To Kill a Mockingbird
Context and Introduction
English 11
Miss Tyczynski
Nelle Harper Lee
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• Born April 28, 1926 in Monroeville,
Alabama.
• Her first and only novel To Kill a
Mockingbird was published in 1960.
• In 1960 she won the Pulitzer Prize
for fiction.
• Lee continued to receive awards after
the book’s publication.
• In November of 2007 she was
awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom (the nation’s highest
civilian award) for her contribution
to American literature.
Historical Significance
• Maycomb, AL bears a striking resemblance to
Monroeville, AL.
• Lee was six years old at the start of the Scottsboro trial
and Scout is six years old at the beginning of the
Robinson trial.
• Similarities exist between the Robinson trial in the text
and the Scottsboro trial of the 1930’s.
• Both trials involve black men wrongfully charged with
raping white women.
• In both trials all white juries ignored evidence that
would have exonerated the defendants.
Setting: Depression-era
Maycomb, Alabama
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• 1930’s – allusion to
FDR in 1932:
• “[Maycomb County]
had recently been told it
had nothing to fear but
fear itself” (6).
• To Kill a Mockingbird
is framed by Scout as
the larger story of how
Jem broke his arm.
Characters
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Simon FinchAtticus FinchJem FinchScout FinchAlexandra FinchUncle JackCalpurniaMiss RachelCharles Baker Harris (Dill)Miss Stephanie Crawford-
The Radley Family History
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Mr. & Mrs. Radley
Nathan Radley
Arthur/Boo Radley
The Radley family was very reclusive
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did not attend church (a social activity).
Mr. Radley (later Nathan) seen walking.
Mrs. Radley came out to the porch to water her plants.
Boo stays in the house.
(Arthur) Boo Radley
• At 18- Arthur gets into trouble with
friends. The judge turns him over to his
father who promises “no further trouble.”
• Arthur/ Boo retreats into the house for 15
years.
• At 33-
Chapter One Vocabulary
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assuaged- •
apothecary- •
strictures- •
dictum•
chattel•
taciturn- •
repertoire- •
vapid•
malevolent- •
morbid•
predilection-•
domiciled- •
eased
makes/sells medicine
rules, limits
rule
property
shy, not talkative
collection of songs or performances
dull, lacking taste
wishing to do harm, ill-will
relating to death or disease
personal preference regardless of the facts
established a residence
Reading Questions
• Explain each literary term using details given in the first
chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird as evidence:
• ex: setting- where and when a story takes place.
Maycomb, AL in the 1930’s.
– characterization
– tone
– protagonist
– allusion
– metaphor and simile
– imagery