Reading Group Guide

Discussion Questions

CHAPTER 1: "ELLEN" SPELLED BACKWARD

In fiction, characters are created by what they say, what they do, and what others say about them. How is Nelle's character created using these three methods?

Slavery was long over by the time of Nelle's childhood. But what can you say about the status of whites and blacks in 1930s Monroeville? Draw on examples from this chapter.

Chapter 2: "APART PEOPLE"

Based on what you've read so far in I Am Scout, why might Nelle not have tried to become her mother's ideal daughter?

Harper Lee says that because most folks had no money during the Great Depression, children were forced to live in their imaginations. Now, of course, there are video games, television, organized sports, and so on. Has this change made a difference in children's ability to imagine? What's your opinion?

Harper Lee drew heavily on real people for her characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. Was she wrong to do this? Why or why not?

CHAPTER 3: FIRST HINTS OF TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

How are Harper Lee's behavior and values consistent from the time she was a child until she became a young adult? Can you make a connection to Scout?

One of Nelle's classmates at Huntingdon later said that she seemed determined to be different. In what ways did she defy expectations for female undergraduates?

Sometimes photographs can give clues about the past and people. Look at the photograph on p. 50. Study it. What do you notice about Harper Lee compared with the two young women standing beside her? Look at the dress, body language, and expressions.

CHAPTER 4: RAMMER JAMMER

Read Nelle's column on pp. 66–67. What is she attacking and how does this fit with her values?

This chapter doesn't specify what it was about the nature of being a lawyer that repelled Harper Lee. Do you have any ideas based on what you've read about her so far?

1948 was both the year that Truman Capote published his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms, and that Harper Lee left home for New York. What argument might Harper Lee have used to convince her father that she needed to relocate to New York?

CHAPTER 5: "WILLING TO BE LUCKY"

Harper Lee didn't show her creative writing to anyone when she was a child; then she didn't send out her stories for almost ten years while she was in New York. When the Browns gave her the money to write full time, she replied, "It's such a fantastic gamble. It's such a great risk." Can you draw a conclusion about this pattern in her behavior?

Alabama Governor B. M. Miller received a petition signed by citizens of Monroe County that persuaded him "there is much doubt as to the man [Walter Lett] being guilty." He commuted Lett's sentence from death to life in prison. Think about the era. Why didn't the governor just pardon Walter Lett?

CHAPTER 6: "SEE NL'S NOTES"

Why, in your opinion, was Capote failing at first to get the story in Garden City, Kansas?

Some people might accuse Nelle and Truman of invading people's privacy, such as by visiting the Clutter's house. Others would argue they were fulfilling their jobs as writers. What do you think?

What strengths did Nelle bring to getting the story in Kansas that Truman didn't have?

CHAPTER 7: MOCKINGBIRD TAKES OFF

Think about what was happening in America in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Do you think social and political events in America influenced how To Kill a Mockingbird was received?

What are the indications that fame will be difficult for Harper Lee?

CHAPTER 8: "OH, MR. PECK!"

Even to this day, older residents of Monroeville fondly remember Gregory Peck's visit to their town. Why did Peck behave as he did?

Point to indications in this chapter and earlier ones that Truman will not want to share credit for In Cold Blood with Nelle, and why.

CHAPTER 9: THE SECOND NOVEL

Are there any clues in Harper Lee's interview with Roy Newquist (pp. 181–182) that she will be unable to publish a second novel? Support your reasons by interpreting what she says.

What do you think of Alice's explanation that a burglar stole the manuscript of Harper Lee's second novel?

CHAPTER 10: QUIET TIME

What are some reasons, either personal or artistic, Harper Lee might have stopped work on The Reverend.

Should the biographer have brought up the rumor of the drowning incident? Why or why not?

What does Harper Lee mean by, she "forgave herself"?