© boardworks ltd 2014 1 of 5 prose to kill a mockingbird: introduction
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ProseTo Kill a Mockingbird: Introduction
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Learning objectives
Consider the biography of Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird
Explore the social context of the novel, in particular poverty and racism in 1930s USA
Research the Scottsboro case, and investigate its influence on Lee’s novel
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Harper Lee
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Background to the novel
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Scottsboro case
In 1931, two white women accused nine black men of raping them on a train in Alabama. It is likely that this event influenced Lee in her plot line about Tom Robinson.
In this case, the men were tried and found guilty, despite a lack of evidence. The men spent their lives in prison on death row and were finally pardoned over forty years later in 1976.
In pairs, research the Scottsboro case.
What have you learned from this about the society of Alabama in the 1930s?What are the parallels between the Scottsboro case and Lee’s novel?