To Kill A Mockingbird
a novel by Harper Lee
Melissa Buell’s Student Sample
Our Objectives
• We read To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper
Lee.
• We will try to relate the key topics of the
novel to current issues.
• We will explore an issue from the novel
that is still an issue today and work as a
group to find a solution.
• We created this PowerPoint presentation
about our problem and solution and are
sharing it with the class.
Key Topics in To Kill A Mockingbird
~Racism and Prejudice~
Definitions
• Racism is hatred or intolerance of another
race or other races. (dictionary.com)
• Prejudice is unreasonable feelings,
opinions, or attitudes, esp. of a hostile
nature, regarding a racial, religious, or
national group. (dictionary.com)
Connection to the novel
• Scout states, “I think there's just one
kind of folks. Folks.” Chapter 23
Important Characters in the
Book
• Atticus Finch- Lawyer in Maycomb. Father to Jem and
Scout.
• Jem Finch – Ten year old son of Atticus. Loves football
and is deeply interested in the trial of Tom Robinson.
• Scout Finch – Six year daughter of Atticus. A tomboy who
is very intelligent.
• Calpurnia - The Finches’ black cook. She cares about the
children very much.
• Dill Harris - A new neighbor who plays with Jem and
Scout. He becomes obsessed with Boo Radley, the
Finches’ creepy neighbor.
• Miss Maudie – A family friend who is a good influence on
Scout.
More characters
• Tom Robinson – A black man who is accused of
attempting to rape a white woman. Atticus is
Tom’s lawyer when the case goes to trial. Tom
is innocent but is convicted because he is black.
• Mayella Ewell – The woman who accused Tom
Robinson of raping her.
• Bob Ewell – Mayella’s father.
• Arthur “Boo” Radley – The Finches’ reclusive
neighbor. There is much speculation about Boo
and the children are fascinated with him.
This book talks about racism and
prejudice. The novel was written in
1960 based on events that happened in
the 1930s. Our group can still see the
same things happened in the present
and in our community, country, and
world. We decided this was a relevant
topic to discuss for our presentation.
Mrs. Buell gave us the Curriculm Framing Questions to think
about while reading this novel, and we decided to use them in
our presentation!
Essential Questions
How do human beings influence each other?
We influence each other with our attitudes, especially
when our attitudes are loving and accepting or
hateful. We interact with a wide variety of people on
a daily basis. We need to treat everyone kindly and
respectfully. “Treat one another as you want to be
treated.”
Is hate unavoidable in the world?
Unfortunately, no. People will always hate someone that
is different than they are. But, we can try to live in a
manner that shows love and influence others to put
away their hate.
More Questions…
Unit Questions
How can justice be tainted?
As seen in Mockingbird, justice is tainted when Tom Robinson does
not get a fair trial. The jury voted against him and he ended up
dying in an attempted prison break. If we open the newspaper,
we can see instances of tainted justice in our country and around
the globe. If the people sitting on the jury are filled with hate
and prejudice, the outcome will not be pure and good.
How does racism affect one's life?
Racism affects Jem’s life in Mockingbird very strongly. He
becomes depressed following Tom Robinson’s trial and conviction.
He had a hard time dealing with the prejudice that surrounded
him in Maycomb. Our group thought about this question for a
long time. We all must be careful with our words and actions so
as not to hurt other people.
And more questions!
Content Questions
What is prejudice? Racism is hatred or
intolerance of another race or other races.
(dictionary.com)
What is racism? Prejudice is unreasonable
feelings, opinions, or attitudes, esp. of a
hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious,
or national group. (dictionary.com)
In case you were wondering…
Why is it bad to kill a
mockingbird?
• Atticus tells Jem and Scout that killing a
mockingbird is bad. Miss Maudie tells the kids,
“Your father's right,” she said. “Mockingbirds
don't do one thing but make music for us to
enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us.
That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Atticus is trying to tell them about Boo Radley
and he wants the kids to leave Boo alone.
What happens to Tom Robinson?
• Tom Robinson had to go to prison
although the jury knew he was
innocent. A black man in the south
in America in the 1930s couldn’t win
in a court case against a white
woman. We know this isn’t a fair
thing, but people were very racist in
the South at that time and this was
a common practice. Tom Robinson
dies while trying to escape from
prison.
Character Focus
~Atticus Finch~
• Jem and Scout learn from their dad Atticus about life
and racism and how to be good people. He teaches them
to look past the surface to get to what is really
important. That’s why Scout can understand Boo Radley
at the end of the book. Scout says, “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.” Scout is ashamed of her father at first
for being so much older than her schoolmates fathers.
But when Atticus shoots the rabid dog with just one
shot, Scout and Jem are both extremely proud of their
dad. Atticus takes on a case that he knew he couldn’t
win, but he did it because it was the right thing to do.
How does this affect us?
• After reading this novel, our group talked about
how we can fight against racism and prejudice.
We can not use hurtful words but it needs to
start before that. We need to make sure we
are using the correct thinking. People are
people. A person’s ethnicity, skin color, age,
class, or religion should not make us treat him
with hatred because he is different. Many
wars are fought over this very thing. If we can
help in our own small way, we may affect the
community. We hope this will start a ripple
effect that will continue to grow across the
whole world!
Works Cited
• Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird.
HarperCollins: 1960 (Perennial Classics
edition: 2002).
• Dictionary.com for definitions.