Nelle Harper Lee, the famous author of the worldwide bestseller To Kill a Mockingbird, was born April 28th, 1926, to Amasa Coleman (a lawyer) and Frances Lee. At the time, the family lived in Monroeville, Alabama. Harper’s family was somewhat wealthy, and they lived in upper middle class society most of their lives. Harper’s birth name, Nelle, was her grandmother’s spelled backwards (Ellen). However, in her publications, she took her middle name, Harper, to avoid being known as “Nellie”. But what numerous people have never heard - and many would be shocked to know - is that one windy, rainy night, Harper threw all her unpublished manuscripts of To Kill a Mockingbird out the window! Fortunately, she soon realized what she had done, and called over her editor, Tay Hohoff, to assist her. Hohoff sent her out in the snow and slush to retrieve her pages, which luckily had not fallen far away. But one would wonder: what would have happened if she had done the same on a slightly windier night? Harper Lee was the youngest of four children, a situation that often made her feel it was necessary to act out: “As a child, Harper Lee was an unruly tomboy. She fought on the playground. She talked back to teachers. She was bored with school and resisted any sort of conformity” (Stark). Her sister, Alice, who was fifteen years older, agreed with this description, admitting that Harper “isn’t much of a conformist” (Shields 2). In fact, Harper tried her best to be incongruous and not blend in with the other kids. She was often thought of as a social outcast to people who didn’t know her. Countless would agree that she often acted impetuously and without thought. She had not the restraint and self control as a child should, and often caused harm t... ... middle of paper ... ...ld… but the only thing that has made me completely happy” (Lee). Today, Harper Lee lives quietly in New York City, avoiding anything that has to do with her famous novel, though she is still active in her church and community. She uses humor to protect her privacy to deflect questions in articles, interviews and fan letters. Harper also hasn’t thrown anymore manuscripts out windows. And still, she writes on. Works Cited “Lee, Harper 1926-.” Concise Major 21 Century Writers. Ed. Tracey L. Matthews. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 2136-2140. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Feb. 2011. Shields, Charles J. I Am Scout. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2008. Print. Stark, Elizabeth. “To Kill a Mockingbird: About the Author.” The Big Read. National Endowment for the Arts, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2011. .
Harper Lee, the award winning one hit wonder author of To Kill A Mockingbird. At least that is what everyone thought until earlier this year a so-called “first draft” of her famous novel was found and published with the name Go Set A Watchman. I, like many other curious fans rushed out to purchase the first thoughts and ideas of Harper Lee, only to be let down with the quality and content of her original work. Her first idea when thinking about writing this sort of book was to go at it from Jean Louise’s perspective as an adult. It continues to elaborate on the topic of racism in the 1950’s but starts to stray form the main idea and focus more on the internal conflict in Jean Louise. In this journal I will be evaluating the novel Go Set A Watchman.
The Life of Nelle Harper Lee On April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama, Nelle Harper Lee was born to Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee. Along with her siblings, Alice, Louise, and Edwin, Harper was educated in Monroeville Public Schools before going on to attend Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. After a year at Huntingdon, Lee decided to follow in the footsteps of her father and began studying law at the University of Alabama in 1945 [2]. She left there to study abroad at Oxford University, Wellington Court in England [4].
Johnson, Claudia. "The Minor Charaters of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird." Studies in American Fiction (1991):129-139.
Saney, Isaac. "The Case against To Kill a Mockingbird." Race & Class 45.1 (July-Sept. 2003): 99-110. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 194. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
Baxter, Roberta. "Harper Lee." Harper Lee (2006): 1-2. History Reference Center. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.
Harper Lee documents the life of one young girl growing up in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Jean Louise Finch, also known as "Scout," is a young girl searching for her identity. Scout, a young tomboy, is pressured by adults who insist she should conform to the traditional role of a southern lady. Harper Lee establishes and promotes Jean’s masculinity through the use of nicknames, fighting, and masculine clothing, while contrasting her with women that fit the stereotypical female model. In traditional society, parents name children according to their gender.
Only writing one book in her career, Harper Lee created a masterpiece based upon her home life as a tomboy growing up in Monroeville, Alabama. Her father worked as a lawyer fighting for racial equality in a town stuck in there ways. Lee’s long time childhood friend, Truman Capote, was portrayed in her book as Dill Harris, an adventurous young boy who was intrigued by Boo Radley (Colin Nicholson). This similarity helps us understand one of the key themes, racial discrimination, in the novel.The relationship between Harper Lee’s life story and book, To Kill a Mockingbird, gives insight about the separation of races in the South.
As a child grows, many people influence their development as a person. Some people impact more than others, and a select few really leave their mark. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” several characters play this role. Among them, Miss Maudie Atkinson, a woman who proves herself a strong character, prevails as the one who has the greatest impact on Scout Finch, the protagonist of this novel. As Scout matures and grows up, her views on the world around her change. Through subtle yet effective ways, Miss Maudie teaches Scout many life lessons about being humble, judging, and attitude, all of which ultimately have a great effect on the kind of person Scout develops into and her outlook on the world.
Harper Lee had received several rejection letters when trying to publish her book “To Kill a Mockingbird”. In 1957, Tay Hohoff , an editor, wrote about his encounter with Harper. He wrote about how she went worked eight years as an airline reservation agent to support herself whiling writing a novel and film that eventually became a phenomenon. The book was based on Harpers childhood and her life. Her dad, a southern lawyer, refused to see things in black and white.
"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy” (Lee 94). American writer Harper Lee definitely worked her way up to giving people joy with her book To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee was born on April, 28th, 1926 and grew up in Monroeville, Alabama. Her father was a former newspaper editor, who had served as a state senator and studied law in Monroeville, Alabama. As a lawyer's daughter, Harper Lee certainly was aware of the cases that demonstrated the inequities of the South before the Civil-Rights movement. Her Father was a part of these trials throughout her life, including the very famous Scottsboro Trial. Lee studied law at the University of Alabama for four years, and spent a year as an exchange student in Oxford Un...
In order to analyze each section thoroughly, I have divided my paper into many sections. My sections will include the summary of the book by Harper Lee followed by a theme analysis. Next, the same elements will make up the following sections except involving A Raisin in the Sun. Finally, I will conclude with a paragraph of comparison of the impacts of the themes in both works. However, I will first need to summarize the books and the themes throughout, and it is to this that I now turn.
Have you ever heard of the story, To Kill a Mockingbird? The amazing author behind this classic American novel is Harper Lee. She is famous for her one and only published novel. Other than the one novel, Lee chose to live a relatively normal life mostly in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama. Her birth, her youth, her short writing career, and her present day lifestyle can summarize her life.
1(restate and answer) Harper Lee was an important figure in human society because she was an influential writer. (cite) According to the text, “Lee joined forces with Capote to assist him with an article he was writing for The New Yorker,” (biography.com).(explain) Harper Lee wrote many things in her years of life. Many of the things she wrote had a meaning to what she was telling the readers. Lee was also once working on another to which was not published. Harper Lee’s work is very good, knowing that she was writing another book shows me that she was an important figure in human society and that she was an influential writer.
Nelle Harper Lee, an American writer, has become an international bookseller for her first and only book, To Kill a Mockingbird. She was born in Monroeville, Alabama on April 28, 1926. Harper enjoyed many friendships in her small southwestern town. She had one older sibling, Alice Lee. Harper’s mother, Frances Cunningham Finch Lee, was a homemaker. She was intellectually brilliant and attended a private school for girls. But, she also suffered from a “nervous disorder.” This made Frances not a big part of Harper’s life due to mental illness. Because of this, Harper’s father, Amasa Coleman (A.C.) Lee, became the one Harper looked up to and adored. A.C. Lee was greatly devoted to helping others in his lifetime. He had numerous careers including a country school teacher, bookkeeper, and newspaper editor, but his main job was a lawyer. Before he became a lawyer, he defended two African American men who were accused of murdering a white. They lost the case and the two men were punished with death. Harper was greatly influenced by her father and wanted to pursue his career as a ...
Introduction- Harper Lee is a legendary author who is renown for her classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.