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Additional Considerations for Preparation
- Atticus
- Scout
- Tom Robinson
- Child rearing and the education of children?
- Single parents
- Childhood initiation into an adult world
THEMES AND ISSUES
The following themes and issues were designated as important to the study of TKM and the preparation of students for the teleconferences by the Guide writing team.
Stereoptypes - What is the nature of a stereotype? How do stereotypes form? What is necessary for the general acceptance of a stereotype? Identify a stereotyped character in TKM and explain how the stereotype formed?
The Nature of the Hero - Discuss how the issue of courage works in the lives of:
The Legal Connection - TKM is regularly taught in legal education courses at leading law schools. In Claudia Johnson's text, Understanding To Kill A Mockingbird: A Student Casebook, note the illustration of Freidman's Op Ed piece and the storm of opposition to his saying Atticus is a poor model for lawyers.
The Family
Gender - Discuss what is revealed about "The Southern Woman" in the characterization by Harper Lee.
Invisibility - Who in the novel is invisible? Why? To whom?
Violence - How would you react if someone spit in your face as occured to Atticus? What does Atticus's response tell you about Atticus's character? Tom Robinson was shot 17 times in the book; in the film they say he was shot dead when they were trying to wound him in the leg. In the depiction of this violent end to Tom in the film, why was this changed? Someone had to make the decision to leave out the fact that he was shot 17 times. What does getting shot 17 times say about the shooters? Was the decision to change from the 17 shots in the novel to trying to wound him in the leg made to appeal to a wider audience? Was this fact considered too distracting, taking the focus of the audience away from the "essence of the story" as seen by the producer and writer?
Maturing and Growing Up - What are the life-changing experiences that enable us to see Scout and/or Jem "grow up" during the course of the story? How might they be changed into a more mature understanding of the world around them? How do you know Scout was changed by them?
Bridges - The children represent the bridge between segregated society, bridging between race, class, and invisible "outsiders."
Impact of Language - How does word choice fit into our addressing of the key issues in the novel and the film?
Characterization - To what do you attribute the existence of flat and round characters in TKM? Might they be deliberately and consciously written-in for purposes of plot? Or might they result from a limited point-of-view, since this is Scout's story?
