To+Kill+A+Mockingbird

Here's a good spot to tell me what you think about this novel. Should we still be teaching this novel in Ontario high schools?

Have a look at this article which appeared in the [|Toronto Star] last summer. And then, have a look at some of the reactions of different people to the same article, like [|this one], and others. What are your thoughts on this?

For more food for thought there is also the [|New Yorker] article. Other things to consider like[| Reaction] to the article.

And for something more local, an opinion about the process of banning a text from the classroom [|here.]

And if you'd like another perspective on banning books in general have a look at [|this] related article. **NEW**: October 12/09 the Globe and Mail also ran an interesting article on banning books, specifically To Kill A Mockingbird which you can look at [|here]


 * NEW October 21/09 -** Another article appeared in the [|Toronto Star today]. It's concerned with the relevance of the text as Canadian literature. An interesting argument. Have you considered the Canadian content of what is being taught in your classrooms?

REFLECTIONS ON TEACHING: To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAM)

I have taught TKAM many times to a variety of different classes in high school. If you haven't already inferred from my discussion I do love the novel, however I am not without reservations in teaching it. It isn't always the best text for a particular class to read. I am always in the process of reading new texts which can be used as alternatives. At the very least, it can certainly be a novel for students to read on their own to make their own assessments of it.

To me, there are two things which make this novel a good one for high school English classes, and especially for those who are heading on to post secondary studies. First, I think the language / vocabulary of the text is challenging. It is an accessible read, but certainly not an easy read. Sometimes I feel that high school students are not asked to push themselves enough in terms of the challenge and complexity of the texts they read. And second, I like to invite the conversation about race, class, gender, discrimination, etc., into my classroom. It's never easy, but I feel like the novel gives me a chance to clear up a few misunderstandings many students (black, and other) have about the history of Black people in the diaspora.

If you want to / have to teach TKAM then I can't stress enough the importance of knowing your students; and as important, know yourself, your identity and what that might mean or represent to your students as you discuss issues of race, class, gender, morality in your class. **Don't do it, if you aren't going to take it on seriously and teach it critically**. It isn't the greatest novel ever, it does represent an American story, it is told by a white protagonist and the hero is white (again?). The Black characters are fairly tame, very few are angry, they seem to be complicit in their oppression which surely cannot be the whole story.

Make sure that you ask your students the right questions about this novel if you teach it? Why? Why would Harper Lee write a story with Black characters who were so cooperative/ submissive? Why is acceptable to question the integrity of a poor white woman (white trash?) who has accused a man of rape? How would the story have been different if Ms. Maudie Atkinson had accused Tom Robinson of rape? These are the kinds of questions and discussion which can make this novel a wonderful way to open a conversation about all the 'isms and constraints which we continue to live under and why I might consider it for my classes.