I think that the setting of the book and the people in the book are probably from her childhood. I think she relied on her childhood experirences for realism within the novel, but her themes were most likely affected by her time period she lives in now. She lived during the main part of the Civil Rights Movement so I am expecting there to be more themes of the union of the races and how it is wrong to discriminate based on race. The Great Depression affected the story because it has everyone in a time of struggling, finicially. This makes the people closer because they are all sharing in their problems which would make them want to help each other. For example, when Scout's father helped out Walter though he knew he would not get paid with money. Most of all, thought, I think the Civil Rights Movement affected it more because author's often deal with issues going on in their time and put it in other settings. For example, Mark Twain delt with racism in his day, but in a setting where racism was commonplace and slavery was legal.

Harper Lee's childhood experiences are directly reflected in the novel. She grew up during the Depression in the town of Monroeville, Alabama, on which the setting of the story is based. The only way she could effectively capture the scenery and way of life in the simple, poor country town of Maycomb was is she herself had the experience of living in a town similar to it. Also, she was able to capture the customs and lifestyle of the people in the community well; people that she met as a child in Depression era Monroeville might have been the inspiration for some of her characters. The Great Depression is very important to the story because it directly affects the welfare and the lifestyle of the characters in the book. Most importantly, the story is told from the perspective of a young girl named Scout; since Harper Lee was a child during the Depression, it would be natural for her to tell the story from the perspective of a young girl. Also, Harper Lee's father had great influence in her life, just as Atticus had important influence in Scout's life. A younger version of Harper Lee is telling the story with her perspective through the character Scout.

I think that Harper Lee's childhood experiences are reflected in the novel. Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama in 1926 and grew up there. She was 10 years old at the height of the Great Depression and that is around the same age that the main character, Scout, is in the novel. The fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama is in the same region that Harper Lee grew up in. So, I think that Harper Lee is reflecting her childhood through the main character, Scout, in the novel. The Great Depression is very important to the story. It sets the mood of the story from the very beginning. Everyone in Maycomb is poor and the poverty of the people is clearly shown in the first few chapters. I also think that the novel is a reflection of the civil rights movement going on in the 50's when Lee wrote the novel. It is clear in the book that blacks do not hold complete equality with whites. When Scout is telling the story of Boo Radley, she mentions that Boo's dad was appalled when he found out that Boo would possibly go to prison after he had resisted arrest. He says that he doesn't want his son going to jail with the negroes. This shows that blacks where still not held to be equal to whites at this time period and I think that Harper Lee was reflecting the civil rights movement through things such as this in the book.

 I believe that Harper Lee's past strongly affects her writting. One way is through perspective. One of the Main Characters in the book is Scout. Scout is a young girl during the depression. This would have been exactly where Harper was during the Great depression. Harper is able to use her own experiances, views, and beliefs to creat a very realistic character. Also, she use a childhood friend, Capote, who would visit next to her in the summer. This directly relates to Dill who visited his aunt during summers and lived next to scout. Also, the time period can be seen by instinces in the first 3 chapters. Ther is mentioning of "Hoover Carts" which are named aftre President Hoover. Also Hoover carts represent the poverty of the people. They couldn't maintain cars so they pulled around the frames with horses. Another mention to the time period is a quote from FDR's inagural speech, "There is nothing to fear but fear itself." Finally, the town shows the time period. People are slow moving and there is no money moving in the economy. Nobody is spending money because nobody has money. Harper's past definatly affected her writing.

Harper Lee's childhood experiences are definatley reflected in this novel.  She reveals her own childhood during the depression through the character Scout.  Harper Lee's childhood relationships are even played out through this character, especially Lee's childhood friend Capote.  It can also be recognized that Harper Lee uses specific memories of her Depression era as the setting.  The explanations of "hoover carts" and the way different social classes were affected all show her first hand knowledge of the time period.  And although this was also the time of the civil rights movement, I dont believe it to be an adressed issue at the beginning of the story.  The main focus so far is on the affect the depression had on the economy and education of American citizens.

I think that Harper Lee's childhood experiences are greatly represented by the events and circumstances of this novel. She was a child during the Depression; we can therefore infer that Scout represents Lee during her childhood. Also, Dill is a symbol of her childhood friend, Truman Capote. Dill resides in the house next door to Scout; in the same way, Lee lived next door to Capote. Capote originally lived with his aunts and uncles and, after moving to New York City, returned to Monroeville over the summers to visit; similarly, Dill spends the summer with his Aunt Rachel in Maycomb, although he actually lives in Meridian. Lee's early life and the setting of the book both take place in the 1930's during the Great Depression in Alabama. Even in the first three chapters, we have seen many details that point to the Great Depression's importance in this book. "Hoover carts" are mentioned, and the well-known quote from FDR's inaugural address, "there is nothing to fear but fear itself," points directly to the importance of this time period in the novel. Lee also describes Maycomb as a town where "people moved slowly... for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with..." This shows the poverty that had struck the town. This poverty can also be seen in the Cunningham and Ewell families, who are extremely poor-- so poor that Walter Cunningham cannot afford to bring or buy a lunch for school. I think that this novel is also a reflection of the civil rights movement that was occurring in the 50's, although we have not seen this comparison as much yet. I think that Calpurnia, the Finchs' black cook, will become a more important character as the book continues. She will probably influence Scout's perspective on black people and their role in society. I am interested to see how these historical perspectives develop as the book continues.

I believe that thus far in the novel ( 3 chapters ) there is not much of a case for the civil rights movement being central in the story. The only African American character thus far is the house keeper who is treated with love and respect by Scouts father. There are however many references to the great depression in the novel. When atticus is describing the cunninghams position, he mentions how the depression hit the farmers hardest, thus effecting the doctors and lawyers. Children are thus sent to school without any lunch and education is put seccond to simply surviving. To scout this is all normal, she was not arround in better times so she is not suprized by the conditions. The outsiders such as the new first grade teacher are not used to the poverty of the small town and find out the harsh conditions in unfortunate ways.                                                This presentation has been a work of AbsoluteTruth INC...       Will Pugh CEO

Harper Lee's childhood affected what she wrote about in that she based the character of Dill on her childhood best friend, Capote. Many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird were inspired by the people who were actually involved in Harper's life. Her dad's position as a lawyer transitions to the novel in that Scout's father, Atticus, is also a lawyer. The Great Depression also had a great impact on what she wrote about because it allowed her to include many of the events to be effected by the Great Depression. For example, Walter Cunningham belonged to a very poor family that didn't have much, and he had to drop out of school in the spring time to help his family work. This shows how the amount of work that had to be done greatly increased. Luxury items were hard to come by. This is especially seen in Scout's reaction to Walter pouring syrup all over his food wastefully. She got very upset with him for it. Harper Lee's childhood experiences and the Great Depression had a huge effect on the content of this novel and what it stands for. 

Harper Lee's childhood experiences are reflected in the novel in many ways. Lee was a lot like Scout when she was younger and she writes about things and problems that she experienced when she was Scout's age. Because she grew up in the 30's, she knew what it was like and how people lived then, The things Scout do were things Lee did when she was younger. The Great Depression is very important in the story because it is portrayed in the way people lived. It was very important time in history and Lee knew what it was like to grow up in that time. People were poor and were financially unstable and that effected every part of living. Everything in Maycomb was slow and boring and many people were poor and did not have a lot of extra money and it would change the whole book if it was not during the Great Depression, I think the novel is more of a reflection of the Great Depression because even though Lee did write it while the Civil rights movement was happening, the setting was in the 1930's so she focused more on what was going on then. 

Harper Lee is similar to Scout in the book because they were about the same age. They were both children during the Great Depression. The Great Depression is important because its effects are shown in the poverty of Maycomb. None of the people have much, like the Cunninghams. They cannot even send their son some food to eat during school lunch, all they have is their land. The book mentions Hoover carts and makes a reference to President Roosevelt's statement, "There is nothing to fear but fear itself," which makes the people more optimistic. The story also reflects the racial tensions of the civil rights movement because of Atticus' involvement in the controversial case where he defends a black man. Scout, like Lee, will be forced to create her own opinion and perspective about racial issues as they are presented into her life.

   I think that To Kill A Mockingbird contains many reflections of Harper Lee's experiences as a child. Resembalances can be found in the setting of the novel as well as the characters. Maycomb is a city similar to the place she grew up. The story takes place during the depression and relates the severity of the poverty during that time through the characters. Everybody is struggling and must rely on each other to survive. People seem to understand what one another is going through, which brings about sympathy, understanding, and compassion. The setting of the depression provides reasons for lack of employment, unstable incomes, and the dirty atmosphere. However, it also provides a sign of hope. For example, when Scout is excited about a certain kind of bread her cook makes it shows that people during this time valued the little things. Furthermore, this novel may have a connection to the civil rights movement because of the common aspect of the depression. It affected everybody, equalizing everyone. Also, Atticus says that you can't fully understand somebody until you climb into their skin. This could be related the civil rights movement because white people were overlooking the feelings and viewpoints of the oppressed, the blacks.

I think that Lee's childhood is seen through her novel. Since she grew up during the depression, she mentions the economic situations in Maycomb. William Cunninham would be an example. He was the young boy who could not afford to borrow a quarter for lunch. Another example would be the Ewells. You also see the effects of the civil rights movement when the story mentions Calpurnia, the family's cook who is African American. Lee also bases some of her characters off of her real friends in life. The character, Dill, was based on her friend Capote, who also helped her write this book. Overall Lee concentrates on the great depression and her early  childhood years as she continues with her story. However, she has a couple of examples of other experiences in her life such as the civil rights movement.

I think that Harper Lee's childhood played a key role in her novel. The character Scout seems to be a reflection of Harper herself. Scout is a complete tomboy, just like Harper was. She had a childhood friend named Capote, who seems to inspire the character Dill. Her father was a lawyer, just like the father Atticus Finch was in the novel. She grew up in Monroeville, Al, which was a slow paced close knit town. This seems to be the case with Maycomb. Maycomb is a "tired old town" that "took their time about everything." Since this novel takes place in the 1930's, I think the Great Depression will be a major influence. Already in the first chapter Harper makes a reference to FDR's inagural speech about "nothing to fear but fear itself." Alot of her characters are extremely poor, like Walter Cunningham who doesn't wear shoes and doesn't have a lunch. And the Ewells, who live in a barn and trap out of season. But this book could also relate to the Civil Right's movement. They have a slave named Capurnia, who at first Scout doesn't really get along with. But we've only read the first three chapters, so...

     In this story you can clearly see the parallels between Lee's life and Scout's. Harper Lee lived in Alabama for the extent of her childhood. She had childhood friends like Dill who Influenced her life and writing. Because Lee grew up in the 1930's through the Great Depression, you can also see the relations in the book. References to "Hoover-carts" and "the crash" clearly show this. Also the poverty of some of her peers can also reflect the Depression. For example, the Cunninghams are a farming family and they have been hit the hardest by the Depression. But still, they will not take anything they cannot pay back. This shows the morality and common courtesy that was common throughout the 1930s that LEe would have grown up around and influenced her writing.

I believe that Harper Lee's childhood played a very significant role in her writing of To Kill A Mockingbird. The setting is very similar to the setting that she grew up in. The small town charm is seen in both Lee's hometown and Maycomb. Also the characters in the story resemble people from her own life. For example, Scout's father, Atticus Finch, was a lawyer just like Lee's father. The Great Depression also played a great role in this novel. Lee was a just young girl during the Great Depression, but as she looks back on it, she can see the effects and understand a lot more. This is seen through her interpretation of the Great Depression in To Kill A Mockingbird. Many of the characters are poor and struggling to get by with what they have. I believe that there could be some civil rights movements going on while Lee was writing because back then blacks were always treated in cruel ways, whether it was more or less severe. 

I think that the book was affected by her childhood because of many of the characters in the stroy. Lee grew up during the depression, so that would explain why Scout talks alot about the economic situations of some of the families. In one article that I read about Lee, it said that her childhood friend, Capote, inspired Dill in the story. Lee also grew up in a rural county of Alabama, and would have seen first hand the affect of the Great Depression, but through a child's eyes, like Scout. But, I think that Lee does not draw her inspiration souly from her childhood. She attended law school and decided to drop out to become a writer, so this might have inspired her to let Atticus be a lawyer. She was also living through the Civil Rights movement at the time the story was written, so that might have caused her to focus on the racial aspects of her childhood later in the book. I think that she drew her inspiration from mainly her childhood, but also the present Civil Rights movement.

I believe that Harper Lee's childhood experiences have been strongly examplified in the first few chapters. In the story, Scout has a friend named Dill, whom was based on Lee's childhood friend Truman Capote. The Great Depression is the basis for the setting of the story. There are several great examples of the aftermath of the Great Depression in the story, such as Scouts classmate Walter Cunningham, who refused a quarter offered to him by his teacher because he knew that his family didn't have the money to pay it back. Another example of the Great Depression in the story concerning the Cunninghams is when Scout recalls the time that her father had helped out the Cunninghams with some legal trouble, and instead of paying Atticus back in money, they pay him back in food and various other supplies. When Scout asks her father why they did this he replies that, "Because that's the only way he can pay me. He has no money." This short but profound statement sums up the depth of the poverty that was caused by the Depression. There are also references to the Great Depression, including "the crash", and "Hoover carts", which were old automobiles tied to horses and used as carts. One final reference to the Great Depression is when the town is being described: "There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy, and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb county." This statement is a summary of life in the county. Everything has slowed down from the speeding pace of the Roaring twenties because no one has any money. Without the Great Depression, the background and storyline as well as setting would have been a lot different. Though Civil Rights has not been mentioned very much in the story, it is likely that it will play a role in the storyline.

To KIll a Mockingbird is a clear relfection of Harper Lee's childhood during the 1930's. One can see many similarities even in the first 3 chapters of the novel. Jem and Scout's new neighborhood friend, Dill, can be linked to Harper Lee's childhood friend Capote. Also Atticus, Scout's father, was a lawyer just like Lee's father. These two examples are only a fraction of the many ways in which Lee's childhood can be seen in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. I believe that many of her childhood friends can be linked to people in Lee's life who were significant to her. There is no doubt that as the chapters unfold, the story will reflect many aspects of Lee's childhood and the characters of it. Another aspect that affected the novel was the historical time period in which it took place. One can see that almost every family in Maycomb is dirt poor, and that many times, people are paid in food and supplies rather than cash, because cash is so hard to come by. When Lee talks about how poor practically everyone was, it shows how her memory of the Great Depression affected the way she represented people in the book. Also the Reference to GDR's inaugural speech shows that it was during the time when America was trying to pull itself out of the depths of despair, for she talks about how FDR was trying to encourage Americans to perservere. These examples show that the historical context of Lee's childhood directly affected the characters and events in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird

I think Harper Lee's childhood experiences are reflected in the novel in almost every way possible. The setting is an very important part in the novel, and Maycomb is very similar to Monroeville(Lee's home town) Both towns seem old and slow-moving as well as poor. Lee grew up in a poor family environment almost identical to Scout's in the novel. Another similarity between Lee's childhood and the novel is the father. Lee's father was a lawyer who lost cases exactly like Atticus did in the novel. One more similarity is the age of the main character to Lee's age during the great depression. They are both less than or around 10 years old which means they basically have the same outlook on life.This is why I think the great depression is very important in the story because it is is the reason for the living conditions. Without the Great Depression, Scout and her family would probably be in a different financial state and Maycomb might not seem as old or slow. From the part of the novel we've read, I don't think it is a reflection of the civil rights movement because I did not see any of those issues.

Harper Lee's childhood has already come out in the first few chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird, so I believe that it will come out even more as the novel progresses. The town of Maycomb, in which the novel takes place, is based off of Lee's home town. She also uses characters from her childhood to become characters in the book. People such as Capote comes out as Dill and her father as Atticus. She was about 10 years old during The Great Depression, and that is the setting for To Kill a Mockingbird. She is Scout recalling her childhood in the Great Depression through the book. The time period of the Great Depression will be very important because when people do not have much, their true character is shown. I also believe that the civil rights movement, which was going on while she wrote the novel, will come out in the book. The book addresses tough topics such as segregation, and she might be using the book to get a point across in the Civil Rights Movement. Both the Great Depression and the Civil Rights Movement will play important roles in To Kill a Mockingbird.

I think Harper Lee's childhood played a huge part in To Kill a Mockingbird...Her father was a well respected lawyer, as was Scout's father in the story  (Atticus.) The character of Scout's neighbor, Dill, seems to have been inspired by the life of Harper Lee's childhood friend Capote. Jem, Scout's brother is too well characterized for Harper Lee to have made him up out of thin air. I think he also represents someone from her past. The great Depression, I feel, plays a very large part  in this story because the characters are so effected by it. In the opening chapter, when Harper Lee is describing the town, he talks about the Hoover carts; and towards the end of the same paragraph he talks about the county being told that "they have nothing to fear but fear itself."--said by the president during that time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Because there are so many kids in Scout's first grade class who's parents have no jobs and are dirt poor, shows how great an effect the Great Depression had on the people in the novel. Since I am only on the third chapter, I do not think I have read far enough to see how much the novel is about the Civil Rights movement. But I think that since Cal is such a well respected character, that Harper Lee will shed light on the topic in favor ofthe Civil Rights movement. 

I think that Harper Lee's childhood experiences are reflected in the novel. The setting of the novel is the same as where she spent her childhood, Alabama and her father was a lawyer and in the novel Scout's father is a lawyer as well.She also grew up during the great depression and her experiences from that can be seen in the novel. I don't think the great depression is the main focus of the novel because not only was it published in the 1960's during the civil rights movement, but one of the main events in her childhood was when her father tried 9 black men, who were convicted unjustly.

I believed that Harper Lee's childhood played a large role in the plot and characters in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. I recently learned she had Capote as a childhood friend. What seems to be his character, the nephew of a neighbor, Dill has already shown up and I have only read three chapters. We learned that Scout was a character like Lee herself.  I think many of her childhood memories will show up in this story. Her father was a lawyer and Scout's father is also a lawyer. I also believe she was influenced by the depression and life in the thirties rather than in the time period of the civil rights in which she was writing the story. The characters in Maycomb right now have all been poor and it can be inferred that money was hard to come by. She also mentions the Hoover carts and that Maycomb has recently been told that "the only thing they had to fear was fear itself." We learned that this came from president FDR's inagural speech. FDR was president during the great depression and was the one who came up with the new deal plan. I think Harper Lee wanted to show how life was back in the thirites while she was in the midst of the civil rights movement. I think it was important to her to retell. I am curious to see what other memoris Harper Lee includes in the novel and am convinced that we can learn more about Lee through her characters and plot.

I believe that Harper Lee's childhood was a key factor in the setting and characters of this novel. She uses character traits from her childhood friend, Capote, through the character Dil, and i believe we will be able to pick out more of these situations as we look into Lee's childhood and are introduced to new characters in the novel. I recently found out that her father was a lawyer, which is also the case with the main characters, Scout and Jem, in To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee grew up during the Great Depression, and she uses those experiences to illustrate the setting of the novel. She refers to "Hoover carts" and the economic state of many families in Maycomb. Also, the descriptions of the buildings and the town's roads help the reader to feel exactly what Harper Lee was feeling as a child. Calpurnia, I believe, will become a significant character throughout the rest of the novel, and I am very interested in seeing how Lee ties in the Civil Rights movement into it. I definitely feel that the Civil Rights movement will come into play as we get deeper into the plot, and that the characteristics of the Great Depression will continue to be illustrated through the setting of Lee's novel.

-Rosemary Brennan-

I believe that Harper's childhood directly affected her book To Kill A Mockingbird.  The novel and her life have many parallels: the father in the book is much like her own; Maycomb is like the small town she grew up in; the childhood friend from the book, Dill, is based on Truman Capote, her own childhood friend; etc.  I dont think that the Great Depression is a main point of the book, while Atticus acknowledges that they are poor, they do not seem to go without the necessities.  The two families mentioned in the book that have intense financial trouble, the Ewells and the Cunninghams, have this trouble by their own free will.  the novel is therefore more about the civil rights movement.  the character Calpurnia, the family slave/cook is a main character.  the family treats her almost as a mother figure, and they respect her. she helps Atticus in the disciplining of Jem and Scout.  i think lee incorporated this character to point out her support of black civil rights.

Althought I have read only three chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird, I think that the novel is a reflection of Harper Lee's childhood. Harper Lee grew up in Monroeville, Alabma- a small town similar to the fictional town of Maycomb in the novel. Also, her childhood friend Truman Capote was her inspiration for the character Dill. In additon, Lee's father was a lawyer like Atticus Finch- the father of Scout. Lastly, from our classes background information given on Tuesday, I learned that in 1931 during Lee's childhood she witnesses a scandal filled trial where nine innocent black men were accused of raping two white girls. Five of the men recieved prison terms. This experience influenced the trial in her own novel. From what I have read so far, I beleive that since that Finch's are not in financial trouble, the novel will focus on the civil rights movement going on more than the effects of the depression. I think that since Calpurnia is a central character so far she will be expanded upon- especially with her role within the Finch family. For these reasons I think that the Great Depression time period is only of secondary importance.

I believe that Harper Lee's childhood experiences are reflected in the novel. First of all, she uses a childhood friend, Capote, to influence one of the main characters in the novel, Dil. Also, she grew up in Moundville, Alabama, a small town very similar to Maycomb. Similar to the story, her father in real life  was a lawyer. Though I haven't gotten very far into the novel, I believe that it will become more and more obvious how much her childhood is reflected in it. I think the novel is going to be more of a reflection of the civil rights movement than a reflection of the Great Depression. I see this through the character of Calpurnia, who I believe they will expand more on. I also think there will be more cases and characters where this will be seen.