To Kill A Mockingbird Background Notes

1. To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee

2. Background Information
•Author: Nelle Harper Lee (She is
still alive and lives in
Monroeville, AL.)
•Time: Written in the mid-1950s
during the height of the Civil
Rights Movement; Published in
1960.
•Setting: 1933-1935 in the
fictional town of Maycomb, AL
(based on Monroeville, AL);
takes place during the
Depression

3. Background Information
•The character of Atticus
Finch is based on Harper
Lee’s father.
•The character of Dill is
based on famous author
Truman Capote, Lee’s
childhood friend.
•The character of Scout is
loosely based on Harper
Lee herself.

4. Background Information
•To Kill a Mockingbird has
been named the #1 most
teachable novel.
•Harper Lee won the Pulitzer
Prize for this book.
•The book was once
banned in schools and is
often challenged today for
its language and themes.

5. Literary Terms
•Genre- a category of literary
composition characterized by a
particular style, form, or
content.
* Coming-of-age drama,
Southern drama, courtroom
drama
•Narrator- the character in
literature who tells the story
from her/his point of view
* Scout/1
st
person narration
Scout is looking back on her
childhood.

6. Literary Terms
•Tone- the attitude the
author takes toward a
subject or character
* Child-like and innocent in
the beginning; dark and
critical of society toward
the middle
•Imagery- descriptive
details in writing that
create an image in the
reader’s mind

7. Literary Terms
•Protagonist- the principal
character in a story who
brings about change
* Scout Finch
•Antagonist- the character
who opposes change as
well as the protagonist
* Bob Ewell

8. Literary Terms
•Motif- recurring element in
a story, usually relates to a
theme in the story
* Gothic details, small-town
life
•Symbol- an object or
action that means
something more than its
literal meaning
* mockingbird, Boo Radley

9. Literary Terms
•Theme- the insight about life
that an author wishes to express
in a story
* prejudice (good vs. evil),
courage (morality vs. society),
growing up (innocence vs.
ignorance ; child vs. adult)
•Foreshadowing- the use of hints
or clues to suggest what will
happen later in the story
* the fire, the mad dog, presents
in the knothole, Tom’s trial

10. Ms. Ratliff as Scout