Introduction PowerPoint by Mr. B
 Why is it required to read TKAM?
 Who wrote TKAM?
 When was TKAM written?
 What is TKAM about?
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Setting and Historical Context
Characters
Plot
Themes
 Consistently regarded as one of the best
American books of the 20th century.
 Addresses issues and themes so intertwined
with American history.
 Beautifully written.
 Rite of passage.
 Harper Lee
 B.1924
 Alabama
 Based novel
on her father,
a Southern
lawyer who
defended
two innocent
blacks
accused of
murder.
 TKAM was written in the late 1950s and was
published in 1960.
 It was the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1960.
 A movie, starring Gregory Peck was made in
1962 and won the Academy Award.
 Analyses 1
 Describe the last time either you were bullied
or you witnessed someone being bullied?
 What was your response?
 The Columbine High School massacre
occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at
Columbine High School in Columbine, an
unincorporated area of Jefferson County,
Colorado, United States, near Denver and
Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris
and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a
massacre, killing 12 students and one
teacher. They also injured 21 other students
directly, and three people were injured while
attempting to escape. The pair then
committed suicide.
 The link between bullying and school
violence has attracted increasing attention
since the 1999 rampage at Colorado's
Columbine High School. Both of the shooters
were classified as gifted children and had
been bullied for years. A year later, an
analysis by officials at the U.S. Secret
Service of 37 premeditated school shootings
found that bullying, which some of the
shooters described "in terms that
approached torment," played the major role
in more than two-thirds of the attacks.
 To what extent should the bullies, who
tormented Eric and Dylan in childhood be
held accountable for Eric and Dylan’s
heinous actions? If at all.
 How do you stop a bully from bullying?
 For 350 years, slavery was a practice that
was accepted by the vast majority of
Americans. In fact, our founding fathers did
not recognize blacks as equal to whites.
 We know slavery today to be pure evil. Why
was slavery accepted for so long?
 Were all people who owned slaves and/or
approved of slavery evil people?
 Describe one thing in your society that is
“accepted” by the majority of people to be
permissible that you think is evil or wrong.
 Tell why you think it is evil.
 Although the evidence against both Roy and
J.W. was “slam dunk” both men were found
not guilty of the murder of Till.
 Two months later, protected by double
jeopardy, Roy and J.W. admitted to killing Till
in exchange for a $400 interview with a
magazine.
 Besides J.W. and Roy, who else, in your
opinion should be held accountable for this
boy’s death?
 In your journal, write down everything that
comes to mind when you think of “The
South”.
 From 1600-1865 the practice of enslaving blacks
and using them for labor was pervasive in the
South.
 Millions of Africans were brought to America
against their will to work on large plantations in
the South.
 Slavery was symbiotic with the cotton harvest.
 The justification for slavery was based on race—
whites were seen as masters and blacks were
seen as servants.
 Blacks were emancipated after the Civil War
(1865).
 Jim Crow Laws
 Lynching
 Separate but Equal
 Fear of integration
 Titus 2:9:Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in
everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them,
 1 Peter 2:18:Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters
with all respect, not only to those who are good and
considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
 Psalm 123:2 (New International Version (NIV)): As the
eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes
of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes
look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.
 1 Peter 2:18:Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters
with all respect, not only to those who are good and
considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
 To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a rural town in
Alabama during the great depression.
 Both blacks and whites in the town are extremely
poor and ignorant.
 The majority of whites can’t read or right and they
have been brainwashed by their society since birth to
regard blacks with scorn.
 To poor whites, making blacks out to be beneath
them gave them a sense of superiority.
 Blacks in 1930s Alabama lived completed separate
from whites in all aspects of life.
 Blacks, like whites in 1930s Alabama also were firmly
entrenched in a paradigm.
 You will see that blacks in this novel lived in fear of whites.
Blacks called all whites, “sir” or “ma’m”
 Blacks were brainwashed into thinking that whites were
superior to them.
 Although blacks were “technically” free, they still lived in a
“slave” status.
 Jim Crow Laws totally separated blacks from whites—
blacks were not allowed to vote.
 Also, “the law” turned a blind eye to lynching.
 Narrator of the story—based on
Harper Lee as a little girl.
 6 years old.
 Her father, Atticus is the towns
defense attorney, who takes a case
to defend a black man, Tom
Robinson accused of raping a white
woman.
 Scout witnesses the evil of society.
 The conflict in the story revolves
around Scout—after witnessing the
evil of humanity first hand, will she
still have hope in the goodness of
humanity?
 Single father of Scout and
Jem.
 Regards the racism of his
society as evil, but he still
understands the
ignorance of the people
and tries to be an
example as to how and
change the peoples’
attitudes.
 Does the right thing even
if it means endangering
 Scout’s older brother.
 After the events of the novel
unfold, Jem, unlike Scout loses
his innocence and faith in the
goodness of humanity.
 Poor, illiterate black man
accused of raping a poor
white girl Mayella Ewell.
 A black man making any
“pass” at a white woman
was the most
unspeakable crime in the
Jim Crow South.
 Even though he claimed
to be innocent, an all
white jury would most
likely find him guilty.
 The Finch’s neighbor who
never sets foot outside his
house.
 Jem and Scout make up
stories about him that he is
a criminal or murderer
living in his basement.
 Describe a strange
neighbor you have had?
 Poor white farmers.
 Racist
 Mayella accuses Tom
Robinson, a black man, of
raping her.
 They press charges.
 Widow and Finch
neighbor. Aside from
Atticus, Maudie is the
only non-racist in the
community and praises
Atticus to defending
Tom.
 She is the children's’
best adult friend in the
community.
 The Finch’s maid.
 Since Atticus is a single father (his
wife died giving birth to Scout), a
woman is needed to take care of
the kids.
 Calpurnia is treated with the
uttermost respect by Atticus.
Atticus allows to to discipline his
children.
 She is wise. The children, being
raised by her do not regard her as
“black” but as one of the family.
 Childhood friend and neighbor of
Jem and Scout.
 Has wild imagination and makes
up stories about Boo Radley.
 Represents childhood innocence.
 Based upon Harper Lee’s
childhood friend, Truman
Capote—also a famous author in
the 50s and 60s.
 Racist neighbor of the
Finch’s.
 Calls Atticus a “nigger lover”
to the face of the children.
 Mrs. Dubose represents a
person who has lived her life
never looking beyond her
paradigm. She thoroughly
believed that blacks should
be subservient to whites.
 Atticus taught his children to
not blame her for her own
ignorance.
 As we read the book, you must ascertain the meaning of
the Mockingbird.
 The main theme of the novel is the end of innocence.
 Children are born pure and are corrupted by society.
 The protagonist of the novel is Scout, who at the start of
the book has no idea as to the evil that exists in men’s
heart.
 She is forced to endure abuse by her community because
her father has decided to defend a black man.
 The conflict becomes will Scout retain her faith in humanity
after witnessing the evil events that unfold, or will she
emerge with a renewed hope in the goodness that is