To%20Kill%20A%20Mockingbird

1
To Kill A Mockingbird

• Background PowerPoint and Notes

2
The Great Depression

• Overspending in the 1920s
• Stock Market crash of 1929
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal
• World War II

People in Alabama suffered because of Americas
economy.
3
Racial Segregation

• Although slaves were free, black people were
  affected by state laws that prevented equality
• These laws were known as the Jim Crow Laws

4
Plessy vs. Ferguson

• In 1892, 30-year-old Homer Plessy was jailed for
  sitting in a white section of a railroad car
• Plessy was 1/8th black, but under Louisiana law,
  he was considered colored and was supposed to
  ride in the colored car.
• Plessy argued that his arrest was a violation of
  the Constitution the judge, found Plessy GUILTY
  of refusing the leave the white car.

5
Plessy vs. Ferguson

• After an appeal, the case went to the Supreme
  Court, which upheld the decision and perpetuated
  the concept of separate but equal.
• This enabled schools, courthouses, libraries,
  hotels, theaters, restaurants, public
  transportation, etc., to segregate coloreds
  from whites.

6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9
etiquette

• Blacks were expected to refer to whites with
  titles of superiority like BOSS, SIR, CAPTIAN,
  MISS, or MRS.
• Whites referred to blacks using derogatory terms
  like BOY, LADY, GIRL and the
• Nword.
• Blacks were expected to lets whites walk of the
  sidewalk and signs reading things like Negroes
  and Dogs Not Allowed were common

10
Harper Lee

• Born Nelle Harper Lee,
• April 28, 1926
• Grew up during the Great Depression
• Grew up in Monroeville, Alabama, in the heart of
  the South, where racial tension was high
• Dad was a lawyer
• Mothers maiden name was Finch
• Youngest of four children
• Family held a position within the community.

11
Alabama
12
Neighborhood Friend

• PAs a child, Harper Lee was a tomboy who fought
  on the playground and talked back to her
  teachers.
• She was perceptive about the events and people
  around her, which is probably why she decided to
  have Scout narrate the story.
• Her childhood friend and neighbor was Truman
  Capote, who went on to be a popular writer as
  well. Capote is often thought to be the real life
  version of Scouts friend and neighbor, Dill, in
  the novel.
• Childhood friend

13
1930s Statistics

• Facts about the 1930s
• Population 123,188,000 in 48 states
• Life Expectancy Male, 581 Female, 616
• Average annual salary 1,368
• Unemployment rises to 25
• Car Sales 2,787,400
• Food Prices Milk, 14 cents a qt. Bread, 9
  cents a loaf
• Round Steak, 42 cents a pound
• Lynchings 21

14
Social Order
Wealthy and educated whites Working Class
Whites Non-working class whites African-Americans
Wealthy and educated Working-class
whites Nonworking-class whites African Americans
15
The Scottsboro Trials

• In 1931, a fight between white and black teen
  boys occurred on a train between Tennessee and
  Alabama.
• Two girls on a train, one well-known prostitute
  and one minor, were accused of violating the Mann
  Act (crossing state lines for prostitution).
• They immediately accused all nine black men of
  rape.

16
The Scottsboro Trials

• Eight of the nine boys were sentenced to death
  despite the fact that they were not even all in
  the same rail car.
• Appeals continued for years and only two were
  acquitted.

17
Writing To Kill A Mockingbird

• Themes
• Viewpoint
• Characters
• Major Conflicts

18
THEMES

• Moral nature of man
• Innocence to experience
• How children learn morality
• Social inequality
• Vulnerability of innocent

19
Point of View

• First person narrative through Scout