To Kill a Mockingbird deals directly with issues of race, gender and equality in the United States. To further explore these topics, complete the following:
1. To Kill a Mockingbird has been a source of significant controversy since being the subject of classroom study as early as 1963. The book's racial slurs, profanity, and frank discussion of assault have led people to challenge its appropriateness in libraries and classrooms across America. The American Library Association reported that To Kill a Mockingbird was #41 of the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990–2000. Why do you feel the novel has and continues to cause such upheaval? Does it belong in the classroom? Why or why not?
2. Visit Mr. Barth's blog and read his post entitled "Despite the Warnings...". Offer a comment to Mr. Barth's post.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird was written and published amidst the most significant and conflict-ridden social change in the South since the Civil War and Reconstruction. Despite its mid-1930s setting the story voices the conflicts, tensions, and fears induced by this transition. Research the dawn of the civil rights movement and identify and describe 3 specific events which you feel motivated Harper Lee to develop such a socially-conscious book. Make sure you read all published posts to avoid duplicate responses.
20 comments:
The book continues to cause such an upheaval for many reasons. The first reason is because the book is such a classic and has been read by many generations. The second reason is that it’s a good example of what we do not want to happen in the future for black rights and brings up people to try and look for ways to change this. Last reason would be because the book is a good demonstration for kids to learn about different people’s struggles and how they overcome them. This book does belong in the classroom because it has a lot of good morals and there is a lot to be learned from it.
TIM DEMARTIN
“To Kill A Mockingbird” is a great book that we’re reading in school. I think it causes such an uprising because it has many racial slurs. Our society is changing. Because of this, we have different opinions and our language has changed since the year in which the book was written. Nowadays, the way we use the terms to describe people’s races and ethnicities, are considered offensive. Back then it was still considered disheartening but they would just accept it and move on with their lives. I think that this novel should exist in the classroom because of its morals. It teaches kids that you shouldn’t judge people because of their race, color, ethnicity, job, or where they live. This book also teaches people that everyone has a struggle in their life, and yours just might be around the corner.
Sydney Colbert
Block B
May 14, 2008
1. I believe To Kill a Mockingbird is still today one of the most challenged books because it involves so much history along with its great diction that gives the reader a wonderful sense of imagery. This novel explains how the way our country got to where it is now. Harper Lee makes the reader get the knowledge of how topics like racism and gender affected our ancestors. I do believe in this novel being in the classroom because this time period shouldn’t be erased from America’s history and the students should know. I feel that it is an easy read so that we the readers can get the diction Lee is trying to explain to us.
brendan curtin
1. I think it does belong in classrooms and libraries because it’s a good way to show children at least over the age of ten what life was, and still is like. Most people understand racism and how much it was used in the early 1900’s, but kids now really don’t know how it affected people. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee describes how one small decision can change a lot. When Atticus defends Tom Robinson, he is taking a risk. He lives in an almost complete racial town. When the readers read and understand what he had to go through, with his children and town, they’ll understand more about what the book really means.
(not finished)
Elizabeth Hunter
I think the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, continues to have such an upheaval because it has a lot of racial slurs and profanity. I can see why it causes so many problems because parents may not like there children reading words like that. But I do strongly believe this book does belong in the classroom because it teaches people a lot about racism and how much important it really is because of how people are treated and how they still are 45 years later.
One event I think that motivated Harper Lee was when at 14 year old boy was kidnapped, beaten, shot, and dumped in the Tallahatchie River just for whistling at a white women. I think this motivated her to write this novel because if it were a white boy whistling at a white women no one would care, but because he was black he was murdered. Another event in the Civil rights movement is when student volunteers take a bus trip down south that prohibit segregation. Along the way they were attacked by angry mobs. I think this because people were trying to do something right and people attacked. And finally I think that the event of Rosa Parks not giving up her seat to the white man. I think this because she is a women and that has a lot to do with it. And also it is wrong having a black women get up for a white man so he can sit down.
--Annie Ledbetter
1. The way people feel about To Kill a Mockingbird, depends on their background and what they have been through in there life to make them either like or dislike the novel. The racial slurs, and profanity used in the book may make some believe that this book shouldn’t be read in school. The topics that Harper Lee brings up makes you wonder why she would ever want to read something like To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird should defiantly still be read in school. The book brings to light all the racial differences that people have suffered through in this country.
-Kristin Murray
1. The way people feel about To Kill a Mockingbird, depends on their background and what they have been through in there life to make them either like or dislike the novel. The racial slurs, and profanity used in the book may make some believe that this book shouldn’t be read in school. The topics that Harper Lee brings up makes you wonder why she would ever want to read something like To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird should defiantly still be read in school. The book brings to light all the racial differences that people have suffered through in this country.
-Kristin Murray
1. I think that “To Kill a Mockingbird” causes such upheaval because it brings up some very sensitive issues, like racism, in a very blunt manner. Also the novel causes so much drama because it is written to appeal to younger readers, but contains profane dialogue and racial slurs. In spite of that I think that the book does belong in the classroom because the novel is one of the best written works of American literature and gives readers a new perspective on literature in general. Also, I think that the profanity in the book adds and sometimes creates the mood and setting of the novel. If the book didn’t include the profanity, then it wouldn’t be the same. Also, the book is usually read by students around high school and most, if not all, of the profanity in the book they have already heard and should be able to handle maturely.
~Jill Wry
There are many movements that motivated Harper Lee in writing her book. The first movement I think motivated her was Marcus Garvey and the UNIA it helped make great strides in the black community. Another motivation to Harper Lee was the Labor Movement and civil rights it helped bring equality in the workplace. Last motivation I feel helped Harper Lee was the NAACP the movement devoted its energy to black civil rights.
TIM DEMARTIN
1. To Kill A Mockingbird is a very popular book. The book has been read in classrooms as early as the year 1963. Even now the popular book is still being read in schools. I think the reason for it being so popular is because it is so different than others. To Kill A Mocking bird is so different because Harper Lee had wrote it in a very unique way. The characteristic of the characters are very thought out and is full of imagery. Harper Lee had used different dialect to make it more detailed and give each and every character in the book a different personality.
-Bianca
1. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, has been challenged so much because people believe that children of our age are to young to be reading literature discussing adult situations and strong use of obscenities. I believe that we should be able to continue reading this novel. first of all, we have read What is the What, by Dave Eggers, which has just as much vulgarity as To Kill a Mockingbird if not more. Second of all,it is important for us to learn how lif was like in the past, and the relationships between different races and genders. Lastly, this one of the best works of literature ever to hit America, which makes it very important for us to read.
I feel that the novel continues to cause such upheaval because they use terms that they used to use a very long time ago. The book was written when people were racist and those were just the terms that they used. We don’t talk like them now. I think it does belong in the classroom because it shows students the past, and shows them what life used to be like. It shows how mean and racist how people really were back then and how bad it was.
Meg O'Neal
I believe that the book continues to have such upheaval because it rerally doesn't hold back when it comes to racial circumstances. It shows children that racism and hatred towards someone whos diffrent color than you is very bad and disrespectful. In the courtroom is where the most racism is shown because they way that Mayella and bob Ewell say what happened to Mayella is very mean and also doesnt make sense.
Tyana
3. Almost any of the event s during the civil rights movement could’ve inspired Harper Lee to write To Kill a Mockingbird, but there were a few specific events that I thought would’ve been inspiring to her. The first event was when Emit Till, a black 14 year old, was beaten and killed by two white men because he supposedly whistled at a white woman. The two white men were later acquitted of murder by a jury of white men. I thought that this might have inspired Lee to write about the trial of Tom Robinson because there are a lot of similarities between that event and the trial in the novel. Another event that I think could’ve inspired Lee was when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. I thought that could have inspired Lee because it showed not only discrimination based on race, but also on gender, which is prevalent in the novel.
~Jill Wry
1. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, has been challenged so much because people believe that children of our age are to young to be reading literature discussing adult situations and strong use of obscenities. I believe that we should be able to continue reading this novel. first of all, we have read What is the What, by Dave Eggers, which has just as much vulgarity as To Kill a Mockingbird if not more. Second of all,it is important for us to learn how lif was like in the past, and the relationships between different races and genders. Lastly, this one of the best works of literature ever to hit America, which makes it very important for us to read.
Charlie Switzer
1. I think this novel causes such an upheaval because of the racism discussed throughout the novel. Also because of the harsh language and profanity used in this novel, some might think it’s inappropriate for young readers, even though it is intended for all audiences. However, I think this book does belong in classrooms because it teaches kids a good lesson on how to treat people equally. It brings up the matter that no matter what someone looks like they deserve the same respect you would give any one else, and I think that moral is more important than the racial slurs through the novel.
Andrea Giglio
There were many events in which sparked the writings of Harper Lee, but there are three that struck me as having most to do with “To Kill a Mockingbird”. This first is the killing of a harmless little boy who whistled at a young white woman. Emmett Till was killed by white men and then when his murder was on trial, a group of white men on the jury decided that it was just an accident. Also Rosa Parks was one woman in which she was treated badly by a white man for something so unimportant as sitting on a bus. And finally there were seven students going to a new mixed school when they were not allowed into the building. All of these cases and misfortunate cases are all similar to the Tom Robinson case in some way. May it be because of an all white jury, an outrageous law on the buses, or students not being able to learn, they should have known that you should “not judge by the color of their skin, but rather the color of their blood.”
(Mr. Greene)
Sarah Tenglin
I believe that "To Kill A Mockingbird" has caused such an upheavel for many reasons. One is because it uses many terms that are considered racial. These terms have also become more severe over time. Another reason that it has caused, so much trouble is because it discusses mature subject matter such as violence, racism, and death. Overall the fact that this book contains questinable information, and content is the main reason it should be read in schools because it gives the reader an idea about what it was like back then with all of the racism.
Justin St. Jean
3. There were so many different things that happened in the civil rights movement that it is hard to pick the three that I believe affected Harper Lee the most. One was when Martin Luther King, Charles K. Steele, and Fred L. Shuttlesworth started the Southern Cristian Leadership Conference which was a major force behind th Civil Rights Movement , and preached non-violence. The second is the Little Rock Ark. case where nine students were that were going to a newly segregated school, but were not allowed to enter. The president actually had to come down there, and let them in! My third inspiration for Harper Lee is James Merideth, who bacame the first "colored" person to go to the University of Mississipi. Soon after violent riots beagan, and President Kennedy had to send 5,000 federal troops to the university. All of these events relate to the race problems in "To Kill A Mockingbird", and probably inspired many of the events that happended in the novel.
Justin St. Jean
1. I think that To Kill a Mockingbird causes so much controversy because, yes there are racial slurs and examples of extreme disrespect and violence but in order to learn, children need to be exposed to these types of things so they don’t make mistakes. TKAM does indeed belong within the classroom curriculum because it shows students what people actually used to think back in the day. It’s a fact there was/is racism and that that is how racism was carried out. Censorship of what students read won’t erase the fact that it happened.
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