1. To Kill A Mockingbird The Author The Novel
Historical Content- Great Depression
Social Content Time Line

2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR - HARPER LEE
Related to Robert E. Lee
Born in Monroeville, Alabama, on April 28, 1926

3. HARPER LEE continued Grew up during the Great Depression
Began writing at the age of seven
Attended Huntington College then was an exchange student at Oxford University
Studied law at the University of Alabama but never finished her degree

4. MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR - HARPER LEE
Moved to New York where she worked as an airlines reservations clerk
She then began writing full time for publication purposes
Wrote To Kill a Mockingbird in 1957
Her cousin Truman Capote encouraged her to expand one of her many short stories in order to create her only novel
It won a Pulitzer Prize in Literature in 1961

5. ABOUT THE NOVEL
The story is about two children growing up in the South during the Great Depression and a Southern lawyer, in face of murderous threats and impossible odds, who stands up for what he believes is right and tries to show those around him a better way

6. THE NOVEL continued
It focuses on the people, attitudes, and laws of the South during this time period.
The plot of To Kill a Mockingbird reflected Ms. Lee’s own childhood in Alabama and was greatly influenced by the training she received in law school

7. MORE ABOUT THE NOVEL
Lee’s life parallels the two children in the novel. She lived in a small Southern town, had a lawyer for a father, and even sat in a courthouse balcony to watch him defend his clients

8. ABOUT THE NOVEL
To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into ten languages and it has been adapted into a movie

9. ABOUT THE NOVEL CONT. Told in flashback
2 story lines – each with its own climax
First-person point of view
Bildungsroman
Covers approx. 3 years

10. ABOUT THE NOVEL CONT.
Originally submitted to the publisher in 1957
Took 2 ½ years to revise and edit
Finally published in 1960

11. MAJOR THEMES OF TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Education is not limited to the classroom but is an important part of a person’s everyday life.
Prejudice is responsible for much social injustice.
People often fear what they do not understand.

12. MAJOR THEMES OF TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Courage is doing what you think is right when the odds of succeeding are against you.
Maturation
Pride

13. THE HISTORICAL CONTENT The Great Depression
The stock-market crash of 1929 paralyzed the nation’s economy. Banks curtailed their loans to businesses, businessmen cut back on production, and millions lost their jobs. Spending dwindled, factories and stores closed, and consumption of farm products declined.

14. Migrant Mother
At the height of the Great Depression in 1933, about 13 million Americans had no jobs, many had only part-time jobs, and more than 750,000 farmers had lost their land

15. Elderly Couple during the Great Depression

16. Soup Kitchen during Great Depression

17. Family during Depression

18. THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE NOVEL TIME LINE
1861 Civil War Begins
1863 President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the black slaves

19. 1865 Civil War Ends
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution was the first of three amendments that were a consequence of the Civil War. It states that slavery must end in the United States and all of its territories.

20. 1868. In the 14th. Amendment the. black Americans. were granted
1868 In the 14th Amendment the black Americans were granted citizenship and guaranteed their Civil Rights

21. 1870 The 15th Amendment dealt with Black Voting Rights. It sought to protect the rights of citizens, particularly former slaves, to vote in federal and state elections

22. THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE NOVEL TIME LINE
1880’s Jim Crow Laws
Although African Americans now supposedly had the same rights as white society, they were still segregated. Jim Crow laws segregated blacks politically by making it difficult for them to vote. For instance, they required voters to pay a poll tax as well as prove that they could read.

23. 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson
The Supreme Court went even further to legalize racism by ruling that segregation was lawful as long as blacks and whites had access to equal facilities. (EX. Separate Water Fountains)

24. Realize that not all of the Justices supported this view, many felt that the “Constitution is colorblind and neither knows or tolerates classes among citizens.”

25. 1929 Beginning of the Great Depression
It’s been almost sixty years since blacks had been held in slavery, and unfortunately at this time they were still considered “2nd class” citizens.

26. Realize that it took almost 100 years from the time the Civil War ended for the nation’s blacks to finally obtain equal civil rights as their white counterparts

27. New Companies and Products
Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup
Skippy Peanut Butter
Fritos
3 Musketeers Bar
Alka Seltzer
Bisquick
Ritz Crackers

28. New Companies and Products
Ralston Purina
Birds Eye Frosted Foods
Revlon
Gallo Winery
Windex
Newsweek Magazine
Esquire

29. THE END