Lesson note on Literature in English SS2 Second Term

Senior Secondary School Free Second Term Lesson note on Literature in English SS2. Literature Text “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. Senior High School Lit in English Plan Lesson Notes for SSS2- Edudelight.com

SCHEME OF WORK LESSON NOTE FOR LITERATURE IN ENGLISH SS2 FIRST TERM

SUBJECT: LITERATURE IN ENGLISH                         CLASS: SS 2

SSS2 LITERATURE IN ENGLISH SCHEME OF WORK SECOND TERM

WEEK 1

Revision

WEEK 2

 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee – Reading, Summary and Analysis of Chapter 1 – 5

1. read chapter 1- 5 of the novel;
2. identify the characters and their roles in chapter 1 – 5;
3. Explain the events and their significance in the novel.

WEEK 3

 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee – Reading, Summary and Analysis of Chapter 6 – 10

1. read chapter 6- 10 of the novel and identify the characters and their roles;
2. explain the events and their significance in the novel.

WEEK 4

 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee – Meticulous Study and Analysis of Chapters 11 – 15

1. read chapters 11 – 15 of the novel and identify the characters and their roles;
2. analyse the major events in chapters 11 – 15;
3. explain the lesson learnt in each of chapters 11 – 15 of the novel.

WEEK 5

 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee – Meticulous Study and Analysis of Chapters 16 – 20

1. read chapters 16 – 20 of the novel and identify the characters and their roles;
2. analyse the major events in chapters 16 – 20;
3. explain the lesson learnt in each of chapters 16 – 20 of the novel.

WEEK 6

 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee– Meticulous Study and Analysis of Chapters 21 – 25

1. read chapters 21 – 25 of the novel and identify the characters and their roles;
2. analyse the major events in chapters 21 – 25;
3. explain the lesson learnt in each of chapters 21 – 25 of the novel.

WEEK 7

Mid Term Test

WEEK 8

 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee – Meticulous Study and Analysis of Chapters 26 – 31

1. read chapters 26 – 31 of the novel and identify the characters and their roles;
2. analyse the major events and identify the techniques used in chapters 26 – 31;
3. explain the lesson learnt in each of chapters 26 – 31 of the novel.

WEEK 9

“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee – Meticulous Study and Analysis of Chapters 26 – 31

1. read chapters 26 – 31 of the novel and identify the characters and their roles;
2. analyse the major events and identify the techniques used in chapters 26 – 31;
3. explain the lesson learnt in each of chapters 26 – 31 of the novel.

WEEK 10

 ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee – Themes

1. identify the major themes in novel;
2. Discuss the themes of the novel with reference to the events in the novel.

WEEK 11

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee – Themes

1. identify the major themes in novel;
2. Discuss the themes of the novel with reference to the events in the novel.

WEEK 12

Examination

SS2 LITERATURE LESSON PLAN NOTE SECOND TERM

LESSON PLAN

WEEK: 2                                      

 DATE:

CLASS: SSS 2                                

SUBJECT: Literature in English

LESSON TITLE: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

SUBTITLE:

Reading, Summary and Analysis of Chapter 1 – 5 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

PERIOD: 1^st and 2^nd                    

DURATION: 80 minutes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to:

1. read chapter 1- 5 of the novel;
2. identify the characters and their roles in chapter 1 – 5;
3. explain the events and their significance in the novel.

KEY VOCABULARY WORDS: Characters: Atticus, Jem, Scout, Cunninghams, Caroline, Dill; Maycomb, etc.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS: A copy of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

REFERENCE BOOKS: Exam Focus Literature-in-English (2026-230), Essential Literature in English and Dictionary.

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Teacher asks these questions from the students:

1. What theme can you get from the summary of the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”?
2. Mention some of the events in the novel.

CONTENT: Summary of Chapter 1 – 5

Summary        

Summary of Chapter 1 To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

Scout, the narrator, introduces her family and the town of Maycomb, Alabama. She explains how her father, Atticus, is a lawyer, and her mother died when she was two. Scout and her brother Jem are raised by their cook, Calpurnia. The chapter also introduces Dill Harris, who comes to stay with his Aunt Rachel, a neighbor of the Finches. Dill and the children spend the summer playing in their tree house and performing dramas.

Summary of Chapter 2

Chapter 2 focuses on Scout Finch’s first day of school and her conflict with her teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher.

Scout is eager to start school and learn, but her first day goes poorly.

Miss Caroline is upset that Scout can read and write, and she tells Scout to stop being taught by Atticus.

Miss Caroline offers a quarter to Walter Cunningham to buy lunch, but he can’t pay her back. Scout explains that the Cunninghams don’t take things they can’t pay for.

Miss Caroline is frustrated and slaps Scouts hand with a ruler, she gives her 6. Scout is confused by the punishment, thinking she was being helpful.

By the end of the chapter, Scout has a negative attitude toward Miss Caroline.

Chapter 2 shows Scout’s intelligence and observational skills, as well as Miss Caroline’s young and inexperienced nature. It also gives a glimpse of the social differences in the community.

Summary of Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Scout finds Walter in the schoolyard and beats him, but Jem pulls her off.

Jem realizes Walter is Mr. Cunningham’s son, invites him to lunch, and assures Walter that Scout won’t jump him.

At lunch, Walter pours syrup over his plate, which shocks Scout. Calpurnia scolds Scout for not being a better hostess.

In afternoon class, Scout meets Burris Ewell, who has lice in his hair. Miss Caroline screams, and the boys try to catch the “mouse”. Burris explains that he only attends school one day a year and won’t be returning.

Scout is dismayed by Miss Caroline’s admonition against reading and wants to quit school.

Atticus offers a compromise: Scout can continue going to school, and he’ll continue reading with her at night.

Summary of Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Scout finds two pieces of gum and foil wrappers in a knothole of the Radley oak tree, and later, two pennies. She and Jem decide to keep the pennies because they don’t know who left them.

Jem comes up with the idea for a play called “Boo Radley” to reenact the stories they’ve heard about the Radley family. The game becomes more complicated as the summer progresses, and they eventually act out an entire melodrama.

Atticus catches the children playing and asks if their game is related to the Radleys. Jem lies, and Atticus leaves. The children wonder if it’s safe to play the game anymore.

Scout is woken up to find that Miss Maudie’s house is on fire, and someone drapes a blanket over her. The children later realize that Boo Radley was the one who gave her the blanket.

Summary of Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Scout seeks a female role model and talks with Miss Maudie, their neighbor. Miss Maudie tells Scout that Boo Radley is still alive and compares Jem to Scout’s Uncle Jack. Atticus tricks Jem into telling the children about the games they have been playing during the summer. Dill and Jem convince Scout to help them get a letter to Boo Radley asking him to come out of his house.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: Review, Introduction, Conversational Approach, Group Work, Think-pair-share

LESSON SEQUENCE AND DELIVERY        

ACTIVITY 1: The teacher reviews the last topic with the students by randomly selecting some students to give a recap.

ACTIVITY 2: The teacher writes and shares the lesson title, learning objectives and key vocabulary words with the students.

ACTIVITY 3: The students discuss the events in chapter 1 – 5 of the novel.

ACTIVITY 4: Students, in pairs, share and evaluate different viewpoints on the roles of the characters.

ACTIVITY 5: The leader of each group discusses the figures of speech in chapter 1 – 5.

ASSESSMENT (EVALUATION): Teacher asks the students the following questions:

1. Describe the character of Miss Caroline.
2. Examine the conflict between Scout and Miss Caroline.

WRAP UP/CONCLUSION: The teacher concludes the lesson by affirming or correcting the learners’ answers to the evaluation questions.

ASSIGNMENT: Teacher gives the students some questions to do from home:

1. Read and write out the major events in chapter 6 – 10 of the novel.
2. State the significance of the events.

HOD/VP’S COMMENT AND ENDORSEMENT:

WEEK: 3                                     

 DATE:

CLASS: SSS 2                              

 SUBJECT: Literature in English

LESSON TITLE: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

SUBTITLE:

 Reading, Summary and Analysis of Chapter 6 – 10 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

PERIOD: 1^st and 2^nd                  

 DURATION: 80 minutes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to:

• read chapter 6- 10 of the novel and identify the characters and their roles;
• explain the events and their significance in the novel.

KEY VOCABULARY WORDS: Characters: Atticus, Jem, Scout, Miss Caroline, Dill, Boo Radley, Nathan Radley; Maycomb, Negro, escape, etc.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS: A copy of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

REFERENCE BOOKS: Exam Focus Literature-in-English (2026-230), Essential Literature in English and Dictionary.

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Teacher asks these  questions from the students:

1. Explain Scout’s first day at school.
2. Differentiate between the level of awareness of the society between Scout and Miss Caroline.
3. How can you describe the character of Miss Maudie?
4. Who is Calpurnia?

CONTENT: Summary of Chapter 6 – 10

Chapter 6 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

Jem and Dill obey Atticus until Dill’s last day in Maycomb, when he and Jem plan to sneak over to the Radley Place and peek in through a loose shutter. Scout accompanies them, and they creep around the house, peering in through various windows. Suddenly, they see the shadow of a man with a hat on and flee, hearing a shotgun go off behind them. They escape under the fence by the schoolyard, but Jem’s pants get caught on the fence, and he has to kick them off in order to free himself.

The children return home, where they encounter a collection of neighborhood adults, including Atticus, Miss Maudie, and Miss Stephanie Crawford, the neighborhood gossip. Miss Maudie informs them that Mr. Nathan Radley shot at “a Negro” in his yard. Miss Stephanie adds that Mr. Radley is waiting outside with his gun so he can shoot at the next sound he hears. When Atticus asks Jem where his pants are, Dill interjects that he won Jem’s pants in a game of strip poker. Alarmed, Atticus asks them if they were playing cards. Jem responds that they were just playing with matches. Late that night, Jem sneaks out to the Radley Place, and retrieves his pants.

Chapter 7 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

Chapter 7

A few days later, after school has begun for the year, Jem tells Scout that he found the pants mysteriously mended and hung neatly over the fence. When they come home from school that day, they find another present hidden in the knothole: a ball of gray twine. They leave it there for a few days, but no one takes it, so they claim it for their own.

Unsurprisingly, Scout is as unhappy in second grade as she was in first, but Jem promises her that school gets better the farther along one goes. Late that fall, another present appears in the knothole—two figures carved in soap to resemble Scout and Jem. The figures are followed in turn by chewing gum, a spelling bee medal, and an old pocket watch. The next day, Jem and Scout find that the knothole has been filled with cement. When Jem asks Mr. Radley (Nathan Radley, Boo’s brother) about the knothole the following day, Mr. Radley replies that he plugged the knothole because the tree is dying.

Chapter 8 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

Chapter 8

For the first time in years, Maycomb endures a real winter. There is even light snowfall, an event rare enough for school to be closed. Jem and Scout haul as much snow as they could from Miss Maudie’s yard to their own. Since there is not enough snow to make a real snowman, they build a small figure out of dirt and cover it with snow. They make it look like Mr. Avery, an unpleasant man who lives down the street. The figure’s likeness to Mr. Avery is so strong that Atticus demands that they disguise it. Jem places Miss Maudie’s sunhat on its head and sticks her hedge clippers in its hands, much to her chagrin.

That night, Atticus wakes Scout and helps her put on her bathrobe and coat and goes outside with her and Jem. Miss Maudie’s house is on fire. The neighbors help her save her furniture, and the fire truck arrives in time to stop the fire from spreading to other houses, but Miss Maudie’s house burns to the ground. In the confusion, someone drapes a blanket over Scout. When Atticus later asks her about it, she has no idea who put it over her. Jem realizes that Boo Radley put it on her, and he reveals the whole story of the knothole, the presents, and the mended pants to Atticus. Atticus tells them to keep it to themselves, and Scout, realizing that Boo was just behind her, nearly throws up.

Despite having lost her house, Miss Maudie is cheerful the next day. She tells the children how much she hated her old home and that she is already planning to build a smaller house and plant a larger garden. She says that she wishes she had been there when Boo put the blanket on Scout to catch him in the act.

Chapter 9 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

Chapter 9

At school, Scout nearly starts a fight with a classmate named Cecil Jacobs after Cecil uses an offensive racial slur to declare that Atticus defends Black people. Atticus has been asked to defend Tom Robinson, a Black man accused of raping a white woman. It is a case he cannot hope to win, but Atticus tells Scout that he must argue it to uphold his sense of justice and self-respect.

At Christmastime, Atticus’s brother, Jack, comes to stay with Atticus for a week during the holidays. Scout generally gets along well with Uncle Jack, but when he arrives in Maycomb, she begins cursing in front of him (a habit that she has recently picked up). After supper, Jack has Scout sit on his lap and he warns her not to curse in his presence. On Christmas Day, Atticus takes his children and Jack to Finch’s Landing, a rambling old house in the country where Atticus’s sister, Alexandra, and her husband live. There, Scout endures Francis, Alexandra’s grandson, who had been dropped off at Finch’s Landing for the holiday. Scout thinks Francis is the most “boring” child she has ever met. She also has to put up with the prim and proper Alexandra, who insists that Scout dress like a lady instead of wearing pants.

One night, Francis tells Scout that Dill is a runt and then uses an offensive racial slur to belittle Atticus, who sympathizes with Black people. Scout curses Francis and beats him up. Francis tells Alexandra and Uncle Jack that Scout hit him, and Uncle Jack spanks Scout without hearing her side of the story. After they return to Maycomb, Scout tells Jack what Francis said and Jack becomes furious. Scout makes him promise not to tell Atticus, however, because Atticus had asked her not to fight anyone over what is said about him. Jack promises and keeps his word. Later, Scout overhears Atticus telling Jack that Tom Robinson is innocent but doomed, since it’s inconceivable that an all-white jury would ever acquit him.

Chapter 10 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

Chapter 10

Atticus, Scout says, is somewhat older than most of the other fathers in Maycomb. His relatively advanced age often embarrasses his children—he wears glasses and reads, for instance, instead of hunting and fishing like the other men in town. One day, however, a mad dog appears, wandering down the main street toward the Finches’ house. Calpurnia calls Atticus, who returns home with Heck Tate, the sheriff of Maycomb. Heck brings a rifle and asks Atticus to shoot the animal. To Jem and Scout’s amazement, Atticus does so, hitting the dog with his first shot despite his considerable distance from the dog. Later, Miss Maudie tells Jem and Scout that, as a young man, Atticus was the best shot in the county—“One-shot Finch.” Scout is eager to brag about this, but Jem tells her to keep it a secret, because if Atticus wanted them to know, he would have told them.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: Review, Introduction, Conversational Approach, Group Work, Think-pair-share

LESSON SEQUENCE AND DELIVERY

ACTIVITY 1: The teacher reviews the previous chapters with the students by randomly selecting some students to give a recap of the first 5 chapters of the novel.

ACTIVITY 2: The teacher writes and shares the lesson title, learning objectives and key vocabulary words with the students.

ACTIVITY 3: The students are divided into groups, each group summarize the events in each chapter.

ACTIVITY 4: Students, in pairs, share and evaluate different viewpoints on the roles and significance of the characters in chapter 6 – 10.

ACTIVITY 5: The leader of each group discusses the figures of speech in chapter 6 – 10.

WRAP UP/CONCLUSION: The teacher concludes the lesson by affirming or correcting the learners’ answers to the evaluation questions.

ASSIGNMENT: Teacher gives the students some questions to do from home:

1. Read and write out the major events in chapter 11 – 15 of the novel.
2. State the significance of the events.

HOD/VP’S COMMENT AND ENDORSEMENT:

WEEK: 4                                     

 DATE:

CLASS: SSS 2                               

SUBJECT: Literature in English

LESSON TITLE: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

SUBTITLE:                                                                                                                                                     

Meticulous Study and Analysis of Chapters 11 – 15 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

PERIOD: 1^st and 2^nd                   

DURATION: 80 minutes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to:

• read chapters 11 – 15 of the novel and identify the characters and their roles;
• analyse the major events in chapters 11 – 15;
• explain the lesson learnt in each of chapters 11 – 15 of the novel.

KEY VOCABULARY WORDS: Characters: Atticus, Jem, Scout, Miss Caroline, Dill, Boo Radley, Nathan Radley; Maycomb, Negro, escape, etc.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS: A copy of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

REFERENCE BOOKS: Exam Focus Literature-in-English (2026-230), Essential Literature in English and Dictionary.

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Teacher asks these  questions from the students:

1. What is the real name of Boo Radley?
2. Explain the experience of Jem, Scout and Dill at Boo Radley’s house.
3. Discuss the issue of racial discrimination in chapter 9.
4. What significance is the major event in chapter 10 to the story in the novel?

CONTENT: Summary of Chapters 11 – 15

Chapter 11 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

On the way to the business district in Maycomb is the house of Mrs. Dubose, a cantankerous old lady who always shouts at Jem and Scout as they pass by. Atticus warns Jem to be a gentleman to her, because she is old and sick, but one day she tells the children that Atticus is not any better than the people he advocates for, and Jem loses his temper. Jem takes a baton from Scout and destroys all of Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bushes. As punishment, Jem must go to her house every day for a month and read to her. Scout accompanies him and they endure Mrs. Dubose’s abuse and peculiar fits, which occur at the end of every reading session. Each session is longer than the one before. Mrs. Dubose dies a little more than a month after Jem’s punishment ends. Atticus reveals to Jem that she was addicted to morphine and that the reading was part of her successful effort to combat this addiction. Atticus gives Jem a box that Mrs. Dubose had given her maid for Jem; in it lies a single white camellia.

Chapter 12 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee         

By this time, Jem has reached the age of twelve, and he begins to demand that Scout “stop pestering him” and act more like a girl. Scout becomes upset and looks forward desperately to Dill’s arrival in the summer. To Scout’s disappointment, however, Dill does not come to Maycomb this year. He sends a letter saying that he has a new father (presumably, his mother has remarried) and will stay with his family in Meridian. To make matters worse, the state legislature, of which Atticus is a member, is called into session, forcing Atticus to travel to the state capital every day for two weeks.

Calpurnia decides to take the children to her church, a “colored” church, that Sunday. Maycomb’s Black church is an old building, called First Purchase because it was bought with the first earnings of freed slaves. One woman, Lula, criticizes Calpurnia for bringing white children to church, but the congregation is generally friendly, and Reverend Sykes welcomes them, saying that everyone knows their father. The church has no money for hymnals, and few of the parishioners can read, so they sing by echoing the words that Zeebo, Calpurnia’s eldest son and the town garbage collector, reads from their only hymnal. During the service, Reverend Sykes takes up a collection for Tom Robinson’s wife, Helen, who cannot find work now that her husband has been accused of rape. After the service, Scout learns that Tom Robinson has been accused by Bob Ewell and cannot understand why anyone would believe the Ewell’s word. When the children return home, they find Aunt Alexandra waiting for them.

Chapter 13 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

Aunt Alexandra explains that she should stay with the children for a while, to give them a “feminine influence.” Maycomb gives her a fine welcome: various ladies in the town bake her cakes and have her over for coffee, and she soon becomes an integral part of the town’s social life. Alexandra is extremely proud of the Finches and spends much of her time discussing the characteristics of the various families in Maycomb. This “family consciousness” is an integral part of life in Maycomb, an old town where the same families have lived for generations, where every family has its quirks and eccentricities. However, Jem and Scout lack the pride that Aunt Alexandra considers commensurate with being a Finch. She orders Atticus to lecture them on the subject of their ancestry. He makes a valiant attempt but succeeds only in making Scout cry.

Chapter 14  

The impending trial of Tom Robinson and Atticus’s role as his defense lawyer make Jem and Scout the objects of whispers and glances whenever they go to town. One day, Scout tries to ask Atticus what “rape” is, and the subject of the children’s trip to Calpurnia’s church comes up. Aunt Alexandra tells Scout she cannot go back the next Sunday. Later, she tries to convince Atticus to get rid of Calpurnia, saying that they no longer need her. Atticus refuses. That night, Jem tells Scout not to antagonize Alexandra. Scout gets angry at being lectured and attacks Jem. Atticus breaks up the fight and sends them to bed. Scout discovers something under her bed. She calls Jem in and they discover Dill hiding there.

Dill has run away from home because his mother and new father did not pay enough attention to him. He took a train from Meridian to Maycomb Junction, fourteen miles away, and covered the remaining distance on foot and on the back of a cotton wagon. Jem goes down the hall and tells Atticus. Atticus asks Scout to get more food than a pan of cold corn bread for Dill, before going next door to tell Dill’s aunt, Miss Rachel, of his whereabouts. Dill eats, then gets into Jem’s bed to sleep, but soon climbs over to Scout’s bed to talk things over.

Chapter 15

A week after Dill’s arrival, a group of men led by the sheriff, Heck Tate, come to Atticus’s house in the evening. As his trial is nearing, Tom Robinson is to be moved to the Maycomb jail, and concerns about the possibility of a lynch mob have arisen. Later, Jem tells Scout that Alexandra and Atticus have been arguing about the trial; she nearly accused him of bringing disgrace on the family. The following evening, Atticus takes the car into town. At about ten o’clock, Jem, accompanied by Scout and Dill, sneaks out of the house and follows his father to the town center. From a distance, they see Atticus sitting in front of the Maycomb jail, reading a newspaper. Jem suggests that they not disturb Atticus and return home.

At that moment, four cars drive into Maycomb and park near the jail. A group of men gets out, and one demands that Atticus move away from the jailhouse door. Atticus refuses, and Scout suddenly comes racing out of her hiding place next door, only to realize that this group of men differs from the group that came to their house the previous night. Jem and Dill follow her, and Atticus orders Jem to go home. Jem refuses, and one of the men tells Atticus that he has fifteen seconds to get his children to leave.

Meanwhile, Scout looks around the group and recognizes Mr. Cunningham, the father of her classmate Walter Cunningham. She starts talking to him about his legal entailments and his son, and asks him to tell his son “hey.” All of the men stare at her. Mr. Cunningham, suddenly ashamed, squats down and tells Scout that he will tell his son “hey” for her, and then tells his companions to clear out. They depart, and Mr. Underwood, the owner of the newspaper, speaks from a nearby window where he is positioned with a double-barreled shotgun: “Had you covered all the time, Atticus.” Atticus and Mr. Underwood talk for a while, and then Atticus takes the children home.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: Review, Introduction, Conversational Approach, Group Work, Think-pair-share

LESSON SEQUENCE AND DELIVERY

ACTIVITY 1: The teacher reviews the previous chapters with the students by randomly selecting some students to give a recap of the chapters 6 – 10 of the novel.

ACTIVITY 2: The teacher writes and shares the lesson title, learning objectives and key vocabulary words with the students.

ACTIVITY 3: The students are divided into groups, each group summarize the events in each chapter.

ACTIVITY 4: Students, in pairs, share and evaluate different viewpoints on the roles and significance of the characters in chapters 11 – 15.

ACTIVITY 5: The leader of each group discusses the figures of speech in chapters 11 – 15.

WRAP UP/CONCLUSION: The teacher concludes the lesson by affirming or correcting the learners’ answers to the evaluation questions.

ASSIGNMENT: Teacher gives the students some questions to do from home:

1. Read and write out the major events in chapters 16 – 20 of the novel.
2. State the significance of the events.

HOD/VP’S COMMENT AND ENDORSEMENT;

WEEK: 5                                     

 DATE: 

CLASS: SSS 2                                

SUBJECT: Literature in English                       

LESSON TITLE: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

SUBTITLE:                                                        

Meticulous Study and Analysis of Chapters 16 – 20 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

PERIOD: 1^st and 2^nd                             

DURATION: 80 minutes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to:

• read chapters 16 – 20 of the novel and identify the characters and their roles;
• analyse the major events in chapters 16 – 20;
• explain the lesson learnt in each of chapters 16 – 20 of the novel.

KEY VOCABULARY WORDS: Characters: Atticus, Jem, Scout, Miss Caroline, Dill, Boo Radley, Nathan Radley; Maycomb, Negro, Reverend Sykes, Tom Robinson, trial, guilty, all-white jury, garbage etc.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS: A copy of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

REFERENCE BOOKS: Exam Focus Literature-in-English (2026-230), Essential Literature in English and Dictionary.

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Teacher asks these questions from the students:

• Who is Mrs. Dubose?
• Explain the experience of Jem in Mrs. Dubose’s house.
• Discuss the issue of racial discrimination in Calpurnia’s church.
• Discuss the reactions of the people in Maycomb towards Atticus being the lawyer to defend Tom Robinson in court.

CONTENT: Summary of Chapters 16 – 20

Chapter 16 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

The trial begins the next day. People from all over the county flood the town. Everyone makes an appearance in the courtroom, from Miss Stephanie Crawford to Mr. Dolphus Raymond, a wealthy eccentric who owns land on a river bank, lives near the county line, is involved with a Black woman, and has biracial children. Only Miss Maudie refuses to go, saying that watching someone on trial for his life is like attending a Roman carnival.

The vast crowd camps in the town square to eat lunch. Afterward, Jem, Scout, and Dill wait for most of the crowd to enter the courthouse so that they can slip in at the back and thus prevent Atticus from noticing them. However, because they wait too long, they succeed in getting seats only when Reverend Sykes lets them sit in the balcony where Black people are required to sit in order to watch the trial. From these seats, they can see the whole courtroom. Judge Taylor, a white-haired old man with a reputation for running his court in an informal fashion, presides over the case.

Chapter 17

The prosecutor, Mr. Gilmer, questions Heck Tate, who recounts how, on the night of November 21, Bob Ewell urged him to go to the Ewell house and told him that his daughter Mayella had been raped. When Tate got there, he found Mayella bruised and beaten, and she told him that Tom Robinson had raped her. Atticus cross-examines the witness, who admits that no doctor was summoned, and tells Atticus that Mayella’s bruises were concentrated on the right side of her face. Tate leaves the stand, and Bob Ewell is called.

Bob Ewell and his children live behind the town garbage dump in a tin-roofed cabin with a yard full of trash. No one is sure how many children Ewell has, and the only orderly corner of the yard is planted with well-tended geraniums rumored to belong to Mayella. An extremely rude little man, Ewell testifies that on the evening in question he was coming out of the woods with a load of kindling when he heard his daughter yelling. When he reached the house, he looked in the window and saw Tom Robinson raping her. Robinson fled, and Ewell went into the house, saw that his daughter was all right, and ran for the sheriff. Atticus’s cross-examination is brief: he asks Mr. Ewell why no doctor was called (it was too expensive and there was no need), and then has the witness write his name. Bob Ewell, the jury sees, is left-handed—and a left-handed man would be more likely to leave bruises on the right side of a girl’s face.

Chapter 18

The trial continues, with the whole town glued to the proceedings. Mayella, who testifies next, is a reasonably clean—by the Ewells’ standards—and obviously terrified nineteen-year-old girl. She says that she called Tom Robinson inside the fence that evening and offered him a nickel to break up a dresser for her, and that once he got inside the house he grabbed her and took advantage of her. In Atticus’s cross-examination, Mayella reveals that her life consists of seven unhelpful siblings, a drunken father, and no friends.

Atticus then examines her testimony and asks why she didn’t put up a better fight, why her screams didn’t bring the other children running, and, most important, how Tom Robinson managed the crime: how he bruised the right side of her face with his useless left hand, which was torn apart by a cotton gin when he was a boy. Atticus pleads with Mayella to admit that there was no rape, that her father beat her. She shouts at him and yells that the courtroom would have to be a bunch of cowards not to convict Tom Robinson; she then bursts into tears, refusing to answer any more questions. In the recess that follows, Mr. Underwood notices the children up in the balcony, but Jem tells Scout that the newspaper editor won’t tell Atticus about their being there—although he might include it in the social section of the newspaper. The prosecution rests, and Atticus calls only one witness—Tom Robinson.

Chapter 19

Tom testifies that he always passed the Ewell house on the way to work and that Mayella often asked him to do chores for her. On the evening in question, he recounts, she asked him to come inside the house and fix a door. When he got inside, there was nothing wrong with the door, and he noticed that the other children were gone. Mayella told him she had saved her money and sent them all to buy ice cream. Then she asked him to lift a box down from a dresser. When Tom climbed on a chair, she grabbed his legs, scaring him so much that he jumped down. She then hugged him around the waist and asked him to kiss her. As she struggled, her father appeared at the window, calling Mayella a whore and threatening to kill her. Tom fled.

Link Deas, Tom’s white employer, stands up and declares that in eight years of work, he has never had any trouble from Tom. Judge Taylor furiously expels Deas from the courtroom for interrupting. Mr. Gilmer gets up and cross-examines Tom. The prosecutor points out that the defendant was once arrested for disorderly conduct and gets Tom to admit that he has the strength, even with one hand, to choke the breath out of a woman and sling her to the floor. He begins to badger the witness, asking about his motives for always helping Mayella with her chores, until Tom declares that he felt sorry for her. This statement puts the courtroom ill at ease—in Maycomb, Black people aren’t supposed to feel sorry for a white person. Mr. Gilmer reviews Mayella’s testimony, accusing Tom of lying about everything. Dill begins to cry, and Scout takes him out of the courtroom. Outside the courtroom, Dill complains to Scout about Mr. Gilmer’s rude treatment of Tom Robinson during the questioning. As they walk, Scout and Dill encounter Mr. Dolphus Raymond, the rich white man with the Black mistress and mixed-race children.

Chapter 20   

Mr. Dolphus Raymond reveals that he is drinking from a paper sack. He commiserates with Dill and offers him a drink in a paper bag. Dill slurps up some of the liquid and Scout warns him not to take much, but Dill reveals to her that the drink isn’t alcoholic—it’s only Coca-Cola. Mr. Raymond tells the children that he pretends to be a drunk to provide the other white people with an explanation for his lifestyle, when, in fact, he simply prefers Black people to whites.

When Dill and Scout return to the courtroom, Atticus is making his closing remarks. He has finished going over the evidence and now makes a personal appeal to the jury. He points out that the prosecution has produced no medical evidence of the crime and has presented only the shaky testimony of two unreliable witnesses; moreover, the physical evidence suggests that Bob Ewell, not Tom Robinson, beat Mayella. He then offers his own version of events, describing how Mayella, lonely and unhappy, committed the unmentionable act of lusting after a Black man and then concealed her shame by accusing him of rape after being caught. Atticus begs the jury to avoid the state’s assumption that all Black people are criminals and to deliver justice by freeing Tom Robinson. As soon as Atticus finishes, Calpurnia comes into the courtroom.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: Review, Introduction, Conversational Approach, Group Work, Think-pair-share

LESSON SEQUENCE AND DELIVERY

ACTIVITY 1: The teacher reviews the previous chapters with the students by randomly selecting some students to give a recap of the major events in chapters 11 – 15 of the novel.

ACTIVITY 2: The teacher writes and shares the lesson title, learning objectives and key vocabulary words with the students.

ACTIVITY 3: The students are divided into groups, each group summarize the events in each chapter.

ACTIVITY 4: Students, in pairs, share and evaluate different viewpoints on the roles and significance of the characters in chapters 16 – 20.

ACTIVITY 5: The leader of each group discusses the figures of speech in chapters 16 – 20.

ASSESSMENT (EVALUATION): Teacher asks these questions from the students:

1. Why is there a balcony where Black people sit in the courthouse?
2. Was there a rape incidence at all? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
3. Compare Tom’s testimony with Mayella’s during the count session
4. Comment on Atticus’ closing remarks before the jury.

WRAP UP/CONCLUSION: The teacher concludes the lesson by affirming or correcting the learners’ answers to the evaluation questions.

ASSIGNMENT: Teacher gives the students some tasks to complete from home:

• Read and write out the major events in chapters 21 – 25 of the novel.
• State the significance of the events.

HOD/VP’S COMMENT AND ENDORSEMENT;

WEEK: 5 and 6                                  

 DATE:  

CLASS: SSS 2                               

SUBJECT: Literature-in-English            

LESSON TITLE: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

SUBTITLE:

Meticulous Study and Analysis of Chapters 21 – 25 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

PERIOD: 1^st and 2^nd                       

DURATION: 80 minutes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to:

• read chapters 21 – 25 of the novel and identify the characters and their roles;
• analyse the major events in chapters 21 – 25;
• explain the lesson learnt in each of chapters 21 – 25 of the novel.

KEY VOCABULARY WORDS: Characters: Atticus, Jem, Scout, Calpurnia, Underwood, Miss Caroline, Dill, Boo Radley, Nathan Radley; Maycomb, Negro, Reverend Sykes, Tom Robinson, trial, verdict, guilty, all-white jury, garbage etc.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS: A copy of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

REFERENCE BOOKS: Exam Focus Literature-in-English (2026-230), Essential Literature in English and Dictionary.

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Teacher asks these  questions from the students:

1. Why is there a balcony where Black people sit in the courthouse?
2. Was there a rape incidence at all? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
3. Compare Tom’s testimony with Mayella’s during the count session.
4. Comment on Atticus’ closing remarks before the jury.

CONTENT: Summary of Chapters 21 – 25

Summary of Chapter 21

Calpurnia hands Atticus a note telling him that his children have not been home since noon. Mr. Underwood says that Jem and Scout are in the “colored balcony”(a balcony that’s been designated for Black people) and have been there since just after one in the afternoon. Atticus tells them to go home and have supper. They beg to be allowed to hear the verdict; Atticus says that they can return after supper, though he knows that the jury will likely have returned before then.

Calpurnia marches Jem, Scout, and Dill home. They eat quickly and return to find the jury still out, the courtroom still full. Evening comes, night falls, and the jury continues to deliberate. Jem is confident of victory, while Dill has fallen asleep. Finally, after eleven that night, the jury enters. Scout remembers that a jury never looks at a man it has convicted, and she notices that the twelve men do not look at Tom Robinson as they file in and deliver a guilty verdict. The courtroom begins to empty, and as Atticus goes out, everyone in the “colored” balcony rises in a gesture of respect.

Summary of Chapter 22

Chapter 22

That night, Jem cries, railing against the injustice of the verdict. The next day, Maycomb’s Black population delivers an avalanche of food to the Finch household. Outside, Miss Stephanie Crawford is gossiping with Mr. Avery and Miss Maudie, and she tries to question Jem and Scout about the trial. Miss Maudie rescues the children by inviting them in for some cake. Jem complains that his illusions about Maycomb have been shattered: he thought that these people were the best in the world, but, having seen the trial, he doesn’t think so anymore. Miss Maudie points out that there were people who tried to help, like Judge Taylor, who appointed Atticus to the case instead of the regular public defender. She adds that the jury’s staying out so long constitutes a sign of progress in race relations. As the children leave Miss Maudie’s house, Miss Stephanie runs over to tell them that Bob Ewell accosted their father that morning, spat on him, and swore revenge.

Summary of Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Bob Ewell’s threats are worrisome to everyone except Atticus. Atticus tells Jem and Scout that because he made Ewell look like a fool, Ewell needed to get revenge. Now that Ewell has gotten that vengefulness out of his system, Atticus expects no more trouble. Aunt Alexandra and the children remain worried. Meanwhile, Tom Robinson has been sent to another prison seventy miles away while his appeal winds through the court system. Atticus feels that his client has a good chance of being pardoned. When Scout asks what will happen if Tom loses, Atticus replies that Tom will go to the electric chair, as rape is a capital offense in Alabama.

Jem and Atticus discuss the justice of executing men for rape. The subject then turns to jury trials and to how all twelve men could have convicted Tom. Atticus tells Jem that in an Alabama court of law, a white man’s word always beats a Black man’s, and that they were lucky to have the jury out so long. In fact, one man on the jury wanted to acquit—amazingly, it was one of the Cunninghams. Upon hearing this revelation, Scout announces that she wants to invite young Walter Cunningham to dinner, but Aunt Alexandra expressly forbids it, telling her that the Finches do not associate with trash.

Scout grows furious, and Jem hastily takes her out of the room. In his bedroom, Jem reveals his minimal growth of chest hair and tells Scout that he is going to try out for the football team in the fall. They discuss the class system—why their aunt despises the Cunninghams, why the Cunninghams look down on the Ewells, who hate Black people, and other such matters. After being unable to figure out why people go out of their way to despise each other, Jem suggests Boo Radley does not come out of his house because he does not want to leave it.

Summary of Chapter 24

Chapter 24

One day in August, Aunt Alexandra invites her missionary circle to tea. Scout, wearing a dress, helps Calpurnia bring in the tea, and Alexandra invites Scout to stay with the ladies. Scout listens to the missionary circle first discuss the plight of the poor Mrunas, a benighted African tribe being converted to Christianity, and then talk about how their own Black servants have behaved badly ever since Tom Robinson’s trial. Miss Maudie shuts up their prattle with icy remarks. Suddenly, Atticus appears and calls Alexandra to the kitchen. There he tells her, Scout, Calpurnia, and Miss Maudie that Tom Robinson attempted to escape and was shot seventeen times. He takes Calpurnia with him to tell the Robinson family of Tom’s death. Alexandra asks Miss Maudie how the town can allow Atticus to wreck himself in pursuit of justice. Maudie replies that the town trusts him to do right. They return with Scout to the missionary circle, managing to act as if nothing is wrong.

Summary of Chapter 25

Chapter 25

September has begun and Jem and Scout are on the back porch when Scout notices a roly-poly bug. She is about to mash it with her hand when Jem tells her not to. She dutifully places the bug outside. When she asks Jem why she shouldn’t have mashed it, he replies that the bug didn’t do anything to harm her. Scout observes that it is Jem, not she, who is becoming more and more like a girl. Her thoughts turn to Dill, and she remembers him telling her that he and Jem ran into Atticus as they started home from swimming during the last two days of August. Jem had convinced Atticus to let them accompany him to Helen Robinson’s house, where they saw her collapse even before Atticus could say that her husband, Tom, was dead. Meanwhile, the news occupies Maycomb’s attention for about two days, and everyone agrees that it is typical for a Black man to do something irrational like try to escape. Mr. Underwood writes a long editorial condemning Tom’s death as the murder of an innocent man. The only other significant reaction comes when Bob Ewell is overheard saying that Tom’s death makes “one down and about two more to go.” Summer ends and Dill leaves.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: Review, Introduction, Conversational Approach, Group Work, Think-pair-share

LESSON SEQUENCE AND DELIVERY

ACTIVITY 1: The teacher reviews the previous chapters with the students by randomly selecting some students to give a recap of the major events in chapters 16 – 20 of the novel.

ACTIVITY 2: The teacher writes and shares the lesson title, learning objectives and key vocabulary words with the students.

ACTIVITY 3: The students are divided into groups, each group summarizes the events in each chapter.

ACTIVITY 4: Students, in pairs, share and evaluate different viewpoints on the roles and significance of the characters in chapters 21 – 25.

ACTIVITY 5: The leader of each group discusses the figures of speech in chapters 21 – 25.

ASSESSMENT (EVALUATION): Teacher asks these questions from the students:

• Explain what Scout notices in the jury.
• Discuss Scout’s disappointment about the verdict.
• Explain the meaning of the statement, “a white man’s word always beat a Blank man’s.”
• State the revelation about Tom in chapter 24.
• What is the significance of what Jem tells Scout not to do in chapter 25?

WRAP UP/CONCLUSION: The teacher concludes the lesson by affirming or correcting the learners’ answers to the evaluation questions.

ASSIGNMENT: Teacher gives the students some tasks to complete from home:

• Read and write out the major events in chapters 26 – 31 of the novel.
• State the significance of the events.

HOD/VP’S COMMENT AND ENDORSEMENT;

WEEK 7

Mid Term Test

WEEK: 8 and 9                                   

 DATE:  

CLASS: SSS 2                               

SUBJECT: Literature-in-English

LESSON TITLE: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

SUBTITLE:

 Meticulous Study and Analysis of Chapters 26 – 31“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

PERIOD: 1^st and 2^nd                       

DURATION: 80 minutes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to:

• read chapters 26 – 31 of the novel and identify the characters and their roles;
• analyse the major events and identify the techniques used in chapters 26 – 31;
• explain the lesson learnt in each of chapters 26 – 31 of the novel.

KEY VOCABULARY WORDS: Characters: Atticus, Jem, Scout, Calpurnia, Underwood, Miss Caroline, Dill, Boo Radley, Nathan Radley; Maycomb, Reverend Sykes, Tom Robinson, Miss Stephanie, etc.

Trial, verdict, guilty, all-white jury, Negro, shadow, equality and democracy, depression, Halloween, haunted, knife, death, etc.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS: A copy of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” picture of a Mockingbird.

REFERENCE BOOKS: Exam Focus Literature-in-English (2026-230); Essential Literature in English and Dictionary.

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Teacher asks these  questions from the students:

• Explain what Scout notices in the jury.
• Discuss Scout’s disappointment about the verdict.
• Explain the meaning of the statement, “a white man’s word always beat a Blank man’s.”
•  State the revelation about Tom in chapter 24.
• What is the significance of what Jem tells Scout not to do in chapter 25?

CONTENT: Summary of Chapters 26 – 31

 Summary of Chapter 26

Chapter 26

School starts, and Jem and Scout again begin to pass by the Radley Place every day. They are now too old to be frightened by the house, but Scout still wistfully wishes to see Boo Radley just once. Meanwhile, the shadow of the trial still hangs over her. One day in school, her third-grade teacher, Miss Gates, lectures the class on the wickedness of Hitler’s persecution of the Jews and on the virtues of equality and democracy. Scout listens and later asks Jem how Miss Gates can preach about equality when she came out of the courthouse after the trial and told Miss Stephanie Crawford that it was about time that someone taught the Black people in town a lesson. Jem becomes furious and tells Scout never to mention the trial to him again. Scout, upset, goes to Atticus for comfort.

Summary of Chapter 27

Chapter 27

By the middle of October, Bob Ewell gets a job with the WPA, one of the Depression job programs, and loses it a few days later. He blames Atticus for “getting” his job. Also in the middle of October, Judge Taylor is home alone and hears someone prowling around; when he goes to investigate, he finds his screen door open and sees a shadow creeping away. Bob Ewell then begins to follow Helen Robinson to work, keeping his distance but whispering obscenities at her. Deas sees Ewell and threatens to have him arrested if he doesn’t leave Helen alone; he gives her no further trouble. But these events worry Aunt Alexandra, who points out that Ewell seems to have a grudge against everyone connected with the case.

That Halloween, the town sponsors a party and play at the school. This plan constitutes an attempt to avoid the unsupervised mischief of the previous Halloween, when someone burglarized the house of two elderly sisters and hid all of their furniture in their basement. The play is an “agricultural pageant” in which every child portrays a food: Scout wears a wire mesh shaped to look like ham. Both Atticus and Aunt Alexandra are too tired to attend the festivities, so Jem takes Scout to the school.

Summary of Chapter 28

Chapter 28

It is dark on the way to the school, and Cecil Jacobs jumps out and frightens Jem and Scout. Scout and Cecil wander around the crowded school, visiting the haunted house in a seventh-grade classroom and buying homemade candy. The pageant nears its start and all of the children go backstage. Scout, however, has fallen asleep and consequently misses her entrance. She runs onstage at the end, prompting Judge Taylor and many others to burst out laughing. The woman in charge of the pageant accuses Scout of ruining it. Scout is so ashamed that she and Jem wait backstage until the crowd is gone before they make their way home.

On the walk back home, Jem hears noises behind him and Scout. They think it must be Cecil Jacobs trying to frighten them again, but when they call out to him, they hear no reply. They have almost reached the road when their pursuer begins running after them. Jem screams for Scout to run, but in the dark, hampered by her costume, she loses her balance and falls. Something tears at the metal mesh, and she hears struggling behind her. Jem then breaks free and drags Scout almost all the way to the road before their assailant pulls him back. Scout hears a crunching sound and Jem screams; she runs toward him and is grabbed and squeezed. Suddenly, her attacker is pulled away. Once the noise of struggling has ceased, Scout feels on the ground for Jem, finding only the prone figure of an unshaven man smelling of whiskey. She stumbles toward home, and sees, in the light of the streetlamp, a man carrying Jem toward her house.

Scout reaches home, and Aunt Alexandra goes to call Dr. Reynolds. Atticus calls Heck Tate, telling him that someone has attacked his children. Alexandra removes Scout’s costume, and tells her that Jem is only unconscious, not dead. Dr. Reynolds then arrives and goes into Jem’s room. When he emerges, he informs Scout that Jem has a broken arm and a bump on his head, but that he will be all right. Scout goes in to see Jem. The man who carried him home is in the room, but she does not recognize him. Heck Tate appears and tells Atticus that Bob Ewell is lying under a tree, dead, with a knife stuck under his ribs.

Summary of Chapter 29

Chapter 29

As Scout tells everyone what she heard and saw, Heck Tate shows her costume with a mark on it where a knife slashed and was stopped by the wire. When Scout gets to the point in the story where Jem was picked up and carried home, she turns to the man in the corner and really looks at him for the first time. He is pale, with torn clothes and a thin, pinched face and colorless eyes. She realizes that it is Boo Radley.

Summary of Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Scout takes Boo—“Mr. Arthur”—down to the porch, and they sit in shadow listening to Atticus and Heck Tate argue. Heck insists on calling the death an accident, but Atticus, thinking that Jem killed Bob Ewell, doesn’t want his son protected from the law. Heck corrects him—Ewell fell on his knife; Jem didn’t kill him. Although he knows that Boo is the one who stabbed Ewell, Heck wants to hush up the whole affair, saying that Boo doesn’t need the attention of the neighborhood brought to his door. Tom Robinson died for no reason, he says, and now the man responsible is dead: “Let the dead bury the dead.”

Summary of Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Scout takes Boo upstairs to say goodnight to Jem and then walks him home. He goes inside his house, and she never sees him again. But, for just a moment, she imagines the world from his perspective. She returns home and finds Atticus sitting in Jem’s room. He reads one of Jem’s books to her until she falls asleep.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: Review, Introduction, Conversational Approach, Group Work, Think-pair-share

LESSON SEQUENCE AND DELIVERY

ACTIVITY 1: The teacher reviews the previous chapters with the students by randomly selecting some students to give a recap of the major events in chapters 21 – 25 of the novel.

ACTIVITY 2: The teacher writes and shares the lesson title, learning objectives and key vocabulary words with the students.

ACTIVITY 3: The students are divided into groups, each group summarizes the events in each chapter.

ACTIVITY 4: Students, in pairs, share and evaluate different viewpoints on the roles and significance of the characters in chapters 26 – 30.

ACTIVITY 5: The leader of each group discusses the techniques used in chapters 26 – 30.

ASSESSMENT (EVALUATION): Teacher asks these questions from the students:

1. What is Scout’s view about the lecture of Miss Gates about virtues of equality and democracy after the trial?
2. Why do you think Jem does not want to remember the trial?
3. Examine what happens to Judge Taylor in his house.
4. Discuss events at the party and play at the school during Halloween.

WRAP UP/CONCLUSION: The teacher concludes the lesson by affirming or correcting the learners’ answers to the evaluation questions.

ASSIGNMENT: Teacher gives the students some tasks to complete from home:

• List 5 major characters and state their roles.
• State the significance of their roles in the novel.

HOD/VP’S COMMENT AND ENDORSEMENT;

WEEK: 10 and 11                                      

DATE:.

CLASS: SSS 2                              

 SUBJECT: Literature-in-English

LESSON TITLE: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee

SUBTITLE:

Themes ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee

PERIOD: 1^st and 2^nd                       

DURATION: 80 minutes

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to:

• identify the major themes in novel;
• discuss the themes  of the novel with reference to the events in the novel.

KEY VOCABULARY WORDS: Race, racism, discrimination, segregation, equality, inequality, gender, class, court, trial, attack, tomboy, distinction, physical, emotional, mental, psychological, mockingbirds, courage, coward, portray.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS: A copy of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” picture of a Mockingbird.

REFERENCE BOOKS: Exam Focus Literature-in-English (2026-230); Essential Literature in English and Dictionary.

BUILDING BACKGROUND/CONNECTION TO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Teacher asks these  questions from the students:

1. Mention and differentiate between major and minor characters in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’
2. What is a theme?
3. Mention some themes in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’

CONTENT: Themes

Racial discrimination

Blacks have been subjected to series of discrimination ever since the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, blacks have suffered physically, emotionally, psychologically and mentally as a result of their skin colour in the hands of the white race. Whites do not see blacks as their equals. The whites show superiority using a lot of laws. These laws do not recognize black race’s right.

Tom Robinson’s trial is a major incident that paints a clear picture of racism. Scout, Jem and Dill with other black members of the Maycomb community witness the trial of innocent Tom Robinson, who is accussed wrongly of rape by the Ewells. Atticus and his family are bullied for defending Tom in court. Also, Mr Cunningham with Maycomb men attempted to assassinate Tom before trial to prevent him from being heard. Without enough evidence, the all-white jury convicts Tom of rape; even when there is enough evidence to set him free. This shows that a black man is not safe in a white-dominated community. Mr Raymond Dolphus is not accepted because he married a black woman. Racism is also seen in the court, where the whites sit in the front row while the blacks stand on the balcony to witness the trial. Racism has caused a lot of lives to be lost and this act of discrimination against blacks still exists in subtle ways.

Social class distinction

Besides the racial discrimination amongst the white and black races, there is also social class distinction in Maycomb amongst the white race. The Finchs are of the higher class, the Cunninghams are of the middle class while the Ewells are of the lower class. Though in the face of the law with blacks, the lower class such as the Ewells are higher than the blacks. Aunt Alexandra warns Atticus’ children not to associate with Walter and even Dill, their friend. The education of Miss Caroline about the Cunninghams who do not take what they cannot pay back by Scout shows social class distinctions in Maycomb. The Ewells depend on relief material and welfare money to survive. Scout and Jem through Atticus learn that all human beings should be respected, irrespective of their social class.

Courage and bravery        

Atticus, a man with good morals teaches Scout and Jem on what courage is about. Scouts gets angry to the extent of getting in fights with people who harass her because her father defends blacks. Atticus tells her that doing the right thing like walking away though it may seem cowardly is courageous. Atticus tells Jem to apologise and read to Mrs Dubose. He corrects his attitude towards revenge, which he uses to teach him. Courage.

Atticus is an example of a courageous man as he is able to defend Tom despite the harassment and bullying he receives as ‘a nigger lover’ on daily basis. Calpurnia’s act of passing information about a sick dog, Scout facing the angry mob when they tried to attack Tom, and Atticus shooting the sick dog are instances of courage. Atticus believes courage is doing the right thing even though it might hurt you in the process. Boo Radley saving the children from Bob Ewell and Mr Avery and the neighbours going into the fire to save properties from burning Miss Mandie’s properties are acts of bravery and courage.

The Mockingbird

Atticus cautions Jem and Dill never to Kill a mockingbird, as it is a sin to do Such. Secondly, Miss Maudie lectures them on why it is a sin to kill mockingbirds, it is because mockingbirds do not harm anybody but sing and live peacefully. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are portrayed as mockingbirds. Tom Robinson is accused of raping and beating Mayella Ewell, but is innocent. He only helps Mayella in doing chores. The court and the town kill mockingbird by sentencing him to death.

Boo Radley on the other hand lives as a prisoner because of his father. Painted as a bad person but fortunately turns out to a good person. He helps Scout during the fire accident, gifts them and finally saves Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell who wants to kill them. Boo Radley kills Bob Ewell in the process. The Sheriff, Atticus and Scout agree to keep it a secret and declare Bob’s death an accident in order to protect Boo who represents goodness, kindness and innocence – attributes of Mockingbirds. This is the inspiration for the novel’s title.

Gender inequality

The novel portrays women as weaker gender. Scout hates being addressed as a girl with weakness. She behaves like a tomboy. Scout avoids being addressed as a weakling by joining them in the adventure to the Radley’s house.

Jem suggests that people like Miss Mandie should be in the jury. Atticus makes him understand that women aren’t given such roles. Aunt Alexandra trains Scout to be a lady. When the news of the death of Tom comes, Scout sees that women hide their feelings and carry on their normal activities. Scout decides to act like a lady and continue her chores like nothing happened.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES: Review, Introduction, Conversational Approach, Group Work, Think-pair-share

LESSON SEQUENCE AND DELIVERY

ACTIVITY 1: The teacher reviews the previous chapters with the students by randomly selecting some students to give a recap of the major events in chapters 1 – 31 of the novel.

ACTIVITY 2: The teacher writes and shares the lesson title, learning objectives and key vocabulary words with the students.

ACTIVITY 3: Students, in small groups, highlight and discuss at least four themes from Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’

ACTIVITY 4: They discuss the moral lessons derived from the text.

ACTIVITY 5: The leaders of each group present their group work to the whole class for critique.

ASSESSMENT (EVALUATION): Teacher asks these questions from the students:

1. List the themes in the novel.
2. Discuss the themes in the novel with appropriate reference/echo from the novel.

WRAP UP/CONCLUSION: The teacher concludes the lesson by affirming or correcting the learners’ answers to the evaluation questions.

ASSIGNMENT: Teacher gives the students some tasks to complete from home:

1. List the language and style employed by Harper Lee in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’
2. Comment on the narrative technique used by the novelist.

HOD/VP’S COMMENT AND ENDORSEMENT:

WEEK 12

Revision and Examination

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SECOND TERM

SUBJECT:  LITERATURE-IN-ENGLISH 

CLASS:  SS2

Scheme of work Literature in English SS2 Second term

WEEKS           TOPICS

1. Reading and Content Analysis of Non-African Poetry: ‘The Proud King’ by William Morris                                                                                                                               
2. Poetic Devices in the Poem.
3. Themes in the Poem
4. Reading and Textual Analysis of  the Plot of Non-African Novel: Native Son by Richard Wright                   
5. Themes in the Novel.
6. The style of the Novel.
7. Characterization in the Novel.
8. Reading and Content Analysis of African Poetry- “The Dining Table” by Elvan Gbanabon Hallowel.
9. Poetic Devices in the Poem.
10. Themes in the Poem.
11. Revision.

REFERENCE

1. Exam Reflection Literature- in-English by Sunday OlatejuFaniyi.
2. Exam Reflection Literature-in-English (Prose and Drama) by Sunday OlatejuFaniyi. 
3. Native Son by Richard Wright.

WEEK ONE

TOPIC: READING AND CONTENT ANALYSIS OF NON-AFRICAN POETRY- “The Proud King” by William Morris.

CONTENT

Content Analysis

The poem, ‘The Proud King’ by William Morris can be seen as a replica of the bible story on King Nebuchadnezzar and the legendary story on King Solomon from Talmudic text. In the poem, ‘The Proud King,’ we see King Jovinian wake up and begin to eulogize his fame and riches. Due to his wealth and fame, King Jovinian relegates his father’s reign as inferior to his as his father’s kingdom is seen as ‘Kernel of my dogs.’ He berated his late father as a ‘prince of narrow lands’ and promised to ‘Rise higher’ that his father or he would ‘like poor wretches die’. Due to the satisfaction derived from his self-assessment, the King openly declared: ‘What need have I for temple or for priest,/Am I not God whiles that I live at least’. He reaffirms ‘I am God myself.’ The following day, King Jovinian wakes up from his sleep and decides that he will be going for hunting game. He recounts, ‘To-day through green woods will we run’ and ‘I … intend to make it better for game and play’. The King puts on his ‘best attire and rode with heart right well at ease, deep chested hound’ in ‘the hottest of sun/When all the freshness of the day was done.’ When the king gets to a river, he sits ‘in the water sported leisurely’ after he had left all his royal embodiment and signet on his royal horse. Unknown to King Jovinian, a strange individual had carted away with his ‘rich attire.’ He threatens to deal ruthlessly with the unseen and unknown thief. Tired of shouting in that lonely place, the King stops and decides on the next line of action. He sees a certain house beyond the stream. It was the house of a ranger nearby. In ‘his naked skin,’ King Jovinian approached the metallic gate and would wish that he is treated as King by the lord of the house. But to his greatest disappointment, he realises that the gate keeper fails to accord kingly respect to him even as he vehemently asked to be brought before the lord of the house. Reluctantly, the gate-keeper brought King Jovinian in to meet with his boss who also failed to recognise Jovinian as king but asked that he be given food and clothe. Angrily Jovinian leaves to find himself on the street again having realised that someone else sits on the throne. Thinking that he has been betrayed by his lords, the King went into the streets lying dejectedly on roadsides in great distress. Out there in the open during the night, Jovinian sees flashes of light shining in the dark, and from it he sees a lord carried aloft by some bearers in the company of soldiers. The King begins to rain causes on Duke Peters to get his attention. When he did, he tries to make the duke recognise him by asking him few questions: ‘Who gave thee all thy riches and thy place/Well if thou canst, deny me, with such grace…Peter swore of old….’ Unfortunately, Duke Peters could not recognise him as he thought that Jovinian is a madman. By daybreak, Jovinian managed to get to a cart owner who helped him to get to the palace. He secretly sneaked across the first gate before being caught while trying to go through the second gate. Jovinian sees himself arrested by the soldiers who had served him as their king. He begins to scream that he is king. The sitting king asked that Jovinian be brought to him. While in front of the sitting king, the queen and the lords, Jovinian begins to say that he is King Jovinian. But to his amazement, the queen failed to recognise Jovinian as her king. This drove Jovinian mad as he finds it impossible to believe. He was thrown out of the palace and warned not to return to the palace. Jovinian remembered the house of an old priest he had last visited when he assumed office newly as a king. The priest initially could not recognise Jovinian, not until he began to cry to God. Then the priest apologises for not recognising him at the first instance and provided Jovinian with clothe and horse to return to the palace. Though sceptical, Jovinian returned to the palace and was accepted by his servants and soldiers who recognised him as their king. While Jovinian goes in to his room, a servant calls his attention to his wife. He goes to his wife and sees her asleep. Still amazed at what had happened to him, the angelic figure that had sat on his throne appeared and spoke to Jovinian. He tells Jovinian not to ever become proud again but note that whatever he had achieved is because God allowed it. So Jovinian turned out to be very humble to his lord and people, knowing that God resists the proud.

EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. Give a detailed content analysis of the poem, “The Proud King”.
2. Examine the poem, “The Proud King” as an allusion

GENERAL EVALUATIONS/REVISION QUESTIONS

1. What are the issues discussed in the poem?
2. Critically analyse the content of the poem.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read the content analysis of the poem in Exam Focus and summarise.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. Repetition is usually used in literacy works to _______ A assess B emphasize CexaggerateD expose   E    modify
2. “She was found without her flower” is an example of ____  Aalliteration B. allusion C. apostrophe D.              metaphor   E  simile
3. The figure of speech used in the statement “The village lost its beautiful structures, glory and its       inhabitants to the inferno” is ______Aanticlimax  B  antithesis C  climax Depigram  E  paradox
4. “The child is the father of the man”  illustrates the use of _____A  exaggeration  B  metaphor  C      oxymoron  D  paradox     E  personification
5. Rhetorical questions are used in literary works to achieve the following EXCEPT _____A creating awareness B drawing a point home C emphasizing a point

D jettisoning         the writer’s      position E reinforcing a point

THEORY

Describe the characters in “The Proud King.”

WEEK TWO

Poetic Devices

Biblical Allusion: The story of the poem, ‘The Proud king’ is similar to the bible story of King Nebuchadnezzar. He is noted in the bible to have similar fate to that which King Jovinian witnessed due to pride and neglect for God. King Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful king that no other throne in his reign as king could challenge in every respect of kingship. But God decided to teach King Nebuchadnezzar a lesson by making him act like an animal and he was rejected by his people to be king over them.  For good seven years Nebuchadnezzar was rejected and he could not sit on the throne until he cried to God for mercy and forgiveness. So Jovinian’s experience model itself after that of King Nebuchadnezzar.

Rhetorical Question: The major poetic device that dominates this poem is the use of rhetorical questions. This is used by King Jovinian who found himself in a mess. Some of it include: ‘Lord God, what bitter things are these?/What hast thou done, that every man that sees/This wretched body of my death is fain?…Why am I hated so of everyone? Wilt thou not let me live my life again….’ When he met with the priest, he asks: ‘Father…knowest thou Jovinian? Knowest thou me not, made naked, poor and wain? Alas, O father! Am I not the King?’

Antithesis: There is a big contrast in the way King Jovinian lived his life before he lost his throne to an angelic figure and the moment he was helpless out there in the streets in search of help to regain his throne. The affluence that surround is a complete opposite of the penury and lack he witness in less than twenty four hours. Antithesis can also be seen in his conduct when he returned as king which is the exact opposite of what he displays before he was displaced as king.

Irony: The poem is full of powerful ironies but the most prominent ones are the claim of the impostor that he has been a king for many years and his own real name too is Jovinian. The impostor claims that his mother, the Queen delivers him as a baby boy in that house to his royal father (When in this house the Queen my mother bore/unto my longing father…). Another irony is in the Queen’s speech when the impostor asks her to speak. She says: ‘Thou art the man/By whose side I have lain for many years/Thou art my lord Jovinian life and dear.’ The mistaken identity on the part of the Queen contributes a lot to dramatic irony.

Narrative Poem: A clear examination of the poem will reveal that the poem adopts a narrative style as its rendition medium. With this the poet-speaker effectively narrates quaking experience a proud king went through. It was trajectory of shame that King Jovinian was forced by a supreme power to observe in order to effect an adjustment in his conduct and manners.

EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. Examine the use of irony in the poem.
2. How does the poet explore narrative style?

GENERAL EVALUATIONS/REVISION QUESTIONS

1. What are the poetic devices employed in the work?
2. Discuss the use of biblical allusion in the poem.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read the poetic devices of the poem in Exam Focus and summarise.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. “Here comes the princess, now heaven walls on earth”, illustrates the use of A. contrast. B. metaphor. C. metonymy. D. meiosis                                                                                                                                                                                                  
2. An ode is usually a poem written for A. condemnation. B. celebration. C. instruction. D. entertainment.
3. The main character in a literary work is the A. antagonist. B. protagonist. C. narrator. D actor.
4. A sonnet may be divided into an octave and A.  tercet. B. quatrain. C. sestet. D. septet.
5. “All hands on deck” is an example of A. metaphor. B personification. C. synecdoche D. simile

THEORY

Read the content analysis of the poem in Exam Focus and summarise it.

WEEK THREE

Themes

The theme of Pride: Pride is seen to be the major theme of the poem, ‘The Proud King’. And it is said that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. An assessment of the first eight stanzas will reveal that King Jovinian displayed great arrogance even toward God that he says he has no need of temple and priest. In his words, his father’s reign and throne can only be measure by the portion of land where he keeps his dogs. Hence, he calls it the prince of narrow land. These and many more are the reasons while God decided to teach Jovinian a lesson that he can take away from the minds of his subordinates recognition of their King from them. So, an angelic figure was sent to humble King Jovinian who understood at the end that God alone deserves the kind of praise he ascribed to himself.

Sovereignty and Supremacy of God: The poem is an evident statement on the supremacy of God over all humans no matter the power and position. God’s dealings with Jovinian portray this fact as in stanza 93, Jovinian recounts that ‘God is good/….and good hope I have/of help from Him that died upon the rood/And is a mighty lord to slay and save….’ Also in the words of the angelic figure: ‘The God that made the world can unmake thee.’ He continues, ‘Thou hast learned how great a God He is/Who from the heavens countless rebels drave.’ Here, he refers to Satan and his associates.

GENERAL EVALUATIONS/REVISION QUESTIONS

1. Highlight on the theme of the dangers of pride in the poem, “The Proud King.”
2. Comment on the poetic devices used in the poem, “The Proud King.”

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read the biography of Richard Wright in Exam Focus and summarise. 

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. A character that develops in the course of a novel or play is described as A. flat. B. antagonist. C. round. D. protagonist.
2. A dirge is poem sung A. to send a child to sleep. B. to make workers happy. C. at a birthday party. D. at a funeral.
3. In drama, the ____________ creates humour. A. hero B. clown C. villain D. chorus
4. ‘Let me not love thee if I love thee not’ illustrates A. metaphor. B. proverb. C. paradox. D. meiosis.
5. _________ is a literary device used to express something unpleasant in a more acceptable way. A. Epilogue B. Epigram C. Euphemism D. Eulogy

THEORY

1. Comment on the issue of sovereignty of God in the poem, “The Proud King.”
2. Assess the diction of the poem, “The Proud King.”

WEEK FOUR

TOPIC: READING AND TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF NON-AFRICAN NOVEL- Native Son by Richard Wright.

CONTENT

Plot

Bigger Thomas, a poor, uneducated, twenty-year-old black man in 1930s Chicago, wakes up one morning in his family’s cramped apartment on the South Side of the city. He sees a huge rat scamper across the room, which he corners and kills with a skillet. Having grown up under the climate of harsh racial prejudice in 1930s America, Bigger is burdened with a powerful conviction that he has no control over his life and that he cannot aspire to anything other than menial, low-wage labour. His mother pesters him to take a job with a rich white man named Mr. Dalton, but Bigger instead chooses meet up with his friends to plan the robbery of a white man’s store.

            Anger, fear and frustration define Bigger’s daily existence, as he is forced to hide behind a façade of toughness or risk succumbing to despair. While Bigger and his gang have robbed many black-owned businesses, they have never attempted to rob a white man. Bigger sees whites not as individuals, but as a natural, oppressive force: a great looming ‘whiteness’ pressing down upon him. Bigger’s fear of confronting this force overwhelms him, but rather than admit his fear, he violently attacks a member of his gang to sabotage the robbery. Left with no other options, Bigger takes a job as a chauffeur for the Daltons.

            Coincidentally, Mr. Dalton is also Bigger’s landlord, as he owns a controlling share of the company that manages the apartment building where Bigger’s family lives. Mr. Dalton and other wealthy real estate barons are effectively robbing the poor, black tenants on Chicago’s South Side — they refuse to allow black to rent apartments in predominantly white neighbourhoods, thus leading to overpopulation and artificially high rents in the predominantly black South Side. Mr. Dalton sees himself as a benevolent philanthropist; however, as he donates money to black schools and offers jobs to ‘poor, timid black boys’ like Bigger. However, Mr. Dalton practices this token philanthropy mainly to alleviate his guilt conscience for exploiting poor blacks.

            Mary, Mr. Dalton’s daughter, frightens and angers Bigger by ignoring the social taboos that govern the relations between white women and black man. On his first day of work, Bigger drives Mary to meet her communist boyfriend, Jan. Eager to prove their progressive ideals and racial tolerance, Mary and Jan force Bigger to take them to a restaurant in the South Side. Despite Bigger’s embarrassment, they order drinks, and as the evening passes, all three of them get drunk. Bigger then drives around the city while Mary and Jan make out in the back seat. Afterward, Mary is too drunk to make it to her bedroom on her own, so Bigger helps her up the stairs. Drunk and aroused by his unprecedented proximity to a young white woman, Bigger begins to kiss Mary.

            Just as Bigger places Mary on her bed, Mary’s blind mother, Mrs. Dalton, enters the bedroom. Though Mrs. Dalton cannot see him, her ghostlike presence terrifies him. Bigger worries that Mary, in her drunken condition, will reveal his presence. He covers her face with a pillow and accidently smothers her to death. Unaware that Mary has been killed,Mrs. Dalton prays over her daughter and returns to bed. Bigger tries to conceal his crime by burning Mary’s body in the Dalton’s furnace. He decides to try to use the Daltons’ prejudice against communists to frame Jan for Mary’s disappearance.  Bigger believes that the Daltons will assume Jan is dangerous and that he may have kidnapped their daughter for political purposes. Additionally, Bigger takes advantage of Daltons’ racial prejudices to avoid suspicion, continuing to play the role of a timid, ignorant black servant who would be unable to commit such an act.

            Mary’s murder gives Bigger a sense of power and identity he has never known. Bigger’s girlfriend, Bessie, makes an offhand comment that inspires him to try to collect ransom money from the Daltons. They know only that Mary has vanished, not that she is dead. Bigger writes a ransom letter, playing upon the Daltons’ hatred of communists by signing his name ‘Red.’ He then bullies Bessie to take part. Bigger is not a traditional hero by any means. However, Wright forces us to enter into Bigger’s mind and to understand the devastating effects of the social conditions in which he was raised. Bigger was not born a violent criminal. He is a ‘native son’: a product of American culture and the violence and racism that suffuse and characterise it.

EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. Narrate the plot of Native Son.
2. Discuss the trial of Bigger.

GENERAL EVALUATIONS/REVISION QUESTIONS

1. Summarise the plot of the work.
2. Give a brief background of the novel.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read chapters 1- 5 of Native Son and summarise.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. “The star blinked and the wind wailed” is an example of _____

A antithesis B euphemism    C metaphor    D parody    E personification

• Pick out the odd item from the following_______

A comedy     B octave    C Quatrain   D sonnet    E sestet

• “United we stand, divided we fall”, illustrates the use of __________

A anti-climax    B antithesis    C climax   Dirony   E sarcasm

• The writer’s freedom to use words to suit his own purpose is called_____

A author’s freedom B  author’s license    C  poetic freedom   D  poetic license

E writer’s license

• The expression, “Before Idi Amin breathed his last he admonished his children to shun violence” is a/an ________A anecdote B metaphor C euphemism D onomatopoeia E  paradox.

THEORY

Describe Biggeras the protagonist.

WEEK FIVE

THEMES

The dangers of racial oppression: Beyond all reasonable doubts, it is convincingly established by Max in court that the gruesome crimes of Bigger are not in any way far from the intimidating weight of racial inequalities that permeate the American society. That is, by extension, this work proffers to readers that there are dangers concomitant to act of oppression, and particularly, racial oppression. We see young Bigger who enjoys his freelance attitude and gangsterism becoming a deadly emotionless murderer just within twenty-four hours he got to the Daltons. This is truly not surprising to Max, who understands the psychic of an oppressed mind and person. No wonder, he and his communist group fight for the emancipation of the black race from white dominance to assure a safer American society for all.

The theme of poverty and penury: Considering the economic standard of the Thomas’ family, who also represent other black character mentioned in the work, we will come to terms that poverty and penury have taken over the black neighbourhood that they find it difficult to groom a proper child with qualitative education and wellbeing. This is why the Thomas’ family find themselves under the care of the relief home. And this was the reason why Bigger had to come in contact with the Daltons in the first place, for they were threatened by the relief home not to supply them with food any longer. The look of the apartment the black people occupy reveals the level of poverty and penury that has conquered them.

The theme of deceit and greed: After the revelation in court by Max that the black race pay rent for houses obviously in bad conditions at a fee twice the amount the whites pay for their own houses in good conditions and that Mr. Dalton who coincidentally stands as the Thomas’ landlord is a major player in the atrocities, we realise the deceit in the charity displayed by people like Dalton to the black people as the money they give is only the excess of what they have squeezed out of the black people in America. What this fact shows is that the donations made by Mr. Dalton celebrated in court by the state attorney hold no moral standing. This is what the communists decide to kick against, as they see the relationship of the white and the black to be that of the predator and the prey.

EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. Give a detailed plot account of the novel, Native Son.
2. Comment on two major themes of the novel, Native Son.

GENERAL EVALUATIONS/REVISION QUESTIONS

1. What are the themes in the novel?
2. Discuss three dominant themes in the novel.  

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read  Native Son  and list the main characters.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. A praise poem is (a) a dirge (b) an epic (c) an ode (d) a ballad
2. Lines of regular recurrence in a poem constitutes (A) a refrain (b) an alliteration (c) an assonance (d) a theme
3. A regular group of lines in poetry constitutes (a) Stanza (b) verse (c) rhythm (d) metre
4. An individual who acts , appears or is referred to as playing a part in a  in a literary work is a (A) villain (b) character (c) clown (d)narrator
5. A bitter remark intended to wound the feeling is (a) satire (b) an allusion (c) a sarcasm (d) an ambiguity

THEORY

Comment on the use of symbols in Native Son.

Literature in English Elearning Note – Edudelight.com

WEEK SIX

STYLE

Suspense: This is one narrative technique that any reader will easily and quickly identify with as it runs through the work. In a nutshell, this technique helps readers to go through the volume of the pages of the novel with getting tired. Richard Wright has cleverly entwined Bigger with an aura of suspicion as readers tend to suspect every move he makes. This is not alien to the circumstances that surround Bigger and the mess he got himself into. After killing Mary, readers read with rapt attention to know if he has any hope of escape or pardon for his crimes. Suspense is strongly felt in the court room as Max puts up a seasoned argument for Bigger in the face of threatening whites in the majority.

Tragedy: This technique is deployed by the writer to effectively betray the tragic presence of racism and inequality in a land. Beside the death of Mr. Thomas, Bigger’s father, which is also a tragic one, we see Bigger unconsciously manifesting into an emotionless killer. Though, Mary’s death was accidental, it satisfies Bigger’s desire to be able to inflict pain and fear on the white folk. After the killing of Mary, Bigger sees himself losing it completely that he felt nothing bad in his decision to kill Bessie, his girlfriend. By this, the writer tries to make readers understand that the same consideration given to Bigger’s crimes should also be that which is given to what had stir such thoughts in Bigger in the first place, which is no other than racism.

Flashback: Though used on a low scale, flashback comes in timely to help tell about the death of Bigger’s father and what efforts his mum had deployed before they found themselves in their present house. Through it, we were exposed to other crimes Bigger had committed in the past which as a result of one of them he was sent to the reprimanded home.

Dramatic Irony: The writer also utilised this technique to help Bigger to hide for a longer time in Mr. Dalton’s house after committing such a gruesome crime. When Mr. Britten, a private investigator, was called upon by Mr. Dalton when he realises that his daughter has been missing, he considers Bigger the first suspect, which would have helped to unravel the situation at a lesser time period but Mr. Dalton intervened by asking Mr. Britten not to involve Bigger, who actually was the criminal who had killed Mary, his supposed missing daughter.

EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. Discuss the use of irony in the novel.
2. Examine the use of flashback and suspense in the novel.

GENERAL EVALUATIONS/REVISION QUESTIONS

1. Critically analyse the style of the novel.
2. What do you about the novel?

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. A speech in a play in which a character speaks his or her thought alone is A. a monologue. B. an aside. C. a soliloquy. D. an epilogue.
2. In Literature, repetition is used essentially for A. rhyme. B. suspense. C. allusion. D. emphasis.
3. The pattern of a poem without reference to its content is referred to as the A. limerick. B. metre. C. free verse. D. form
4. The performers in a play constitute the A. chorus. B. character. C. audience. D. cast.
5. A metrical foot in which a stressed syllable is following by an unstressed syllable is A. iambic. B. spondaic. C. trochaic D. dactylic.

THEORY

Discuss the blindness of Mrs Dalton as a metaphor.

WEEK SEVEN

Characterisation

Bigger Thomas: The protagonist of Native Son. A poor, uneducated black man, Bigger comes from the lowest rung on the American social and economic ladder. As his lack of education has left him no option other than menial labour, he has felt trapped his whole life, resenting, hating, and fearing the whites who define the narrow confines of his existence. Bigger views white people as a collective, overwhelming force that tells him where to live, where to work, and what to do.

Mary Dalton: The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dalton, Bigger’s wealthy employers. Mary identifies herself as a progressive, dates an admitted communist, and interacts with Bigger with little regard for the strict boundary society imposes between black men and white women. Mary’s transgression of this boundary leads to her death and the resulting development of Bigger’s character.

Mr. and Mrs. Dalton: A white millionaire couple living in Chicago. Mrs. Dalton is blind; Mr. Dalton has earned a fortune in real estate. Although he profits from charging high rents to poor black tenants – including Bigger’s family – on Chicago’s South Side, he nonetheless claims to be a generous philanthropist and supporter of black Americans.

Jan Erlone: A member of the Communist Party and Mary Dalton’s boyfriend – a relationship that upsets Mary’s parents. Jan, like Mary, wants to treat Bigger as an equal, but such untraditional behaviour only frightens and angers Bigger. Jan later recognizes his mistake in trying to treat Bigger this way and becomes sympathetic toward his plight. Jan becomes especially aware of the social divisions that prevent Bigger from relating normally with white society.

Boris A. Max: A Jewish lawyer who works for the Labour Defenders, an organisation affiliation with the Communist Party. Max argues, based on a sociological analysis of American society, that institutionalized racism and prejudice – not inherent ethnic qualities – create conditions for violence in urban ghettos.

Bessie Mears: Bigger’s girlfriend. Their relationship remains quite distant and is largely based upon mutual convenience rather than romantic love.

Mrs. Thomas: Bigger’s devoutly religious mother. Mrs. Thomas has accepted her precarious, impoverished position in life and warns Bigger at the beginning of the novel that he will meet a bad end if he fails to change his ways.

Buddy Thomas: Bigger’s younger brother. Buddy, unlike his brother, does not rebel against his low position on the social ladder. In fact, he envies Bigger’s job as a chauffeur for a rich white family. As the novel progresses, however, Buddy begins to take on a more antagonist attitude toward racial prejudice.

Vera Thomas: Bigger’s younger sister. Vera, like Bigger, lives her life in constant fear.

G. H., Gus and Jack: Bigger’s friends, who often plan and execute robberies together. They hatch a tentative plan to rob a white shopkeeper, Mr. Blum, but they are afraid of the consequences if they should be caught robbing a white man. At the beginning of the novel, Bigger taunts his friends about their fear, even thought he is just as terrified himself.

Mr. Blum: A white man who owns a delicatessen on the South Side of Chicago. Mr. Blum represents an inviting robbery target for Bigger and his friends, but their fear of the consequences of robbing a white man initially prevents them from following through on their plan.

Britten: A racist, anti-Communist private investigator who helps Mr. Dalton to investigate Mary’s disappearance.

Buckley: The incumbent State’s Attorney who is running for re-election. Buckley is viciously racist and anti-Communist.

Peggy: An Irish immigrant who has worked as the Daltons’ cook for years. Peggy considers the Daltons to be marvellous benefactors to black Americans. Though she is actively kind to Bigger, she is also extremely patronizing.

Doc: The black owner of a pool hall on the South Side of Chicago that serves as a hangout for Bigger and his friends.

Reverend Hammond: The pastor of Mrs. Thomas’s church who urges Bigger to turn toward religion in times of trouble.

EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. Describe Buckley as a character in the work.
2. Describe Reverend Hammond as a character in  the work

GENERAL EVALUATIONS/REVISION QUESTIONS

1. Examine the role of Bigger in the novel, Native Son.
2. Comment on the narrative techniques employed in the novel, Native Son.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read  Native Son  and list ten themes in the work.

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. ‘Loyalty to the flag is expected of all citizens’ illustrates A. euphemism. B. metonymy. C. symbolism. D. allusion.
2. ‘Wheels and wheels and wheels spin by’ illustrates A. repetition. B. rhyme. C. euphemism. D. meiosis.
3. The deliberate omission of a word or phrase in a piece of writing indicates A. ellipsis. B. enjambment. C. elision. D. scansion.
4. The technique of delaying the reader’s response to the action in a literary work is A. denouement. B. conflict. C. suspense. D. flashback.
5. A poem that teaches moral lessons is said to be A. pastoral. B. symbolic. C. primitive. D. didactic.

THEORY

1. Discuss the issue of racism in the novel, Native Son.
2. Examine the role of Max in the novel, Native Son.

WEEK EIGHT

TOPIC: READING AND CONTENT ANALYSIS OF AFRICAN POETRY- “The Dining Table” by Elvan GbanabonHallowel.

CONTENT

Content Analysis

The poet persona in the poem, “The Dining Table,” x-rays the gory experiences of the Sierra Leoneans during a decade long civil war of 1991 to 2002. For a country as Sierra Leone, the effects of the fallout which grew in a war are unimaginable as manslaughter became a part of their society. The failure on the part of Joseph Momoh led administration transforms the country into a spate of degeneration and collapse in governance. At a period when the people expect to enjoy the dividend of independence, the shocker came. In his words, “Dinner tonight comes with/gun wounds.” The parallel lines between dinner and gun wounds project the shocker. At this moment, war has broken out and the poet speaker hears sounds of gunshots. Immediately, a sensation of fear is sent round everyone in the room as “Our desert/tongues lick the vegetable/blood – the pepper”. No one in the room is able to continue with the meal as their tongues go dry right in the face of war. The abrupt nature the war started terrifies the poet and his inmates at the dining table that they considers it best not to continue with the food as it can “…push scorpions/up our heads” by “the pepper/strong enough….” The fear caused by this war makes “Guests/look into the oceans of bowls/ as vegetables die on their tongues.”

In a tensed moment, he tries to describe what his physical environment has turned into “The table/that gathers us is an island where guerrillas/walk the land while crocodiles/surf.” At the outbreak of war, the poet persona signals that they were surrounded by group of newly recruited armed boys as ‘guerrillas’ while behind them were ‘crocodiles’ which surf in the river behind. This is the atmosphere of fear that accompanies war and they are all in a fix. To the poet’s amazement, the core of the guerrilla group comprises “Children from Alphabeta with empty palms dine/with us; switchblades in their eyes,” and their school ground has been completely deserted. He says “… the playground/is emptied of children’s toys”. As an effect of war, the poet speaker identifies that there is a breakdown in government and movement of people as roadblocks which were unnecessary are mounted. No wonder he asks, ‘who needs roadblocks?’ Besides the hunger and starvation that threatens the people, the poet persona realises that “When the hour/to drink from the cup of life ticks/cholera breaks its spell on cracked lips”. He sees war bringing the disease called cholera on the people of the land of Sierra Leone. All these are born out of the insensitivity of the government of Joseph Momoh which refuse to attend to the plight of the masses until it degenerated into a war.

In the last stanza of the poem, we see the poet speaker driven by emotion promising to ensure that an end is brought to the crisis in the land. But on a second note, we deduce that his attempt had rather come too late to have an impact. He recounts “Under the spilt/milk of the moon, I promise/to be a revolutionary,” but at contact with realities of war, he understands our unfit he is in “but my Nile, even/without tributaries comes lazy/upon its own Nile.” He observes that without the support of others, he can do little or nothing to salvage to situation the country is brought into. The bewilderment that surrounds the poet and his guest is wrong timing or sudden outbreak of the war. He says, “On this/night reserved for lovers of fire, I’m/full with the catch of gun wounds, and my boots/have suddenly become too reluctant to walk me.” When the poet intends to enjoy with his loved ones, he is distracted by sounds of gunshots and he sees how helpless he is to do something.

EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. How does the poem, “The Dining Table”, x-ray the issue of war in Sierra Leone.
2. Give a detailed content analysis of the poem, “The Dining Table”.

GENERAL EVALUATIONS/REVISION QUESTIONS

1. What is the poem all about?
2. What are the dominant ideas in the poem?

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read the content analysis of the poem in Exam Focus and summarize. 

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. A speech in a play in which a character speaks his or her thought alone is A. a monologue. B. an aside. C. a soliloquy. D. an epilogue.
2. In Literature, repetition is used essentially for A. rhyme. B. suspense. C. allusion. D. emphasis.
3. The pattern of a poem without reference to its content is referred to as the A. limerick. B. metre. C. free verse. D. form
4. The performers in a play constitute the A. chorus. B. character. C. audience. D. cast.
5. A metrical foot in which a stressed syllable is following by an unstressed syllable is A. iambic. B. spondaic. C. trochaic D. dactylic.

THEORY

Read Exam Focus and summarize the content of the poem.  

WEEK NINE

POETIC DEVICES IN THE POEM

Imagery: This is one device that the poet employs to paint in our minds’ eyes the pathetic experiences the Sierra Leoneans went through. With it, a sense of empathy is created and better understanding of their plight is realised. This device runs through in the whole poem as we can deduce how tensed the poet speaker and his visitors had been when the war suddenly caught up with them at the very moment they were to have a sumptuous meal. A practical picture is conceivable with this device.

Oxymoron: To effectively state how traumatised they were at the abrupt nature of the war, the poet speaker decides to employ the oxymoronic expression, ‘Our desert tongue….’ Tongue can’t be dry as desert except in situations where gruesome fear is in place and this is only possible where war is on.

Personification: In establishing a clearer picture of the thought of the work, the poet speaker deploys personification to effectively present the helpless situation they found themselves as a result of the war. In ‘… vegetables die on their tongues’, the gruesome fear that envelopes the poet persona and his guest can be imagined. They seem to see their taste-board stop functioning when faced with the sudden nature of the war. Also the line, ‘cholera breaks its spell on cracked lips’, reveal the bold way the disease announces its presence on the people due to lack of good water; an effect of war.

Metaphor: This device helps to show the true state of mind of the people through the employment of comparison. In ‘switchblades in their eyes’, he compares the wrath in the children who are the most affected by the war, with ‘switchblades’ ready to attack whoever stands in their way during the war. When saying ‘Under the spilt/milk of the moon’, the lateness in the poet’s reaction to the war is noted. The face of the sky during the appearing of the moon is effective painted when compared with ‘spilt milk’.

Repetition: To emphasize the several points identified by the poet, some words as ‘vegetable’, ‘gun wounds’, ‘Nile’, ‘Children’ and ‘tongue’ are repeated.

EVALUATION

1. Examine the use of personification and metaphor in the poem.
2. Discuss the use of imagery and oxymoron in the poem.

GENERAL EVALUATIONS/REVISION QUESTIONS

1. What are the poetic devices used in the poem?
2. Discuss three of them.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read the poetic devices of the poem in Exam Focus and summarise. 

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. ____________ is the location of the action of the plot. A. Setting B. Narrative technique C. point of view D. Characterisation
2. A ballad is essentially a __________ poem. A. descriptive B. dramatic C. pastoral D. narrative
3. The first fourlines of Shakespearean sonnet rhyme A. abcd. B. abba. C. abab. D. cdcd.
4. A story in which characters or actions represent abstract ideas or moral qualities is A. an epic. B. a legend. C. an allegory. D. a satire.
5. The use of imagery in prose or verse A. appeals to the senses. B. develops the plot. C. creates confusion. D. obscures meaning.

THEORY

Discuss the issue of neglect in the novel, Faceless

WEEK TEN

Themes

The adverse effects of war: The poem, ‘The Dining Table,’ reveals that war has to positive gains to offer a nation or a people. The first thing noted is that war comes with great fear and tension on the people. The uncertainty war brings caused the poet speaker and his guest to cease eating and they had ‘desert tongues’. He realises that ‘the pepper/strong enough to push scorpions/up our heads’ when ‘Dinner tonight comes with/gun wounds.’ To situation led to the closure of schools or rather students deserting schools as noted in ‘Children from Alphabetawith empty palms dine with us’. These children are in the poet speaker’s house instead of staying in school because, ‘When the playground/is emptied of children’s toys’. The whole areas look unsafe for not only students but also teachers who would teach them. War also brings sicknesses and diseases as part of the adverse effects. He recounts that ‘cholera breaks its spell on cracked lips’. During war time, the waters are no longer safe for drink and food scarcity sets in. The people are displaced by war. No wonder the poet speaker cannot find support, so that, he can champion a revolution.  He says, ‘I promise/to be a revolutionary, but my Nile, even/without tributaries comes lazy’. The poet identifies his helpless state as those he wishes to count on for change have also been displaced by the war.

The theme of bad leadership: From the poem, it is deductible that bad leadership is the sole cause for the war in the country. The people had experienced failure in government for a very long time that they could no longer bear it, and they forcefully ejected the government of the day which resulted in a war. The leaders were insensitive to the plight of the children that the ‘Children from Alphabetawith empty palms dine/with us; switchblades in their eyes/silence in their voices.’ The hunger in the eyes of the children has driven them to join the R.U.F. (Revolutionary United Front). They left the school ground due to ‘the playground/is emptied of children’s toys’.

EVALUATIONS QUESTIONS

1. What are the adverse effects of war in the poem?
2. Discuss the theme of bad leadership in the poem above.

GENERAL EVALUATIONS/REVISION QUESTIONS

1. Comment on the theme of effects of bad leadership in Sierra Leone, “The Dining Table”.
2. Discuss the significance of the poetic devices used in the poem, “The Dining Table”.

READING ASSIGNMENT

Read the themes of the poem in Exam Focus and summarise them. 

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

1. The choice of words to create special effects is called A. fallacy. B. atmosphere. C. diction. D. mood.
2. A long narrative chronicling a family’s heroic deeds is a/an A. opera. B. epistle. C. fable. D. saga.
3. ……….. in drama operates against a character who is unaware of a situation which is known to the audience. A. Verbal irony. B. Dramatic irony. C. Satire. D. Parody.
4. The use of dialogue creates a/an …………. effect. A. humorous B. poetic C. ironic D. dramatic
5. One of the following is not a form of poetry. A. Sonnet B. Ode C. Suspense D. Lyric

THEORY

Comment on the issues raised in Elvis Gbanabon Hallowell’s “The Dining Table”.