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Why Is To Kill A Mockingbird Still Relevant Today

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“N*****-lover. trashy people use it when they think somebody’s favoring Negroes over and above themselves” (Lee, 124). In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, uses strong words such as slurs throughout the novel to emphasize on the fact that segregation caused people to be racist towards each other during that time. While segregation was occurring in the 1930’s, African Americans and whites were separated in schools, transportation, churches, and more. On top of African Americans being segregated from whites, they also did not have the same equal rights as whites did. While there is bad or offensive language in the novel, the language used gives grave detail about just how bad racism was back then and how it can also be significant to today's …show more content…

In “Why ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ should be taught”, the author explains that, “this novel is now more relevant than ever with our country still dealing with segregation and discrimination” (Misa, 5). This shows how although the novel was based on the 1930’s and the problems during that time, it also discloses to students and readers about how today's world still prominently has discrimination and how it still occurs on a daily basis. In “Here’s why we teach To Kill A Mockingbird”, the article explains how the “book not only introduces teenagers to the problems of the past, but also leads them to make connections to the world which they live in today, making this decades-old work very relevant” (Shannon, 4). This explains that the book teaches about the problems of the 1930’s, but also teaches students about how today's world can relate to the past and how there was never a full transition throughout time to where racism completely went away. Lastly, the language that Lee uses in To Kill A Mockingbird emphasizes on how bad the racism was back then, which gives the readers a better understanding throughout the

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Joe Ng 3/23/15 Pd.4B What killed Jim Crow? During the 1950s and 60s, segregation was created, colored people were treated unjustifiably compare to the non-colored people in America (mostly in the south). African Americans all over America were discriminated against because the laws allowed African Americans and whites to be treated differently. Here’s the big question, what killed Jim Crow?

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The lessons Lee displays about racism make To Kill a Mockingbird relevant and extremely important to society. When Scout asks Jem, her adolescent brother, what the issue with a mixed race was, Jem replied, “Colored folks won’t have ‘em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ‘em ‘cause they’re colored, so they’re just in-betweens, don’t belong anywhere” (215). Lee put the level of racism in the 1960s on full display in this quote, and society has since become more accepting of both mixed races and other races, though without the important reminder of racism in the past, society could never become more accepting. Thus, To Kill a Mockingbird’s instruction of the issue of racism is highly important to society as a

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Rosa Parks once said, “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome”. Many instances within the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” relate to the topic of racism and how it is introduced to children. During the Great Depression, there was an excess amount of stigma that people of color were inferior to white people. This racism in the time period seems to have inspired Harper Lee to write a novel which encompasses this topic.

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Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird shows how racism affected people in the 1930’s and how terrible people were treated. Since then, things have changed and racism is not a problem. Racism has changed drastically since the 1930’s; now we do not have a big problem compared to how big of a problem it was in the 30’s. In Harper Lee’s

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Harper Lee uses dialogue throughout the book to show that some people were taught to be racist from their family members or influences. on page (223) Bob Ewell said, “some nigger’d raped his girl.” this is a quote from bob ewell in court showing that he is being racist, later in the trial his daughter Mayella uses the n word as well. Lee’s uses tone a lot throughout the book to convey to us the emotions the characters may have felt. on page (72) Miss Stephane said, “Mr Radley shot at a negro in his collared patch.”

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Throughout Chapter 15 of Harper Lee's novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Lee uses a series of dialogue and imagery to treat racism as a product of stigma. Lee incorporates many character perspectives to accurately capture the racial tensions of the 1930s. During the 1930s, racism had reached a peak. Equality was not a normal occurrence back then. You were frowned upon if you were caught associating with a black individual.

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But no one really tries to look at the situation from any other perspective. Harper Lee didn’t intentionally use offensive words or examples of slavery and mistreatment to offend his African American readers. she uses them to show how horribly African Americans were treated back then, to make his novel more significant and

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To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee in 1960 ,is one of the most controversial novels between society and school boards. School boards across the country question whether Lee’s novel should be taught in classrooms, or if it should be banned because of the vulgar language and inappropriate context throughout the book. To Kill a Mockingbird revolves around a white family who is living in the south, and the narrator 's dad is a lawyer. His latest case is to defend a black man in court who had allegedly raped a white woman. Throughout the book a lot of harsh language was used, along with ideas that may be considered inappropriate.

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People of the town including children refer to black people as “Niggers”, and raised to think of black people as lower class individuals. “To Kill A Mockingbird” has a strong message towards racism, this is learned from Scout & Jem as they mature throughout the novel and are constantly being exposed to demeaning segregation in Maycomb County. In giving Scout a lesson about racism, Atticus also does the same for the readers of the novel. This happens when Scout asks Atticus what the term ‘Nigger-lover” meant, after being insulted several of times and not knowing if it is an offensive word or not, but had a slight feeling it was when Atticus was being called at. A quote from the novel: "nigger-lover is

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Atticus is talking to scout and tells her that " nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything.... Ignorant, trashy people use

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Being able to completely understand and follow the different language in To Kill a Mockingbird is one thing, but to decide whether or not it’s still relevant is another thing. Well this book still is relevant and yes some may say that this book is history and we should be reading about the future and present not about the past, but our past is the most important because we can read about the mistakes made and not make them again. To Kill a Mockingbird is based around the civil rights movement and that means that there was a lot of racism happening during the novel. Even though To Kill a Mockingbird is considered an “older” novel and currently it’s the 21st century and not all students enjoy reading this book in their schools but the novel should stay in these curriculums because of the hard times in the civil rights movement

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To Kill a Mockingbird Argumentative Essay Racial equality and discrimination is a founding issue that has been spread throughout every part of the world, To Kill A Mockingbird was written and published by Harper Lee in 1960, this time was dominated by civil rights protests and some of the first hippie movements following the crushing reality of the Vietnam War, the 60s also saw the struggle against segregation and racial equality. It is no surprise that the extreme political conflict affecting her life and world would greatly impact her writing and influence how she perceived the world during the writing of To Kill a Mockingbird. the influence of the fight for racial inequality is shown greatly in her book as she depicts the everyday life

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This is proof that kids know the word but they don't know the real definition behind it and use it incorrectly. This is a big reason why TKAMB should be taught in the 9th grade curriculum. These teenagers need to learn the history and origin of these words. Students aren't comfortable with reading such diverse literature, and that's because they aren't taught that it is okay, and once you learn it and understand it, it gives you a whole new perspective. Seen in Why To Kill A Mockingbird Should Be Taught, Misa says, “Lees' novel helped open the eyes of the American people to the injustice that African Americans had suffered for many decades.”

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Education systems across the nation have been banning the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee due to the idea that it could make the reader “uncomfortable.” The novel accomplishes multiple themes that tackle social issues that include racism, classism, and the prevalence of deceit. Racism could indeed make the reader uncomfortable by surfacing unwanted, realistic social issues. Many find the idea of racism unsettling due to its

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