ENGLISH 8 – Mrs. Lauren Cole To Kill a Mockingbird ​
by Harper Lee ISBN 0­06­ 093546­4 (Perennial Classics) –OR–any edition you prefer, including e­books Read this book, slowly and thoughtfully; do not wolf it down the night before school starts. Take weeks to read and digest it. It takes place right here in Alabama, a lot of it during the summer, so try reading some of it outside. (Put down your phone/iPad, etc. And pick up the lemonade or sweet tea!) If your travels this summer take you near Harper Lee’s hometown of Monroeville, AL (just a few miles off I­65 South at exit 93 /US­84 toward Evergreen/Monroeville), consider spending an hour wandering around the courthouse grounds and museum. An unforgettable experience! Please –do not rent the movie version of Mockingbird; we will watch it together later this year. It is a little different from the novel and we will discuss that too. If you have already seen it, that is perfectly fine; you will notice many differences as you read. A movie is a movie and a novel is a novel. Please bring your book and your completed writing assignment to class on the second day of school. Annotations​
(to be completed as you read) 1. When you come to an unfamiliar word–stop! Circle it, look it up (or add it to a list to be looked up later). Learning new words and how to use them is one of the benefits of reading. 2. As you read, use a pen (in a color other than black) to mark: ●
Particularly descriptive imagery. How do the author’s words enable you to see, hear, taste, smell, etc. a scene? Are there any memorable metaphors or similes? ●
Important­sounding quotes by major characters. Why do their words jump out at you in the first place? What emotions did they make you feel? ●
Pivotal moments when characters must make decisions. How do these decisions reveal courage on the part of the character? In class, we will be discussing how Lee uses these moments, large and small, to convey what it means to be a hero. ●
Moments when you seem to hear the author speaking directly to you. What is Harper Lee’s message? Is there only one? Is her message today the same as it might have been in 1960 when Mockingbird was first published? Think of your annotations as a conversation with the text; let them interact with the text, but not completely interrupt your reading. You might also use sticky notes to mark important passages. Be prepared to discuss your annotations as a class. Writing Assignment ​
(to be completed after you have read) In ​
To Kill a Mockingbird, ​
Atticus Finch says that people need to “crawl inside other people’s skin” and see things from their point of view. The original text is written from Scout’s perspective; your task is to ​
select one scene from the novel and create a narrative that tells the story from another character’s point of view​
. For example, I might choose to take Miss Caroline’s perspective and tell her side of the story in the scene from Scout’s first day of school. ●
Your narrative should be typed, double­spaced, and 2­4 pages in length. Use Times New Roman, 12­point font. Assignments will not be accepted in any other format. ●
The character should appear in the scene you have selected. ●
You should write as though you ​
are​
​
that character. Use first person pronouns and try to maintain that person’s voice; stay true to who the character is and the beliefs/opinions the character holds. ●
Your narrative should retell the events of that scene as well as reveal the inner thoughts and reactions of that character as the events occur. Incorporate original dialogue as necessary. Please bring a hard copy of this assignment to class on the second day of school.