ELA Staples

I thought for my next reading I would revisit ELA classics from my years as a high school student which remain in most ELA classrooms today. There are certain works of literature that seem essential to the collective experience of being a student which they all share while passing through American high schools. These works shape our culture at large and contribute to our shared knowledge which connects us to our social experience. Most Americans have at some point during the course of their education read books like Romeo and Juliet, Fahrenheit 451, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Beyond our immediate surroundings, these books enrich our experiences and help students think deeply about what can be an otherwise mundane existence. As I reflected on high school literary staples, this prompted me to ask the question: Why do students read To Kill a Mockingbird? Unlike the tragic love story that begins in the streets of Verona or a book burning firemen in a futuristic American city, the story of 6-year old Jean Louise Finch, or “Scout” as she is known, from Maycomb, Alabama is uniquely American. She tells the story of America in the distant past in the language of the times. The book complements the dry informational history and social studies texts by giving a human voice which is often times missing from the impersonal topical writing found in most textbooks. I began my reading of To Kill a Mockingbird having forgotten the entire storyline in the course of my twenty or so years since first picking up the book. I was therefore able to approach the book from the perspective of a student, albeit more mature and experienced and thus with a greater appreciation for the chapters that followed. The story opens with Scout telling the story of her childhood growing up in a small Southern town in the 1930s. In her opening narrative, she hints at a situation which resulted in her brother Jem breaking his arm. The only clue she offers as to the reason for the accident is a character named Dill who “gave [them] the idea of making Boo Radley come out.” This leads the reader into her story that begins in the summer of 1933 with the mystery of Boo Radley looming in the background. Harper Lee’s reflective narrative through the young voice of Scout is easy to follow and lends itself to an analysis of a variety of literary elements. The reader is able to connect with the young and naïve protagonist as she explains the plot from her adult perspective. As of chapter six, the characters Jem and Dill have been the central focus with her father Atticus growing in importance. Lee uses narrative devices to cast the reader into the mind of a child with the readers imagination clouded with gossipy myths of their strange neighbor Boo. As I read chapter six, I found myself increasingly curious of the Radley house and on edge as the children devise ways to make Boo come out. I believe that To Kill a Mockingbird is an excellent choice for high school students as it can help students develop a sense of empathy which can help them better understand others as well as themselves.