... the American classics that generations of children have grown-up reading have been banned from the classrooms due to content that society has deemed questionable. In this novel, Jean Louise Finch ("Scout"), recalls the lessons she learned while growing up in 1930's Maycomb County, Alabama. Her father, Atticus Finch, is court- ... the desire of school boards to avoid conflict, may of them have yielded to the People for the American Way, PAW, and taken books off reading list. The most common reasons for books to be challenged are; treatment of sexuality, religious beliefs contrary to the no...

• Word Count: 1207
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... the mind of a child, Haarper Lee tells a tale of prejudice and a society's coming of age. Mississippi youngsters Jean "Scout" Finch, her brother Jem meet a new playmate, Dill, who's spending the summer with his aunt. The trio of playmates amuse themselves by spying on the mysterious "Boo" Radley, trying anything and everything to make the man the whole town gossips about to ... Atticus Finch. She is intelligent, inquisitive, and sensitive about the world around her. Because Scout is somewhat of an outcast herself, like Boo Radley and the black members of Maycomb County, Mississippi, it ...

• Word Count: 683
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... himself dealing with the flaws of life at a time where puberty is starting to play a role in Jems life. The extremity of his traumatic events according to Jem started, "The summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out." page 1. Although it seemed insignificant then, it later plays a crucial role in the ... away from society without the slightest care. "Maycomb was interested by the news of Tom's death for perhaps two days; two days was enough for information to spread through the county."P240 Jem realizes that the world has evil and hatred, and ...

• Word Count: 1013
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

While reading the book To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee I noticed a lesson learned. This lesson was don't attack something if it hasn't harmed you. Atticus taught this lesson when he was teaching ... the right side of her face but in order to do so you must be dominantly strong in your left arm. But in Tom's case his left arm was a whole 12 inches shorter than his right and wasn"t able to move it one bit. But because of the extreme case of racism in the 1930's when the book took place a white ... was an innocent victim of the taunts and of the people of Maycomb. Because of his few wron...

• Word Count: 832
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

As I was reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, I slowly came to understand how important a woman's role was back in the 30's. Women in the 30's were stereotyped to be strictly domestic, well ... much more comfortable and convenient. This was a big reason why Scout preferred breeches to dresses. Moreover, "Scout wasn't supposed to do anything that required pants!" That totally narrows down the list of things a 6-year-old girl that looks up to her older brother would be interested in doing. It was also part of the process of becoming a lady; a lady is supposed ... constantly reminded t...

• Word Count: 962
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... the same that happens to Scout and Jem. Scout, in this case, watches Jem grow out of his "kiddish" acts, summer by summer. One summer, Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill, who has come to live in their neighborhood for the summer, and the trio acts out stories together. Eventually, Dill becomes fascinated with the spooky house on their street called the Radley ... , Lee developed one of her short stories into her only novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, published in 1960. Mockingbird won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and spent 80 weeks on the bestseller list. Translated into 40 languages with 30...

• Word Count: 961
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... story that the other characters on the street are introduced as they are likely to be mentioned more than once throughout the novel The story begins in summer, in the isolated the town of Maycomb county. The first significant even to occur is the arrival of Charles Baker Harris, or more commonly known as Dill. The early introduction of dill into the ... story is an indication that he is a major character and that he is likely to have an affect on the story line. Dill occupies Scout and Jem's summer's and Dill's curiosity ... ...

• Word Count: 548
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... by Atticus Finch, sums up the heart of this novel. Many people have wondered why Harper Lee decided to name her book after what seems like an insignificant excerpt. After reading the novel and fully understanding it one will realize that it is just another example of symbolism. A mockingbird is a harmless bird that tries to make the world seem more pleasant ... out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Being very loud and aggressive, blue jays are the bullies f the bird world. Blue jays represent the bullies of Maycomb County, such as Bob Ewell. Mockingbirds, on the othe...

• Word Count: 809
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... of committing. It is for this reason our courts are not considered equal, and crimes like this exist among society. The social architecture of Maycomb County is one in which four classes are depicted: the upper class, blue-collar class, the supposed "white trash", and most importantly the Negroes. ... farmer and a member of the lynch mob who came to execute Tom Robinson. The Ewell's are to be considered the "white trash" of Maycomb County, they got that moniker because of the way they lived, and how they voluntarily treated Tom Robinson. As the white man has done for century ... is social...

• Word Count: 696
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography

... years Boo has been locked in the house. Jem, Scout, and Dill are of course curious about him and want to see if he's some scary monster. One day, during summer, they try to take a fishing pole with a note on it and put it through the window. The pole is too short, and their plan fails. Atticus catches them and says ... thinks he shouldn't defend this man. When Scout asks why, Atticus says "The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold my head up in this town, I couldn't represent this county in its legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something." (Lee 78). Atticus belie...

• Word Count: 915
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... invigorating novel published in 1960. It was immediately successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and since has become a classic of American literature. The novel takes place in the setting of Maycomb County, an imaginary district in Southern Alabama. The time period is in the early 1930s during the years of the Great Depression when poverty and unemployment were widespread in the United ... the second part of this novel, Jem and Scout certainly learn of racial prejudice as Tom Robinson is unjustly accused and charged with the rape of Mayella. Dill, the close summer friend of Scout and J...

• Word Count: 968
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... is important in the story because the whole story grows out of the particular back ground. The place where the novel is set is a county called Maycomb, an imaginary county in Southern Alabama in the United States. In Maycomb, most people were poor. Even the farm owners were always short of money. Black people ... "there was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy with." This poverty and unemployment in the county was due to the Great Depression in the United States in the times. The Great Depression economically affected everyone in the town. There was no...

• Word Count: 486
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, an African American man is falsely accused of rape by Mayella Ewell, a poor woman who lives on the outskirts of Maycomb County, Alabama. Atticus Finch, lawyer and father of the main characters, Scout and Jem, is chosen to defend the poor black man, Tom Robinson. Atticus, being white, defies his peers by ... it was time you needed- well, it's like this Scout," Atticus said. "Your aunt's doing me a favor as well as you all. I can't spend all day with you, and the summer's going to be a hot one"" (128). One may argue that this was a feasible reason for A...

• Word Count: 577
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... . Jean Louise, or commonly known as Scout is an innocent eight or nine year old girl that is exposed to the reality of her town, Maycomb County at a very young age. After one day at school Scout asks her brother a very innocent question. She says, "Jem, how can you ... (pg. 249-250). Scout doesn't realize the prejudice community that she lives in. She is oblivious to the treatment that colored people receive in Maycomb County. Innocence is expressed by Jem and Scout during the Tom Robinson court case. Atticus, Jem and Scout's father, defended Tom in the accusation that he ... took the j...

• Word Count: 758
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... put on Scout's shoulders. Chapter 9 Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson, and at Christmas at Aunt Alexandra's Scout fights her cousin Francis for insulting her father. Chapter 12 Dill does not come for the summer. Attivus must go to Montgomery on business. Calpurnia takes children to service on the black church. Aunt Alexandra arrives. Chapter 13 Alexandra stays to take care of ... Scout with her snobbish and conservative attitude. Chapter 14 Alexandra annoys Atticus. Dill has run away, is found undre Scout's bed. Chapter 15 Dill is allowed to stay for the summer Atticus is warned of ...

• Word Count: 383
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... a big part of what makes this such a powerful story. The themes that make this work disputed, for me, only intensified my passion for what I was reading. When Tom Robinson (the defendant in a rape trial) was convicted, I did not think: "Why would Harper Lee even write about a black man being discriminated ... against like that? I"m disgusted with this novel! It's unfit for my reading!" No, I thought: "That's horrible! How could they? That's so wrong! Racism sucks!"-These racial themes just made me more ardent against racial discrimination. In this ... books at the center of this conflic...

• Word Count: 973
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Recognition of Good and Evil Quality To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is number #41 on the banned book list. It discovers the ethical nature of human beings. There seems to be no meaningful reason to ban this book as it has a good teaching behind it. When it was challenged ... protesting because of the racial themes in the book. All the reasons stated above are examples of criticisms of this book. To Kill A Mockingbird is # 41 on the banned books list. Decisions of censorship are often based on public opinions even if majority of the public don't actually support this decision. Likewise,...

• Word Count: 1147
• Approx Pages: 5

... said by Atticus. Another example is when Atticus takes Tom Robinson's case, he explains the reason to Scout "If I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again. Scout, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in ... personally. This one's mine, I guess."" So he lives up to his own moral standards despite the harsh consequences he knows he will face. Atticus is also a kind and loving father, reading to his children and offering them comfort when they ne...

• Word Count: 683
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... Part I Scout introduces the town of Maycomb; it's people and their ways. Accompanied by her older brother Jem and intriguing friend Dill, they satisfy the long, drawn out days of summer. In Part II Scout conveys the events relating to a court case where her father, Atticus Finch, is defending a black man who has been falsely charged with raping a white woman. There ... he had been a different race maybe Maycomb would've took the time to see he was a real nice fellow. Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird should most definitely be included among a list of works of high literary merit. She e...

• Word Count: 1119
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... happens is an isolated race that is exiled from both races because that child has blood from the other race. This evil act can be seen in the novel. The county practically exiles the children of Dolphus Raymond and his black spouse. It is done to the point that these children are forced to live in the non-racist north where ... they would not be looked down on as genetic freaks. After reading this, one would wonder of the community's reaction to Dolphus Raymond! , whose committing a great sin by having children with a black woman. Well, the town does not look down on him ... ...

• Word Count: 941
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... in To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus views her as brave as she fights her drug addiction. In the beginning of the novel, Mrs. Dubose is addicted to morphine, and with Jem reading to her every day, a little longer each day, she overcomes her addiction. She is courageous to overcome her addiction, even though she knows she will die anyway. Atticus, a character in ... defend is black. After Scout asks Atticus why he defends "niggers", he responds, "The main one [reason] is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tel...

• Word Count: 1091
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Atticus Finch is a defense lawyer for Maycomb County.He's also the honorable father of main character Scout and Jem. He is the lawyer for accused black rapist Tom Robinson and he tries to change injustices and racism in ... all. Atticus fights for Tom Robinson with all of himself, he does not care about his skin color, only his innocence. Atticus represents all of the honorable people in Maycomb County. Atticus Finch is a very honest man. When his children ask him difficult questions he doesn't try and sugarcoat his answers he is truthful. Scout asks, on page 21, if they ... just hold your ...

• Word Count: 435
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... 's To Kill a Mockingbird is a moral-filled educational story of racial injustice in the South. The story takes place in the mid 1930s and is based around the citizens of Maycomb County, Alabama. The citizens of Maycomb are hit with the Depression and times were hard. The story revolves around the Finches, being Jean Louise, Jeremy and Atticus. Although they weren't hit ... . "Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop." (Lee, 25). By reading the quote, one sees that Jem, being older then S...

• Word Count: 648
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... the case believing that all men are created equal, but he soon cam to realize that beautiful statement from our Constitution was just not prevalent in those "simpler" times. While reading the novel, I picked up on a few steps that were missing in the legal procedures. Among these, Tom Robinson was not offered bail, which is money or property used to secure ... night, when the men of the town came to the jailhouse to do just that. In this country, if it is mandated by the state that you be held in a county jail, it is required to be safe, again, Lee did not show us this. Harper Lee's, To...

• Word Count: 744
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Small southern town situated in Maycomb County in the 1930's. Atticus Finch is a respected man in this community, being a lawyer and single father.This might change when he is assigned to defend a black man accused of raping a ... his children. Scout and Jem will probably grow up to be good people as their father was before them. His grasp of a morality scale is unparalleled by anyone in Maycomb County. This shows when he decides to use his best effort to defend Tom Robinson. Any lawyer in the 1930's, except for Atticus, would probably say two words for a black man ... couldn't hold his he...

• Word Count: 681
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School