...Independent Study Project Othello, the Invisible Wound, To Kill a Mockingbird July 30th 2014 By Eileen Harford Everyone has had a time in their life when they have misjudged a situation. Whether it was assuming someone took your pencil when it is actually in behind you ear, or assuming which character is the killer in our favorite movie, we all have misjudgements all the time in our lives. When was the last time you have mistaken a situation? The theme of false judgement demonstrated in the play “Othello” by Shakespeare, the short story “The Invisible Wound” by Karoly Kisfaludi, and the film “To Kill a Mockingbird”. In these three storylines, the author exhibits the theme of false judgment through a character of innocence that is poorly misjudged and ends tragically for them. Othello accuses his wife, Desdemona of adultery, while the unnamed protagonist in “The Invisible Wound” also inaccurately assumes his wife is cheating. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the jury accuses Tom Robinson of a crime that he did not commit all because of the colour of his skin. Given the above, it is clear that these three story lines hold the same theme of an error in judgement occurring. Throughout the play, “Othello” by William Shakespeare, a few of the characters are condemned on untruthful information. Desdemona and Cassio are victims of poor judgement. Accusations towards Desdemona seem to be the most prominent to any reader – which all begin when Othello falls to Iago’s manipulation that...
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...they are better than the other races. Most kinds of discrimination are violence, segregation, and biased judgment. Another kind of discrimination is stereotyping, which is where a certain race of people are all believed to have a particular idea or way that they act, and have an oversimplified image. My chosen story is “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and is about Scout and Jem Finch, two kids in the 1930s, who watches the trial of Tom Robinson, an African American, who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white girl. Even with all the evidence and the obvious fact that Tom was innocent, the jury and judge both chose to say...
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...THE GLENCOE LITERATURE LIBRARY Study Guide for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee i Meet Harper Lee at the same university. In 1949, however, she withdrew and moved to New York City with the goal of becoming a writer. While working at other jobs, Lee submitted stories and essays to publishers. All were rejected. An agent, however, took an interest in one of her short stories and suggested she expand it into a novel. By 1957 she had finished a draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. A publisher to whom she sent the novel saw its potential but thought it needed reworking. With her editor, Lee spent two and a half more years revising the manuscript. By 1960 the novel was published. In a 1961 interview with Newsweek magazine, Lee commented: Writing is the hardest thing in the world, . . . but writing is the only thing that has made me completely happy. To Kill a Mockingbird was an immediate and widespread success. Within a year, the novel sold half a million copies and received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Within two years, it was turned into a highly acclaimed film. Readers admire the novel’s sensitive and probing treatment of race relations. But, equally, they enjoy its vivid account of childhood in a small rural town. Summing up the novel’s enduring impact in a 1974 review, R. A. Dave called To Kill a Mockingbird . . . a movingly human drama of the jostling worlds—of children and adults, of innocence and experience, of kindness and cruelty, of love and hatred, of humor...
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...“To Kill A Mockingbird” “ There is no greater heresy than to do the right thing for the wrong reason or moreover the wrong thing for the right reason” this quote by Victor Hugo runs parallel to Harper Lee’s gripping tale of right and wrong, good and evil. “To Kill A Mockingbird” is a intricate and symbolic masterpiece of the intertwining elements of positive and negative, and how when they occupy the same space no becomes hardly recognizable from the other In this story, a well to do family is faced with very compromising scenarios that causes them and the reader alike to question certain core principles that are supposedly innate, and guides them through a journey of racism, pride, deceit, judgment, and finally reconciling all of these. All characters in the novel perpetually orbit around sentiments of morals and social acceptance and to deal with these themes in a realistic manner. The very title of the story “To Kill A Mockingbird” speaks the nuance of wrong invading or violating what is right. Atticus Finch, the patriarch of the family, has the most explicit encounter with moral injustice and the ordeal of fighting against it. As a lawyer in a small, southern town, Finch is endowed, voluntarily no doubt, with the dubious responsibility of representing an African American man in a criminal case of rape. The small town of Maycomb, Alabama is very racist and Atticus’s decision does not go over well with most of the citizens there. In order to appease the majority Finch...
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...justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, Whoever treads on them does not know peace." Injustice comes in many forms. The world is broken, and until the Lord returns, there will be sin and injustice. Racism, prejudice, false judgment, and stereotyping are all skewed perceptions and with that, unjust. In the award winning book 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee, the theme of injustice is rampant throughout in the cases of Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Calpurnia. The false judgment of Boo Radley perpetuates injustice. People made up stories and spread rumors about him. He was seen as a monster who ate raw squirrels and had bloodstained hands. Not just kids gossiped about Boo, but also the adults joined in. Miss Stephanie Crawford, who was the towns main busy-body, told the children tales about Boo. Jem told Scout, " She woke up in the middle of the night one time and saw his looking skull at her." No one deserves to be gossiped about, and Boo Radley did not deserve to be treated unjustly. The case of Tom Robinson exhibits injustice through racism and lies. Falsely accused, Tom symbolically portrays the image of an innocent mockingbird killed. When Bob Ewell lies about Tom, most of the town...
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...The Diction of To Kill a Mockingbird Diction is used to great effect in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Diction is threaded abundantly throughout the novel to call attention to the separation of various cultural, ethnic, and socio-economic groups. Each individual group, from African Americans to “southern belles” has its own diction and each group uses its own personal diction to defend and represent their own way of life. Diction expresses each group’s tone and character and brings life to the novel. Diction is also used to support the novel’s theme of the injustice of racism, whether it is white against black, male against female, wealthy against poor, or educated against uneducated. One form of diction that takes place in the novel is Jem’s use of the term “mixed child” to describe the son of Mr. Dolphus Raymond, a white man who had children with a black woman. The word choice of “mixed” is not positive (indicating a lack of pureness), and that is exactly how the people treat the “mixed children.” Mixing the white and black bloodlines is frowned upon the same way that mixing the black churches and white churches or schools would be frowned upon. The South is so resistant to change, even a child of mixed color will not be accepted, or given grace of any kind. Diction is also used to reveal social injustice towards females throughout the novel. Scout uses the term “pink cotton penitentiary” to describe how she feels about being forced...
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...“To Kill a Mocking Bird”: Teaching Tolerance Through Empathy Mary Ellyn Fogarty December 8, 2012 America in the mid 1950’s and 1960’s was undergoing a profound social metamorphosis. Events such as, in 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, with the Supreme Court ruling public school segregation illegal, which many believe sparked the civil rights era, in 1956 Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, “precipitating the Montgomery bus boycott, led by Martin Luther King Jr.” (To Kill a Mockingbird: Civil Rights Era, 2012), in 1957 federal troops were sent to Little rock Arkansas to protect nine African American students who were going white high school, per the court ordered desegregation of school, were challenging and for some forcing the way in which Americans lived, their beliefs and their treatment of African Americans that had been indoctrinated into their consciousness from the time they were born and many did not understand why this treatment was inappropriate, prejudice and unconstitutional. For some these changes were viewed as not an intrusion or criticism of their way of life but as...
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...Task Terms: A terminology guide to help develop questions for the Reading COE |Reading COE Task Terms |Definitions |Sample COE Questions with Targets | | | | | |Literary/Informational Comprehension | | | | | | | |Categorize |to place somebody or something in a particular category and |“Categorize the types of elephants discussed in the passage, | | |define or judge the person or thing accordingly |‘All Elephants.’ Describe the main characteristics of the | | | |elephant types using supporting details from the passage for | | ...
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...Al Sharpton once said “As I often say, we have come a long way from the days of slavery, but in 2014, discrimination and inequality still saturate our society in modern ways. Though racism may be less blatant now in many cases, its existence is undeniable” While Sharpton claims we have come a long way in regard to prejudice of blacks, in the 1930s many blacks and whites who opposed the segregation of blacks felt the hatred produced by white southerners. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, it is obvious that there are many issues in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. In a time where segregation was more common than ever, many southerners began to form bias opinions towards African Americans. This unjust judgment of different...
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..."To me, it was cruel the way it was presented. It didn't help the lesson at all. It showed improper judgment." (Mohamed), Mohamed was the only black student in his class when suddenly, while the teacher was reading Huckleberry Finn aloud in class, the "n-word" popped up. According to Mohamed, he asked his teacher to replace the word with "n-word" instead of saying it straightforward, she replied with “Does it offend you? It hurts doesn’t it?”. This response from the teacher was completely uncalled for and added even more anger to Mohamed. By replacing the word in Huckleberry Finn, according to Mohamed, students will feel much more comfortable when reading the book. When in his classroom, Mohamed was stared at when the word came up since he was the only black student. The “n-word” is supposed to be in there since it wakes the students up from their...
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...INTRODUCTION Bay of Pigs and Cuban missile crisis decisions and results are detailed as introduction to group decision making. Definitions: What Is a Group? • A group is two or more people who are interacting with each other and are interdependent in the sense that to fulfill their needs and goals, they must rely on each other. A. Why Do People Join Groups? • Baumeister and Leary (1995) argue that people join groups because in our evolutionary past, there was a substantial survival advantage to establishing bonds with other people. Consequently the need to belong may be innate and is present in all societies. • Groups have many benefits, including providing information, helping us define our identity, and establishing social norms for behavior. B. The Composition and Functions of Groups • Most social groups range in size from two to six members. • Members of a group tend to be alike in terms of age, sex, beliefs, and opinions. This is both because people are attracted to similar others and because groups operate in ways that encourage similarity among members. 1. Social Norms • Groups have social norms about which behaviors are acceptable, and the consequences of violating these are pressure to conform and ultimately rejection. 2. Social Roles • Groups also often have well-defined roles, or shared expectations in a group about how particular people are supposed to behave. Roles facilitate social interaction. • Roles also may have a cost....
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...INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is an excellent introduction to Shakespearean drama; teenagers can relate to its plot, characters, and themes. The play’s action is easily understood, the character’s motives are clear, and many of the themes are as current today as they were in Shakespeare’s time. Therefore, it can be read on a variety of levels, allowing all students to enjoy it. Less able readers can experience the swash-buckling action and investigate the themes of parent-child conflict, sexuality, friendship, and suicide. Because of the play’s accessibility to teenagers, able readers can view the play from a more literary perspective, examining the themes of hostility ad its effect on the innocent, the use of deception and its consequences, and the effects of faulty decision making. They can study how the characters function within the drama and how Shakespeare uses language to develop plot, characters, and themes. The most able students can develop skills involved in literary criticism by delving into the play’s comic and tragic elements and its classically tragic themes: the role of fate and fortune, the inevitable nature of tragedy, and the isolation of the tragic hero. This teacher’s guide will be divided into several parts: (1) a brief literary overview, including a synopsis and commentary on the play; (2) suggestions for teaching the play, including activities, discussion questions, and essay topics to be used before, during, and...
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...GCSE English Literature Specimen Assessment Materials 1 For assessment from 2013 GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE SPECIMEN ASSESSMENT MATERIALS GCSE English Literature Specimen Assessment Materials 3 Contents Page Question Papers English Literature Unit 1 (H.T.) English Literature Unit 2 a and b (H.T.) English Literature Unit 1 (F.T.) English Literature Unit 2 a and b (F.T.) 5 Mark Schemes English Literature Unit 1 (H.T.) English Literature Unit 2 a and b (H.T.) English Literature Unit 1 (F.T.) English Literature Unit 2 a and b (F.T.) 93 GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE Higher Tier UNIT 1 Specimen Assessment Materials 2 hours SECTION A Question 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Of Mice and Men Anita and Me To Kill a Mockingbird I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Chanda’s Secrets SECTION B 6. Poetry 12 Pages 2-3 4-5 6-7 8-9 10 - 11 ADDITIONAL MATERIALS Twelve page answer booklet. INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES Answer both Section A and Section B. Answer one question in Section A and the question in Section B. INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES The number of marks is given in brackets after each question or part-question. You are reminded that assessment will take into account the quality of written communication used in your answers. JD*(S-2011 Higher) Turn over. 2 SECTION A 1. Of Mice and Men Answer part (a) and either part (b) or part (c). You are advised to spend about 20 minutes on part (a), and about 40 minutes on part (b) or part (c). (a) Read the extract on the opposite...
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...beautiful once, too. Or so they tell me. Sitting at Prim’s knees, guarding her, is the world’s ugliest cat. Mashed-in nose, half of one ear missing, eyes the color of rotting squash. Prim named him Buttercup, insisting that his muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower. I le hates me. Or at least distrusts me. Even though it was years ago, I think he still remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought him home. Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with worms, crawling with fleas. The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed. But Prim begged so hard, cried even, I had to let him stay. It turned out okay. My mother got rid of the vermin and he’s a born mouser. Even catches the occasional rat. Sometimes, when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me. Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love. I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots. Supple leather that has molded to my feet. I pull on trousers, a shirt, tuck my long dark braid up into a cap, and grab my forage bag. On the table, under a wooden bowl to protect it from hungry rats and cats alike, sits a perfect little goat cheese wrapped in basil...
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...once, too. Or so they tell me. Sitting at Prim’s knees, guarding her, is the world’s ugliest cat. Mashed-in nose, half of one ear missing, eyes the color of rotting squash. Prim named him Buttercup, insisting that his muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower. I le hates me. Or at least distrusts me. Even though it was years ago, I think he still remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought him home. Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with worms, crawling with fleas. The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed. But Prim begged so hard, cried even, I had to let him stay. It turned out okay. My mother got rid of 4 the vermin and he’s a born mouser. Even catches the occasional rat. Sometimes, when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me. Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love. I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots. Supple leather that has molded to my feet. I pull on trousers, a shirt, tuck my long dark braid up into a cap, and grab my forage bag. On the table, under a wooden bowl to protect it from hungry rats and cats alike, sits a perfect...
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