to kill a mockingbird - norwell public schools / …...to kill a mockingbird by harper lee harper...
TRANSCRIPT
To Kill A Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
Harper Lee• American writer, awarded Pulitzer Prize
in 1961
• 34 when published; her first and only novel
• Descendent of Robert E. Lee, the Southern Civil War general
• Lee’s father was an attorney; she studied law at the University of Alabama
• http://www.biography.com/people/harper-lee-9377021/videos
drawn from Author’s life
• 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama (fictional town)
• Lee born and raised in Monroeville, Alabama, a small town that inspired her writing
• Finch (Scout, Atticus, Gem) Lee's mother’s maiden name
• Character of Dill based on Truman Capote, Lee's childhood friend
Main Characters
Tom Robinson
Atticus Finch
Protagonist:Jean Louise “Scout” Finch
Antagonistic Force
• Intense hatred and racist attitudes
• Whites felt superior to blacks
• Overt violent racist acts
• Based on real attitudes of many southern whites during this time in American history
The Ewells
Mrs. Dubose
Person vs. Society
Jim Crow = racial caste system operated primarily, in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti-black racism.
Segregation was federal law
Rosa Parks
Sat down to “stand up”
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat in the colored section to a white passenger, after the white section was filled.
South Boston &Little Rock 9: Arkansas
41 years ago (1970s) Boston Busing/Desegregation Project -- goal was equity in education, regardless of race and class but instead racial slurs by public and police officers -- tensions -- spitting; bricks, golf balls thrownThe Little Rock Nine were a group of African American students enrolled inLittle Rock Central High School in 1957.
KKKKu Klux Klan
The "Ku Klux Klan" name was used by a numerous independent local groups opposing the Civil Rights Movement and desegregation, especially in the 1950s and 1960s.Members adopted white costumes: robes, masks, and conical hats, designed to be outlandish and terrifying, and to hide their identities.
Violent Acts Attributed to KKK
•Birmingham, AL, church bombing•Four girls killed
16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed on Sunday, September 15, 1963 as an act of racially motivated terrorism.September 16, Alabama church honors girls with statue
Emmett Till Murder
•14-year-old boy•Visits Mississippi from Chicago•Whistles at Caucasian woman
•Two found acquitted of kidnapping and murder•Later confessed to killing
The Civil Rights Movement
Violent Reactions towards Civil Rights Activists
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.•Advocated for equality, peace and civil rights•Assassinated in 1968, at age of 39•50th anniversary of “dream” speech commemorated by President
TKaM ThemesLoss and suffering of innocent people
Inequalities due to race and social classMan’s inhumanity to man
Resisting the status quo by taking a stand
Are you willing to stand up for what is right even if it means standing alone?