Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
A Video Talk
This novel won the Pulitzer Prize, and is beloved around the world, and yet its topics of rape and racial inequality have also made it controversial. Did it allow Harper Lee to live up to her desire to be ‘The Jane Austen of South Alabama’? What makes this book so powerful?
Harper Lee was given an incredibly generous Christmas gift of one year of finance that would allow her to quit her job and focus on writing – the result was this amazing book. Join me to look at what drove her to write this controversial classic.
“I remember starting it and just devouring it, not being able to get enough of it,”
― Oprah Winfrey
This novel won the Pulitzer Prize, and is beloved around the world, and yet its topics of rape and racial inequality have also made it controversial. It is high on the list of novels banned from American libraries and schools. Some argue that because its pages include the word ‘Nigger’, it should not be read by modern readers, while others insist that its message about fairness, legal justice for all regardless of skin colour, its coming of age story and its heroine’s loss of innocence, is something that every child needs to know.
To Kill a Mockingbird was a novel that provoked social change. It had a great impact on the American Civil Rights Movement, showing through fiction and the power of readers’ imaginations just what it was like to for a black man to face a court of white jurors when accused of raping a white woman. The American Bar Association erected a monument to Atticus Finch, in gratitude for all he did to improve the public profile of lawyers. The book moved people, changed their minds and helped bring about greater equality in the American South.
This Video Talk is a real treat! In it, I reveal intriguing stories about the author to help you understand what prompted this book to be written. I identify the main characters and their roles, analyse the themes behind the story, and describe the influence that the era, lifestyle and circumstances have on the book’s setting. It is illustrated with photographs, paintings, scenes from different film versions and book covers – you’ll have plenty to look at while you listen. Buy it now and receive a link to view your video immediately.
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Join me in Alabama for an exploration of this powerful novel, and a look at the reclusive and strong-minded woman behind it. You can discuss it with me here.
Thank you Susannah, I love learning from you.
Thanks for your lecture series on the 4 English trailblazers, I have now caught up with all four of them. Even though I had a fair bit of prior knowledge of all except Florence Nightingale, I enjoyed your lectures very much, there were so many lovely pictures and unexpected sidelights that I was very well entertained. You really brought out how these four brilliant misfits made a difference to English culture!
I would have loved to have taken part in the actual lectures, but 5 pm on a weekday does not work for me, unfortunately, so I was pleased to be able to catch the lectures later. I look forward to further lectures in the future.
I absolutely love receiving your programs!
I just wanted to thank you for your March Trailblazers series.
Such interesting and diverse lives and the discovery of all those quirky facts gave a full picture of the personalities behind the famous personas.
As the ladies say, “It’s not easy”. What an understatement!
Thank you I thoroughly enjoyed the refresher on Florence. A great woman. Today we would no doubt diagnose her as having a mental illness. In my experience people who are so exceptional, such creative thinkers, so different from their peers as Florence was could be bi-polar. Her debilitating illnesses would have exacerbated this. So much of what I learned as a nurse came directly from her teachings.
All the stats we continually collected also came from her.
I really enjoyed this talk, Susannah. Today I used notes I took from this Trailblazers series to complete 3 hours of the 100 hours of Professional Learning I must do to be able to continue casual teaching!
I want to say how much I enjoy and appreciate, Susannah’s Trailblazer presentations.
Bravo Susannah! You revealed a phenomenal man to us. Photographic memory!
Thank you so much for a most enjoyable and informative talk last night on Dr Johnson.
Another great and inspiring talk. Can’t wait to go to the Library to see a copy.
I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation, Susannah! Brilliant as usual. You do such a marvelous job bringing your subjects to life.
Susannah is a masterful, engaging and passionate presenter who enriches our souls!