Introductory Lesson

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD BY HARPER LEE

Agenda1.Bell Ringer 2.Word Work 3.Novel Pre-test4.Chapter One Reflection5.Background Information and Video Quest6.Exit Slip7.Homework

“Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.” Harper Lee

“Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” Harper Lee

“The book to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you think. No book in the world equals the Bible for that.” Harper Lee

1.Choose one quote from above and write one paragraph that explains what the quote means and why you agree or disagree with the statement. Be sure to justify your response.

BELL RINGER #1: (A) 4/11 & (B) 4/12

assuaged (vb.): to assuage is to lessen or to calm. impudent (adj.): To be impudent is to be

shamelessly bold, as if you don't care what anyone thinks about you.

predilection (n.): a predilection is a preference, or a preferred way of doing something.

1)Create a sentence utilizing all three of these vocabulary words from the reading. The sentence should be written so that the reader can use context clues to decipher the meaning of each word.

WORD WORK #1

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD NOVEL PRE-TEST

No talking.Eyes on your own paper.When you finish, raise your hand and I will

collect your pre-test . Please begin your Chapter One assignment.

Directions: Create a one page “Breaking News Story” that focuses on a character or event from Chapter 1.Be sure to include:

Title of Newspaper Create one major headline indicating a “breaking

news story” Compose a “breaking news story” from one of

the events in chapter one Draw one picture to enhance the “breaking news

story”/The picture must include a caption Create one advertisement from a person, place

or event relevant to chapter one.

CHAPTER ONE ASSIGNMENT: AFTER YOU FINISH YOUR PRE-TEST

USE YOUR ORGANIZER TO GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONTEXT OF THE NOVEL

Born: April 28, 1926From: Monroeville, AlabamaYoungest of 4 childrenHer father was a Lawyer and a

member of the Alabama State Legislature.He was also a part owner in a local newspaper.

Graduated from High School: 1944

Moved to New York City in 1949

THE AUTHOR: NELLE HARPER LEE

Lee finished writing the book in 1959.

The book was published in July 1960 to highly favorable reviews and quickly climbed the bestseller lists, where it remained for 88 weeks.

In 1961 the novel won the Pulitzer Prize.

THE NOVEL

1962 film adaption is released with the screenplay written by Horton Foote.

Lee visited the set during filming and did a lot of interviews to support the film.

The film earned 8 Academy Award nominations won 4.Including Best Actor for Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch.

THE FILM

Date: 1930Setting: Maycomb, AlabamaNarrator: 6 year old Jean Louise

“Scout” Finch Other characters to know:

Atticus Finch: Scout’s Father; Lawyer.

Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch: Scout’s older brother.

Charles Baker “Dill” Harris: The Finch’s summer neighbor.

Calpurnia: The Finch’s cook.Arthur “Boo” Radley: Mysterious next door neighbor.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD SETTING AND CHARACTERS

TIMELINE: SELECT IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND PLACE IT ON YOUR TIMELINE

Over 25% of labor force unemployed during worst years of the Great Depression.

Franklin D. Roosevelt wins presidency with promise of his "New Deal," 1932. Deals with the 3 R’s:

Relief for the unemployedRecovery of the economyReform so the depression will not happen again

The Scottsboro Boys trials last from 1931 to 1937. Nelle Harper Lee is four years old when they begin.

THE WORLD SCOUT GREW UP IN:1930

Jackie Robinson signs baseball contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers, 1947.

President Truman ends segregation in the military and discrimination in federal hiring.

Harper Lee moves to New York City to become a writer.

1940’S

Brown vs. Board of Education rules school segregation unconstitutional.

Rosa Parks refuses to surrender her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, 1955.

Lee accompanies Truman Capote to Kansas as "researcher" for his book In Cold Blood.

1950’S

To Kill a Mockingbird published on July 11, 1960.

The film follows in 1962 and wins Oscars for best actor, screenwriter, and set design.

Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers I Have a Dream speech on August 28, 1963.

King wins the Nobel Prize in 1964.Congress passes the Civil Rights Act

of 1964, enforcing the constitutional right to vote.

Malcolm X is assassinated, 1965. Despite rumors of a second Southern

novel, Lee never finishes.

1960’S

JIM CROW LAWS

Former slaves and their children had little assurance that their post-Civil War freedoms would stick.

By the 1890s, a system of laws and regulations commonly referred to as Jim Crow had emerged; by 1910, every state of the former Confederacy had upheld this legalized segregation and disenfranchisement.

Most scholars believe the term originated around 1830, when a white minstrel performer blackened his face, danced a jig, and sang the lyrics to the song "Jump Jim Crow.“

At first the word was synonymous with such terms as black, colored, or Negro, but it later became attached to this specific arsenal of repressive laws.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: THE JIM CROW SOUTH

During the Jim Crow era, state and local officials instituted curfews for blacks and posted "Whites Only" and "Colored" signs on parks, schools, hotels, water fountains, restrooms, and all modes of transportation.

Laws against miscegenation or "race-mixing" deemed all marriages between white and black people not only void but illegal.

Almost as bad as the injustice of Jim Crow was the inconsistency with which law enforcement applied it.

Backtalk would rate a laugh in one town, and a lynching just over the county line.

LIFE DURING THE JIM CROW LAWS

Though violence used to subjugate blacks was nothing new, its character changed under Jim Crow.

Southern white supremacist groups like the Klu Klux Klan reached a membership of six million.

Mob violence was encouraged. Torture became a public spectacle. White families brought their children

as witnesses to lynching, and vendors hawked the body parts of victims as souvenirs.

Between 1889 and 1930, over 3,700 men and women were reported lynched in the United States, many for challenging Jim Crow.

JIM CROW CRUELTY

All this anger and fear led to the notorious trials of the "Scottsboro Boys," an ordeal of sensational convictions, reversals, and retrials for nine young African American men accused of raping two white women on a train from Tennessee to Alabama.

The primary testimony came from the older woman, a prostitute trying to avoid prosecution herself.

Despite these and many more injustices, black Americans found ingenious ways to endure and resist. Education, religion, and music became

their solace and salvation. In the organized political action of

the Civil Rights Movement Jim Crow's harsh music finally began to fade.

JIM CROW CONTINUED….

Before Each video you will be given 5 minutes to write down “What you Know.”

While viewing the videos you will fill out questions concerning the content of that video on your viewing guide.

After each video is finished you will have 5 minutes to answer a “Quick Write” question on your viewing guide.

VIDEO QUEST

1) Identify 3 facts that you already know about the Great Depression.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION: WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

1) Identify 3 facts that you already know about the Civil Rights movement?

CIVIL RIGHTS: WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

CIVIL RIGHTS

While listening to Maya Angelou read her poem answer the following questions on your viewing guide.What tone does she take?What mood does her tone and words create for you?

“AND STILL I RISE”

“AND STILL I RISE” MAYA ANGELOU

Annotate on your copy of “And Still I Rise” the following: Mark and identify what sound devices does she use to bring meaning to her words?

Mark and identify what types of Figurative Language does she use to bring meaning?

“AND STILL I RISE” ORGANIZER

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point

of view.”- Harper LeeToday we have explored deeper into the world in which Scout grew up. Do you agree with Harper Lee’s statement? Why or Why not? Justify your opinion.

EXIT SLIP