1. Describe Harper Lee's diction. Be specific and use quotes to support your response. Compare and contrast her with another familiar author.
2. Visit the New York Times and read the linked article "Harper Lee: Gregarious for a Day". Briefly summarize the article and point out (with quotes) what you learn from reading it.
3. Visit the New York Times and read the linked article "Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee". Briefly summarize the article and point out (with quotes) what you learn from reading it.
4. With headphones or at home, listen to the NPR broadcast "Harper Lee Emerges". Briefly summarize the report and point out what you learn from listening to it.
40 comments:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee uses a great amount of diction in her novel. The novel’s setting is supposed to take place in 1940’s down south. They talk with a heavy southern accent, you can tell by what they actually say. “Nome thank you ma’am”. That was said by a boy named Walter who is quite poor. The word nome doesn’t even exist but that is how they talk down south. Just like calling someone ma’am. Up north we never talk like this and I’m sure that we never did in that time era too. “North Alabama was full of Liquor Interests. Big Mules, steel companies, Republicans, professors, and other persons of no background.” If you were to say this out loud you would almost expect this to be in a thick southern accent. Now a’ days you never hear people say persons. This is the diction in To Kill a Mockingbird.
~cassie eagerman~
Ms. Lee, who doesn’t go to a lot of interviews and conventions for her book, went to one. After she had a autograph signing for her book. From the looks of it Ms. Lee is a very nice and funny person. When a girl told her that Boo Radley lived next to her grandparents she laughed then signed her book. Also a girl came to her and said that her name was Harper to because of her name, she took that to heart and treasured that. Ms. Lee is a very kind hearted person.
-Mike Twitchell
The interview insist of students who have connected to the Novel by Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird. One student got to meet Harper Lee because she wrote an essay about her friend who reminds her of one of the characters in the book. Another story is of two high school students from diffrent schools one is a black male and the other is a white girl unite to do a play based on the novel. The black boy goes to a school that consist on mostly black people and the girl goes to a school that has mostly white people. The black boy felt that when the white students came to his school he was very nervouse and very skeptical but they have since become friends.
~tyana~
1)
Harper Lee’s diction in the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird is somewhat different from what I usually read. Expressions like, “Jem, who was four years my senior” I understood but I had to stop and read it over to myself to fully make out what the author was saying. Another example of Harper Lee’s diction is the way the characters speak with a southern accent like “I haven’t got one.” Or “Lemme think a minute.” Those are pronunciations that are not used today in Massachusetts. I have recently read the novel, Lord of the flies by William Golding. The diction in that novel is somewhat alike and different from To Kill a Mocking Bird. They each had the characters using a type of accent which is not used as much these days. The difference in their diction is that they each used a type of modern language of writing during their time that is completely different from one another.
Lindsay White
Block F
1. Harper Lee has a different diction compared to most books we have read this year with the exception of What is the What. The diction is similar because of the naration and dialect. Even though they are not the same dialects they still have very strong dialects that are prominent in the writing. "In England, Simon was irritated by the persecution of those who called themselves Methodists at the hands of their more liveral brethren". As you can see Harper Lee uses a different more broad vocabulary than most narrator's especially for a first grader in the deep south. Also she quotes people without using quotes, "Miss Stephanie said old Mr. Radley said no radley was going to any asylum." In most books that would have been broken down like "'Old Mr. Radley said no Radley was going to any asylum'"
Lexi
It is fascinating the staying power of "To Kill A Mockingbird". It is easily one of the best American novels. It speaks to all ages and backgrounds. And, it strikes right at the heart of so many different core issues of American society: race, age, social class, community.
1.
Even you know Harper Lee wrote this book almost 50 years ago, the flashbacks and re-occurrences make it seem so sudden and up to “par”. For example, “When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident”. That quote shows more sophistication then southern slang and dialect. Harper Lee keeps the dialogue readable and understandable at a sophisticated pace. I believe Erich Remiah Remarque has good diction as well for a bunch of soldiers. Both authors wrote the book very long ago in my opinion and still make it an easy read for the readers of today. Charlie Duquette.
Harpers Lee's diction is quite sophisticated for a southern accent. People wouldn’t really expect such language coming from a southerner. Some of the quotes by characters have words that aren’t even real, but it is because they are down south. In between dialogue, Harper lee uses great vocabulary such as “Simon would have regarded with impotent fury…” This is a great example of how Harper Lee has a wide range of vocabulary.
joey wilkes
Harper Lee’s diction in the novel: To Kill a Mocking Bird, is very different than what I usually read when I read at all. I understood it partially at first but I had to read it over several times to fully understand what the author was trying to say. Another example of the author’s diction in the novel so far is the way the characters have a southern accent. They use pronunciations that we don’t use up in New England. This sounds almost like a book written by a southerner who wants to make “rednecks” sound smarter than we commonly think they are through making Scout so smart.
john keay
1. In "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Lee uses diction through out her novel. Ms. Lee uses a dialect of the Southern accent. Some examples of a main character, Walter Cummings talking "Yeb'm," he finally mumbled.(page 19) Also, "Nome thank you ma’am."(Page 19) Many of these words are not in the English vocabulary but that is the way southerners talk.” I haven’t got one." Another part of diction I saw reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" was the stereotype. Many of us who speak English have stereotypes for other languages. Ms.Lee tries to change the stereotype for the southern, hillbilly, slang dialect by making Scout a smart character and Scout expressing herself with a great variety of vocabulary. A recent novel I have read is "What is the What" by Dave Eggers. The novel is about many Sudanese boys and the way they speak is very different from our language. The novel is similar because both Eggers and Lee are showing dialects of English and the other related language.
-Suzanne Keene
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee involves different diction then you hear today. For example, an expression that was said by Jem "Your names longer'n you are." "Bet its a foot longer." This isn't normally how people talk now a day. I had to re-read this expression to really understand what they were trying to say by using longer'n. Another example would be how Harper Lee uses the southern accent in some parts of her story. "You aint said anything about him." also, "I haven't got one." These quotes are not used today in the English language. Harper Lee's writing kind of relates to the writing of Dave Eggers in What is the What. They are similar because they both use some of their backgrounds when writing the novels. For insist, Harper Lee uses some of her own southern accent. Where Dave Eggers, uses his own form of language different from modern English. Both of the authors wrote very good novels with different forms of English, which became top sellers.
Ashley Gookin
1. “To Kill a Mocking Bird” by Harper Lee is one of the most timeless classic of growing up and the human dignity that unites us all. The novel has a very sophisticated form of diction when she combines the stupid stereotype of the “American Redneck” with the southern accent with a smart intellect to erase the stereotype of southern people. There are a lot of examples of the southern accent in Lee’s book like “I haven’t got one” and “Ain’t you ever waked up at night and herd him?” I have recently read the novel “What is the What” by Dave Eggers. ‘What is the What is nothing at all like the book ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’. But they both have heavy dialect between a southern accent and a Sudanese accent when they try to learn English.
-Ben Len
1) Harper Lee’s diction is not like that of many other authors. Harper Lee is somewhat like David Eggers in the sense of they both use the characters dialect to define them. Also, it is somewhat like my outside reading project book. Brent Monahan uses a strong southern dialect, and the story takes place in the south. Lee has a very unique diction also. The wording that is used in the story when a character is speaking is much different than in other books. Also, she uses vivid imagery “There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.”(13) Here, the author gives a strong visual as to what Boo Radley looks like. This is also similar to Dave eggers in the sense that they both use imagery a lot.
-Mike Costa
1. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird is written in a first person view where the diction of the narrator talking is told where the ideas are explained thoroughly. Lee’s diction is much depicted but it is an easy read and she reminds me of a previous author we read and that author is Remarque. I find similarities in these two authors because they have the same exact dialect and they both wrote these stories around 50 years ago. The books they wrote are an easy enough read where different grades can enjoy reading it but they also use complex terms.
Examples include: “I had become almost accustomed to hearing insults aimed at Atticus.”(102)
“I pulled on at his sleeve, and we were followed up the sidewalk by a philippic on our family’s moral degeneration, the major premise of which…”(102)
These are both strong examples of an easy but complex statement and a strict line.
-brendan curtin
The article in the New York Times on Harper Lee's appearance at the "To Kill A Mockingbird" essay contest showed me that there were many coincidences and mysteries surrounding Ms. Lee. She just happened to be inducted into an academy that was set up by the people who started the essay contest "one year after Rosa Parks and one year before Condaleeza Rice". It stated that she was shy and rarely made public appearances but that she had many friends and that her appearances at the essay contests proved otherwise. "Peck",who played in the movie based on the book which was made by one of Harpers friends,was later visited by Harper at his "ceremony"(funeral). She stayed at the movie set for a long time until "she left when she felt that they didn't need her any more". Ms. Lee's cheerful and gracious book signings at the University of Alabama's essay contest winners ceremony, showed that she was not only able to be sociable but appeared to be greatful to get out and be with younger people. It was as if she had been hidden away from the world by a tormenting consience and was elated to be freed from the cluches of her minds inner darkness.
1. To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee has alot of diction in her novel. The setting is in the south around the 40s or 50s down in the south near Alabama in United States of America. They have a huge southern accent like on page 8 " you ain't said anything about him", or page 30 " You miss scout finch, are of the common folk", page 32 " huh,sir?", page 33 " It was sticking in that tree yonder the one comin' from school" those are some of the diction that is in TO Kill A Mocking bird.
-Steve Tessier
Harper Lee’s novel, "To Kill A Mocking Bird", uses a different type of diction than most books I’ve read. To make the novel more realistic to the audience reading it, Lee adds a heavy southern accent to the characters when they speak aloud, because they live down south. For example when Dill, Scout, and Jem were talking about the Radley house Dill says, “My stars, Dill! Now lemme think…reckon we can rock him…”, and they address people differently like saying “Ma’am” instead of “Miss”. Harper Lee and Daniel Golding are similar in the aspect that they both use diction with an accent on their characters. Golding uses a British accent for his characters, and Lee uses a southern accent for hers. They’re also similar in the fact that when they’re narrating they use the same type of diction, without an accent.
Andrea Giglio
Block B
1.Harper Lee uses a great deal of diction to describe her characters.
Since the story takes place in a small town in the south all of the townsfolk have a strong southern accent. The southern accent is used so frequently, and strongly that it because, one they are in the south, and two it takes place a long time ago. The southern accent is the seen in the much of the dialogue as seen in the part where Jeremy brags about scouts ability to read "Scout yonder's been reading since she was born.".(7)
This dialogue is undeniably only used in the south, and this is important in the story. Another good example of southern dialogue is when Jeremy gets upset with Dill "My stars, Dill! Now lemme think... reckon we can rock him.". (14) Phrases such as "My stars", and "reckon" are not used anymore also proving the fact the the story took place a very long time ago. Without Harper Lees' use of diction the story would have been less interesting, and more importantly it would not have made much sense.
1. Harper Lee focuses on the use of diction a lot in To Kill a Mockingbird. First of all she uses a southern accent in the book. For example when Jem says, “’ Shoot no wonder, then.’” (7) This shows that the people in the book are not that smart. Although, the narrator, Scout, is a very smart person, but she has a southern accent, so that contradicts against the stereotype that people with southern accents are dumb. I believe that Lee’s type of writing is closest to Golding’s, the man who wrote Lord of the Flies, because they both use a lot of imagery to describe their characters right at the beginning of the book.
-Austin Tocci
1. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses a different kind of diction than we are used to. Most characters have the southern accent. “My stars Dill! Now lemme think…reckon we can rock him…” No one talks like that really, and it’s kind of hard to understand at sometimes. “’s not any funnier’n yours.” That’s not even like English, but in the South it’s normal for them. That’s how Harper Lee promotes diction in her book.
Elizabeth Hunter
From reading Harper Lee, Gregarious for a Day in the New York Times, I realized how amazing Harper Lee really is. Since I heard about her, I always knew she was an outstanding author, but I never knew she was known as possibly the best author of a single book of all time. According to the author of this article: “With more than 10,000,000 copies sold since it first appeared in 1960, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ exists as one of the best-selling novels of all time.” Although she is known as the best, she keeps quiet in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. She is a reclusive lady who doesn’t like to take the fame; she likes to have her book speak for itself. On January 27th, Harper Lee showed up to a book signing at the University of Alabama to greet many winners of essay contests that focused on To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee told reporters: "What these people (referring to the essay writers) have done for me is wonderful." She also said: "They always see new things in it.", and later added "And the way they relate it to their lives now is really quite incredible." Harper Lee changed that way people write today.
~Brian Gannon
Harper Lee is the well known author who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. More than 10 million copies of her book have been sold since it was first published in 1960. Though Ms. Lee is very shy and almost never comes out, she came out to see her fans for an essay contest, which the Honors College at the University of Alabama sponsors. The essay contest first started five years ago. To Kill a Mockingbird was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. "What these people have done for me is wonderful," said Harper Lee, who finally decided to talk to a reporter. Over the course of the article I learned To Kill a Mockingbird was turned into a movie, which
-Kristin Murray
2. I learned while reading the article "Gregarious for a Day" of Harper Lee that she was a spontaneous old lady. Lee finally came out and started to share her experiences with others after frequently attending the essay contest that was sponsored by Honors College at the University of Alabama. Mr. Carruthers, chairman of the academy, approached Ms. Lee about the possibility of a nomination. "I couldn't promise that she would win," he said. Ms. Lee accepted the nomination and she was elected into the academy in 2001. Ms. Lee's friend decided to right a script to start a movie "To Kill a Mocking bird staring Gregory Peck which Lee would spent about 3 weeks on the set, until she knew everything would be ok without her, she left. Lee then went to Peck's memorial service where Mr. Carruthers had asked her "why haven't I seen I heard from you so long" and her statement was she would get to him "once I finish off all the letters I have to write." Lee seems to being having a good time writing to all sorts of reporters about her life style.
-Suzanne Keene
3. The article "Good Scout" is about a lady from Monroeville,
Ala. She was considered the Rammer Jammer, and law school dropout, she took it to New York, and got a job. She made many friends and wrote a novel that hit the best-seller list. She later went off to win the Pulitzer while staying there. The young lady tried to write more and more novels but it was to the point where she just squashed them because they were not coming out in her favor so she is now known as a "one-book author." The town of Monroeville still draws crowd of tourist to see a staged version of "To Kill a Mockingbird" at the county courthouse. Many people would love for Ms. Lee to just at least walk across the stage but she won't do it. I think that Lee is just an old lady and wants to be left alone and not thrive off of what people think of her and she is right she does not need to go onto Oprah to show everyone who she is she already knows her true self.
4.As many of us students have read "To Kill a Mockingbird" I would think the majority of us so far have enjoyed reading the novel. As well as the Alabama high schools, the high schools have set up the "To Kill a Mockingbird" essay competition. Many people after reading the novel see the true meaning, it’s a big impact on their lives. She learned from reading the novel that its not just about being black or white but just to treat everyone the same. These participants in the essay competition many wanted to meet Ms. Lee. The students have seen such a big change in Alabama high schools which i think for the good part. There is no need to not have the opportunity to have students and friends of all different races. I think that it Adrian Farris, Ragan Steves and Roman Gladny are right that it is wrong it has taken the ages 16 and 17 to see another race through a play.
- Suzanne K
The article “Harper Lee: Gregarious for a Day” is about Harper Lee’s life before, during, and after she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. In the quote “Total sales are somewhere around 30 million, and continues to sell hundreds of thousands of copies a year;” I learned that the book is far more popular than I thought. One quote that I found very interesting in the article was, “She worked for years on a second novel, and then, in the mid-1980’s, on a book of nonfiction about a serial murder in Alabama, neither of which worked out to her satisfaction and so she squashed them;” which was interesting to me because she spent so much time on writing two books, only to get rid of them when she was done, wasting all the time and effort she put into the books.
Jimmy Corbett
2.I learned many things in the New York Times article about Harper Lee and the importance of the book To Kill a Mocking Bird. In many cases this is the most important and favorite book. 'Catherine Briscoe, 15, one of the essay contest winners, had read the novel six times. She trembled and held her hand to her heart as she spoke of its author: "It was breathtaking to meet the most important person in my life."' It was shocking to learn that Ms. Lee keeps to herself: 'Ms. Lee has remained fiercely mindful of her privacy, politely but resolutely refusing to talk to the press and making only rare public appearances, in which she always declines to speak.' The final thing that I learned in this was how close Ms. Lee was with Mr. Capote, in my eyes there relationship was overlooked. '"Infamous," another Capote movie in which Sandra Bullock plays Ms. Lee'. The would obviously not have such a major actress playing her if her in Capote's relationship wasnt so good.
3. In the New York Times there is an article that outlines the life of and career of the 'boyish girl' Ms. Harper Lee. It was enjoyable to read the movie view of the writing of the book.'If you were going to draw a movie from this book, you'd start on York Avenue in Manhattan on a cold winter night in the late 1950's.' Ussually you would think of an author as only having one job and that is writing but the reality is that Ms. Lee was actually a ticket clerk at first. 'She is an airline ticket clerk and she has been working at her typewriter late at night ever since she came to the city over her parents' objections in 1949.' The article titled 'Good Scout' takes you through the life of Harper Lee.
Lexi
In ‘Harper Lee, Gregarious for a Day’ the whole point of the article is the fact that she is making a public appearance for students at a high school. In the second paragraph it explains what the students looked like ‘They come with cameras dangling on their wrists and dressed, respectfully, as if they were about to issue an insurance policy or anchor the news.’ Over 10,000,000 copies of the book have been sold since it’s publishing, that pretty much proves that this is one of America’s favorite books. What is interesting about her making a public appearance is just that. She usually stays away from the public eye. What also is interesting about this article is that she claimed that a girl had come up to her and said that a Boo Radley Lived across the street from her grandparents. "Well, I didn't know what to say to that," was Lee’s reaction to what the girl had said.
To me I think it is sketchy that she doesn’t like to make public appearances. She seems like a normal person, even though she doesn’t want to be seen in the public eye. ‘She is 80 years old and wears a hearing aid and eats out at the diner or the country club and to strangers who seek her out, she can be frosty.’ I don’t like the fact that she wrote a book and had it become famous, yet she doesn’t want people to acknowledge her that way. It makes me think that she truly did not write To Kill a Mockingbird.
In the Audio tape report it surprised me that the different races did not interact with each other. Not only that, but they didn’t even go to the same school. It was a good thing to hear that they got to do a play together. They talked about how they didn’t understand the different races and they also talked about how To Kill a Mockingbird was such a ‘heart-wrenching’ story.
~cassie eagerman~
The diction that Harper Lee uses in To Kill A Mockingbird is a very cultural and unique choice of wording. She makes Scout seem like a paradox, meaning that her dialogue is very imaculate: "When it healed, and Jems fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom alef-consious about his injury," but her accent makes her seem uneducated: "but he's gone and drowned his dinner in syrup." Harper was also uses a very distinct setting, she makes it very clear that this takes place in the 1940's due to the racial problems that are occuring in the novel.
~tyana~
2) I feel that Harper Lee is a almost out of touch "They come with cameras dangling on their wrists and dressed, respectfully, as if they were about to issue an insurance policy or anchor the news." She thinks that what now is considered normal to be eccentric and formal.
Billy M.
2) I learned many things from reading the article: Harper Lee, Gregarious for a Day. One thing that I found amazing was the fact that over 10,000,000 copies of the book where sold. There are many people who are amazed with Lee’s book: “it is not uncommon to find live staged versions of the story, hear of someone who has devoted his life to playing Atticus Finch in road shows…” I find this amazing how the book is so popular to this day that some peoples entire career is to play a part from it. Another interesting thing is Lee’s reclusive actions. She barely leaves the house and “lives with her 94-year-old sister, Alice.” She barley makes any public appearances, and to respond to reporters she tells all of them no. At the end of the article when somebody suggests that she responds with a form-letter she says they would all say “hell, no."
-Mike Costa
3) From reading the article “Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee” I learned quite a few things. She had been writing a second novel about a murder in Alabama, but then wasn’t pleased with it and decided to give up. One thing I found odd was the conflicting numbers between this article and “Harper Lee, Gregarious for a Day.” In this article it says: “Total sales are somewhere around 30 million, and it continues to sell hundreds of thousands of copies a year.” However, in the other article, it says that sales totaled over 10 million were sold. These two numbers are far from each other. When reporters attempt to find her “she can be frosty.” Unlike her sister, Lee doesn’t enjoy the media or publicity. The rest of the article talks about the biography itself written by Charles Shield, a former English teacher. (also the writer of this article)
-Mike Costa
Billy Major
Period F
The Dragonriders of Pern
Anne McCaffrey
1. The story takes place in the far, far, future. “Rukbat, in the Sagittarian sector, was a golden G-type star.” It had five planets, and one stray planet. Its third planet, Pern, had air, water, and gravity that let man walk. Men discovered it and immediately colonized it. They did that to every habitable planet, and then for some reason- no one knows why- left colonies to fend for themselves. Soon after the new colony has been established, a deadly rain begins to fall. Thread, a mindless indigenous life form brought into Pern's orbit by the wandering Red Star, the stray planet, devours all organic material in hardly any time at all.
In order to defend their planet, the settlers genetically alter a natural life-form, the fire-lizard. Already able to breathe fire and bond empathically with their owners, the new fire-lizards are able to speak clearly with their riders and are bigger than horses, designed to grow slightly with each generation until they are very large. Named dragons for their similarity to the creatures of Terran myth, the dragons and their riders are all that save Pern from complete destruction. For thousands of years, they carry out their task, suffering injury and death without complaint and receiving little thanks.
3. Anne McCaffrey’s novel The Dragonriders of Pern is about the struggles of Dragonriders and to survive and combat the menace of Thread, a mindless indigenous life form that devours all organic material. Throughout the novel, McCaffrey focuses on the theme of survival to depict the hardships of life on Pern. This is shown in two separate instances. When Jaxom is sick with Fire-Head and when Robinton almost dies of a heart attack.
Jaxom and his dragon Ruth are two of the main characters in The Dragonriders of Pern. At one point Jaxom gets a disease called Fire-Head which in very dangerous and can be fatal. ‘“I nearly died?” Jaxom couldn’t absorb that news’ Jaxom was sick for sixteen days asleep and another week awake, plus a month to recover. He also could have gone blind or died had it not been for his friends. This promotes friendship and caring.
Robinton is another character that has an incident that depicts the theme of survival. He is the Masterharper of Pern; a Harper is someone whose job is to sing in the Halls, Weyrs, and Holds. He has a heart attack after running to help his friend. He almost dies but the dragons tell him not to die and help to keep him alive. “Is that what it feels like to be so close to death?” Robinton lives due to friends and sheer determination.
8. Anne McCaffrey was born on April 1st, 1926, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her parents were George Herbert McCaffrey, Colonel USA Army (retired), and Anne Dorothy McElroy McCaffrey, estate agent. She had two brothers: Hugh McCaffrey (deceased 1988), Major US Army, and Kevin Richard McCaffrey, still living. Anne was educated at Stuart Hall, Staunton Virginia, Montclair High School, Montclair, New Jersey, and graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College, majoring in Slavonic Languages and Literatures. She married in 1950 and has three children: Alec Anthony, b. 1952, Todd, b.1956, and Georgeanne, b.1959.
Anne McCaffrey’s first story was published by Sam Moskowitz in Science Fiction + Magazine and her first novel was published by Ballantine Books in 1967. By the time her three children were in school most of the day, she had already achieved enough success with short stories to devote full time to writing. Her first novel, Restoree, was written as a “protest against the absurd and unrealistic portrayals of women in science-fiction novels in the 50s and early 60s.” It is in particularly the two series The Ship Who Sang and the fourteen novels about the Dragonriders of Pern that Ms. McCaffrey’s talents as a story-teller are best displayed.
Although she used to make appearances throughout the world as guest of honor at science fiction conventions, arthritis has now restricted such travel. She lives in a house of her own design, Dragonhold-Underhill (because she had to dig out a hill on her farm to build it) in Wicklow County, Ireland. It is not remotely like a castle, "on purpose," she says to people who believe ‘hold’ is synonymous with ‘castle’ in Ireland.
http://www.annemccaffrey.org/index.php
4) Harper Lee leaves her house once more to meet with students from an Alabama high school about an essay contest. She still refuses to talk to the press and is “adamant” about the fact that she is only going to talk to the students. The students are very eager to meet Lee and talk about a play that they are working on to stage. Alabama is more racially segregated still today then the area we live in. These kids from high school say that they have never been friends with someone of a different race until now when they are in high school. This shows how the racial segregation is still present. One of the students talks about how he doesn’t think the color barrier has been broken yet.
-Mike Costa
1.) The novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, written by Harper Lee, contains a lot of well written diction. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is written to take place during the time of the Great Depression (the 1930’s) in Alabama. Even if there was no mention of where the novel takes place you would know because of how the characters talk. For example: “Nome thank you ma’am”. In Boston they drop their “r’s” when they talk, but not pick up a few letters, like in nome. Since this book was written during the 1950’s some of the words used are unusual, too. For example:“Rain-rotted rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda.” Harper Lee’s writing style is a lot different from Dave Eggers, who wrote “What is the What?.” The reason her writing style is different may be because she wasn’t writing a novel for someone else on events that happened in their life and not hers.
2.) Harper Lee is the well known author who wrote “To Kill a Mockingbird”. More than 10 million copies of her book have been sold since it was first published in 1960. Though Ms. Lee is very shy and almost never comes out, she came out to see her fans for an essay contest, which the Honors College at the University of Alabama sponsors. The essay contest first started five years ago. “To Kill a Mockingbird” was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. "What these people have done for me is wonderful," said Harper Lee, who finally decided to talk to a reporter. Over the course of the article I learned “To Kill a Mockingbird” was turned into a movie, which “Horton Foote, who wrote the screenplay for the 1962 film of "To Kill a Mockingbird”, produced. I found it surprising though that, “Ms. Lee said she was struck by the perspective young people bring to the book.” When you sell 10 million books, you would think Ms. Lee would know what young people’s perception of the book would be.
3.) In the New York Times article "Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee”, I learned that Harper Lee is a “law school dropout. She also “took it on the lam to New York, got a job, made friends and managed to write a novel that hit the best-seller lists and stayed there, and won a Pulitzer Prize. “She worked for years on a second novel, and then, in the mid-1980's, on a book of nonfiction about a serial murder in Alabama.” Ms. Lee did not like either of her books enough to publish them. I also learned that “she came to the city over her parents' objections in 1949.”
4.) Most students, past and present, would agree that “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a good book. The high schools in Alabama have set up essay writing competitions. Adrian Farris, Reagan Stevens and Roman Gladney made it very obvious that after their high schools came together the racial boundary seemed to close its gap. Neither student had hung out with the other race much before, so when they got together it was a big deal. This broadcast proves that it doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is and that everyone should be treated the same. The only bad thing that this broadcast brought out was that these students were 16 and 17 years old before they got to interact with another race.
-Kristin Murray
1. Harper Lee’s diction is very different from a lot of books I have read. She uses narration which is similar to What Is The What. Unlike “What Is The What”, the novel is not during current time periods. The novel takes place in the 1940’s down South. Harper Lee uses old slang in which some of the words I am unfamiliar with. Harper Lee uses ways of writing saying, “four years my senior” which is a different way of saying four years older. Also, Harper uses characters to explain her way of writing. “Ain’t hateful, just persuades him—‘s not like you’d chunk him in the fire,” shows how she uses a Southern accent for the characters to go along with the setting of the novel. She also uses characterization saying “ ’s not any funnier’n yours.” Dave Eggers and Harper Lee use narration, and character descriptions using imagery. For example, “She had bright auburn hair, pink cheeks, and wore crimson fingernail polish.” Dave Eggers described every character he met throughout his journey. The difference between “What Is The What” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” is the time periods. While Harper Lee uses old slang and vocabulary, Dave Eggers uses understandable and simple structure.
2. Harper Lee is a very outgoing person. She usually doesn’t come out a lot, but when she did she seemed like a very happy woman. I learned throughout the article that she was surprised on how many fans she had. One 15 year old girl has “read the book six times.” She was so excited to meet Harper and stated that, “it was the most breathtaking to meet the most important person in my life.” To have so many fans on writing one novel, Harper was a great success. “To Kill a Mockingbird” was also, “one of the best translations of a book to film ever made.” She is such an inspiration and most people wouldn’t expect her to come out as such a proud woman.
3. The article “Good Scout” describes a woman, The Rammer Jammer, who wrote a novel. The novel hit the best-sellers and got made into a movie. The movie became very popular and thousands of copies sell a year. It was out of the ordinary for this to happen to just a country girl living in Alabama. As she was in the making of a second novel, about a serial murder, she squashed it since she wasn’t too interested. She then became a one-book author. She didn’t like to go out much so she was just an ordinary woman, living in Monroeville. She didn’t attend interviews or come out to her author career. Monroeville has a staged version of “To Kill a Mocking Bird,” but Ms. Lee wouldn’t come out to even walk across the stage. From this article, I have learned that sometimes it is better to keep things quiet about yourself. Harper Lee wants to be in peace and left alone, although she wrote one of the most famous books. She will give some autographs on occasion, but she does not come out to the thought of an author interview, or a show. Ms. Lee’s success with the book and that she doesn’t come out much is mysterious to me. I would believe that she would love to talk about the novel, but she doesn’t enjoy that which is very uncommon.
4. “To Kill a Mockingbird” has changed many of the students’ lives. At Alabama high schools, there community has changed once people have started to read the book. People have learned from the novel that the color of your skin doesn’t matter, and that everyone should be treated equally. This made the students think about how the world once was. In Alabama, the high schools set up an essay contest for “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Many of the kids had a large impact and understand the true meaning the novel is supposed to give you, and the students wanted to meet Harper Lee. One of the girl students even started to get emotional about how much the novel inspired her. It is amazing on how much the novel has impacted the students, and people all around the world.
-Val Hall
Harper Lee uses a lot of diction in To Kill a Mockingbird for example "Ain't you ever waked up at night and herd him, Dil?" This is a good example of diction because the story takes place in Alabama and people who are from Alabama talk like this. Another example of diction is "Always runnin'" This is another example beacuse here in Boston we would normally say 'Always running'.
After reading "Harper Lee, Gregarious for a day" I learned that Harper Lee is someone who likes to keep to herself and doesnt like people to know what she is doing. I am aware of this because it says "For decades, Ms. Lee has remained fiercely mindful of her privacy, politely but resolutely refusing to talk to the press and making only rare public appearances, in which she always declines to speak." I also learned that his book is about childhood problems that Lee may have had because it says in a part "The students write with longing for the kind of unmanaged childhood experienced by Jem and Scout Finch in the rural 1930's Alabama of Ms. Lee's rendering."
I learned from reading "Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee" That Haper Lee was a tomboy when she was younger because it states "A tomboy from Monroeville, Ala.," I also learned that Haper Lee didnt like people addressing her about her book but was always polite about it, it said "A reporter and photographer from Birmingham banged on her door 10 years ago and Miss Lee opened it and said, "What is it?" They asked her to autograph a copy of her book. She wasn't happy about it but she fetched a pen. "I hope you're more polite to other people," she said. She signed it: "Best wishes, Harper Lee." She said, "Next time try to be more thoughtful." They thanked her. She gave them a big warm smile and said, "You're quite welcome."
In the NPR brodcast i learned that this book is about a black man being accused of rapping a white girl, i also learned that there was a girl who went threw the same thing and the young girl compared herself to a charector in TKAM. I also learned that there is a essay contest where they get to meet Harper Lee.
Annie Ledbetter B Block
1. Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird has a good amount of diction. All of the characters in this novel have heavy southern accents that are sometimes difficult to understand. "Reckon I have," said Walter. "Almost died first year I come to school and et them pecans- folks say he pizened 'em over on the school side of the fence." That would be an example of the diction in this novel, and how it takes a second glance to fully understand what it is that you're reading. Daniel Golden who wrote Lord of the Flies also used diction in his novel. Unlike To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies was a group of British boys, so their diction was different.
2. When reading "Gregarious for a Day," I realized how much of a nice lady Harper Lee is. Some would assume that just because she never really comes out and talks to the press, that shes a "grumpy old lady," but she's the opposite. The Honors College at the University of Alabama sponsors an essay contest, and thats why Ms. Lee came out. "With more than 10,000,000 copies sold since it first appeared in 1960, "To Kill a Mockingbird" exists as one of the best-selling novels of all time." I never knew how popular this novel was until i read this article. I always just thought schools read it because it was in the curriculm. It just goes to show how incredible Ms. Lee is as
an author.
3. The article "Good Scout" is about a lady who was known for being a highschool dropout to becoming a "one book author." She had tried to write more novels, but wasn't satisfied with the outcome of them so she didn't publish them. She doesn't come out to the press, and I can undertstand why. Just because she wrote a book doesn't mean she has to explain herself to the world or tell them her life story. She likes to keep to herself and enjoy things on her own, and theres nothing wrong with that.
4. The kids who attend the Alabama highschools said that since To Kill a Mockingbird has came out, their schools have changed. Regan Stevens told us that this novel impacted her life and she portayed Scout and got to meet Ms. Lee. I think that everyone who reads this novel enjoys it, and a piece of the novel goes with them.
- Emma Jackson
1. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird uses characterization to introduce her characters. This is one example of diction that she uses in the book. The language is regional because Scout, the narrator, comes from a specific part of the country. Also she wanted to make the main character look well educated by using sophisticated vocabulary, not just by coming out and saying it. “Yeb’m,” (pg.19) One book that relates in the sense of diction is Lord of the Files. This compares to To Kill a Mockingbird because this author also has his characters descriptions in the form of dialogue. Also, both of the authors have narrators that are the main characters. “Dill was from Meridian, Mississippi, was spending the summer with his aunt, Miss Rachel, and would be spending every summer in Maycomb from now on.” (pg. 7) Both of these similarities are constant throughout both novels. They are different because they are set in different places and different times.
2. The University of Alabama has an essay contest for Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird. Students that either attend public school, or are home schooled could enter an essay and get a chance to meet the famous author. “With more than 10,000,000 copies sold since it first appeared in 1960, “To Kill a Mockingbird” exists as one of the best-selling novels of all time.” (New York Times) People from Alabama are obsessed with Harper Lee and would jump at any chance to see their beloved author.
3. I would have never guessed that Harper Lee was a “law school dropout.” (New York Times) “She worked for years on a second novel, and then, in the mid-1980’s, on a book of nonfiction about a serial murder in Alabama, neither of which worked out to her satisfaction and so she squashed them.” (New York Times) It is strange to people that she was able to write one of the best books in the U.S. and then was never able to write another popular book in her entire career. Also the fact that she will rarely speak in public, or even go on stage and just take a bow. But people can understand why she would be this way only because of her past and how hard it must have been. Harper Lee is truly amazing and will always be looked up to by her loyal fans.
4. It is amazing how the racial barrier has not been broken down in some towns like the two in this short clip. This makes the children become taken aback to have the two races come together to put on the play of To Kill a Mockingbird. This play was performed not just in front of a large crowd, but also the author herself. Being able to perform the play helped the group of young adults to become comfortable with the differences and unite for the common good.
Sarah Tenglin
I stumbled upon your blog about "Mockingbird" when I was looking for the name of our NPR clip. I was fascinated to read some of the comments that the students made about our play and the impact that they could see it had on us. I just wanted to give an update of where I am now, though I am sure none of your students will ever glance back at this page. I attend the University of Alabama, and have done 5 plays here. I have had a wonderful experience in collegiate theatre because it is never a big deal if a cast has actors of multiple races. In fact, all of the plays I have been in have had both black and white races, and no news cameras or journalists were involved (as they were in our high school production); a mixed cast is the norm in our department and has been for a long time. As a college student, I have realized that the communities from which Roman and I come do not truly represent the social climate of Alabama. I am thrilled that you were able to use our experience as a supplement to your To Kill a Mockingbird curriculum. Our production and Ms. Lee's wisdom continue to have a profound impact on the way we, the cast members, see the world; though racial differences brought the different schools together, Lee's message touched us on issues far beyond the flesh. Her book invited us, and all readers, to seek the common thread of humanity that links together each and every person across political, economic, and other socially constructed boundaries in order to tap into a common pulse of love.
It is more than word!
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