To+Kill+A+Mockingbird

Nelle Harper Lee (1926-present) born in Monroeville, Alabama. She was the youngest of four children. she grew up as a tomboy in a small town. Her mother had a mental illness which caused her to rarely leave the house. Lee went to Monroe County High School and this is where she got interested in English Literature. After school she attended Huntingdon College, an all girlsuniversity in Montgomery, Alabama. Lee wasn't like the other girls who were interested in make-up and dating, but instead she was more focused into her studies, writing, and the honor society. Harper soon transferred the the University of Alabama and became the loner. She joined a sorority for awhile and started to pursue her writing. She became the editor of their school newspaper and humor magazine, the //Rammer Jammer//. In 1949 when lee was 23 years old she moved to New York City to start her writing. She dropped out of Law School before she moved. She written several stories but then found an agent in November, and in December at the Browns' East 50th townhouse she received a years wage and a note basically she has a year to write whatever she felt like. Lee finished to Kill a Mockingbird in the summer of '59. And a year later in July the book was finally published. It was a bestseller with more then 30 million copies. The book was based on Lee's childhood life.
 * Author Bio sketch [[image:harper-lee.jpg align="right"]] **

**Historical Context** **Jim Crow Laws **
 * It got its name from a song in 1904 named "Jump Jim Crow"
 * The South passed an Anti-African American legislation after the American Civil War.
 * The laws were tested in 1896 by a man named Homer Plessey.
 * Most common places that were segregated were movie theaters and restaurants.

**Great Depression** 
 * an economic crash where several people lost their jobs.

**Character Illustration** **Atticus Finch**: Scout's and Jem's father, a lawyer, generous and has integrity. He believes in racial equality unlike many people in Maycomb. **Calpurnia**: mother figure in scout's and jem's life, she's black, and is the finch's family cook, she's also humble. **Dill**: boy, 7 years old, can also read. his dad left. and his mother remarried. **Scout Finch**: Girl, 6 years old and can read. Not very girly, more like a tomboy. Lives with her father, brother and their cook. She's smart for her age. **Mayella Ewell**: Bob's daughter, oldest of her siblings. She doesn't really have any friends and she is also very lonely. She also gets beaten by her dad. And had to go to court but being "raped" by Tom Robinson. She plants flowers by the side of her house. And she is often intimidated when people call her "Miss. Mayella". **Bob Ewell**: **Tom Robinson**: black male, "raped" bob ewell's daughter, hard working. **Aunt Alexandria**: Atticus' sister, She is very into the perfect southern belle type girl. She often tells Scout how she should look and act.
 * Jem Finch**: Scout's older brother, "jeremy finch", in the beginning of the book he's scouts playmate but gradually separates himself from the games.

**Symbolism **
 * in the beginning of the story when Scout was giving us a description of of Maycomb. She said it was an tired old town where rain turned the roads into red slop