Graduation Speech: To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the greatest novel to Teach kids about diversity and the complex relationship with racism. It details the life of Jem and Scout, two siblings who grow up in a time of racial inequality and unrest. Jem Finch is what most would call a typical young boy; fascinated with sports, guns, and being tough. Scout Finch, on the other hand, is an Atypical tomgirl, tough enough to handle anything that comes her way. Yet, both of their childhoods are different from many of their friends and families that live in the town of Maycomb. Harper Lee creates these characters to portray the internal and external conflict that many young adults encounter when their morals clash with the cultural norm. We see that " you really don't understand a person till you climb into his skin and walk in it" (lee 30) Through Jem’s and Scout’s voice and characterization, Lee reveals how average day kids can change the course of people’s live.

The book ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee is known as a classic book that is extremely relevant in today’s society as it explores themes that are experienced today which, makes the novel timeless. This book is written through a child’s eye better known as Scout, however still keeping it in an adult’s perspective through the complex structure and storyline. ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ is a deep explanation of the conflict that occurred between different people in the small city of Alabama, Maycomb in the early 1930 's. This time was mainly known as the ‘depression era’ where the black people experienced inequality from the white people. There was a clear connection between this era to the main themes expressed in this book which is certainly still relevant today. In the novel, Harper Lee effectively analyses the themes of racism, which were mainly experienced by the black people as they were discriminated against for their skin colour. The theme of good and evil were also clearly portrayed through the innocence and the evilness of the characters. This novel can relate to many problems experienced in today’s world with the support of the themes conveyed throughout.

There has been much controversy over whether or not the novel To Kill a Mockingbird should be banned or not. This novel teaches students about the racism and prejudice of the 1930’s resulting in why the world is the way it is, as well as many important life lessons, therefore it should be continued to be taught in schools. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird should not be banned because it teaches about life in the past and why the world is the way it is now, proving that this novel has the ability to effectively educate kids about the past and potential impact of human behaviour.

To Kill A Mockingbird philosophical ideas “To Kill A Mockingbird” (1960), by Harper Lee, emphasizes and displays many different philosophical ideas. These ideas are about innocence, segregation, knowledge, and reality. Ideas include the right for all races to be treated as equals, and not be judged or segregated by the color of their skin. “To Kill A Mockingbird” especially emphasizes that children, as they grow into their teen and pre-teen years, start to realize their environment and observe the way people act. This is the idea of reality. Children will start having sophisticated and intelligent ideas whether adults like it or not but the children will fight even if parents don’t think they have a mind of their own. Children start disobeying and showing signs of rebellion.The environment we live in influences the way we think, it takes away our innocence because of bad things that happen, and give us a base to form our ideas on. Two siblings; Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch. Their Father, a southern lawyer defending a black-American man accused of rape and beating a white woman. Jem and scout are 10 and 6 at the beginning of the book. But end up being 13 and 9 by the end, Jem being the oldest. Jem and scout, along with many other characters in the book, like Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and Charles Baker “Dill” Harris all have a message linked to them in the book.

Is banning books constitutional? The Catcher in the Rye. The Scarlet Letter. Huckleberry Finn. Harry Potter. The Diary of Anne Frank. Animal Farm. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Da Vinci Code. The Grapes of Wrath. These literary classics have been vital to the education of many, especially children and adolescents (Banned Books). These great novels both teach important values and educate children about world affairs and classic themes. Unfortunately, each of these novels has been banned at one point in time. In a country where freedom is so adamantly advocated, it is a wonder that an issue like censorship would even come up, that such a controversy would sink its claws into the minds of states’ boards of education across the nation.

To start, students should not be completely obvious to the harsh topics explained in some of their books. The book To Kill A Mockingbird was kick out of the 8th grade lesson plan “due to the use of the ‘N’ word” in Biloxi (Clarion Ledger). This book show how difficult

Because of offensive language and ideas that are represented in the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, it has been banned in many school libraries and lessons. One of the main reasons that it was banned in school is because of offensive words like the n-word and also because of the fact that the plot is centered around rape. One of the school board members, Kenny Holloway, said, “We can teach the same lessons with other books.” Many people agree with Holloway’s opinion, saying that the same ideas that are represented in To Kill A Mockingbird could be taught with a less controversial book. However, other people say that students are tough enough to handle the story. While many people don’t think that this book is appropriate for school, some people

Passage Annotation and Character Study- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a timeless American classic that has been appreciated and loved by readers for decades. Harper Lee explores the story of a lawyer and his family in the deep parts of the South

The novel “[Deals] with pathetic loneliness, an accusation of rape, the strangely sexual content of bigotry, a complete failure of justice” (Gerson 2). These are mature topics that can make many uncomfortable. Additionally, teachers say they, “can teach the same lesson with other books,”(Nelson 1). Therefore, they believe if other materials can be used to convey the same learnings without making kids uncomfortable the other materials should be used. However, To Kill A Mockingbird confronts us with our history that can not be changed, and although the novel may make some kids uncomfortable that is not necessarily a bad thing. By being uncomfortable, one is forced to go beyond their comfort zone and forced to think for themselves. If children are shielded from the unfortunate prejudices and inequities of our past, they cannot learn from them, and we are at risk of them being repeated. To Kill A Mockingbird gives insight into American history and the language used during the 1930s, and although this history might make us uncomfortable, it is this uncomfortableness that will help us

To Kill a Mockingbird Controversy The cult classic book To Kill a Mockingbird is generally considered a stunning work of art, but not in the eyes of all schools. Recently the Biloxi School District has chosen to recall To Kill a Mockingbird from its curriculum because the book includes a bit of inappropriate language. Unfortunately this opinion of the book has been around for decades. Kurt Vonnegut, the author, wrote a letter to respond Drake High School deciding to burn his book. These schools should not ban this time-honored book on the grounds that it’s bad for the students in the long run.

Classic works of literature often remain great because of their ability to teach generation after generation the same lifelong lessons. For example, Great Expectations by Charles dickens still teaches freshmen the same lesson it taught their parents and grandparents. To Kill a Mocking bird is certainly no exception, by integrating timeless characters in a coming of age novel that faces harsh challenges, Lee teaches five generations worth of readers that in the faults of justice close-minded people are often to blame. From Tom Robinson to the after math of Ferguson this theme is something we still see today.

To Kill A Mockingbird is a universally beloved book that perfectly encapsulates being a child and growing up in the south. Though the times have changed, many of the experiences that Scout and Jem have are shared by children today, from an overactive imagination to playing with the neighborhood kids during the summer to a universal dislike of school shared by most young children. Not everything in TKAM is pretty; though Maycomb might seem like a sweet innocent town from the outside, on the inside however, anger, hatred, and racism run rampant. The town where everyone goes to church sunday is the same town that formed a lynch mob and would have killed Tom Robinson had it not been for Atticus and Scout. Race relations and social justice take

TKAM PAPER Everybody is familiar with the Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This groundbreaking and heart wrenching piece of literature is famous worldwide for its realistic and historic story that is read in schools all over the United States. To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates the gruesome truths of worldwide subjects such as: racism, religion, and domestic violence. In addition, this book establishes a variety of important messages to take away after reading. These important themes can relate in the lives of anybody that can identify them.

Furthermore, themes and lessons are taught throughout school and should be nurtured by the right novels. Without these pieces the curriculum would not be the same. For instance, “To Kill a Mockingbird” was taken out of the English curriculum in the Biloxi school district due to inappropriate words used and the themes it talks about. Although, the book teaches crucial themes

English class seemed to be the most dreadful to take within school. Writing essays for most of my grade in a class is not what I was looking forward too. When I entered college I knew that it would be one of many challenging classes I would have to take. Starting from the lowest English class to moving on up, the writing assignments became longer and more thought out. The time came when I got into this class that I knew more work was going to have to be put into essays and thus brought out what I had not seen before in my work progress.