Weekly tasks or assignments (Individual or Group Projects) will be due by Monday and late submissions will be assigned a late penalty in accordance with the late penalty policy found in the syllabus. NOTE: All submission posting times are based on midnight Central Time.

Complete your reading of chapters 21–31 in To Kill a Mockingbird. 

To begin preparing you for the next step toward your key assignment, write a thought piece answering the following questions:

1. Summarize the main messages of the book as you see them, and discuss the message Harper Lee wanted readers to take away from it. Speculate about her motivations for writing this particular book. What in her life experience might have been the catalyst for this story?
2. What is the climax of the story? In the final section of the novel, which you just read, two seemingly separate threads of the plot come back together: the trial of Tom Robinson and the mystery of Boo Radley. How do the final events bring these two stories together and exemplify the title of the book?
3. Make a chart of the characters in the town, List those that represent justice, reason, empathy, tolerance, and good (topped by Atticus Finch), those that represent evil and prejudice (topped by Bob Ewell), and those who fall into the ambiguous category.
4. Discuss the meaning of the title phrase “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Who are the mockingbirds in the book? What do you take this to mean for your life? Discuss the symbols and motifs Lee uses as metaphors and powerful images throughout the book. 
   • Hint: Examples would be the mad dog incident, or the items Boo Radley leaves for the children in the tree.
5. Articulate the life lessons that Scout gets through the events in the book. What is the role of her father, Atticus Finch, as the moral center of the book? 
6. Many readers testify that this book made a real difference in their lives. How did it affect you, and what will you take away with you as a result of reading it? Comment on literature’s ability to mirror life and provide lessons and self-knowledge. What is happening in today’s world that this book still speaks to?