Sarah Baker
September 18, 2012
5th period
Mrs.Turley
Title: To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Date of Publication: July 11, 1960
Genre: Southern Gothic
Characteristic of the Genre
Southern Gothic relies on ironic or unusual events or characters to guide the reader to the plot. Southern Gothic is a subgenre of gothic fiction. Southern gothic usually takes place in the American south. Sometimes used to explore social issues and reveal cultural characters of the south. Southern gothic uses ironic events to show values to the story.
Historical information about the period of publications
To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960. Not long after the landmark in 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The Brown v. Board Education stated that segregation in schools was unequal. Racism was an issue in the south, particularly where Harper Lee lived. The Scottsboro Trails was similar to the plot of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Screenshot of To Kill a Mockingbird(an American mo...
President George W. Bush awards the Presidential M...
Film producer Alan J. Pakula with Lee; Lee spent t...This case was reported often. The case stated that nine black men were accused of rape by two white women. In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery. Also, in 1955 the Boycott of Montgomery County City busses began.
Plot summary
Set in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930's To Kill a Mockingbird follows the lives of young Scout Finch and her older brother Jem, and her lawyer father over a period of a few years. During which Atticus Finch, the father of Scout and Jem, takes on a rape case defending a black man against the words of whites. One summer Scout and Jem find a boy named Dill. Dill had come to live in their neighborhood for the summer. Jem, Scout, and Dill try to find Boo Radley. Boo...