![]() I suspect Harper Lee had read a fair amount of Dickens and Alexandre Dumas.ģ. It is well-written and has a pleasing, somewhat circular plot. It is about discrimination, racism, cruelty and growing up-all topics that teenagers connect with.Ģ. Having taught it now, off and on, for over 30 years to different generations of students, here are my thoughts:ġ. Twelve years later we decided to reintroduce it on a trial basis in grade 10 because we were about the only school in the board that was not teaching it. We decided to drop it because we had had a few students refuse to read the novel because of the “n” word and because we weren’t sure that it was the right novel for grade 9, which is where it is most commonly taught. In my high school it has been taught since the 1970’s, but around 12 years ago, we had to make the decision to either invest in new copies of the book or to try something else. ![]() Miss Caroline collapses with her head in her hands at her desk.To Kill a Mockingbird is the the most popular novel taught in high schools in North America. The bell rings and everyone leaves for lunch.The class breaks out laughing when they realize that the ruler taps were supposed to be corporal punishment.Miss Caroline cracks at this, and calls Jean Louise up to the front of the class, where she pats her hand with the ruler and makes her stand in the corner.Back to the schoolroom present: Jean Louise wants to explain but can't, so she just says that Miss Caroline is making Walter ashamed by trying to lend him money he can't pay back.Flashback: Jean Louise knows about the Cunninghams because Walter's father hired Atticus for some legal work, and paid for the service by barter rather than in cash.That explanation, crystal clear to Jean Louise, doesn't mean much to Miss Caroline, so she explains further: the Cunninghams won't take anything from anybody, preferring to get by on the little they have.The narrator, whose name we now learn is Jean Louise, steps in, explaining to Miss Caroline that Walter is a Cunningham. ![]()
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