October 13

ELA 20: Oct 13 Begin To Kill a Mockingbird Novel Study…

  1. Today is the beginning of a month-long (approx) study of the wonderful novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Students studied a unit on Equality with me last semester in Gr 10. We reviewed some of those topics and the setting for their last novel study, Of Mice and Men. They all seemed to really enjoy that novel and I tried to make it clear that when we are done with this next novel they’ll have enjoyed it equally if not more!
  2. To help set the environment of the novel, we looked through a PowerPoint show that highlighted some important factors to understand in the novel, such as the economic situation of the time, the segregation of Blacks from Whites, and the role of women in society.
  3. We also had a discussion of the author, how she published the novel with a slightly ambiguous name so the book wouldn’t be rejected since it was written by a woman. Around the time the book was written and published, a lot of issues were coming to a head in American society after several major court cases brought awareness to the fact that Black people were not getting fair trials. One particular such case was the Scarborough Case where a few white women accused several black men of raping them. Through the different levels of appeal, though, it became more and more clear that the women had concocted the charges.
  4. Tomorrow, we’ll begin reading through the novel together. We’ll read it aloud in class, answer the chapter questions as we go, and look for evidence of growth in two of the characters. This will make their major project of a literary essay much easier to plan for.
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