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Lesson outcomes

At the end of this lesson, students should

be able to:

1.
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Learn about the Great Depression and the
experiences of people during those days
2. Learn about racism, how it affects people
individually and as a community
3. Learn about justice, and be able to compare
past laws to current ones
• Harper Lee, in full Nelle Harper Lee, (born
April 28, 1926, Monroeville, Alabama, U.S.
• Died February 19, 2016, Monroeville),
American writer nationally acclaimed for
her novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960).
• Harper Lee’s father was Amasa Coleman
Lee, a lawyer who by all accounts
resembled the hero of her novel in his
sound citizenship and warm heartedness.
• The plot of To Kill a Mockingbird is based in part
on his unsuccessful youthful defense of two
African American men convicted of murder.
• Lee studied law at the University of Alabama
(spending a summer as an exchange student at
the University of Oxford), but she left for
New York City without earning a degree.
• In New York she worked as an airline
reservationist but soon received financial aid from
friends that allowed her to write full-time. With
the help of an editor, she transformed a series of
short stories into To Kill a Mockingbird.
Guide questions:

• Have you ever stood up for

something that you knew was right,
even though it was unpopular?

• Did you face persecution despite

doing the right thing?
 Overview of the Novel

• To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of Scout and Jem during the Great
Depression, when racism and segregation were common,
especially in the South where the story takes place. As white
children, Scout and Jem have yet to understand the challenge of
the black community.
• However, during this story they learn about innocent black men
accused of crimes, while experiencing the kindness and acceptance
of black people in their town.
• By the end of the novel, the children understand they need to be
more open-minded and see people as individuals.
Great Depression, worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest
and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world, sparking fundamental changes in
economic institutions, macroeconomic policy, and economic theory. Although it originated in the United States, the
Great Depression caused drastic declines in output, severe unemployment, and acute deflation in almost every country of
the world. Its social and cultural effects were no less staggering, especially in the United States, where the Great
Depression represented the harshest adversity faced by Americans since the Civil War.
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