ENGLISH 1201: NOVEL STUDY JOURNALS. Name: Slot:

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1 ENGLISH 1201: NOVEL STUDY JOURNALS Name: Slot:

2 Setting Journal SETTING: Historical Context To Kill a Mockingbird a piece of historical fiction. This means it is an imaginary novel or story with characters and events that are created from the imagination of the author but the basis of setting (time, place and circumstances) are historic and real. As such, many of the conditions referenced in the novel have been historically noted. The key period, the Depression Era of the 1930 s, occurred after the great stock market crash of After this period people were without jobs and money was very scarce. As well as the main setting, some significant events did occur in the life of young Harper Lee and these are alluded to in the text of her novel: Racism and social stereotyping Scottsboro Trials KKK, mob mentality and brutality Furthermore, despite being published thirty years after the events of the novel are said to occur, racism was still a very significant problem in the United States (especially within the southern states). ACTIVITY: Determining Setting Setting is typically established in the EXPOSITION of a piece of writing. Locate FIVE quotes to describe the setting of Maycomb County and indicate what each quote reveals about the time, place, and circumstances in which the novel is set. HINT: These quotes can mostly be located on pages 4 and 5 of the novel! Quote #1: WHAT DOES THIS EVIDENCE REVEAL? Quote #2: Quote #3: Quote #4: Quote #5:

3 Characterization Journal (PART ONE) Fill out the charts below for Scout and Jem Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. Use quotes with page references from the book. Make sure to have at least THREE quotes for each category. SCOUT FINCH What does this character look like? What does this character do or say? What does this character think or believe? What do other characters say about Jem? JEM FINCH What does this character look like? What does this character do or say? What does this character think or believe? What do other characters say about Jem?

4 Characterization Journal (PART TWO) Fill out the charts below for Atticus Finch and Boo Radley from To Kill a Mockingbird. Use quotes with page references from the book. Make sure to have at least THREE quotes for each category. ATTICUS FINCH What does this character look like? What does this character do or say? What does this character think or believe? What do other characters say about Jem? BOO RADLEY What does this character look like? What does this character do or say? What does this character think or believe? What do other characters say about Jem?

5 Character Development Journal PART A: Over the course of the novel, the characters Jem and Scout change as a result of the events in the story. In the chart below, indicate three traits for each of these two characters from the beginning of the novel and from the end of the novel. Use quotes to support these traits and include a page reference. Describe Scout at the BEGINNING of the novel: TRAIT: Describe Scout at the END of the novel: TRAIT: Describe Jem at the BEGINNING of the novel: TRAIT: Describe Jem at the END of the novel: TRAIT: PART B: Jem and Scout both go through events and episodes that change who they are as characters. These episodes cause them to develop as characters over the course of the novel. Below, indicate three such episodes, providing quotes and page references to support how the specific event leads to the development of the character.

6 EPISODE: PART C: Using the traits from part one and the episodes from part two, on the lines below write a well-developed paragraph explaining how ONE specific episode helps to develop ONE of the two characters, Scout or Jem. Make sure to use a quote from the novel in support.

7 Symbolism Journal The symbol of the mockingbird is the most pervasive symbol throughout To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus discourages Jem and Scout from ever harming Mockingbirds. Maudie Atkinson, elaborates on this, saying, Mockingbirds don t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That s why it s a sin to kill a mockingbird. As such, mockingbirds come to symbolize innocence in the novel: to kill a mockingbird, therefore, is to destroy innocence. Complete each table below in order to determine how Boo Radley, Tom Robinson and even Dolphus Raymond might function symbolically as mockingbirds in the novel. ARTHUR BOO RADLEY (Hint pg. 276!) Evidence (Direct Quote): Explanation of Boo as a Mockingbird : TOM ROBINSON (Hint pg. 241!) Evidence (Direct Quote): Explanation of Tom as a Mockingbird : DOLPHUS RAYMOND (Hint - pg. 201!) Evidence (Direct Quote): Explanation of Dolphus as a Mockingbird :

8 Theme Journal There are a number of messages or universal truths communicated to the reader throughout To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Consider each of the following themes: POSSIBLE THEMES Good and evil can co-exist in society alongside one another. Social class, economic status, or race does not dictate a person s morality. Racism only persists when fear and ignorance have not been overcome. Practicing empathy limits the potential for prejudice. True courage is not the absence of fear but the willingness to proceed in spite of it. Consider each of the following quotes: POSSIBLE EVIDENCE (DIRECT QUOTES) PAGE # You never really understand a person until climb into his skin and walk around in it. 30 I want you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with 112 a gun in his hand. It s when you know you re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she dies beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew. Cry about the simple hell people give other people without even thinking. Cry about the hell 201 white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they re people too. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: Guilty... guilty... guilty... guilty... I peeked at Jem: his hands 211 were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each guilty was a separate stab between them. There are some men in the world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your 215 father's one of them If there s just one kind of folks, why can t they get along with each other? If they re all alike, 227 why do they go out of their way to despise each other? I think I m beginning to understand why Boo Radley s stayed shut up in the house all this time...it s because he wants to stay inside....[it] was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting or escaping. He likened Tom's death to 241 the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children... Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes 279 and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough. INSTRUCTIONS: After assessing each possible theme and the direct quotes provided, choose one theme and three direct quotes to support it. Use the table below to explain how each quote functions to support the theme. Note that you will likely have to locate each quote in the context of the novel to determine the speaker and significance. THEME:

9 SUPPORT #1 Example #1 (Direct Quote) Explanation #1 (Connect Quote to THEME) SUPPORT #2 Example #1 (Direct Quote) Explanation #1 (Connect Quote to THEME) SUPPORT #3 Example #1 (Direct Quote) Explanation #1 (Connect Quote to THEME)

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