Context Flashcards
Learn about the context in which the book was written
Who wrote the book?
Nelle Harper Lee / pen name Harper Lee
When was the book written?
Harper Lee wrote the book between 1957-1960. The book was published in 1960.
What are the most important events of the 1950-1960 related to Civil Rights / racism ?
Several Civil Rights acts got through during the time the book was wrote: the Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional (1954) and federal voting rights were insured to all, including blacks in The Civil Rights Act of 1957. These lead to the desegregation of public schools and opened the door for better civil rights for all, regardless of race, gender or religion.
What is an “all white” jury?
An all-white jury is a sworn body composed only of white people convened to render a verdict in a legal proceeding. Juries composed solely of one racial group are not prohibited in the United States, but racial discrimination in the selection of jurors (regardless of the jury’s ultimate composition) is today specifically prohibited. It was in 1935 when the Supreme Court decided that blacks may not be excluded systematically from jury service.
When and where does the action of the book take place?
The story takes place during three years 1933–1935 of the Great Depression in the fictional “tired old town” of Maycomb, Alabama, the seat of Maycomb County.
Where is Alabama?
Alabama is a state in the southeastern region of the United States.
Alabama is also known as the “Heart of Dixie” and the “Cotton State”. The state tree is the longleaf pine, and the state flower is the camellia.
Alabama is a former slave state. Most of the slaves where used on the cotton plantations, but also as domestic help.
When was slavery abolished in Alabama?
Slavery was officially abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment which took effect on December 18, 1865.
How did a history of slavery influenced the society up to the time the book was written?
When slavery was abolished in Alabama, in 1865, black people were not granted equal civil rights. Gaining equal civil rights was a slow process that took about one hundred years (1865 to almost 1970) to complete. This was reflected in the way (higher/white) society treated black people, from imposing segregated schools, buses, restaurants and hotels, to discriminating, mistreating and misjudging them based on race.
What was the Civil rights status in Alabama in 1930’s?
During the 1930 there was residential, economic, and social segregation encompassing banking (separate banks), medicine (separate medical practices and hospitals), law (informal exclusion of blacks on juries), religion (separate churches), and daily life (encompassing separate residential areas, schools, and even cemeteries).
What type of culture was prevalent in Southern USA / in Alabama in the 20th Century?
The American Southern society was and still is a honor-shame society, where the means of control is the inculcation of shame. The shame-honor worldview seeks an “honor balance”. A person in this type of culture may ask, “Shall I look ashamed if I do X?” or “How people will look at me if I do Y?” Shame cultures are typically based on the concepts of pride and honor, and because of that, appearances tend to count a lot.
What type of cultures exist?
In cultural anthropology, the distinction between a guilt society (or guilt culture), shame society (also shame culture or honor-shame culture), and a fear society (or culture of fear) has been used to categorize different cultures.
The differences can apply to how behavior is governed with respect to government laws, business rules, or social etiquette.
This classification has been applied to societies according to the emotions they use to control individuals (especially children) and maintaining social order, swaying them into norm obedience and conformity.
Is the book based on real events?
The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee’s observations of her family, her neighbors and events occuring in the 1930 in Alabama.
The trial in this novel is often characterized as based on the Scottsboro case, when 9 black boys where accused and condemned of raping two white women on a train in 1931. “The Scottsboro Boys”, as they became known because of the name iof the city where the case was first heard,is now widely considered a miscarriage of justice, highlighted by use of all-white juries.
Harper Lee said in 2005 that she had in mind something less sensational, although the Scottsboro case served “the same purpose” to display Southern prejudices.
Is the book an autobiography?
Lee has said that To Kill a Mockingbird is not an autobiography, but rather an example of how an author “should write about what he knows and write truthfully”. Nevertheless, several people and events from Lee’s childhood parallel those of the fictional Scout.
What prize was the book awarded?
The book won the Pulitzer Prize immediately upon publishing in 1960.
The Pulitzer prizes are awarded annually since 1917 and are regarded as the country’s most prestigious awards and as the most sought-after accolades in journalism, letters, and more recently, music.
Who established the Pulitzer Prizes?
Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-born American journalist established the prizes through his will (testament) as an incentive to excellence.
Pulitzer was the most skillful of newspaper publishers, a passionate crusader against dishonest government, a fierce, hawk-like competitor who did not shrink from sensationalism in circulation struggles, and a visionary who richly endowed his profession.
Pulitzer was the first to call for the training of journalists at the university level in a school of journalism.
