To Kill a Mockingbird

2. To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee

3. To Kill a Mockingbird Nelle Harper Lee (1926 - )

4. To Kill a Mockingbird Nelle Harper Lee (1926 - ) Biography Born in 1926 and raised in Monroeville, Alabama A descendent from Robert E. Lee, the Southern Civil War general Her father, Amasa C. Lee a lawyer with an unusual first name Studied law at the University of Alabama Spent a year in England as an exchange student at Oxford University In 1950 quit law school moved to New York Started writing, also working as an airline reservations clerk in the city Began work on To Kill a Mockingbird in the mid 1950s Divided time between New York and caring for ailing father in Alabama Moved back to reclusive life in Monroeville until present time

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6. To Kill a Mockingbird 1930s & the Great Depression

7. To Kill a Mockingbird USA The Great Depression America’s worst economic period 29 October 1929 saw the Wall St. market crash Did not end until 1943 Unemployment rose and many white homesteads fell 50% of commercial banks went bankrupt Farm crop prices fell by nearly 50% 1931 a person working 60 hours a week in Alabama would earn about $156 annually Millions of American lives were destroyed through hunger, despair, poverty and homelessness

8. To Kill a Mockingbird Segregation and injustice In the 1930s 50% of the population of Southern towns were black Black citizens had no vote and could not marry whites Policy of segregation meant black citizens had to have their own schools, churches, cemeteries football teams (American) Economic collapse in 1930s brought ferocious rivalry for jobs Created ill will between black and white communities

9. To Kill a Mockingbird The Novel Completed in 1957 To Kill a Mockingbird It was and published in 1960 In 1961 Lee was won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction Filmed in 1962 with Gregory Peck Mary Badham - youngest girl to receive Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress It remains her first and only published novel Voted 4th in the UK BBC’s ‘The Big Read’, autumn 2003

10. To Kill a Mockingbird Similarites between Harper Lee’s childhood and Maycomb Harper Lee's Childhood Grew up in 1930s - rural southern Alabama town Father - Amasa Lee - attorney who served in state legislature in Alabama   Older brother and young neighbour (Truman Capote) are playmates An avid reader at six years old when Scottsboro trials were meticulously covered in state and local newspapers Scout Finch’s childhood Grew up in 1930s - rural southern Alabama town Father - Atticus Finch - attorney who served in state legislature in Alabama Older brother and young neighbour (Dill) are playmates Scout reads before she enters school; reads Mobile Register newspaper In first grade Six years old when the trial of Tom Robinson takes place

11. To Kill a Mockingbird The Scottsboro Case 1931

12. To Kill a Mockingbird The novel’s setting Set in Maycomb, modelled on her own town of Monroeville Partially taken from real events in Lee's childhood 1931 Nine black men were accused of raping two white women near Scottsboro, Alabama After lengthy trials, four of the men were sent to prison Later discovered that the two women were lying Little doubt that these events formed the basis for the fictional trial that is the novel’s centrepiece

13. To Kill a Mockingbird The written style Scout’s voice: Pace, presence and imagery Opening paragraph – Gem’s arm Maycomb community – consciousness & the Radleys Relationships with: Atticus - fatherhood and distance Calpurnia - intuition and respect slowly became the moral centre of the book pillars of society do not share society's prejudices

14. To Kill a Mockingbird The storylines The Radleys - father, Boo and brother (Ch 1 9-13) The Cunninghams - Walter and father (Chs. 2 21-3; 3 25-7; 15 168-170) Tom Robinson - Mayella and Bob Ewell (Chs. 11 115-6;14 148-9; )

15. To Kill a Mockingbird The case against Tom Robinson Accused by Bob Ewell of raping Mayella Ewell Atticus Finch took the brief for the defence A local lynch mob attempt to hang Tom before the trial An all-white jury in Maycomb finds Tom guilty read on . . .

16. To Kill a Mockingbird The Cunninghams storyline The Cunninghams - Walter and father Walter’s school lunchtime Ch 2 (pp21-3) Walter has lunch at the Finches’ house Ch 3 (pp25-7) Mr Cunningham in the lynch mob Ch 15 (pp168-170)

17. To Kill a Mockingbird The speech for Tom Robinson’s defence ‘Gentlemen . . . The State has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. . . So a quiet, repectable, humble Negro who had the unmittigated temerity to “feel sorry” for a white woman has had to put his word against two white people’s.’ Ch.20

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