Cliff Notes for To Kill a Mockingbird

Study Guides

To Kill A Mockingbird (Barron's Book Notes) List Price: $5.99 Sale Price: $2.45 Used From: $1.99 Average Rating:

Description

A guide to reading "To Kill A Mockingbird" with a critical and appreciative mind. Includes background on the author's life and times, sample tests, term paper suggestions, and a reading list.

Features

• ISBN13: 9780812034462
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Reviews

The book is about a killer and a man who was accused of raping a woman, The part I didn't like was where the dog was shot, and I like when that little girl who talks like an adult was wearing the ham costume, and the part when she tries to bite Boo. I recommend this book because I think that it was a good story, but if you dont want to read you should just watch the movie. The movie is the same as the book.

I thought this was an exciting book with excellent morals. Most parts of this amazingly exciting book left me wanting to keep reading the book. I liked this book becasue there was a mystery character and I wanted to keep reading to find out more about him. I also liked this book becasue it is a realistic event that could happen. I loved how through the book there was always an event that made me want to continue reading to find out what happens. A character that got my attention was Scout. She was a strong-willed and courageous girl who knew when to stand up for what is right. After all that she went through inb her life, she stood tall and proud and didn't let much get her down. Any type of audience should enjoy this book. It deals with many aspects on life and I recommend this book for everyone to read.

I htought this was an exciting book with excellent morals. Most parts of this amazingly exciting book left me wanting to keep reading the book. I liked this book becasue there was a mystery character and I wanted to keep reading to find out more about him. I also liked this book becasue it is a realistic event that could happen. I loved how through the book there was always an event that made me want to continue reading to find out what happens. A character that got my attention was Scout. She was a strong-willed and courageous girl who knew when to stand up for what is right. After all that she went through inb her life, she stood tall and proud and didn't let much get her down. Any type of audience should enjoy this book. It deals with many aspects on life and I recommend this book for everyone to read.

I rated To Kill a Mockingbird 5 stars. This book is the "handbook" on racism, sexism, and descrimination against social classes. I enjoyed this book due to the understanding level it was on. I think because it was though the eyes of a young child they made it very plain and comprehendable but because Scout was smart and intelligent, Harper Lee could still use knowledge about a second grader's. I think this book helps teenagers especially deal with the idea that racism and sexism will never completely go away but that they can still deal with it to the best of their ability. I think the author definatly intended this book for young adults. If a young child read this book, it would fly over their heads and leave them with more questions than answers. The language is inappropriate for most children but yet is understood by young adults. This book helps teenagers in many ways.

To Kill A Mockingbird is filled with moral lessons, adventure and humor. The children's growth and maturity thoughout this story is true to life. Their relationships with each other, their father, neighbors and other relatives engage the reader and keep you wanting more whether those relationships are positive or negative. The characters and the descriptions of the neighborhood and town are vivid. When reading this book, one becomes linked with the characters as if those townfolk were one's own. It can't be put down until it is finished. And the finish is worth the wait.

A Guide for Using To Kill a Mockingbird in the Classroom (Literature Unit (Teacher Created Materials)) List Price: $8.99 Sale Price: $4.67 Used From: $9.30 Average Rating:

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This resource is directly related to its literature equivalent and filled with a variety of cross-curricular lessons to do before, during, and after reading the book. This reproducible book presents an exciting approach to teaching well-known literature! It includes sample plans, author information, vocabulary building ideas, cross-curriculum activities, sectional activities and quizzes, unit tests, and many ideas for culminating and extending the novel.

Features

• ISBN13: 9781576906262
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Reviews

This year, I taught To Kill a Mockingbird to my freshman students for the first time. I purchased this literature unit to help me plan. While it has several activities that touch on basic literary terms, I used most of the activities as "fillers" for time. I think it will be more helpful with lower level students and not honors classes. Still worth purchasing; I'm always happy to have too many resources.

Excellent product, easy to use, ready for immediate classroom use! Well organized by chapter and provides short quizzes for groups of chapters in the novel to ensure kids are reading. Excellent connections, journal activities that go well beyond the literal comprehension of the novel. A must have!

This book is my everyday tool in class and at home. I used it to help my nephew in book report and for me to teach it to my students. Great help.

There are several reading strategies and activities to motivate your readers in this guide book. I think it is very useful for those who may be teaching this novel for the first time and a new tool to get a new perspective on the novel for seasoned educators. I found that it had some great ideas, Anticipation Guides, project ideas, and research topics.

I thought that this guide was definitely worth the money that was paid for it. The teacher created materials guide for To Kill a Mockingbird includes a table of contents which divides the novel into 6 different sections (for example, Section 1 includes Chapters 1 through 5 in the book). There are pre-reading activities to generate interest in the book (themes such as justice and prejudice, as well as a brief biography of Harper Lee) as well as a few ideas for teachers after the novel is finished (there is a list of research topics for this time period that is helpful for teachers who want to generate some related topics). Vocabulary lists for each of the novel sections and a few vocabulary activity ideas are also included (examples: part of speech chart for vocabulary words, word puzzles, etc). I found this section extremely beneficial because it saves so much time to already have a list of difficult words generated for the students. Each section has study questions for each of the 6 sections (it is actually listed as the Quiz section). Although some of the questions are a bit general (example, List three important events from this section), overall the questions fit quite well within the scope of the novel and can be used as a tool for checking comprehension. There are several other neat ideas that can be used directly or adapted by the teacher into another activity. For instance, there is a section on Urban Myths and Myths, which ties into the character of Boo Radley. There are questions for conducting an interview of "The Great Depression" that could be used as a take-home assignment for a student. There are ideas for Southern Cooking (if that's your thing) and a section on understanding similes and metaphors (which are quite frequent in the book). Also, there is a characterization chart for four of the main characters (Scout, Jem, Atticus, Dill) as well as a section that discusses the ideas of theme and examples of racial hatred and discrimination. Overall, although only 48 pages in length, I felt this was an excellent buy. It is very organized and quite helpful for a teacher needing extra resource material for a novel.

Full-Length

To Kill a Mockingbird List Price: $12.95 Sale Price: $6.58 Used From: $3.58 Average Rating:

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One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has earned many distinctions since its original publication in 1960. It won the Pulitzer Prize, has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, and been made into an enormously popular movie. Most recently, librarians across the country gave the book the highest of honors by voting it the best novel of the twentieth century.

"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.... When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out." Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up. Like the slow-moving occupants of her fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the heart of her tale; we first meet the Finches the summer before Scout's first year at school. She, her brother, and Dill Harris, a boy who spends the summers with his aunt in Maycomb, while away the hours reenacting scenes from Dracula and plotting ways to get a peek at the town bogeyman, Boo Radley. At first the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a drunk and violent white farmer, barely penetrate the children's consciousness. Then Atticus is called on to defend the accused, Tom Robinson, and soon Scout and Jem find themselves caught up in events beyond their understanding. During the trial, the town exhibits its ugly side, but Lee offers plenty of counterbalance as well--in the struggle of an elderly woman to overcome her morphine habit before she dies; in the heroism of Atticus Finch, standing up for what he knows is right; and finally in Scout's hard-won understanding that most people are essentially kind "when you really see them." By turns funny, wise, and heartbreaking, To Kill a Mockingbird is one classic that continues to speak to new generations, and deserves to be reread often. --Alix Wilber

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060935467
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Reviews

It seems most perspectives are learned based on personal experiences or the internalized experiences of others. The near universal narration of this book makes it accessible: a child at play, making sense of an patently imperfect and covertly hostile world. The point of view character, Scout, is a young girl, so young that behaving according to gender is something she has not yet mastered. Similarly, the concepts of poverty, racism, sexuality, and violence are unclear to her. As the story unfolds, through her eyes the reader gains (or revisits) these perspectives in a place and time that is likely at least a little different from our own - and thus the work is as insightful now as it was when it was written.

To kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a story about a family that faces difficult times and stays loyal to their friends. The widowed father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer defending a black man against the accusation of the rape of a white woman. The story is told from the perspective of finch's daughter, Scout. It follows her, her brother, Jem, and their friend, Dill, on their childhood adventures as they transition from seeing the world through a child's eyes to awakening to the world occupied by adults. I love this book! It is a classic for everyone's bookshelf.

Fabulous story. All time classic. My favoite story ever! I re-read this story and watch the movie at least once a year!

The book was fantastic much better than the movie that I saw many years ago.

Great book. Hastings sent me the wrong one though. But they gave me a full refund and let me keep the other book. So they did a good job eventually.

Video & Audio

To Kill a Mockingbird (Collector's Edition) List Price: $19.98 Sale Price: $11.67 Used From: $7.94 Average Rating:

Description

CONTAINS: FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR ROBERT MULLIGAN, FEARFUL SYMMETRY FEATURING INTERVIEWS WITH CAST MEMBERS PLUS HISTORIC STILLS OF THE TOWN OF MONROEVILLE, ORIGINAL LOCATION FOOTAGE AND INTERVIEWS WITH RESIDENTS, AND THEATRICAL TRAILER.

Ranked 34 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest American Films, To Kill a Mockingbird is quite simply one of the finest family-oriented dramas ever made. A beautiful and deeply affecting adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, the film retains a timeless quality that transcends its historically dated subject matter (racism in the Depression-era South) and remains powerfully resonant in present-day America with its advocacy of tolerance, justice, integrity, and loving, responsible parenthood. It's tempting to call this an important "message" movie that should be required viewing for children and adults alike, but this riveting courtroom drama is anything but stodgy or pedantic. As Atticus Finch, the small-town Alabama lawyer and widower father of two, Gregory Peck gives one of his finest performances with his impassioned defense of a black man (Brock Peters) wrongfully accused of the rape and assault of a young white woman. While his children, Scout (Mary Badham) and Jem (Philip Alford), learn the realities of racial prejudice and irrational hatred, they also learn to overcome their fear of the unknown as personified by their mysterious, mostly unseen neighbor Boo Radley (Robert Duvall, in his brilliant, almost completely nonverbal screen debut). What emerges from this evocative, exquisitely filmed drama is a pure distillation of the themes of Harper Lee's enduring novel, a showcase for some of the finest American acting ever assembled in one film, and a rare quality of humanitarian artistry (including Horton Foote's splendid screenplay and Elmer Bernstein's outstanding score) that seems all but lost in the chaotic morass of modern cinema. --Jeff Shannon

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Original Release Date: 1962-12-25
Actors:

• Gregory Peck
• John Megna
• Frank Overton
• Rosemary Murphy
• Ruth White

Reviews

Talk about the legacy of acting legend Gregory Peck. This compelling actor played two of the most iconic characters in all of cinematic lore--Captain Ahab and Atticus Finch. (And Peck played both roles in his own unique, creative style.) With respect to Atticus Finch, Peck merely enhances an extraordinarily good film, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, based on Harper Lee's phenomenal and timeless novel. I've read the book and seen the movie, many times; experiencing both are extremely rewarding. In particular, the film works marvelously, for several reasons. For openers, Horton Foote penned a riveting screenplay, while director Robert Mulligan brings Lee's novel to vivid life. The film is blessed with very believable child actors in Mary Badham (Scout) and Phillip Alford (Jem), who both made their silver screen debuts. The supporting cast is spectacular, including a grisly, disheveled James Anderson playing villain Bob Ewell and a very young Robert Duvall playing reclusive Boo Radley. Add to that Peck's commanding performance as a widowed lawyer and father of two children in the Jim Crow South during the Great Depression, and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is a movie for the ages. Highly recommended for all movie collectors and cinema buffs. --D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning

Purchased as a gift and my mother loves it. Great classic - great quality and excellent delivery time.

I teach this novel to a 10th grade class and showing the movie is an integral part of the unit. To Kill a Mockingbird is my very favorite book and the movie is one of my favorites.

1962's To Kill A Mockingbird spreads its wings to great lengths with seamless effort in underlining the trials and tribulations of a society suffering from social prejudices. Its narrator, the overall-wearing, lovable tomboy Scout Finch (Mary Badham), describes the challenges she and her family face when her father decides to defend a black man charged with a serious crime. Through her eyes, you see the clear divide that begins to grow in Maycomb County. Originally adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Harper Lee, director Robert Mulligan reveals his vision of the classic when the picture opens with a monologue from a seemingly grown-up Scout. The introduction presents us with information on the somewhat artificial and judgmental Maycomb. The frame is focused on an all-American, southern neighborhood where citizens open their homes to all, except for the Radleys. Mystery constantly surrounds their dilapidated home as gossip and tall tales run high in the town; it does not help that the youngest of the family, Boo (Robert Duvall), constantly hides from the outside world in the security of his rundown haven. In the movie's beginnings, we are introduced to Scout, Jem, and Atticus Finch, a prominent family in the southern town. Played by Gregory Peck, Atticus serves as the county's best defense lawyer. Peck brilliantly portrays the classy, respectable single parent described in the Harper Lee original. Atticus is a character that demands respect both on paper and on screen, and the multi-talented Peck delivers this attitude. His calm demeanor and noble ways add to the character development in the film. Controversy surrounds the family when Atticus chooses to take the case of and defend Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), who Mayella Ewell (Collin Wilcox Paxton) claims assaulted her. The tension between the word of a black person versus the word of a white person is depicted perfectly by Mulligan when the controversial case goes to court. The small courthouse not equipped for many people is suddenly packed with eager onlookers. When the case begins, Atticus asks Tom Robinson subtle, honest questions and receives truthful answers in return. When Mayella takes the stand, however, her over dramatic shrieks and tearful sobs take away from the validity of her testimony as well as that of her emotions. Nonetheless, it is well known throughout the movie that the jury still favors Mayella because of the color of her skin. The verdict of the case has nothing to do with the facts being brought up by the prosecution and defense; the verdict is solely based on social injustices. Furthermore, under the black and white color pictures lie common events within a family that make the movie relatable to all; Atticus tries avidly to do the right thing, Jem strives to make his father proud, and most evidently, Scout endures the difficult process of becoming and understanding what it means to be a lady. Not everything is as perfect and plain as it seems though. The movie packs its share of tragedies; however, it remains inspirationally uplifting in the simplicity of its message. Atticus's plans for the trial come to an unexpected halt, but his positive, sensible mind helps him come to terms with the outcomes of the whole debacle. All of the characters come to a climactic clash at the end of the film when Boo Radley makes an unanticipated appearance, Mayella's father Bob goes after the Finch children, and Jem breaks his arm. The sensation from the film's conclusion fills audiences everywhere with content and motivates them to be as noble as Atticus Finch in their daily lives. In this intense yet satisfying ending, we see the invariable nature of humans to disagree, but the positive consequences for those who rise above.

This is a poignant and heart warming story told from the point of view of a little tomboy, Scout, & her older brother, Jem, of growing up in the South during the depression. It is fairly faithful to the book although much has been omitted as one would expect. Their father, Atticus Finch, a widowed attorney, takes on a the defense of a Negro wrongly accused of raping a white girl. The colorful neighbors, their antics and their opinions, show the audience just what stuff this family, especially Atticus trying to raise his children alone, is made of.