I-Search: To Kill A Mockingbird

For this assignment, I chose to focus on Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. This book is widely adopted into the classroom and its popularity as well as its controversy has sparked my interest. My genuine need for knowing more about this novel is to gain a greater idea of why To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that has had an impact on our educational system for years. Lee’s novel has never been out of print since its release, which conveys that its effect on our students and ourselves is quite extraordinary. Through To Kill a Mockingbird, I wish to know more about the impact that a piece of literature can have. I hope to be able to use different activities to engage my students and allow them to enjoy reading, even if it is difficult, controversial, or enjoyable. In addition, I hope to learn how to create a conceptual unit with a novel being the main text as the focus to teach other literary devices and concepts. How do I create a conceptual unit that incorporates activities and other ideas of learning from a single novel? Where should my focus be in content area? What direction do I take the novel? How do I address the issue of using a controversial text within my classroom? These are all questions that I hope to have a better understanding of once I complete the I-Search.

It has been a while since I have read Harper Lee’s novel, but I know that when I read it in high school, I enjoyed it. I know that this is a novel that has held controversy to its name. Supplemental texts are held next to it if a student or parent wishes that it not be read. Yet, this same text has never been out of print and teachers are still using it in their classrooms. Lee’s novel is widely focused on its theme of racial issues; however, there are many other motifs that can be lifted from the text. Not only would many literary concepts and devices be able to come from such a text, but moments from history and other literary works can be used alongside To Kill a Mockingbird. I imagine students having different opinions, personal connections, and interpretations of the reading, which can open my classroom to discussions that expand their thinking. Also, I imagine being able to use To Kill a Mockingbird to grab the attention of my students and learn from them, as they are able to learn from me.