The Writing Process and To Kill a Mockingbird

Following our study of The Bean Trees, we will embark on an exploration of Harper Lees novel To Kill a Mockingbird in conjunction with learning about the writing process. As we read the novel, we will complete activities designed to learn and practice the writing process: prewriting, drafting, editing/revising, proofreading, and writing a final draft, from Chapter 1 in Warriners English Composition and Grammar, Third Course.

Major Activities
Character Descriptions (30 points each) Vocabulary database: Definitions, Allusions, and Idioms (100 points) Character Power Point Group Presentations (100 points) Walking Around in Someone Elses Skin (50 points) Walking Around in Scouts Skin an essay (100 points)

Instructions for each of these activities will be forthcoming in more detail.

For most of this unit, you will be working with a TKAM buddy. As you read the novel, you and your buddy will: Highlight or underline at least 15 words you do not know. Define these words using a dictionary. Highlight or underline at least 15 allusions. Explain where they come from. You may find this web site helpful: http://mockingbird.chebucto.org/references.html Highlight or underline at least 15 idioms. Explain what they mean. Make notes about characters: their physical descriptions and ages, their mindsets, knowledge they gain in the story. Introduction: Harper Lees novel is one of the best-selling books in the nations history. Within one year after publication, To Kill A Mockingbird had sold 500,000 copies. By 1992, 18 million copies of paperback editions alone had sold. It has never been out of print in 35 years. To Kill A Mockingbird is frequently cited by readers as the book that has made the biggest difference in their lives. Its influence has been enduring because it allows the readers, through the lives of children, to walk around in the shoes of people who are different from ourselves. The novel challenges our stereotypes - of the Southerner, of the African American, the eccentric, the child, the young lady. Historical Background: There are many parallels between the trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird and one of the most notorious series of trials in the nations history, The Scottsboro Trials -http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm. On March 25, 1931, a freight train was stopped In Paint Rock, a tiny community in northern Alabama, and nine young African American men who had been riding the rails were arrested. As two white women -- one underage descended from the freight cars, they accused the men of raping them on the train. Within a month the first man was found guilty and sentenced to death. There followed a series of sensational trials condemning the other men solely on the testimony of the older woman, a known prostitute, who was attempting to avoid prosecution under the Mann Act, prohibiting taking minor across state lines for immoral purposes, like prostitution. Although none of the accused were executed, a number remained on death row for many years. The case was not settled until 1976 with the pardon of the last of the Scottsboro defendants. Themes: Major themes in the novel include racism and acceptance, code of conduct, and deceptive appearances.