Harper Lee (1926- )

A selective list of literary criticism for the American novelist Harper Lee, favoring peer-reviewed and signed articles and web sites that follow MLA guidelines for web pages.

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introduction & lighter reading [free]

"Harper Lee." A biography of the author, from the Encyclopedia of Alabama.

National Endowment for the Arts Introduction to To Kill a Mockingbird, from Dana Gioia, includes short essays about the historical context, author Harper Lee, discussion questions, a teacher's guide, and more. To Kill a Mockingbird was selected as one of four books for the National Endowment for the Art's Big Read, 2005.

"To Kill a Mockingbird: Then and Now." Educational materials on To Kill a Mockingbird, both the novel and the film, including discussion questions and information about the historical context. Prince William Network Distance Learning, April, 1997.

"Selected Guided Practice Activities for Teaching To Kill a Mockingbird." Suggestions for teachers, from the academic publisher A.B. Longman.

"Harper Lee's Novel Achievement."" With To Kill a Mockingbird, published 50 years ago, Lee gave America a story for the ages." Smithsonian magazine, June 2010, by Charles Leerhsen.

"To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee." A review of the novel from 1960, the year it was published, from the prestigious Atlantic Monthly magazine.

"At the Bar; To Attack A Lawyer In To Kill a Mockingbird: An Iconoclast Takes Aim At A Hero." A lawyer argues that Atticus Finch was less-than-perfect. NYTimes 28 Feb. 1992.

literary criticism

Chura, Patrick. "Prolepsis and Anachronism: Emmet Till and the Historicity of To Kill a Mockingbird." Southern Literary Journal 32, 2 (spring 2000) [first half of article only].

Crespino, Joseph. "The Strange Career of Atticus Finch." Southern Cultures 6, 2 (summer 2000) [first half of article only].

Dare, Tim. "Lawyers, Ethics, and To Kill a Mockingbird." Philosophy and Literature 25, 1 (April 2001) [subscription service].

Jones, Carolyn M. "Harper Lee." From The History of Southern Women's Literature (2002), ed. Carolyn Perry and Mary Louise Weaks [subscription service].

Lubet, Steven. "Reconstructing Atticus Finch." Michigan Law Review 97, 6 (May 1999) [subscription service].

Metress, Chrisopher. "To Kill a Mockingbird: Threatening Boundaries." Mississippi Quarterly Spring, 1995 [free].

Shackelford, Dean. "The Female Voice in To Kill a Mockingbird: Narrative Strategies in Film and Novel." Mississippi Quarterly 50, 1 (Winter 1996/97) [free].

Smykowski, Adam. "Symbolism and Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird." Readings on To Kill a Mockingbird (2000), ed. Terry O'Neill [subscription service].

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