To Kill a Mockingbird

Vocab11/6

• Synonyms- a word that means exactly or nearly the same as another word

• Inquisitive- inclined to investigate; curious

• Erratic- unpredictable

• Repertoire- all the plays, songs, dances, etc., that a performer or group of performers knows and can perform

• Condescending- having or showing a feeling of patronizing superiority

Vocab 11/6

• Cowlick- a lock of hair that grows in a direction different from the rest and that resists being combed flat.

• Melancholy- a feeling of sadness, typically with no obvious cause

• Nocturnal- active at night

• Benign- gentle; kindly

• Diminutive- extremely small

Vocab 11/11

• Commotion- a state of confused and noisy disturbance

• Articulate- able to express ideas clearly and effectively in speech or writing; easy to understand

• Puny- small and weak

• Mortify- cause someone to feel embarrassed, ashamed, or humiliated

• Oppressive- very cruel or unfair

Vocab 11/11

• Caricature- a drawing that makes someone look funny because some part of the person is exaggerated

• Gravitate-  move toward or be attracted to a place, person, or thing

• Inordinate- going beyond what is usual, normal, or proper

• Malignant- evil in nature, influence, or effect• Perplexity- the state of being very confused

because something is difficult to understand

Vocab 11/18

• Appalling- awful; terrible

• Elusive- difficult to find, catch, or achieve

• Inconsistent- not staying the same throughout

• Altercation- a noisy argument or disagreement

• Ambidextrous- a person able to use their left and right hand equally well

Vocab 11/18

• Tedious- too long, slow, or dull

• Caste- a social category to which a person belongs involuntarily (ex: if you are born poor, you will remain poor)

• Speculate- form a theory about a subject without firm evidence

• Placid- a person or animal who does not get easily excited or upset

• Prerogative- someone’s right or privilege

Vocab 12/2

• Irrelevant- Unrelated to the matter being considered

• Involuntary- not done by choice

• Instinctive- acting from impulse; automatic

• Integrity- being honest and fair; the state of being complete or whole

• Perpetual- never ending or changing

Vocab 12/2

• Cynical- believing that people are generally selfish and dishonest

• Contraband- things that are brought into or out of a country illegally

• Credibility- the quality of being trusted and believed in

• Scrutiny- critical observation or examination.

• Acquittal- a defendant is not guilty of a crime as charged

Vocab 12/9

• Remorse- deep regret or guilt for a wrong committed

• Clarify- make a statement or situation less confusing

• Apprehension- anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen

• Savor- a good taste or smell

• Squander- waste in a reckless and foolish manner

Vocab 12/9

• Competent- having the necessary ability, knowledge, or skill to do something successfully

• Eccentric- a person (or their behavior) who is slightly strange

• Turmoil- a state of great disturbance, confusion, or uncertainty

• Recluse- a person who withdraws from the world to live in seclusion

Jim Crow and Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow • “Jim Crow” came from a minstrel show

song “Jump Jim Crow,” written in 1828 by Thomas Rice. Rice, a White man, painted his face black and presented a caricature of a poor rural Black man

• "Jim Crow" -- an exaggerated, highly stereotypical black character.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5FpKAxQNKU

Jim Crow

• By 1838, the term "Jim Crow" was being used as a collective racial term for blacks

• By the end of the 19th century, the

words Jim Crow were less likely to be used to describe blacks; instead, the phrase Jim Crow was being used to describe laws and customs which oppressed blacks.

Jim Crow Laws

• Jim Crow laws, also known as Black Codes, were passed to ensure that segregation in a wide range of situations was enforced. Such segregation continued until the 1960s.

• Breaking these rules could result in a lynching—in the last twenty years of the 19th century approximately 10,000 lynchings were carried out

Jim Crow Laws

• Never assert or even intimate that a white person is lying.

• Never impute dishonorable intentions to a white person.

• Never suggest that a white person is from an inferior class.

• Never lay claim to, or overly demonstrate, superior knowledge or intelligence.

• Never curse a white person.• Never laugh derisively at a white person.• Never comment upon the appearance of a white

female.

• A black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands) with a white male because it implied being socially equal.

• Blacks and whites were not supposed to eat together. If they did eat together, whites were to be served first, and some sort of partition was to be placed between them.

• Under no circumstance was a black male to offer to light the cigarette of a white female -- that gesture implied intimacy.

• Blacks were not allowed to show public affection toward one another in public, especially kissing, because it offended whites.

• Blacks were introduced to whites, never whites to blacks. For example: "Mr. Peters (the white person), this is Charlie (the black person), that I spoke to you about."

• Whites did not use courtesy titles of respect when referring to blacks, for example, Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or Ma'am. Instead, blacks were called by their first names. Blacks had to use courtesy titles when referring to whites, and were not allowed to call them by their first names.

• If a black person rode in a car driven by a white person, the black person sat in the back seat, or the back of a truck.

Rosa Parks

The moderns civil rights era was ushered in by the actions of an African-American woman, Rosa Parks, who defied one of the Jim Crow laws by refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChWXyUTKg8

http://watch.wqed.org/video/1337330740/

Review Questions

1. Who was Jim Crow?

2. What are Jim Crow Laws? What was their purpose?

3. Which two Jim Crow Laws stuck out to you the most? Why?

Myths and Urban LegendsHow they play a part in To Kill a Mockingbird

Myths and Legends Background

• Read through the “Myths and Urban Myths” handout.

What is an Urban Legend?

• a story about an unusual event or occurrence that many people believe is true but that is not true

Urban Legend

A thriving colony of white alligators lives in the sewers of New York City, the offspring of baby alligators brought back as pets from Florida, where they grow to huge sizes and terrorize anyone brave enough to go under the city.

Possible Origin

There are many stories from the past 90 years of alligators found in streams, parks, bushes, eve the rivers of New York, some of which were later found to be lizards. One “spinner of colorful yarns” actually claimed to have found a large number of alligators there but never proved any of his stories.

Fact

Alligators cannot live in the cold temperatures of New York City, and they would die very quickly from the bacteria present in sewers. They have never been found there.

Urban Legend

Spiders will crawl into the hair of a person with a lot of hair or with dreadlocks and cause the person to grow sick and die.

Possible Origin

People have often said that with some hairdos, a person might forego washing it in order to preserve the style.

Fact

There is no known case of someone having died from a bite by a spider who set up residence in a person’s hair.

Other Urban Legends

• If you turn out the lights, look into a mirror, and say Bloody Mary three times (in some versions the number of times differs) then you will summon the spirit of Mary Worth, a woman who was supposedly executed for being a witch.

• Warn people you care about not to use public pay phones because a gang is going around applying skin eating acid to the receiver and buttons.

• I heard from a friend,of a friend,of a cousin that they found a razor blade in their caramel apple!

Discussion

• Can you identify any such myths which have circulated around your school, your neighborhood, or your city? Report back to the class on what you have discovered.

Group Activity

• In groups of 3 or 4, find and list several myths from To Kill a Mockingbird. These may be myths the children believe or ones

believed by adults in the community. Record the myths, identify their sources, and tell what actually happened.

• Discuss the reasons you think the myths got started and why anyone would believe them

Who-I-Am Collages

What to Do: Step 1

• Over the period of the next few days, search through magazines, newspapers, photo albums, and your rooms to collect newspaper clippings, advertisements, pictures, and small items which you feel say something about your personality. For example, someone who likes sports might save pictures of items having to do with that sport.

What to Do: Step 2

• Arrange the items you have collected into a collage. You may arrange your items in any way you wish.

What to Do: Step 3

• Share your collage with your classmates.

• Notice that some people may have hidden things just as you did.

– “You cannot always judge a book by its cover”

Discussion Questions

• Most people tend to see only certain things about other people, which can lead to stereotyping.

• What are some ways we can recognize and correct this natural tendency in ourselves in order to appreciate others more fully?

The Scourge of RabiesThe “mad dog” Calpurnia spots

Rabies

• Read through the “Scourge of Rabies” handout

• Next, we will watch a clip from the movie Old Yeller to see an example of a dog with rabies and how he acts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_JyC_8HOyo

News Articles

• http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/world/asia/india-stray-dogs-are-a-menace.html?_r=0

• http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/health/rabies-killed-maryland-kidney-transplant-patient.html

• http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/health/research/05hazards.html

Growing Up a LadyWhy won’t Scout just act like a lady already?!

Growing Up a Lady

• Aunt Alexandria and Jem just cannot understand why Scout will not act more like a young lady. “Acting like a lady” was considered to be a very important goal for white girls growing up in the 1930s.

Growing Up a Lady

• Women of “good families” who grew up in the South during this time had to meet further expectations. They were expected to be church members, to speak softly and with a certain accent unlike those of their poor neighbors. Integrity was very important. Once could never steal, cheat, or speak badly to someone who could not speak back, such as someone of a lower class or a non-white. They were expected to help take care of their less fortunate neighbors while allowing their own children to be cared for by black nurses who taught them to be honest and “Christian.”

Growing Up a Lady

• Little girls dressed up in the afternoons to look like Shirley Temple, a famous movie star who was always dressed perfectly with every hair in place. They never went barefoot or fought. Their speech was expected to be grammatical at all times, and they could never curse or swear. They never said things like “shut up,” and they did not play cards or go to the movies on Sunday. Theirs was a very circumscribed world.

What to Do

• In groups of 4 or 5, make three lists: one list of the way girls and women were expected to behave in the 1930s, one list of the ways they are expected to act today, and one list showing how girls were free to act in both times.

Conflict in Literature

What is Conflict?

Without conflict, there is no plot! It is first introduced in the rising action (#1), faced head-on during the climax (#2), begins to work itself out in the falling action (#3), and resolves itself during the resolution (#4). There are many different types of conflict.

#2

#1 #3#4

External Conflicts

• Man vs. Man: a struggle with another character

External Conflicts

• Man vs. Nature: a character struggles with a force of nature

External Conflicts

• Man vs. Society: a character or group of characters fight against the society in which they live; they fight against social traditions or rules

Internal Conflicts

• Man vs. Self: the character’s struggle takes place in his/her own mind; usually has something to do with a choice

To Do:

• Think of all the different conflicts we’ve seen in To Kill a Mockingbird. Fill out the chart on the bottom of your notes sheet.

Directions: For the following questions, choose the correct answer.

“This morning Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life.”

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

“This morning Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life.”

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

“I know it’s February, Miss Eula May, but I know a mad dog when I see one.”

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

“I know it’s February, Miss Eula May, but I know a mad dog when I see one.”

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

“I think I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed up in the house all this time…it’s because he wants to stay inside.”

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

“I think I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed up in the house all this time…it’s because he wants to stay inside.”

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

“Secretly, Miss Finch, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live.”—Mr. Dolphus Raymond

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

“Secretly, Miss Finch, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live.”—Mr. Dolphus Raymond

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

“As it has not snowed in Maycomb County since 1885, there will be no school today.”

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

“As it has not snowed in Maycomb County since 1885, there will be no school today.”

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

“Don’t you say hey to me, you ugly girl! You say good afternoon, Mrs. Dubose!”

a.) Man vs. Man

b.) Man vs. Self

c.) Man vs. Nature

d.) Man vs. Society

“Don’t you say hey to me, you ugly girl! You say good afternoon, Mrs. Dubose!”

Setting

Setting

Along with characters and plot, setting is one of the three main elements of a story. Setting is the place and time of a story, but it is also more. In a different setting, the characters would be different people with different personalities, beliefs, and lifestyles. Scout would not be the same Scout we see in To Kill a Mockingbird if she were born and raised in New York. The town and house where she is growing up in Maycomb, Alabama, have shaped and formed her into the person she is just as much as Atticus and Calpurnia have.

Setting

Life in a small town in Alabama in the 1930s was very different from life in a large eastern city of the present day. Streets were narrow and often made of dirt where children played ball and an occasional car chugged by; today, wide boulevards are filled with blaring taxis and lined with shops. In the small town of the book, neighbors knew each other’s deep, dark secrets. They were not strangers living side by side, one in millions of city dwellers.

1.) How would you describe this house?

2.) What dramatic value or mood does this depict?

1.) How would you describe these children?2.) What dramatic value or mood does this depict?

1.) How would you describe this clown?2.) What dramatic value or mood does this depict?

Activity

• Just like the pictures we just described, take a look at your worksheet and do the same thing for certain places we have read about in To Kill a Mockingbird. First, describe the example given, then write about the dramatic value/mood it gives the book.

Activity

• Describe how your setting looks, including the homes, schools, and roads

• Describe the common lifestyles of the people• Describe how people make money and how that

affects the way they live. Do they raise their own food? Shop in huge shopping areas? Drive cars or ride mass transit?

• Describe the history of the people. Do they share a common one, or do they come from many different background and speak different languages?

Adult Conversations

Scout is a child throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. She is eight years old when she watches from the balcony while Atticus cross-examines Robert Ewell. Mr. Ewell tells a descriptive and ugly story about Tom Robinson attacking his daughter, Mayella. It is all lies, but he tells it for everyone to hear.

Many people (probably including Atticus himself, had he known the children were watching the trial) would agree that a child of eight should not be exposed to what was happening in that courtroom. The scenes are graphic. Robert Ewell does not seem to care who hears what he has to say, and he wants to make his story as colorful and descriptive as he can in much the same way he might tell a story to his cronies in a saloon or behind the fence somewhere. Of course, he is supposed to answer with the truth as he has sworn to do, but this does not keep him from lying.

Once the testimony begins, Scout has absolutely no intention of leaving the courtroom. She is glued to her seat. By and large, Atticus has treated her as an adult most of her life, allowing her to hear what adults in her house have to say about anything and anyone and allowing her to speak her own mind at all times, even when Aunt Alexandria or Miss Caroline believe he should protect her from what some would consider adult topics. She has been following the progress of the trial avidly, and even though she does not know all that the adults are saying, she is a very bright child and understands most of it.

When Rev. Sykes suddenly realizes the content of what Robert Ewell has to say about Tom Robinson, he tries to have Jem take Scout from the courtroom, not wanting her to hear anything inappropriate. One could argue that if Rev. Sykes really believed this to be true, he should not have allowed the children to go into the courthouse balcony in the first place. After all, he knew this was going to be a rape trial, so what did he expect? However, the description given by Mr. Ewell is uglier than Rev. Sykes anticipated, and he wants Scout protected.

Activity

• Should children be allowed to hear anything and everything? Write one page beginning with one of these statements:– Children should be allowed to listen in on

adult conversations, whatever their topics, because…

– Children should be protected from adult conversations about things they are too young to understand because…