The book is a great suppliment. It not only gives critical reviews / essays, but it has features such as "1960's Witch hunts" and "1990's Witch hunts." It helps you in undesrstanding the text, however its greatest asset is in helping you in Essay topics and discussion. Great book! Especially if studying Crucible.

mega swanky book yeah

A very scholarly review of one of my favorite books. Ms. Johnson points out similarities between events surrounding the trial of Tom Robinson in the book TKM and real life events surrounding the infamous trial of the "Scottsboro Incident", where several black youths were wrongfully accused, tried and convicted of raping a white woman in the South. Thus, pointing out how Lee's environment influenced her writing. It includes a chronology of key events in Lee's life and details about her relationship with Truman Capote. Ms. Johnson also gives a very indepth explanation of Gothicism in literature and how she comes to claim that TKM is a Gothic book, wherein the issues of boundaries are discussed. She points out a number of very interesting behaviors of the characters in TKM and also some similarities between the characters. Interestingly she points out how Atticus is Christlike. Overall a very insightful and scholarly review that will add to your enjoyment of the book TKM.

its a really well written book exploring the diversity, and aspects of human nature-- racism plays an important role, also, the ways of court systems "back in the days", dealing with rape charges against a coloured man. Fear takes over the children, they're not afraid of Radley's place, but have a fear of fear within. very well written! i recommend this book to anyone who's looking for something different!

Claudia Durst Johnson points out that despite the popularity of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," it has not really been the subject of serious academic study. In fact, you are more likely to find it being analyzed in law journals rather than literary magazines. Johnson is out to rectify this problem in this look at the novel in terms of "Threatening Boundaries."

The first part of this book looks at the literary and historical context of the novel in three chapters: (1) Racial Climate in the Deep South focuses on both racial tension during the Depression, which is both the setting of the novel and the time of the trials of the Scottsboro case as well as in the mid-century, when Lee was writing the novel and the Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum; (2) The Importance of "To Kill a Mockingbird" talks about not only the way the novel has resonated with readers but the attempts to censor it in school libraries and the controversy in the legal community over Atticus Finch's defense of Tom Robinson; and (3) The Critical and Popular Reception of "To Kill a Mockingbird" looks at both the newspaper and magazine reviews as well as the published legal criticism. These entire section provides an excellent background to Lee's novel, not only for better understanding its social origins but its place in American culture.

What makes this book a different approach to the novel from most literary criticism is that the idea of "boundaries" translates in five different "readings" of the text: (1) a discussion of the technical boundaries Lee establishes to advance her narrative in terms of plot, point of view, setting, and metaphor; (2) a look at the novel's use of the Gothic tradition, explored as a fictional construct of a castle's walls; (3) in a similar vein, a consideration of the walls of difference separating the various characters; (4) a treatment of the boundaries of law and code; and (5) an exploration of the relationship of art and expression in terms of the other boundaries discussed. Consequently, Johnson presents a series of readings, looking at the novel from various perspectives without being overly concerned with how everything fits together.

This is advanced literary criticism, useful more for college classes than secondary schools, although certainly teachers could take some of Johnson's arguments and make them palatable for their students. I think the idea that real life lawyers would argue about whether Atticus Finch did the right thing would be fascinating to younger readers, who usually consider him to be one of the noblest characters in American Literature. My final piece of advice is not to read this book at one setting, especially the five readings in the second part. TEach one reflects a serious change in perspective and you really need to clear the decks of your mind before you move from one reading to the next.

This work has fully lifted the veil on AIDS. It has focused on the various dimensions in which mankind has had to cope with a disease whose method of transmission transcends cultural barriers. The addition of a Resource Directory highlights the need for networking in today's global environment.

This manual is a waste of your money. You can buy both the actual book and the movie on Amazon for less than $25 combined, and they're both worth every penny....

I first read "To Kill a Mockingbird" when I was 13 -- I had no trouble understanding it then and, not surprisingly, I still don't. Truth be told, while it more than deserves to be held as a "classic" (usually meaning insipid and torturous, though not the case here), Lee's novel is pretty straightforward.

You should have no problem determining how well Atticus Finch made his case, or how African-Americans were treated in 1935, or the history of the town that is so well-described it becomes like another character in the book.

The only reason to buy a book about understanding "To Kill a Mockingbird" is because you are a teacher who likes to beat the meaning of such things into the ground, or a student who has unfortunately been forced or advised to purchase an unnecessary guide to one of the most enjoyably down-to-earth books ever written.

As a participant in this year's "One Book, One Chicago", I have read the "REAL DEAL", which is the book selected for the program's inaugural year. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and also felt I had no problems understanding the critical issues illustrated in the book. I then made the forunate decision to attend a lecture by Ms. Durst Johnson at the Chicago Public Library; a lecture based primarily on information contained in her commentary. My time was not wasted: for as much as I had indeed GRASPED about the novel, there were still many more interesting things to learn that I had not even considered. While some may consider it "beating a subject to death" (or some such nonsense), your reading experience will definitely be enhanced by referring to, but not relying on, this book's contents.

To show the background by characters,I can hardly say that it did a nice job.The same thing, I think Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre did much better than that. If the he think using that way make some real-life style. I could just say it is nasty and unbelievable but not real-life.