

22. Teacher-of-English.com To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter One Looking at Language

23. Use of Language Objectives: To develop knowledge and understanding of Harper Lee’s use of language in Chapter One To learn how Harper Lee uses language devices to create specific effects.

24. Match the words below with their meanings. Vocabulary WordMeaning assuaged a sudden attack domiciled strict religious devotion foray silent in speech and manner malevolent to live in a particular place piety untouched or unused strictures a limit or restriction, especially one that seems unfair or too harsh taciturn to relieve something unpleasant unsullied evil

25. Words with the correct meanings. Vocabulary WordMeaning assuaged to relieve something unpleasant domiciled to live in a particular place foray a sudden attack malevolent evil piety strict religious devotion strictures a limit or restriction, especially one that seems unfair or too harsh taciturn silent in speech and manner unsullied untouched or unused

26. Literary Techniques Technique Definition Metaphor a comparison between two different things using the words ‘as’ or ‘like’ Simile a figure of speech not meant literally Onomatopoeia attributing human qualities to objects Personification a word which imitates the sound it represents The opening chapter is rich in imagery. Harper Lee uses a range of literary techniques in her writing. Can you match the technique with its definition?

27. Literary Techniques Think about the literary techniques discussed on the last slide. Copy down the chart below. Find examples in the first chapter and write down the effects created. TechniqueEvidenceEffect metaphor‘Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom’ personification‘The remains of a picket drunkenly guarded the front yard’ simile

28. Use the notes you have made to answer the following question: What examples of literary devices can you find in the opening chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird? How do these devices provide the reader with a vivid picture of life in Maycomb and the novel’s main characters?