To Kill a Mockingbird

Unit Overview

“The book to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you think…”

— Harper Lee

Unit Essential Questions:

 How can we encourage others to be just and courageous?

 How does where you are from, your gender, and your age influence your perception of the world?

 Can our preconceived notions be unlearned? Is real change possible?

In addition to these, everything important about Harper Lee’s novel can be summarized by examining a single question: Why is this novel read by thousands of high school students each year? In order to answer this question, you are asked to read closely and consider how a novel written in the late 1950s, and set in 1930s Alabama during the Depression, still has relevance to readers in 2013.

Task: As you read, please keep a response journal that documents your identification and exploration of important passages in the novel. Consider this journal as a “booklet of literary life lessons.” Plan on selecting 10 quotes of significance – these should be short quotes that have meaning both within and beyond this text.

For each quotation you select, write a response consisting of the following information:

  1. Copy down the passage and the page number
  2. Identify who is speaking and describe what is happening in the novel at this time
  3. Explain in a few sentences why the passage is significant within the context of the novel. Consider how/if it contributes to character, plot, or conflict development. Also, note if the passage exemplifies any other literary elements such as figurative language, irony, etc.
  4. Explain in a few sentences (approximately one paragraph) why this quotation rings true for you. Connect the passage to a personal experience, a real-life current event, and/or to another work of art (literature, film, song, etc.). Your explanations need not be your most polished writing, but they should reflect high-level thinking and genuinely express your ideas.

*Option: Instead of explaining the significance of a particular quote (#3) in writing, you could create a drawing or cartoon that shows your ideas visually. If you are interested in this option, please discuss it with me before you start your booklet.

Reading Schedule

Chapter(s) / Due Date
1 / Friday, Jan. 3rd
2 – 5 / Tuesday, Jan. 7th
6 – 8 / Friday, Jan. 10th
9 – 11 / Tuesday, Jan. 14th
Four Journal Responses / Wednesday, Jan. 15th
12-14 / Tuesday, Jan. 28th
15 / Wednesday, Jan. 19th
16 – 17 / Friday, Jan. 31
18 – 20 / Reading in class
21
22 - 24
25 - 27
28 - 31
Final Six Journal Responses