harper lee author biography answer key

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Literature Notes
• Harper Lee Biography
• To Kill a Mockingbird at a Glance
• Book Summary
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Part 1: Chapter 1
• Part 1: Chapters 2-3
• Part 1: Chapters 4-5
• Part 1: Chapters 6-7
• Part 1: Chapters 8-9
• Part 1: Chapters 10-11
• Part 2: Chapters 12-13
• Part 2: Chapters 14-16
• Part 2: Chapters 17-20
• Part 2: Chapters 21-23
• Part 2: Chapters 24-26
• Part 2: Chapters 27-28
• Part 2: Chapters 29-31
• Character Analysis
• Scout (Jean Louise) Finch
• Atticus Finch
• Dill Harris
• Boo Radley and Tom Robinson
• Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie Atkinson
• Bob and Mayella Ewell
• Character Map
• About To Kill a Mockingbird
• Critical Essays
• Racial Relations in the Southern United States
• Comparing To Kill a Mockingbird to Its Movie Version
• Famous Quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird
• Film Versions of To Kill a Mockingbird
• Full Glossary for To Kill a Mockingbird
• Essay Questions
• Practice Projects
• Cite this Literature Note

The youngest daughter of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee, Nelle Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama (a small town in Monroe County between Montgomery and Mobile) on April 28, 1926. Lee was raised with two sisters, Alice and Louise, and a brother, Edwin Coleman Lee. Both her sisters are still living, but her brother died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage in 1951.

Amasa Lee grew up in Florida and came to Monroe County in the early 1900s. He worked as a bookkeeper until 1915, when he passed the bar and began practicing law. Mr. Lee also served on the Alabama State Legislature from 1926 to 1938, and as editor of  The Monroe Journal  from 1929 to 1947.

Frances Finch was from a Virginia family who settled in Monroe County, Alabama, and founded the town of Finchburg. Miss Finch met Mr. Lee while he was working at the Flat Creek Mill Company in Finchburg; they married in 1912. The couple lived briefly in Florida, returning to live in Monroe County in 1913.

By all accounts, Harper Lee is friendly and gregarious with those she knows, but has always been an extremely private person, disclosing little about her life to the public. Consequently, most of the information available about Lee's childhood comes from friends and is largely anecdotal. Because the character of Scout is somewhat autobiographical, readers gain their best access to Lee's childhood — or at least the flavor of her childhood — within the pages of To Kill a Mockingbird .

In 1944, at the age of 18, Harper Lee enrolled in Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. From 1945 to 1949 she studied law at the University of Alabama. She transferred to Oxford University in England as an exchange student for a year, but six months before completing her studies, Lee decided to go to New York to be a writer.

While pursuing the career that would ultimately produce To Kill a Mockingbird , Lee worked briefly in the early 1950s as a reservations clerk for Eastern Airlines and BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corp.) in New York City. In 1957, she submitted a manuscript to the J. B. Lippincott Company, who felt that her attempt at a novel was actually more of a series of strung-together short stories. The publisher recommended a rewrite, so Lee spent the next two-and-a-half years working on the manuscript. Her efforts paid off, and To Kill a Mockingbird , her first and only novel, was published in 1960.

Many aspects of To Kill a Mockingbird are autobiographical. Monroeville served as the model for Maycomb, and Lee was dubbed "Queen of the Tomboys" by at least one friend; Lee gave all three of her mother's names to various characters in the novel. There is at least anecdotal evidence that Boo Radley was based on an actual neighbor. Finally, Lee has stated that Atticus Finch was based largely on her own father.

To Kill a Mockingbird was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, and was made into a major motion picture starring Gregory Peck in 1962. Lee was so impressed with Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch that she gave him her father's pocket watch at the end of the movie's filming.

In the early 1960s, shortly after publication of To Kill a Mockingbird , Harper Lee accompanied her childhood friend Truman Capote — the basis for the Dill Harris character — to Holcomb, Kansas, and served as a research assistant for Capote's 1966 novel, In Cold Blood .

Lee also published three articles in the '60s: "Love — In Other Words" in Vogue (1961), "Christmas to Me" in McCall's (1961), and "When Children Discover America" in McCall's (1965) . President Lyndon Johnson named Lee to the National Council of Arts in 1966. She has received several honorary doctorates, including one from the University of Alabama and another from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. She attended both ceremonies, but spoke at neither and gave no interviews.

In 1998, the Harper Lee Award for a Distinguished Alabama Writer was unveiled by the executive committee of the Alabama Writers' Forum. This award recognizes an accomplished writer who was born in the state or who lived in Alabama during his or her formative years.

Never married, Lee continued to divide her time between New York and Monroeville, where she lived with her sister Alice. Known for her wit and charm, Lee granted only a handful of interviews since To Kill a Mockingbird' s publication. Her family and friends remained protective of her privacy.

Lee died in 2016 at the age of 89.

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Harper Lee Biography

“Nelle” Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, the youngest of four children of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee. She grew up in Monroeville, a small town in southwest Alabama. Her father was a lawyer who also served in the state legislature from 1926–1938. As a child, Lee was a tomboy and a precocious reader. After she attended public school in Monroeville she attended Huntingdon College, a private school for women in Montgomery for a year and then transferred to the University of Alabama. After graduation, Lee studied at Oxford University. She returned to the University of Alabama to study law but withdrew six months before graduation.

She moved to New York in 1949 and worked as a reservations clerk for Eastern Air Lines and British Overseas Airways. While in New York, she wrote several essays and short stories, but none were published. Her agent encouraged her to develop one short story into a novel. In order to complete it, Lee quit working and was supported by friends who believed in her work. In 1957, she submitted the manuscript to J. B. Lippincott Company. Although editors found the work too episodic, they saw promise in the book and encouraged Lee to rewrite it. In 1960, with the help of Lippincott editor Tay Hohoff, To Kill a Mockingbird was published.

To Kill a Mockingbird became an instant popular success. A year after the novel was published, 500,000 copies had been sold and it had been translated into 10 languages. Critical reviews of the novel were mixed. It was only after the success of the film adaptation in 1962 that many critics reconsidered To Kill a Mockingbird .

To Kill a Mockingbird was honored with many awards including the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961 and was made into a film in 1962 starring Gregory Peck. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It actually was honored with three awards: Gregory Peck won the Best Actor Award, Horton Foote won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar and a design team was awarded an Oscar for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration B/W. Lee worked as a consultant on the screenplay adaptation of the novel.

Author Truman Capote was Lee’s next-door neighbor from 1928 to 1933. In 1959 Lee and Capote traveled to Garden City, Kan., to research the Clutter family murders for his work, In Cold Blood (1965). Capote dedicated In Cold Blood to Lee and his partner Jack Dunphy. Lee was the inspiration for the character Idabel in Capote’s Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948). He in turn clearly influenced her character Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird .

Harper Lee divides her time between New York and her hometown of Monroeville, Ala., where her sister Alice Lee practices law. Though she has published no other work of fiction, this novel continues to have a strong impact on successive generations of readers.

Harper Lee had many childhood experiences that are similar to those of her young narrator in To Kill a Mockingbird , Scout Finch:

Harper Lee’s Childhood

• She grew up in the 1930s in a rural southern Alabama town.
• Her father, Amasa Lee, is an attorney who served in the state legislature in Alabama.
• Her older brother and young neighbor (Truman Capote) are playmates.
• Harper Lee is an avid reader as a child.
• She is 6 years old when the Scottsboro trials are widely covered in national, state and local newspapers.

Scout Finch’s Childhood

• Her father, Atticus Finch, is an attorney who served in the state legislature in Alabama.
• Her older brother (Jem) and young neighbor (Dill) are playmates.
• Scout reads before she enters school and reads the Mobile Register newspaper in first grade.
• She is 6 years old when the trial of Tom Robinson takes place.

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FAMOUS AUTHORS

Harper Lee is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of the brilliantly written To Kill a Mocking Bird. The book instantly became a best seller internationally and was also adapted into an Academy Award winning movie in 1962. Although Harper’s contribution to literature has been limited to one novel only, she has achieved what many writers can only wish for even after authoring volumes.

Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. Lee’s father was a lawyer and member of the Alabama State Legislature. Her mother was mentally unwell and mostly stayed inside the house. Lee was the youngest child of her parents with 3 siblings. Most part of her childhood was spent in a small town being a tomboy with close friend Truman Capote who too became a famous writer. Unlike girls of her age, Lee was as tough as boys and always stood up for Truman when he was being picked on by other boys for being sissy and dressing up in fancy clothes. Their exemplary childhood companionship was to grow stronger into a lifelong friendship.

Lee’s interest in literature grew while she was in high school. She attended the Huntingdon College in Montgomery where she was an exceptional student focusing on studies and writing instead of makeup, clothes and dating like other girls. She was also a member of the glee club and the literary honorary society. Lee then enrolled in University of Alabama, where she studied Law from 1945 to 1949. Pursuing her interest in writing, Lee wrote for a humorous school magazine, Rammer Jammer and later became its editor. However, the pressure of her law studies forced her to leave the editor’s position. She also went to Oxford University as an exchange student for one year. Soon after returning from Oxford, Lee realized her career was in writing and not law. She dropped out of the university and moved to New York in 1950 where worked at an airline as a reservations officer. It is during her time in New York that she wrote and finished the manuscript of To Kill a Mocking Bird in 1959.

While in New York, Lee was also reunited with Truman Capote , her childhood friend who had also turned into a writer. Lee assisted Capote in writing an article about the murder of four members of a family for The New Yorker. Lee contributed immensely to Capote’s assignment. She gave him all her notes on the crime story, victims and the trial. The article later evolved in Capote’s masterpiece, In Cold Blood.

When To Kill a Mocking Bird was published in 1960, Lee instantaneously became a literary legend. In addition to a short version of the story being published in The Reader’s Digest, the book was chosen by the Literary Guild and also picked up by the Book of the Month Club. Many more awards followed and in 1961, the book won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize.

Although Lee was reported to be working on a second novel, no other novel by Lee was ever seen in print again. On November 6, 2007, President George W. Bush presented to Lee the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her services to literature. She was also awarded the National Medal of the Arts in 2010. Refusing to appear for interviews or anything to do with her popular novel, Lee now lives a quiet life in Monroeville.

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The Life, Death and Career of Harper Lee

By The New York Times

• Feb. 27, 2018

When Harper Lee, the author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Go Set a Watchman,” died two years ago at 89 , one story ended and another began. Her will was unsealed on Tuesday, but the document did little to clear up the questions surrounding a literary estate that is assumed to be worth tens of millions of dollars.

Here is how The New York Times covered some of the key moments in her life and after her death.

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is published in 1960

In The Times, Herbert Mitgang wrote : “Here is a storyteller justifying the novel as a form that transcends time and place.”

Frank H. Lyell’s review for The New York Times Book Review concluded presciently: “Movie-going readers will be able to cast most of the roles very quickly, but it is no disparagement of Miss Lee’s winning book to say that it could be the basis of an excellent film.”

Anticipation and controversy for ‘Go Set a Watchman’

The publication of “Go Set a Watchman” was announced in 2015 , 55 years after “Mockingbird.” It became the subject of heated debate over whether it would live up to its predecessor, how the manuscript was discovered, and how Ms. Lee had decided to publish it.

The dark side of Atticus Finch

Michiko Kakutani’s review of “Go Set a Watchman” in July 2015 revealed that Atticus Finch, the character who was adored as the “moral conscience” of “Mockingbird,” was in this new novel “a racist who once attended a Klan meeting.”

Harper Lee, 1926- 2016

Harper lee, whose first novel, “to kill a mockingbird,” about racial injustice in a small alabama town, sold more than 40 million copies, died at the age of 89..

Harper Lee, the famously reclusive author of To Kill a Mockingbird, spent most of her life out of the spotlight. Her first and most beloved work tells the story of Atticus Finch, a righteous Southern lawyer who stands firm against racism in a small Alabama town, much like the one she grew up in. Published in 1960, it sold more than 10 million copies, catapulting Ms. Lee to fame. The novel was adapted into an Oscar-winning picture that added to her celebrity and fanned expectations for her next work. It came, but more than fifty years later. In 2015, Harper Collins announced the discovery of “Go Set a Watchman,” a lost manuscript dating back to1957. That manuscript, a sequel - or some say prequel - to To Kill a Mockingbird, was released last year. It was met with bewilderment. Atticus, the beloved main character of Ms. Lee’s first novel, had aged and come to embrace racial bigotry. Still, the book leapt to the top of the best-seller list despite the tepid reviews. In one of her rare interviews with a Chicago radio show in 1964, Ms. Lee spoke about her literary ambition: “To describe a disappearing way of small town, middle class, southern life.” “In other words,” Ms. Lee said, “All I want to be is the Jane Austen of South Alabama.”

A celebrated American writer dies

“Mockingbird” was “one of the most beloved and most taught works of fiction ever written by an American,” William Grimes wrote in his New York Times obituary of Ms. Lee in February 2016. Her death prompted reflections from critics and residents of her hometown .

Ms. Lee’s will is sealed by a judge

Ms. Lee was known for her intense privacy . In March 2016, a judge in Monroe County, Ala., agreed to seal her will from public scrutiny. A lawsuit by The Times overturned that decision, but the mysteries surrounding Ms. Lee’s estate have only deepened.

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Harper Lee Biography Reading Comprehension Passage Printable Worksheet PDF

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21 March 2024

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Summary of passage

Harper Lee, the famous American author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” was born in April 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. As a child, she loved reading and writing and had a vivid imagination. Her father’s work as a lawyer inspired her to write her famous book. Harper attended a local school and later went to college to study law but decided to pursue a career in writing instead. In 1960, she published “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which became a huge success and addressed important themes like racism and injustice. The book taught lessons about compassion and understanding and is still widely read today. Harper Lee lived a private life after her book’s success but continued to write. She passed away in February 2016 at the age of 89, leaving behind a lasting legacy as one of the greatest American authors.

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6 Fascinating Facts About Harper Lee

After Mockingbird , Lee started on other projects, but, to the disappointment of her many readers, no other books came out. So when a copy of Go Set a Watchman was rediscovered, Lee's first novel got a second chance when it was published 2015. The book, which is set in the 1950s and features a grown-up Scout and an older Atticus Finch.

Here are six interesting facts about this iconic author:

There are discrepancies if Lee actually wanted 'Watchman' published

Lee, who suffered a stroke in 2007, has ongoing health issues that include hearing loss, limited vision and problems with her short-term memory. All this made some wonder whether the author truly wanted to publish Go Set a Watchman , as for years she'd been happy without putting out another book.

In February 2015, Lee issued a statement that said: "I’m alive and kicking and happy as hell with the reactions to Watchman ." But even that message didn't put an end to questions. In a 2011 letter, Lee's sister Alice had written that Lee would "sign anything put before her by anyone in whom she has confidence." In addition, according to a July 2, 2015, article in The New York Times , her manuscript may have been discovered in 2011, not in 2014 as Lee's lawyer has claimed.

However, others who've met with Lee have stated that she's behind the decision to publish. Alabama officials investigated and found no evidence that she was a victim of coercion. And when Lee first submitted Go Set a Watchman in the 1950s, it was with the hope of seeing it released.

Lee made millions every year from 'Mockingbird'

When To Kill a Mockingbird was first published in 1960, it quickly won over the public. The novel hit bestseller lists back then, and its sales have remained impressive over the years. Today, more than 40 million copies have been sold, and the book has also been translated into more than 40 languages.

This popularity led to an impressive income for Lee. Court papers from a 2012 lawsuit show that the author still receives about $3 million in royalties from Mockingbird every year (the lawsuit, which alleged that Lee's former agent had tricked her into assigning him the copyright for Mockingbird , was settled in 2013). With money like that coming in, Lee never had a financial need to publish again.

She led a simple life

Lee may have become a multimillionaire thanks to Mockingbird , but the money didn’t change her lifestyle. She had a modest apartment in New York City and got around by bus while in town. When she returned to her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama (traveling by train), Lee lived in a one-story ranch house with her sister Alice. Clothes shopping there was usually done at Walmart or a Vanity Fair outlet, and Lee traveled to the laundromat in the next town when she needed something clean to wear.

So what did Lee do with her money? She did like to visit casinos — but rather than playing for high stakes, she spent time at the quarter slots. In fact, Lee used much of her wealth for charitable causes, such as funding educational opportunities (true to her publicity-averse nature, this was done anonymously).

Even when Lee had to move into an assisted living facility following her 2007 stroke, her unadorned tastes meant that she still had access to what was important to her. Alice once said about Lee, "Books are the things she cares about." With the assistance of a magnifying device — necessary due to her macular degeneration — Lee was able to keep reading.

Her real name is Nelle

Harper Lee’s full name is Nelle Harper Lee (she was named in honor of a grandmother called Ellen; Nelle is Ellen spelled backwards) and she grew up using the name Nelle.

So why was To Kill a Mockingbird credited to Harper Lee, instead of Nelle Lee or Nelle Harper Lee? Apparently, Lee didn’t want to take the chance that people might mistake the name Nelle for Nellie. Therefore her debut novel was authored by Harper Lee — and now her follow-up novel is coming out under the same name.

Lee and Truman Capote were childhood friends and there were rumors he wrote 'Mockingbird'

In the years following To Kill a Mockingbird 's release, a rumor began that Lee's longtime friend Truman Capote was the true mind behind the novel. After all, Capote was a successful author who'd written Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and In Cold Blood (1966), while Lee didn't publish another book after Mockingbird .

To be clear, Capote was not the creator of Mockingbird . For one thing, the novel has a literary voice that's completely different from his. And in 1959, Capote wrote a letter that mentioned he'd read Lee's book — but didn't say anything about having written or edited the work. Lastly, Capote simply wasn't the kind of person who shied away from taking credit for noteworthy accomplishments.

However, Capote did little to dispel the rumors while he was alive, perhaps because he was envious of his old friend's success: Lee had been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Mockingbird , while Capote had hoped to win one for In Cold Blood (a project Lee did significant work for), but wasn't successful.

READ MORE: Harper Lee and Truman Capote Were Childhood Friends Until Jealously Tore Them Apart

Despite what many thought, Lee was not a recluse

While it's true that Lee prefers a quiet life outside of the spotlight — her last major interview was given in 1964 — the author never minded being around people. In New York City, she would visit museums, the theater and go to baseball games (she was a Mets fan). In Alabama, she ate out (David's Catfish House was a regular haunt), joined friends for fishing excursions and attended an exercise class held at Monroeville's Community House.

Though Lee didn't read a lot of contemporary fiction, she did enjoy J. K. Rowling 's Harry Potter series (according to Marja Mills, who wrote a memoir about her friendship with the author). Lee was also happy to join Oprah Winfrey for a lunch at the Four Seasons. Winfrey's interview request was turned down, but the two still had fun together, with Winfrey noting, "We were like instant girlfriends. It was just wonderful, and I loved being with her."

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Harper Lee Biography: Key Facts To Know About The Author

Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1960), which deals with the racism she observed as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, is widely read by U.S. teenagers as part of their secondary education curriculum, and it was announced today that Lee will publish her second novel this summer. But what were the circumstances that Harper Lee grew up with that helped shape her well-known masterpiece?

Born Nelle Harper Lee on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama, Lee is a descendant of Robert E. Lee, a Southern Civil War general. She was named after her grandmother Ellen -- only spelled backward. Her father Amasa Coleman Lee was a former newspaper editor, proprietor, state senator and lawyer in Monroeville, similar to Atticus Finch, the protagonist’s father in "To Kill a Mockingbird." In a 2006 biography of Lee, it was said that her father also once defended two black men, a father and son, accused of murdering a white storekeeper. Both clients were found guilty and hanged.

Lee studied law at the University of Alabama from 1945 to 1949, and spent a year abroad at Oxford University. She dropped out of college during her senior year to become a writer in New York, much to her father’s dismay. She was childhood friends with Truman Capote, who also lived in Monroeville in the 1930s. Prior to her literary breakout, her career included stints as an Eastern Air Lines and British Overseas Airways reservation clerk in the 1950s. In 1959, she accompanied Capote to Holcombe, Kansas, as a research assistant for Capote’s "In Cold Blood" (1966).

Lee first began writing "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 1957 after she had found an agent, Maurice Crain, who gave her a year’s worth of wages and the freedom to write whatever she wanted. The original manuscript, however, resembled a string of separate stories, and following two and a half years of rewriting, it was published in its final form in 1960, according to Newsweek . The book was largely autobiographical: The protagonist’s family name Finch was the maiden name of Lee's mother Frances Cunningham Finch, and the character of Dill was inspired by Capote, according to Lee’s biography on her website.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" became an immediate best-seller and won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961. Lee was 34 when the book was published. Despite her success, Lee never published another book and returned to Monroeville, where she avoided giving interviews -- that is, until Tuesday, when Lee's publisher announced that a second recently discovered novel will be published this summer. The book, titled "Go Set a Watchman,” was completed in the mid-1950s and follows the story of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, the protagonist of "To Kill a Mockingbird," all grown up and reflecting on her childhood.

“I hadn’t realized it had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it,” Lee said in a statement, according to the New York Times . “After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years.”

© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.

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Harper Lee was an American author of two best-selling novels of the time. She comes from a small town Maycomb located in the south of American.  But this ordinary southern background does not stop her to climb the zenith of literature and comes out as a voice for the suffering of black people in America. She has depicted the way black people are politically victimized and thrown into the shackles of hardships and difficulties.

Harper Lee was a graduate of the University of Alabama. Because of her excellence in writing and true depiction in art, she has been awarded honorary Ph.D. degrees twice by different universities. She has received the highest civilian awards by the American government. She has also been awarded the highest medal for arts by the government of America. Her greatest wish was to remain secluded and this contributed to her non-wed life and she died silently at the age of 89.

A Short Biography of Harper Lee

Nelle Harper Lee was an American novelist. She was born on 28 th April 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. She was the youngest daughter of Frances Cunningham Finch Lee and Amasa Coleman Lee. She had three siblings: Alice F. Lee, Louise Lee Conner, and Edwin Lee. Her full name was Nelle Harper Lee but her parents selected Harper as her addressing name. It was selected to pay tribute to Dr. William Harper of Selma. The said Doctor saves the life of Louise, Harper`s sister.

She spent her childhood in Monroeville which is a very small town in the southwestern part of Alabama; U.S. Lee’s Father Frances served as an editor of a newspaper, a businessman, and served a state governing body from 1926–1938 as well. On the other hand, her mother was suffering from bipolar disorder and she could not go out of her home. Lee had seen her suffering and had an impact on her mother as well.

Since her childhood, Lee was a devoted reader and a bright student. She spent her childhood in the ways of tom-boys. She joined Monroe County High School in Monroeville. There she developed a taste for English Literature. Then she went to Huntingdon College. This is located in Montgomery. There she remained an active member of the literary society and the glee club. After attending college, she went to the University of Alabama. She completed her graduation from the very university at Tuscaloosa . In university, she became famous for being a lonely and separated student. 

In 1948 Lee was sent to a summer school at Oxford University in England in the European Civilization exchange program. She was supported and encouraged by her father for this trip. He wanted Lee to develop more interest in legal studies but she returned to the University of Alabama. There she got enrolled in Law but left the University six months prior to completion of her degree. In university, she developed her taste for writing and she started contributing to the magazines. Soon she became the editor of Rammer Jammer magazine. She convinced her parents that her future was not in law but in literature and writing.

In 1949, she came to New York when she was 23 years old. She started serving a reservation clerk at Easter Airlines and British Overseas Airways. During her stay in New York, she composed many short stories and essays but she published none among them. Later on, her agent motivated her to write. Her agent advised her to develop a short story into a novel. For this very reason, she resigned from her workplace and devoted her time to writing. She was financially supported by her friends Michael Martin Brown and his wife so that she could devote her energies and time to writing without being worried about finances.

In 1957, she presented the original draft of her novel to J. B. Lippincott Company. In spite of the fact that editors found the work excessively long-winded, they saw glimpses of success in the work and urged Lee to revamp it. In 1960, with the assistance of Lippincott proofreader Tay Hohoff, her first novel To Kill a Mockingbird was published.

Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Harper Lee as the president of the National Council on the Arts in 1966. Lee soon realized that her book became controversial because it dealt with the subject of racial discrimination. Thus she wrote a letter to the editor in 1966 to ban the novel. She also asked the editor to put it in immoral literature and not give it for another print.

After the publication of the novel, she became a popular figure. The media started interviewing her and inviting her to various talks and conferences. Harper Lee enjoyed it at the start and corresponded with the fans and followers but she realized that she was disturbing her. Thus, she went into her privacy and avoided all sorts of talks and interviews. She never granted permission for an interview. She even got an unlisted telephone connection so that fans could not reach her through this. She stopped replying to all sorts of letters as well. She spent around Forty-years in Manhattan.

In the mid-1960s, not long after publishing To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee went with her beloved companion Truman Capote to Holcomb, Kansas. She filled in as an assistant in research for Capote’s 1966 novel, In Cold Blood.

Lee additionally published three articles during the 1960s: “Love — In Other Words” in Vogue (1961), “Christmas to Me” in McCall’s (1961), and “When Children Discover America” in McCall’s (1965). She has received a few privileged doctorates, including one from the University of Alabama and another from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama.

In 1998, the Harper Lee Award for a Distinguished Alabama Writer was revealed by the official advisory group of the Alabama Writers’ Forum. This honor perceives a practiced author who was born in the state or who lived in Alabama during their early stages.

Lee was awarded the Alabama Humanities Award by the Alabama Humanities Foundation in 2002. Harper Lee was awarded the inaugural ATTY Award in 2005 in regard to positive depictions of Attorneys in her novel. She was awarded by Spector Gadon & Rose Foundation. She was also awarded the Los Angeles Public Library Award in 2005. Harper Lee was in Monroeville when she was asked by Veronique Peck, the widow of Peck, to travel to Los Angeles to receive this award.  

She was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Notre Dame. Harper Lee was conferred upon the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush on 5 th November 2007. This is the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2010, Lee was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama for excellence in arts.

.Harper Lee did not write more and explained the reasons for not writing more. She said that there are two reasons for it.  “One, I wouldn’t go through the pressure and publicity I went through with To Kill a Mockingbird for any amount of money. Second, I have said what I wanted to say, and I will not say it again.”

Nelle Harper Lee died on 19 th February 2016 at the age of 89.

Harper Lee Published only two books in her novel. The first one was To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) and Go Set a Watchman (2015). Harper Lee also collaboratively worked on In Cold Blood (1966) with Capote.

• To Kill a Mockingbird

It was published in July 1960. It became the Book-of-the-Month Club and honored by the Literary Guild as well. A brief version of the plot of this novel appeared in Reader’s Digest magazine. In 1967, it received the Pulitzer Prize. This novel has been translated into more than 40 languages of the world. it was adapted into a film in 1962. It was also awarded by the National Conference of Christian and Jews for the Brotherhood Award in 1962.

This novel is told predominantly from the point of view of Jean Louise (Scout) the daughter of white legal advisor Atticus Finch. Scout and her sibling, Jem, become familiar with the standards of racial equity and receptiveness from their father. They likewise build up the fortitude and the solidarity to follow their feelings in their associate and possible fellowship with a hermit, “Boo” Radley, who has been derided by the network.

Harper Lee’s Writing Style

Realistic language use.

The language Harper Lee uses in her novel is reasonable and realistic. She has precisely depicted what life resembled in a little country like Maycomb in the southern parts of America during the 1930s. Lee uses the conversational language of the locality to give her novels a touch of reality and realistic depiction. She has seen the attitude of Whites towards black and is very much aware of the humiliation of blacks through language. Thus, she has used the colloquial language of the society and the people living in that society. 

She is realistic in her use of language and has not never tried to be sophisticated while using language. She has done things for the reason to portray the actual people. If she had used embellished and sophisticated language in her novels this would have never highlighted the actual sufferings of black people.

Harper Lee’s utilization of language in the novel is changed in style and awesome in accomplishing her different scholarly purposes. Descriptive sections are wealthy in symbolism and tactile language. Her imagery and use of various environmental factors make the plot of her writing appealing to the readers. Besides, discourse is every now and again written in a vernacular style to mirror the characters’ personalities in content as well as in phrasing. 

The language Atticus utilizes mirrors his insight and training; Bob Ewell’s language uncovers his obliviousness. Additionally, the voice of Alabama is heard in numerous Southern articulations and expressions. In utilizing language so dexterously, Harper Lee recounts to a holding story, makes singular characters, and catches life in Maycomb. The language of the novel serves to create huge numbers of the neighborhood shading components in it.

Addition of her Own Color to Language

Despite the fact that Harper Lee’s composing style is practical and very clear but she is likewise ready to utilize it to cunningly make strain and tension when required in the course of her novels. She does not make it simple writing that has no charm; rather she adds the color of her genius while staying realistic and true to society. This can be found specifically in the last part of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, when Bob Ewell tries to assault Jem and Scout. ‘’I made one mammoth stride and wound up reeling: my arms futile, in obscurity, I was unable to keep my parity,” Scout tells the readers.

Use of Figurative Language

Harper Lee uses figurative language in her writing to make pictures in the minds of her readers. She likewise utilizes humorous language which is in some cases there to feature a character’s misconception of a specific circumstance. For example, when Bob Ewell doesn’t see a portion of the inquiries he is posed in court, particularly those concerning whether he is a left-handed person. As Scout tells the readers, Mr. Ewell went irately to the appointed authority and said he didn’t perceive what his being left-handed had to do with it, that he was a Christ-dreading man and Atticus Finch was exploiting him.

Narrative Selection

Harper Lee has utilized the first-person story with inside and out character detail to summon thoughtful and compassionate emotions inside the readers. Scout, a six-year-old young lady, is the storyteller of the story in To Kill a Mockingbird. However, this has not restricted the language that Lee has used to show expressions. 

This makes it evident to the readers that the book is composed of a grown-up scout who is reproducing her youngster hood. Lee has utilized language to speak to each character, for instance Burris Ewell utilizes foul words at whatever point conceivable which shows his poor class and absence of habits. Conversely Atticus is formal in his discourse, as his words are frequently astute with much incongruity.

Through the essential voice in the novel, Scout’s, Harper Lee makes the emotional incongruity that drives the novel. Through Scout’s eyes, and in her own language, situations develop for the readers to comprehend and decipher from their grown-up viewpoints. This frequently makes humor in the novel. Harper Lee’s thoughts of social uniformity and equity are communicated through Atticus’ respectability and through his youngsters’ developing mindfulness and extreme comprehension of conventionality and good conduct. 

From her point of view, the South as of now is a position of prejudice and unfeeling foul play, burdened by ages of custom and social class. In any case, she demonstrates it to be where fortitude and individual soul live and where change will happen as guardians like Atticus show their qualities to their kids.

Use of Tone

Tone is another significant artistic strategy utilized by Harper Lee in her novels. She uses her tone in a very artistic way. The tone of her novel changes as the plot advances ahead. Her tone also changes in regard to the changes in the surrounding environment of various characters. For example, Scout’s tone is utilized to recount the story in her first novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The tone is guiltless, virtuous, and silly. This shows the benevolence where Atticus has brought her up. 

Notwithstanding, as she grows up and encounters the malicious side of human instinct, her tone changes and turns out to be increasingly incredulous of the general public she lives with. The sentence of Tom torments her guiltless brain. She discovers the idea that Tom is honest. She also gets to know that he is indicted in light of the fact that he is Black blamed for assaulting a White young lady. Prejudice, indecencies in the general public are a portion of the topics that shape the tone of the novel from the storyteller’s perspective.

Use of Symbols

Harper Lee uses profound symbols to convey her subjects. She uses various symbols in her novels and the symbols also carry deep meanings. These symbols are not used for any amusement rather they play a pivotal role in the plot of the novels. She utilizes a “mockingbird” to speak to the great and virtue of the general public. For example, Miss Maudie clarifies that mockingbirds don’t do anyone any mischief. They simply sing calmly and along these lines it is evil to slaughter them. 

Mockingbird is utilized to speak to the great individuals in the general public wrongly charged or murdered. Tom Robinson portrays the decency that is wrongly charged and indicted and later murdered while attempting to get away from the jail. Boo Radley is another mockingbird; he shields the kids from the deadly Bob Ewell. The sheriff needs to ensure him since he is a mockingbird doing no mischief to anybody. Everything he did was to shield the blameless youngsters from genuine underhandedness. Ewell is an image of evil in the general public.

Works Of Harper Lee

Harper Lee/ To Kill a Mockingbird Timeline

April 28, 1926 Nelle Harper Lee is born in Monroeville, Alabama, the youngest of four children of lawyer Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee.

Childhood Lee attends elementary school and high school just a few blocks from her house on Alabama Avenue. In an interview with Roy Newquist in a March 1964, Harper Lee offers this capsule view of her childhood: “I was born in a little town called Monroeville, Ala., on April 28, 1926. I went to school in the local grammar school, went to high school there, and then went to the University of Alabama. That’s about it, as far as education goes.”

1930 Truman Streckfus Persons moves in next door to live with his elderly cousins, the Faulks. Truman and Nelle become fast friends.

1944 Lee enters Huntingdon College, a Methodist liberal arts college.

1945 Lee transfers to the University of Alabama to study law, but leaves in 1949 before completing her degree. While in college, she edits a humor magazine, Rammer-Jammer, and writes for the college newspaper, the Crimson-White.

1949 She moves to New York, works as an airlines reservations clerk and pursues a writing career.

1957 Lee submits her manuscript for To Kill a Mockingbird to J.B. Lippincott Company in 1957. She is asked to rewrite the manuscript.

1959 Lee travels with her childhood friend Truman Capote to Holcomb, Kansas, to help research a story he is writing about the murder of a wealthy farming family, the Clutters. Capote eventually turns the work into a non-fiction narrative book, In Cold Blood .

1983 After the initial publicity for the novel, Lee has little contact with the press and makes few public appearances. However, in 1983, she makes a talk about one of her favorite topics – Alabama history – in Eufaula, Alabama, and signs books at a reception afterwards.

1997 Harper Lee receives an honorary degree from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama — one of many honorary degrees over the years.

August 2001 Chicago launches a campaign to get every adult in the city to read To Kill a Mockingbird at the same time in an effort to get people to read books (and talk to each other). Participants in this “One Book, One Chicago” project are given pins emblazoned with mockingbirds to help spot fellow readers around town. To Kill a Mockingbird continues to be a top pick with “One Book” reads in cities and towns across the nation.

2001 Harper Lee is inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor. When asked to address the audience at the ceremony, Lee responds simply, “Well, it’s better to be silent than be a fool.”

2002 The University of Alabama holds its first annual To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Contest for Alabama high school students. Lee attends many of the early award ceremonies, visits with students and signs their books. She poses for photos with the essay winners.

September 12, 2002 Staff writer Marja Mills publishes the first in-depth story on Lee in decades for the Chicago Tribune. Lee is photographed but declines to be quoted.

July 2007 Harper Lee writes an essay in praise of developing a lifelong habit of reading for The Oprah Magazine: “My motherread me a story every day, usually a children’s classic, and my father read from the four newspapers he got through every evening.”

July 11, 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird is published by J.B. Lippincott Company. The book is an instant critical and commercial success, and the local bookseller in Monroeville quickly sells ou t her stock. Her book jacket photo is by her childhood friend Truman Capote.

1961 Lee wins the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

November 1961 Art director Henry Bumstead comes to Monroeville to research the set design for the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird . He takes photographs and makes drawings of the town, houses and particularly the courtroom. He recreates, almost exactly, the Monroeville courtroom on a sound stage in Hollywood. He wins an Academy Award for his efforts.

January 1962 Gregory Peck visits Monroeville to research his upcoming role as Atticus Finch in the movie version of To Kill a Mockingbird . Harper Lee gives Peck a tour of the town, introduces him to her family, and thus begins a lifelong friendship between the writer and film star.

December 25, 1962 The film adaptation of the novel, with Mary Badham as Scout, opens. The film is an instant hit. “I have nothing but gratitude for the people who made the film. … I was delighted, touched, happy, and exceedingly grateful,” Lee told Roy Newquist in a 1964 interview.

November 5, 2007 President George W. Bush presents Harper Lee with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The White House press release explains, “At a critical moment in our history, her beautiful book, To Kill a Mockingbird, helped focus the nation on the turbulent struggle for equality.”

November 2008 Lee attends a reading of Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” presented by Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Neal and Joel Vig at the Old Courthouse Museum in Monroeville. It is her first visit to the museum and to the exhibit that chronicles her life.

President Barack Obama awards Lee with the 2010 National Medal of Arts at the White house.

Harper Lee, Author Study, Body Biography Project

Description, additional information.

This Harper Lee Body Biography Project is filled with all you need to teach and promote the truly amazing American author of the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird.  The author study body biography is a collaborative research activity. Your students will find plenty of opportunities for creativity. This is truly unique, has high-quality vector graphics, and is the most inclusive you’ll find on Teachers Pay Teachers!

This project can be used at any time of the year. I adapted the body biography concept to align with informational texts, biography research, nonfiction, and history.

★ Features an original realistic image- all in line art for your students to add color and design. ★ Poster is 32 inches high by 10 inches wide. It requires 4 pages. ★ Rubric ★ Reflection Questions ★ Answer key ★ Student handout and planning sheet explains each part of the body biography project ★ Teacher set up directions, background, tips, and CCSS

★Classroom Décor ★Bulletin Board ★Hallway ★Showcase Display

Directions are clear and explicit. Danielle Knight Copyright 2019

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