I think that the song Changes by Tupac would be an excellent song to play in the background of multiple scenes from To Kill A Mockingbird. The song says:

“I see no changes. Wake up in the morning and I ask myself, “Is life worth living? Should I blast myself?”I’m tired of bein’ poor and even worse I’m black. My stomach hurts, so I’m lookin’ for a purse to snatch.Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he’s a hero. Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares? One less hungry mouth on the welfare…”

These lyrics talk about a black man waking up every morning and living with the thought of whether he should kill himself or not because black people were treated so terribly back then. It also says that when African Americans were shot the gunman would gain respect from the people, and that no one cared about the blacks. This song could be played in multiple parts of the book but I think it would be best suitable for a scene like when Tom Robinson is shot. It would help show how dramatic his death was and how unfair the life of many African Americans was.

The book To Kill a Mockingbird takes place many years ago during the Great Depression. The Great Depression was an economic recession, following the crash of the U.S. stock market. It originated in the United States, but quickly spread to Europe and the rest of the world. The Depression caused massive amounts of poverty, unemployment, and hunger. There are many similarities and differences from the recession in the 1930’s to today.  The unemployment rate today is about 9.8 percent and during the depression it was around 27 percent unemployment rate. Although the unemployment rate was much higher in the 1930’s the most recent recession taking place right now is the longest recovery period ever, and is expected to go on for 4-5 more years.  During the time of the great depression the international trade plummeted over 50%.  Virtually all construction was stopped, farming suffered with their crops however mining, and lodging suffered the most. The Great Depression hit almost every country in the world. The recession that the United States is experiencing now, has affected the world in many ways. Even in the recession, the United States is the world’s economic power. Following the U.S. is China and our economy is three times larger then theirs. The Great Depression was much worse than the recession we are in today however if we cannot fix the economic problems we are having now, it will continue to spiral downhill and could potentially get just as bad as it was in the 1930’s.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/great_depression.asp#ixzz1ZOKZhCRW

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression 

Throughout the book this far, gossip has played a huge role in the town of Maycomb. It is made evident that all of the children as well as the adults gossip. For example, everything that is heard about Boo Radley throughout the town. He is an isolated man who likes to keep to himself, and this could be either because of the gossip going around about him or he is just a very private person. Either way, the people heard that he is a killer and that he had previously gone to prison after stabbing his father with scissors. Of course the children are scared because of what they hear and it affects how they live and what they do. They play multiple games, some of which include running up, touching Boo Radleys door and then running away as well as the role playing game which is where they play different characters in the rumors they have heard about him. Although gossip is relevant with Boo Radley it is also present in their school. Just like every other school, some of the gossip heard is true and some isn’t. When children in school with Scout heard that her father defended African Americans they all talked about it, and even though it is true, it proves that gossip is everywhere throughout the book. Even in our school, I hear gossip constantly. Weather I am just walking in the hallway or in class, there is not one day that I don’t come in contact with gossip during a school day. It is rarely a good thing and the fact that it is present everywhere shows how easy it is to connect with the children of the story. When your told something, it isn’t always easy to dismiss what you heard, but it is the best thing to do.  

      In the movie “Doubt” a woman talked about a man in her town. She approaches Father O’Reiley and asks him if she ahs sinned by talking about this man. He explains to her that she has made a terrible mistake and that he wants her to go on the rooftop and cut open a pillow and then return and explain what she saw. When she came back she told Father that all she saw were feathers, he then tells her to go back and pick them up, however she cant because she didn’t know where they went, Father replies by saying “that is gossip”. I think that the pillow represents the town (Maycomb, Alabama) and the feathers represent the people. When she cuts open the pillow it is as if she told every little feather (person) something and when they all blow away it symbolizes that the original stories in gossip change.

      Gossip almost always becomes a far stretch of the truth. It is hurtful and plays a large role in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

Harper Lee was born on April 28th, 1926 and lived in Monroeville, Alabama. While growing up she was a tomboy and her best friend was her neighbor, Truman Capote. She first became interested in literature during high school in english class, and then moved on to Huntingdon College; there she was a member of the literary honors society and the glee club. She then transferred to more colleges and continued to study writing. When she finished college she moved to NYC and worked in many small businesses looking for a way to write. She finally hired an agent in 1956 and that christmas the agent gave her a note that would allow her a year to write whatever she pleased. To Kill A Mockingbird was completed in 1959 and published in 1960. It quickly became a bestseller and won many prizes. Although she had an incredible success with this novel she never continued on to write another. To Kill A Mockingbird is still a bestseller with over 30 million copies sold.

The first two chapters introduced the main characters including Scout, Jem (her brother), and Atticus (their father). Their mother died when they were little so Atticus was the only parent figure in their life. Scout’s neighbor has a nephew named Dill, so Scout and Jem begin to hang out with him. They also have a scary neighbor and throughout the first chapter they try to get Boo Radley (the neighbor) out of his house. In the next chapter Scout goes to school for the first time and is told by her teacher that her father can no longer teach her how to read and write. Scout is then whipped with a ruler by the teacher, for being smart.