How To Kill A Mockingbird Be Taught In Schools

Growing up is a maze with many twists and turns. In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch experiences many difficult situations as part of her coming of age. As Scout grows up in the rural Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression, she faces problems with self-identity, racism, and her community. Harper Lee writes in a subtle yet impactful way about how Scout goes through this confusing stage, making her book a classic that every student should read. Recently To Kill a Mockingbird has been a controversial topic because a “school district in Mississippi announced that it was pulling the Pulitzer Prize-winning classic from its 8th-grade reading list” (Oprea 1). The school district worried that the book was uncomfortable for kids because of its use of explicit language. The school board stated that other books can convey the same lessons in more age-appropriate ways. The question is can these books convey the same lessons without using the language so vital in communicating the historical context of the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is an important book that should not be banned in schools because it

Many schools are taking books out of their curriculum because of the harsh and uncomfortable language and topics. The Biloxi School District had taken To Kill A Mockingbird out of their classrooms and Drake High School had even burned all copies of Slaughterhouse -Five. It is wrong that schools began taking books like that from their lesson plan because students should not be oblivious to these kinds of topics and it is sending the wrong message about the authors and their books.

Imagine a world where evil and unjust actions are based on the color of skin; a world where some don’t even realize that they are prejudicing. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, these themes are present. People and how they commit evil, hypocritical, and unjust acts. We see these themes and great issues through the point of view of a child; the vigorous, youthful, elementary-aged Scout. Through this character Harper Lee shows the innocence of children, and what they go through in our inequitable world.

In this essay I will be describing and telling you whether or not To Kill A Mockingbird should or shouldn't be taught in the 9th grade. To Kill A Mockingbird is a very good and intellectual book to read. It is a winner of the pulitzer prize and a wonderful book it talks about this family(Atticus, Scout, and Jem) back in the day when black people didn't have many right and privileges. They live in a little town called birmingham Alabama, the kids father is a lawyer and is defending a black guy(Tom Robinson) that got accused of Rape. The reason for the father (Atticus)defending this man is because he knows that Tom Robinson didn’t rape this girl. Overall this book shows how you should act toward someone if you know they are not guilty even if they are black(Everyone Is Equal). So in my opinion this book should be taught in the 9th grade because it shows how white people acted toward blacks back in the day.

The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee should be read and taught in school considering the facts that it teaches the important message of learning to stand in other’s shoes, and that the reader can see the wide range of diversity such as socioeconomic status and race. In the real world, we will come across many different people with different backgrounds and views. It is easy to look at those people and think, “they are strange,” or “they don’t understand anything.” I admit, before reading this book I was insensitive to this and didn’t even realize when I looked at people and made those assumptions. This book has helped me be not so judgmental and be able to see from other people’s point of view. While some may say this book shouldn’t be taught because it is “racist” or

The southern United States in 1930’s was filled with segregation, racism, and prejudice. This brings back to mind what a wise man once said “Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live” (Adolf Hitler). Today’s society is not pleased with the idea of hate against specific groups of people. However, everyone judges someone solely on their appearance every once in awhile. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, focuses on these judgements and points them out to everyone in an exaggerated way. The main theme of To Kill A Mockingbird is about how people are quick to judge others because of their appearance. While this isn’t necessarily

The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is one of the greatest works of American literature. It has been reprinted again and again, and is a staple in almost any writing or history class. There are a number of reasons why it can be argued that this novel is one of the greatest ever written, but perhaps the most compelling reason is that the complex, adult issue of prejudice explored in this novel is relayed to the reader through the eyes of a child.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a witty and well-written account of the realities of a “tired old town” (4) where there was “nothing to buy and nothing to buy it with” (4). Purposefully, it comes across not merely an innocently portrayed, yet eye-opening, story of a young girl start to grasp the inequalities of her society. Rather, it is accompanied by recollection of the unfortunate pillars of hate of the places Harper Lee matured in. We now perceive this account as an ‘archaic” and “ancient” recount of some historically frowned upon mindsets in an enthralling atmosphere upon which we pin historical quantities of prejudice, racism and most of all, bigotry. The unfortunate reality is that we look at history in a vacuum and ignore the occurrences of our own times. So although we, like Scout’s teachers teaching about the horrible acts of the Holocaust while being outspokenly racist, are able to analyze social inequalities in other places in time or the world yet refuse to open our eyes to the same prejudice, racism and bigotry today. To instance, when reading To Kill a Mockingbird , we often frown upon citizens for judging “folks” based on their family name and race, although, everyday, some member of our current society, such as police officers and employers, do the same thing and no one bats an eye. Alternatively, the issue which we definitely desperately desire to avoid, racism, is explicitly tackled in To Kill a Mockingbird to the point of viral awareness of the problem in

As the United States “progresses” in economic, educational and technological advancements we still are fighting for racial equality. With more than 50 years since the brown vs. board of education case there is still incidents like Ferguson, Baton Rouge, and Phiando Castile where many questions are still unanswered. However, Harper Lee dealt with these same problems in 1960 when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee created an emotionally confronting story. Lee writes through the eyes of “Scout” a lawyer’s daughter in a small sleepy town of Maycomb in Alabama during the great depression. Throughout the book “Scout” learns coming of age lessons from Atticus and her own experiences. But when Atticus takes on a case defending a black man (Tom Robinson) convicted for rapping a white woman (Mayella Ewell) and is found guilty. “Scout” her brother Jem begin to understand the effects of the prejudices in society. Therefore, Lee applies the literary concepts of diction and tone to revel the truth that prejudices in society negatively affect the way people treat each other in To Kill a Mocking Bird.

The Importance of Informal Education in To Kill a Mockingbird By Janaya Fuller To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee, depicts the adventures of Scout, a unique young girl, living in a 1930s Alabama county called Maycomb. Harper Lee’s masterpiece, a true classic, touches on some of the most complex controversies during the Great Depression. Much of the controversy varies as a result in application of formal and informal education on all individuals living in Maycomb. Contrasting Scout’s father Atticus Finch and civilian Bob Ewell is a meaningful example, explaining how important education is to live an ethical lifestyle.

In the country town of Maycomb, people were easily influenced so prejudice was shown by most. The citizens knew that the colour of your skin determined your place in life and that Negroes were to be treated differently. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, there was only one true character that portrayed the true essence of tolerance. Atticus Finch stood on his own two feet, and never formed an opinion unless he had prior knowledge on the particular person or situation. Throughout the entirety of this novel, it was Atticus alone who not only was tolerant, but set an exemplarily example to his children, and the town, of how knowing before judging is not only important, but vital to society. “First of all…if you can learn a simple trick Scout, you’ll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person till you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (p.33). This is a perfect example of how Atticus passes on his knowledge to his children, and educates them on how respect

In the 1930s, it was out of the ordinary for a white person to have relations with a black person. Tom’s time on the witness stand told the jury and the people of Maycomb that Mayella had kissed him while he was trying to escape. In this time period, many of the community will believe a white man's lie than a black man's truth. “She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man,” (272). Segregation and racism were large problems occurring when this fiction took place. The children, had to face this issue first hand during the trial. Now, in the 21st century, students learn about segregation and racism. They learn about Martin Luther King Junior’s I Have a Dream speech. However, back then, teachers may not have taught about the issue, for it was a normality for whites to harass blacks and people who cared about them. Atticus taught them how equality was an important part of life and that all people deserved to be treated equally and fairly; no matter the color of their skin.

Every child is born as a clean slate, with no concept of racism and prejudice whatsoever. However, it is their environment, and most importantly their education, which shapes them into a person and defines who they are. But a very important question exists. How do you define education? The acquisition of plain knowledge? Or the gaining of moral beliefs and values?

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” Martin Luther King Jr. In Maycomb, there are a variety of different people in different classes. During the Great Depression, in Maycomb, there were few wealthy people. The Finch’s would be considered one of the highest family on the caste system. Then there would be the Cunninghams, the Ewells, and at the bottom would be the black population. Each family that is represented has something unique and different that makes them up. They are all living in the same period and the same area, but that is the only similarity.

In Harper Lees’s masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird, moral education is a theme that only seems to bloom within the Finch household and is severely lacking in all of Maycomb County. The main character, Scout Finch, is growing in an environment where manners and education matter, this is a quality that can be attributed to the teachings of Atticus Finch and Calpurnia. In a world that is corrupted by prejudice, moral education is form of behavior that stands out, Harper Lee provides examples of this in Calpurnia’s discipline at home, Atticus’s ethical guidance and explanations for the reasoning behind his defense of Tom Robinson, and Scout’s bewilderment at Ms. Gate’s hypocrisy. Moral education is a theme that plays a core role in the development of the title characters as well as the deterioration of the town’s moral standards.