To Kill a Mockingbird
Bibliography
Harper, L. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, 1960. Print.
Harper, L. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, 1960. Print.
Target Audience
8th grade and older
8th grade and older
Academic Vocabulary
Ambled: to walk at a slow, leisurely pace.
Dictum: a formal statement of principle
Human Chattels: slaves
Piety: devotion to religious duties and practices
Spittoon: a jar like container to spit into
Taciturn: almost always silent
Veranda: portico or porch with a roof
Ramrod: rigid, severe, straight
Malevolent: evil
Eaves: the lower edges of a roof
Ambled: to walk at a slow, leisurely pace.
Dictum: a formal statement of principle
Human Chattels: slaves
Piety: devotion to religious duties and practices
Spittoon: a jar like container to spit into
Taciturn: almost always silent
Veranda: portico or porch with a roof
Ramrod: rigid, severe, straight
Malevolent: evil
Eaves: the lower edges of a roof
Genre
Fiction, Coming-of-age-story
Fiction, Coming-of-age-story
Summary
Jean Louise Finch, or “Scout” as she is known to her father, brother, and everyone in town, is an ordinary six-year-old child in the tired town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930’s. Scout’s father is a an attorney named Atticus Finch. Scout and her older brother Jem spend their summers in the company of Dill Harris, the nephew of their neighbor, Miss Rachel Haverford. Dill was from Meridian, Mississippi. The three children spent their time obsessing over the ‘haunted’ house in the neighborhood: the Radley place. Inside the Radley place lived the local lunatic, Boo Radley. Stories and rumors about Boo’s antics were the fuel to the fire of the children’s imagination about the house.
When fall comes around, Dill goes home to Mississippi and Scout has her elementary school debut when she ventures into the first grade. Her academic skills far outweigh those of her classmates as she can already read. Every day, Scout and Jem’s walk to school leads them straight by the Radley place. They usually run as fast as they can past it. One day, Scout notices something in the knothole of a tree on the Radley property. She finds two pieces of gum in the tree and quickly runs home to tell Jem. This is only the first of many gifts that the children would find in the tree. There are even two dolls carved to look just like Jem and Scout found in the tree. One day, the children find Mr. Nathan Radley, Boo’s brother, filling the knothole with cement. This ends the exchange of gifts between the children and Boo.
During the cold winter, the Finch’s neighbor’s house catches fire and burns to the ground. Scout is freezing outside as they watch the spectacle. Without Scout realizing, someone slips
a blanket around her shoulders. It was Boo Radley.
The next spring introduces challenging times for the Finch children. Atticus takes a case defending a black man on rape charges. The children are bullied by their classmates for their father’s compassion for negroes. Tom Robinson, the black man Atticus is defending, is being accused of raping May Ella Ewell, the daughter of a share cropper with too many children to count, much less feed. The Ewells are known for lying, cheating, and stealing to get by. As Atticus closes his trial, it is obvious May Ella is lying. However, the jury finds Mr. Robinson guilty and he is sent to a prison. Tom is shot and killed on his way there. The trial is agreat turning point for the town of Maycomb.
Winter comes around again and it is time for the Thanksgiving Pageant at Scout and Jem’s school. They walk through the woods behind their house to come home from the pageant.
They soon realize that someone is following them. Someone attacks Jem and badly breaks his arm. But an unknown person comes to Jem and Scout’s rescue. In all of the commotion and fighting, Scout cannot identify the unknown hero who is carrying Jem home. When Scout goes home, she learns that Boo Radley was their rescuer. The police find Mr. Ewell in the woods, dead, with a steak knife stuck in his ribs. Atticus immediately believes Jem stabbed Mr. Ewell, but he quickly realizes it was Boo. The police in town do not blame Boo for the measures he had to take to protect the Finch children. They conclude the investigation by stating that “Mr. Ewell fell on his knife”.
Scout walks Boo home to his house and is left wondering what Boo’s perspective on the world is.
Jean Louise Finch, or “Scout” as she is known to her father, brother, and everyone in town, is an ordinary six-year-old child in the tired town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930’s. Scout’s father is a an attorney named Atticus Finch. Scout and her older brother Jem spend their summers in the company of Dill Harris, the nephew of their neighbor, Miss Rachel Haverford. Dill was from Meridian, Mississippi. The three children spent their time obsessing over the ‘haunted’ house in the neighborhood: the Radley place. Inside the Radley place lived the local lunatic, Boo Radley. Stories and rumors about Boo’s antics were the fuel to the fire of the children’s imagination about the house.
When fall comes around, Dill goes home to Mississippi and Scout has her elementary school debut when she ventures into the first grade. Her academic skills far outweigh those of her classmates as she can already read. Every day, Scout and Jem’s walk to school leads them straight by the Radley place. They usually run as fast as they can past it. One day, Scout notices something in the knothole of a tree on the Radley property. She finds two pieces of gum in the tree and quickly runs home to tell Jem. This is only the first of many gifts that the children would find in the tree. There are even two dolls carved to look just like Jem and Scout found in the tree. One day, the children find Mr. Nathan Radley, Boo’s brother, filling the knothole with cement. This ends the exchange of gifts between the children and Boo.
During the cold winter, the Finch’s neighbor’s house catches fire and burns to the ground. Scout is freezing outside as they watch the spectacle. Without Scout realizing, someone slips
a blanket around her shoulders. It was Boo Radley.
The next spring introduces challenging times for the Finch children. Atticus takes a case defending a black man on rape charges. The children are bullied by their classmates for their father’s compassion for negroes. Tom Robinson, the black man Atticus is defending, is being accused of raping May Ella Ewell, the daughter of a share cropper with too many children to count, much less feed. The Ewells are known for lying, cheating, and stealing to get by. As Atticus closes his trial, it is obvious May Ella is lying. However, the jury finds Mr. Robinson guilty and he is sent to a prison. Tom is shot and killed on his way there. The trial is agreat turning point for the town of Maycomb.
Winter comes around again and it is time for the Thanksgiving Pageant at Scout and Jem’s school. They walk through the woods behind their house to come home from the pageant.
They soon realize that someone is following them. Someone attacks Jem and badly breaks his arm. But an unknown person comes to Jem and Scout’s rescue. In all of the commotion and fighting, Scout cannot identify the unknown hero who is carrying Jem home. When Scout goes home, she learns that Boo Radley was their rescuer. The police find Mr. Ewell in the woods, dead, with a steak knife stuck in his ribs. Atticus immediately believes Jem stabbed Mr. Ewell, but he quickly realizes it was Boo. The police in town do not blame Boo for the measures he had to take to protect the Finch children. They conclude the investigation by stating that “Mr. Ewell fell on his knife”.
Scout walks Boo home to his house and is left wondering what Boo’s perspective on the world is.
Literary Concepts
Theme: The importance of moral education, social class conflict, and the triumph of good over evil can be seen throughout the book.
Setting: Maycomb, Alabama, 1930’s
Foreshadowing: The students can identify specific happenings that point to later events in the story such as the gifts found in the oak tree, Burris Ewell’s behavior in school, and Bob Ewell’s behavior after the trial.
Idioms: There are identifiable idioms found throughout this book. The students can identify them by chapter.
Rising action, climax, falling action: The students can identify events in the story that meet all of these criteria.
Theme: The importance of moral education, social class conflict, and the triumph of good over evil can be seen throughout the book.
Setting: Maycomb, Alabama, 1930’s
Foreshadowing: The students can identify specific happenings that point to later events in the story such as the gifts found in the oak tree, Burris Ewell’s behavior in school, and Bob Ewell’s behavior after the trial.
Idioms: There are identifiable idioms found throughout this book. The students can identify them by chapter.
Rising action, climax, falling action: The students can identify events in the story that meet all of these criteria.
Activity
The students will develop a “Photo-Lit Collage” by using web based materials to create a collage of the way they visualize the story. The students will us the mobile computer lap to look for photographs that resemble events happening in the story. Each photograph will be printed.
They will make a collage of the photographs on a poster board. Each student will present their collage to the class, explaining why they chose each photograph.
The students will develop a “Photo-Lit Collage” by using web based materials to create a collage of the way they visualize the story. The students will us the mobile computer lap to look for photographs that resemble events happening in the story. Each photograph will be printed.
They will make a collage of the photographs on a poster board. Each student will present their collage to the class, explaining why they chose each photograph.
Assessment
The students will compose a letter to Scout in the form of a five paragraph essay. The students will explain how the civil rights movement changed life in the United States. The students will choose three events that were causes or effects of the civil rights movement. These will be the main ideas of the paper and the subject of the middle three paragraphs. Students will tie the events of the civil rights movement to similar events in the book.
The students will compose a letter to Scout in the form of a five paragraph essay. The students will explain how the civil rights movement changed life in the United States. The students will choose three events that were causes or effects of the civil rights movement. These will be the main ideas of the paper and the subject of the middle three paragraphs. Students will tie the events of the civil rights movement to similar events in the book.
Integration
Social Studies: The class will discuss the racial issues of the book in relation to the civil rights movement that is coming.
Math: The students will individually analyze the text for clues about how the city of Maycomb would look. They will be given a sheet of graph paper where they will draw a scale
model of the town following a scale that they will set themselves. The map must display the right proportions and relationships between the locations mentioned in the book.
Social Studies: The class will discuss the racial issues of the book in relation to the civil rights movement that is coming.
Math: The students will individually analyze the text for clues about how the city of Maycomb would look. They will be given a sheet of graph paper where they will draw a scale
model of the town following a scale that they will set themselves. The map must display the right proportions and relationships between the locations mentioned in the book.