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    Tkam Synthesis Paragraph - Final

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    While To Kill a Mockingbird offers important lessons about racial inequality, it is not appropriate for use in K-12 classrooms due to the risk of misinterpretation by young audiences. The novel frequently uses offensive terms like the n-word that could normalize racism if misinterpreted. Younger students also may not fully understand complex themes like the unfair trial of Tom Robinson and could internalize racist stereotypes. While the book provides critical insights, there are other works that can teach about racial justice without the same risks of promoting misunderstanding or discomfort among young readers.

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    Tkam Synthesis Paragraph - Final

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    api-514407929
    133 views2 pages
    While To Kill a Mockingbird offers important lessons about racial inequality, it is not appropriate for use in K-12 classrooms due to the risk of misinterpretation by young audiences. The novel frequently uses offensive terms like the n-word that could normalize racism if misinterpreted. Younger students also may not fully understand complex themes like the unfair trial of Tom Robinson and could internalize racist stereotypes. While the book provides critical insights, there are other works that can teach about racial justice without the same risks of promoting misunderstanding or discomfort among young readers.

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    While To Kill a Mockingbird offers important lessons about racial inequality, it is not appropriate for use in K-12 classrooms due to the risk of misinterpretation by young audiences. The novel frequently uses offensive terms like the n-word that could normalize racism if misinterpreted. Younger students also may not fully understand complex themes like the unfair trial of Tom Robinson and could internalize racist stereotypes. While the book provides critical insights, there are other works that can teach about racial justice without the same risks of promoting misunderstanding or discomfort among young readers.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    133 views2 pages

    Tkam Synthesis Paragraph - Final

    Uploaded by

    api-514407929
    While To Kill a Mockingbird offers important lessons about racial inequality, it is not appropriate for use in K-12 classrooms due to the risk of misinterpretation by young audiences. The novel frequently uses offensive terms like the n-word that could normalize racism if misinterpreted. Younger students also may not fully understand complex themes like the unfair trial of Tom Robinson and could internalize racist stereotypes. While the book provides critical insights, there are other works that can teach about racial justice without the same risks of promoting misunderstanding or discomfort among young readers.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Gabriel Octavio

    Ms. Woelke

    Pre-AP Language Arts

    30 May 2020

    To Kill a Mockingbird ​Synthesis Paragraph

    While Harper Lee’s ​To Kill a Mockingbird o​ ffers insightful lessons on racial and social

    inequality, the stereotypes and images portrayed can be easily misinterpreted by a young

    audience that may be quick to internalize these viewpoints and the book should therefore not be

    used in a K-12 classroom setting.

    A frequent critique of ​To Kill a Mockingbird ​is it’s consistent use of offensive terms such

    as the n-word. While the word is no longer considered socially acceptable to use, the book uses

    the term to paint the scene of the South amidst the Great Depression. Usage of the term, when

    put into the wrong classroom setting, can be falsely interpreted by a young audience reading the

    book. In a case in Biloxi, Mississippi, the book was removed mid-lesson due to students’s

    response to it, “which reportedly included laughter over usage of [the n-word],” which made an

    uncomfortable environment for a black student (Source A). In essence, the usage of the n-word

    had not only caused discomfort amongst those in the classroom, it had also caused an opposite

    comedic effect to some students, whether it be by the context the n-word was used in, the mere

    shock value of it, or otherwise. While it is true that using the n-word in ​To Kill a Mockingbird

    can portray the obscenity of the term and show the potential harm it can cause, the consistent

    usage of the word, often without consequence, can breed normalizing the offensive word.

    Though it is imperative to teach children the essence of racial equality, there are countless other
    works of literature that accomplish this same feat without using the n-word nearly as frequently.

    Misinterpretation can also be found in the core lessons that ​To Kill a Mockingbird ​teaches,

    especially in an increasingly diverse student body. In an NBC article, Alice Randall takes note of

    the changes in student body composition from today and the initial release of ​To Kill a

    Mockingbird​ in 1960. Randall directs to the trial of ​To Kill a Mockingbird ​and Tom Robinson, a

    “falsely accused [and] ‘crippled’.... meant to indicate that he would have been physically

    incapable of sexual assault,” iterating that an interpretation of Robinson in court could be

    misrepresented as “to ask them about whether or not black men are desirable… or that rape is a

    crime that can only be committed by an able-bodied person” (Source E). When put into the

    wrong instructor, Lee’s lessons of racial inequality and injustice can be flipped onto their heads

    when paired with asking younger audiences to answer and decode situations that they are too

    young to fully comprehend. Furthermore, these misrepresentations of reality in ​To Kill a

    Mockingbird h​ ave the potential to be internalized by these younger audiences as many of the

    racist themes Lee explores reinforces many of the stereotypes seen today. Ultimately, Harper

    Lee’s ​To Kill a Mockingbird ​may be an awe-inspiring novel for adults to read, but the complex

    situations Lee illustrates are susceptible to misunderstanding of Lee’s message by the younger

    audiences that simply may not have a full comprehension of the novel, even when placed under

    the best instruction.

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