Webquest: Group 1
Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama on April 28, 1926. Her father was a proprietor and a former newspaper editor. He served as a state senator and he also practiced law. She was the youngest of four children ans she was a tomboy. Her mother had a mental illness. Lee's childhood friend was Truman Capote, formally Truman Persons. People made fun of him because he was small and she would fight his battles. When Lee went to college, she stayed in her home state.
Lee went to the University of Alabama to study English Literature. She joined a sorority and she became the editor for her college humor magazine, Rammer Jammer. She also studied law at the University of Alabama. These facts are important to consider when reading To Kill a Mockingbird because she knew the law that plays into the case of Tom Robinson in the book. Also, her experiences changed the way she would write her story. After she finished college, she went to New York to find a job.
When Lee moved to New York, she became friends with Micheal and Joy Brown. At Christmas time, the Browns gave Lee a huge present: they were going to support her for a year so she could write full time. This allowed Lee to write her first and only book, To Kill a Mockingbird. It was published in 1960 and it was made into a movie in 1962. The novel won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961. A condensed version of the story can be found in Reader's Digest. It was used by the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Literary Guild.
Conflicts about racism will probably surface in the book because that was a prominent issue at the time of the publication. Also, Lee was a young girl who was not very proper, so there may be conflicts about the expectations of a young lady may arise. The facts I now know about Lee will probably influence my reading of the novel because when the practice of law is introduced into the story, I will know she is not making it up. The facts I know should not influence my reading of the story because I need to make my own opinion, not base it off of someone else's.
Lee went to the University of Alabama to study English Literature. She joined a sorority and she became the editor for her college humor magazine, Rammer Jammer. She also studied law at the University of Alabama. These facts are important to consider when reading To Kill a Mockingbird because she knew the law that plays into the case of Tom Robinson in the book. Also, her experiences changed the way she would write her story. After she finished college, she went to New York to find a job.
When Lee moved to New York, she became friends with Micheal and Joy Brown. At Christmas time, the Browns gave Lee a huge present: they were going to support her for a year so she could write full time. This allowed Lee to write her first and only book, To Kill a Mockingbird. It was published in 1960 and it was made into a movie in 1962. The novel won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961. A condensed version of the story can be found in Reader's Digest. It was used by the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Literary Guild.
Conflicts about racism will probably surface in the book because that was a prominent issue at the time of the publication. Also, Lee was a young girl who was not very proper, so there may be conflicts about the expectations of a young lady may arise. The facts I now know about Lee will probably influence my reading of the novel because when the practice of law is introduced into the story, I will know she is not making it up. The facts I know should not influence my reading of the story because I need to make my own opinion, not base it off of someone else's.