To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
“You never really understand a person until you consider
things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his
skin and walk around in it.”
-Atticus Finch
"God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues.
Then you really might know what it's like"
-Everlast
“Mockingbirds don’t do anything but make music for us to enjoy.
They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they
don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s
a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
"Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but
remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
In the final section of the novel, two characters are compared
to the mockingbird. Why is the mockingbird an appropriate
symbol for these two characters?
SETTING
The setting is in Maycomb, Alabama
during the early twentieth century
(1930s). Due to the Great Depression,
poverty is a subject that affects many.
Instead of using this as a binding
theme, the people in the town use it as
an element of separation. Prejudice of
every sort runs rampant throughout the
town.
As you read, determine what was it like to live in a small southern
town in the 1930’s. Also, notice the social status of characters.
The Great Depression
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Millions of Americans lost their jobs.
Many people lost their homes, their land, and their dignity.
They lived in flimsy shacks and stood in bread lines to receive
government handouts of food.
At the start of the Great Depression, about half of the African American
population lived in the South.
Racial tensions increased during this time.
In Alabama, as in other southern states, segregation was a way of life.
The Scottsboro Trials
 March 1931 nine African American youths
were arrested and charged with raping two
white women.
 In spite of evidence of the men’s innocence,
eight of the nine men were found guilty and
sentenced to death. By 1937, after several
appeals, four of the defendants were freed,
while the others were sentenced to long
prison terms.
 The Scottsboro trials share several
similarities with the fictional trial of Tom
Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Helpful Website
To Kill a Mockingbird
Student Survival Guide:
http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/
Belmont_HS/tkm/
Chapter One Vocabulary
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Jem's fears of never being able to play football were assuaged...(p. 7)."
"All we had was Simon Finch, a fur-trading apothecary from Cornwall whose piety was exceeded only
by his stinginess (p. 8)."
"In England, Simon was irritated by the persecution of those who called themselves Methodists at the
hands of their more liberal brethren (p.8)..."
"Mindful of John Wesley's strictures...(p. 8)"
"So Simon, having forgotten his teacher's dictum on the possession of human chattels, bought three
slaves...(p. 8)."
Simon would have regarded with impotent fury the disturbance between the North and the South...(p.
8)."
"She married a taciturn man...(p. 9)."
"Atticus's office in the courthouse contained little more than a hat rack, a spittoon, a checkerboard
and an unsullied Code of Alabama (p. 9)."
"The Haverfords...were impudent enough to do it in the presence of three witnesses...(p. 9)."
"They ambled across the square...(p. 10)."
"But by the end of August our repertoire was vapid from countless reproductions...(p. 12)."
"Rain-rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda...(p. 13)."
The remains of a picket drunkenly guarded the front yard...(p. 13)."
"Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom (p. 13)."
"The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgivable in
Maycomb(p. 13)."
"...ladies wore corsets...(p. 14)."
"...an enormous and confusing tribe domiciled in the northern part of the county...(p. 14)."
"...Maycomb's ancient beadle, Mr. Conner... (p. 14)."
"So Jem received most of his information from Miss Stephanie Crawford, a neighborhood scold...(p.
15)."
"Mr. Radley's posture was ramrod straight (p. 16)."
"...not waiting to see if his foray was successful (p. 19).
Chapter One Vocabulary Definitions
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assuaged (vb.): to assuage is to lessen or to calm. Therefore, if Jem's fears about being able to play football were assuaged, it means
that he no longer feared that he wouldn't be able to play the sport.
beadle (n.): a minor city official, lower in rank than either a sheriff or a policeman, whose main duties revolve around preserving order at
various civil functions such as trials and town hall meetings.
brethren (n.): in this case, members of a particular church or sect
corsets (n): a corset is a ladies undergarment designed to produce a particular effect on the figure. That effect usually results in a slim (or
slimmer) waist and larger busts and hips, like the woman in this picture.
dictum (n.): in this case, a formal statement of principle
domiciled (vb.): A domicile is a house or a place where a person lives. If you are domiciled somewhere, that is where you live. The Finch
family lived in the northern part of the county.
eaves (n.): the lower edges of a roof which usually project beyond the side of a building
foray (n.): When you make a foray, you go somewhere or do something that is unusual or not normal for you. It was certainly not Jem's
usual behavior to go near the Radley house; thus, doing so was a foray for him.
human chattels (n.): slaves
impotent (adj.): powerless. Simon's fury and anger regarding the Civil War would certainly have been impotent because there would have
been nothing he could have done about it.
impudent (adj.): To be impudent is to be shamelessly bold, as if you don't care what anyone thinks about you. Since the Haverfords did
something illegal in front of witnesses, Lee rightfully describes them as impudent.
malevolent (adj.): evil
Methodists (n): members of a branch of a Protestant Christian denomination. Find out more about the United Methodist Church.
picket (n): a pointed or sharpened pole or stake. Many pickets held together can make a picket fence.
piety (n): devotion to religious duties and practices
predilection (n.): a predilection is a preference, or a preferred way of doing something. Thus, the Radley's preferred way of spending a
Sunday afternoon was to keep the doors closed and not receive visitors
ramrod (adj.): rigid, severe, straight
repertoire was vapid: (n. + adj.): a repertoire is all the special skills a person has; vapid, in this case, means boring or uninteresting.
So, when Scout says that their repertoire was vapid, she means that the games they had invented to pass the time had become old and
had lost their interest.
scold (n.): A scold is a person who scolds; that is, someone who often finds fault with people or things (and usually lets you know about it
under no uncertain terms)
spittoon (n.): a jarlike container to spit into; usually used to spit tobacco juice into. See a picture of a spittoon.
strictures (n.): conditions or rules
taciturn (adj.): almost always silent. Apparently, Aunt Alexandra's husband was a very quiet man.
unsullied (adj.): something that is unsullied has been basically untouched or unused. The fact that Atticus's edition of the Code of Alabama
is unsullied would, in this case, indicate that he seldom consults this book.
veranda (n): a portico or porch with a roof
Allusions
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A reference in a literary work to a well-known character, person, place, event,
phrase, or another work of literature.
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Allusions are often used to summarize broad, complex ideas or emotions in one
quick, powerful image
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The relevance is not explained by the writer, but relies on the readers’ familiarity
with what is mentioned.
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The technique of allusion is an economical means of calling upon the history or
the literary tradition that author and reader are assumed to share.
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The writer assumes will recognize the reference.
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Many allusions in literature are biblical in nature. For example, naming a
character “Eve.”
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Describing someone as a "Romeo" makes an allusion to William Shakespeare's
famous young lover in Romeo and Juliet. (Indirect)
Allusions in Chapter One
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Andrew Jackson: 7th President of the United States (1829-1837). Find out more about Andrew
Jackson.
Battle of Hastings: a decisive battle in the Norman Conquests of England in 1066. Find out more
about the Battle of Hastings.
Cornwall: a country at the southwest tip of England. Find Cornwall on a map of the United
Kingdom.
disturbance between the North and the South: The Civil War (1861-1865) Find out more about
the Civil War.
Dracula: the 1931 film version of the famous vampire story. See a storyboard from the film.
flivver: another name for a Model-T Ford.
Jamaica: an island country in the West Indies, south of Cuba. See a map of Jamaica.
John Wesley: (1702-1791) Founder of the Methodist Church. See a picture of John Wesley.
Meridian, Mississippi: Meridian is a city in east Mississippi. Find it on a map of Mississippi.
Merlin: King Arthur's adviser, prophet and magician. See a picture of Merlin and a picture of Merlin
with the baby Arthur.
Mobile: a city in southwest Alabama. Find Mobile on a map of Alabama.
no money to buy it with: an allusion to the Great Depression. Find out about the stock market
crash that led to the Depression, and see a timeline for the Great Depression.
nothing to fear but fear itself: an allusion to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first Inaugural
Address. Read the speech.
Pensacola: a city in northwest Florida. Find Pensacola on a map of Florida.
Philadelphia: a city in southeast Pennsylvania. Find Philadelphia on a map of Pennsylvania.
stumphole whiskey: illegally made and sold whiskey that would be hidden in the holes of tree
stumps.
Tuscaloosa: a city in central Alabama. Find Tuscaloosa on a map of Alabama.
USING THE WEBSITE TO LOOK-UP ALLUSIONS
"...the boys backed around the square in a borrowed flivver...(p. 14)."
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flivver: another name for a Model-T Ford.
Model-T Ford (on blocks): The Model-T (also known as a "tin Lizzie" or a "flivver") was
Henry Ford's first popular success. Originally produced in 1909, it was affordable and
relatively reliable. See a picture of a 1926 Model-T coupe and find out more about the
history of the Model-T Ford. A car is put up on blocks for two main reasons: either it
no longer has any tires, or the owner can't afford to drive it and putting it on blocks
saves the tires from the damage caused by having to carry the weight of the car.
IDIOMS:
Up to your neck in debt? Or perhaps you are more fortunate.
Maybe you are head over heels in love? Laughing all the way to the bank?
Perhaps the world is your oyster.
In any case you are clearly suffering from an excess of
IDIOMS
An expression whose meaning is different from the
meaning of the individual words
Often an idiom, such as “under the weather,” does not seem to make sense if taken
literally. Someone unfamiliar with English idioms would probably not understand
that to be “under the weather” is to be sick.
Flashback
Using a literary technique called
flashback, Lee interrupts Scout’s
chronological narrative to reach back
in time and enhance and amplify the
story with prior events.
As you read, examine Harper Lee’s use
of flashback.
Point of View
To Kill a Mockingbird is told from a firstperson point of view-that is, the
narrator uses “I” and “me” to
describe events in the novel.
Although the narrator is an adult
Scout Finch looking back at her
childhood, the perspective is limited
to what she saw and felt at the time.
Scout recalls childhood events with
an adult vocabulary.
Conflict
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At the heart of every novel is conflict, the struggle between
two opposing forces. In an external conflict, a character
struggles against some outside force, such as another person,
nature society or fate. An internal conflict is a struggle
between two opposing thoughts or desires within the mind of a
character.
Themes:
By the end of the novel, try to develop theme statements
based on the following categories:
*Appearance vs. Reality
*Racism & Acceptance/
Prejudice vs. Tolerance
*Good & Evil
*Innocence & Experience
What does this novel reveal about
human nature?
To Kill a Mockingbird-Movie Trailer
 http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2330
093?htv=12
DID YOU KNOW?
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Harper Lee based her character Dill upon the famous actor and author,
Truman Capote, who lived next door to Harper. Truman was raised by his
cousins in a similar manner as Dill. Truman is famous for his works In Cold
Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Harper Lee is a descendant of Robert E. Lee.
Ewell is an old form of the word e-v-i-l, according to the Oxford English
Dictionary.