NRA - To Kill a Mockingbird Module Overview

English_OverviewBanner.png

To Kill a Mockingbird Module Overview

Introduction Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing. Quote from To Kill a Mockingbird

This module will cover several topics, in several parts. To start, we will be looking at a brief MLA review, followed by an in-depth study of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. You will learn about MLA (Modern Language Association) Format and how it is used in English courses. You will practice using MLA format in writing and researching.

Essential Questions

  1. What is life like for Scout as a girl?  
  2. How is life in Maycomb different from your own life, and how might those differences lead the characters down different paths?  
  3. What is a theme of this novel?
  4. What is the social context of this novel?
  5. What does the novel show us about the U.S. related to racism, the Great Depression, and the Scottsboro Trials?
  6. How has Scout changed over the course of the novel?

Key Terms

Your understanding of these terms will help you with the material in this module.

Novel: An extended fictional work in prose usually in the form of a story.

Antagonist: The force or character that opposes the protagonist, the leading male or female character.

Conflict: The conflict in a work of fiction is the issue to be resolved in the story. It usually occurs between two characters, the protagonist and the antagonist, or between the protagonist and society or the protagonist and himself or herself.

Foil: A a character whose personality and attitude is opposite the personality and attitude of another character. Because these characters contrast, each makes the personality of the other stand out.

Irony: There are three forms of irony in the literary world. Verbal Irony is an expression or statement where the meaning of the words used is the opposite of their sense. Irony of Situation is where an action done by a character is the opposite of what was meant to be expected. In Dramatic Irony the audience of a play knows something that the main character does not. The most common of the three is Irony of Situation.

Protagonist: The main character of the story. The action of the plot centers about this person. The protagonist is often the hero or ''good guy'', but it can be the villain in a work.

Tone: The attitude or character that the writer is trying to create in a piece of writing it tells you what sort of voice the writing has sad, happy, angry, bitter, peaceful, serious, humorous, ironic, or sarcastic.

Lead: The beginning or introduction of a piece of writing. The lead establishes the direction your writing will take and grabs the reader's attention.

Transitions: Connecting words needed between paragraphs in writing.

Thesis: A short statement, usually one sentence appearing at the end of the introduction, that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay, research paper, etc., and is developed, supported, and explained in the text by means of examples and evidence.

Topic Sentence: A sentence that expresses the main idea of the paragraph in which it occurs.

Introduction Paragraph: The first paragraph of an essay that introduces the main idea of the essay.

Body Paragraph: The main part of your essay or paper. Each body paragraph contains a topic sentence that tells readers what the paragraph is going to be about, supporting sentences that discuss the idea or ideas in the topic sentence using examples and/or evidence to support that discussion and a concluding sentence that emphasizes the importance of the supporting examples or evaluates the connections between them.

Conclusion Paragraph: The final paragraph in the essay that provides a call to action and not a summary. The conclusion paragraph should give your readers something to think or discuss about the points in the essay.

Development Sentence: Occurs after the topic sentence in the body paragraph and provides a perspective on the topic that will allow for an understanding of the importance of the evidence that will follow--your opinion, thought, or idea regarding the topic.

Evidence: All words, ideas, facts, or data from another source (other than the brain) that backs up the statements and opinions expressed--must be cited.

Analysis Sentence: Explains why the evidence is important and how it connects to the thesis--do not restate or summarize the evidence.

Conclusion Sentence: Last sentence in the paragraph that carefully links the ideas that have been proven and provide the reader with some sort of critical evaluation of the overall importance of the argument.

Works Cited: A list of all source citations of the sources used in a piece of writing.

In-Text Citation: The short version of the Source Citation that appears directly after the evidence used.

English_OverviewBottomBanner.png IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS