Macomb's Usual Disease - Classwork (1/28/15)

Think of some examples of prejudice. What are the most common types of prejudice in your community? What are the most common types of prejudice facing our nation? Think about the most common types of prejudice that plague us as a global community. Why are these types of prejudice destructive?

Is there any way this kind of behavior can be remedied?

Today, I would like you to do some research into the state and local laws that were commonly referred to as "Jim Crow Laws". Along with the answers to the questions above, please tell me what Jim Crow laws were and provide me with between five and ten examples of those laws.

This work is to be handed in at the end of the period.

To Kill A Mockingbird - Discussion Questions: Chapters 4-6 (1/28/15)

Please type your answers to the following questions in complete sentences. They are due on Friday, 1/30/15.

1. Scout and Jem discuss at length what to do about the pennies they find in the tree. What does their discussion reveal about their values? What do you think you would have done in their place? Why?

2. Consider the incident at the Radley place beginning with the shotgun blast. What does the incident and the neighbors' discussion afterwards reveal about the community's values? In particular, contrast Atticus' reaction to the children's activities with Miss Rachel Haverford's reaction. How do Atticus' values conflict with those of the community?

3. Explain how Scout's affections shift in these chapters. Whom does she grow closer to? Whom does she grow apart from? What do these changes reflect about Scout's conscience. her morals, and her maturity?

4. Analyze Dill's character. Why do you think he makes up such fantastic stories? Why is he fascinated with Boo? What does he add to Scout's and Jem's lives? Is he largely a positive or negative influence? Explain.

Children and Dares (Journal #5, Marking Period 2)

One of the major themes in the book is how children transition from a carefree world to one filled with more adult concerns and consequences. When Dill arrives, he challenges Jem and Scout to break free from their childhood superstitions and confront "danger". This takes form in the shape of a dare to touch the Radley house.

Very often, children imagine themselves as indestructible. They believe that bad things only happen to others. Certainly, they do not believe that something bad could happen to them. To children, the idea of mortality is an intangible concept that they seldom have to face. Every so often, an innocent dare has lasting consequences.

In the case of the Finch kids, this is good and bad. On one hand, they begin to lose their childhood innocence and wonder. On the other hand, reaching out to Boo Radley helps free them from childish fear and prejudice against people who are "different" from them.

In your journals:

Recall a time when you dared to do something that felt dangerous. How did you feel about the person or people who made the dare? Did you carry out the dare? Why or why not? After it was over, how did you feel about the yourself and the person who challenged you?

Man or Monster (Journal #4, Marking Period 2)

In the narrative of "To Kill A Mockingbird", one character suffers a great deal - in silence.

You will see that chapters 4-6 do a great deal to establish Boo Radley as a human-being. At the moment, Boo is just a diversion for the children. A closer look at Boo reveals that he is actually very integral to the plot, but it is unclear to the reader what his contribution will be.

When presents start to appear in the tree, Scout does not realize who has been putting them there. However, it isn't hard for the reader to guess that it is Boo.

In fact, the emergence of Boo also ushers in a very powerful female character - Miss Maudie. She goes a long way to make sure they children understand their superstitious view of Boo have dehumanized him. She also makes sure the children understand that Boo was a nice boy who suffered at the hands of a tyrannically religious family. Shaping his character this way, Lee suggests that Boo is one of many victims populating a book whose title, To Kill a Mockingbird, suggests the destruction of someone childlike and innocent.

This is a benchmark moment in the book for Jem, Scout, and Dill. Where they had previously viewed Boo Radley as a symbol of childhood superstition and an object of ridicule, they are beginning to view him as a human being. Because of this, we can see their gradual development as more sympathetic and mature.

This is a critical plot-point that foreshadows what is to come when book moves to Tom Robinson's trial.

My question for your journals is the following:

Have you ever misjudged someone? What did it take for you to see that you were wrong? Were you able to make it right? What did your hasty judgment teach you about yourself?

Building Characters (Journal #3, Marking Period 2)

As you know, characterization is defined as the way in which an author conveys information about their characters. You can tell how close an author feels to certain characters and personalities by how he/she portrays that character in his/her work.

Characterization can be direct, as when an author tells readers what a character is like or indirect, as when an author shows what a character is like by portraying his or her actions, speech, or thoughts. Descriptions of a character's appearance, behavior, interests, way of speaking, and other mannerisms are all part of characterization. For stories written in the first-person point of view, the narrator's voice, or way of telling the story, is essential to his or her characterization.

This is a critical part of making a story compelling. In order to interest and move readers, characters need to seem real. Authors achieve this by providing details that make characters individual and particular. Good characterization gives readers a strong sense of characters' personalities and complexities; it makes characters vivid, alive and believable.

The first part of To Kill A Mockingbird is dedicated to building the characters and their complex relationships. In the first three chapters, we get a great introduction to Macomb and the Finch family. What can we learn about these characters based on the elements of characterization?

Childhood Memories (Journal #2, Marking Period 2)

In "To Kill A Mockingbird," we meet a narrator who describes the fear the neighborhood children have because they are told a spook story about one of their neighbors. Today, I want you to think about your earliest childhood memories. What are some of the first things you remember? How many of those things are real and how many of them are things you remember a certain way because it is how the story is related to you?

How many of your childhood fears were unfounded?

To Kill A Mockingbird - Vocabulary: Test 1 (1/12/15)

The following fifteen words are taken from chapters 1-3 of To Kill A Mockingbird. Please research their definitions. We will share them in class on 1/20/15.

p. 3: apothecary

p. 4: taciturn

p. 8: vapid

p. 9: predilection

p. 10: flivver

p. 11: nebulous

p. 16: catawba

p. 17: illicitly

p. 21: vexations

p. 22: sojourn

Chapter 3

p. 23: dispensation

p. 25: flinty

p. 29: fractious

p. 30: disapprobation

p. 32: auspicious

p. 3: apothecary

p. 4: taciturn

p. 8: vapid

p. 9: predilection

p. 10: flivver

p. 11: nebulous

p. 16: catawba

p. 17: illicitly

p. 21: vexations

p. 22: sojourn

Chapter 3

p. 23: dispensation

p. 25: flinty

p. 29: fractious

p. 30: disapprobation

p. 32: auspicious

Finding Empathy (Journal #1, Marking Period 2)

Early in the novel, Atticus tells Scout, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it", he is really giving her advice that will inform her character throughout the novel. He is also reinforcing a major theme that takes shape in all of the struggles of the characters.

When you consider this advice...

Why do you think Harper Lee choose to create a narrator who is an adult looking back at her childhood? What is it about the nature of children that make this advice so poignant?