To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee (pictured) published in 1960 and considered a classic of modern American fiction. The novel is loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old. The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers, and a model of integrity for lawyers. As a Southern Gothic novel and a bildungsroman, the primary themes of To Kill a Mockingbird involve racial injustice and the destruction of innocence, but scholars have also noted that Lee addresses the issues of class tensions, courage and compassion, and gender roles in the American Deep South. The book, which won a Pulitzer Prize, is widely taught in schools in English-speaking countries with lessons that emphasize tolerance and decry prejudice. Despite its themes, To Kill a Mockingbird has been the target of various campaigns to have it removed from public classrooms.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1933: In the first proven act of sabotage in the history of commercial aviation, a Boeing 247 operated by United Airlines exploded in mid-air near Chesterton, Indiana, killing all seven people aboard. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Air_Lines_Flight_23> 1963: The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground, went into effect. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Nuclear_Test_Ban_Treaty> 1973: U.S. vice president Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged with tax evasion. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiro_Agnew> 1992: After 20 years of construction, Vidyasagar Setu, the longest cable-stayed bridge in India, opened, joining Kolkata and Howrah. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidyasagar_Setu> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: breakdown: 1. (countable) A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature. 2. (physics, uncountable) The sudden (and usually damaging) transition of an electrical insulator to a conductor when subjected to a sufficiently strong voltage, caused by the partial or complete ionization of the insulator; (countable) an instance of this; also, the minimum voltage at which this occurs. 3. (countable) Something, such as a vehicle, that has experienced a mechanical failure. 4. (uncountable) Separation of a thing into components; decomposition, fragmentation; (countable) an instance of this. 5. (uncountable) Detailed categorization, or itemization or listing, of the components of a thing; (countable) an instance of this. 6. (chemistry, uncountable) Breaking of chemical bonds within a compound to produce simpler compounds or elements; (countable) an instance of this. 7. (film, television, countable) A detailed description of a forthcoming project or screenplay which identifies all the required elements, such as the cast, costumes, equipment, props, and special effects. 8. (figurative) 9. (countable) A failure in a relationship; a failure or loss of organization in a system. 10. (uncountable) (Sudden) worsening of physical health or (more commonly) mental stability, resulting in an inability to carry on normal activities; (countable) an instance of this. 11. (veterinary medicine, uncountable) Injury to a horse's leg causing lameness; (countable) an instance of this. 12. (originally and chiefly New Zealand, countable, chiefly attributive) An act of splitting logs of wood using a large saw in a sawmill; also, the saw used; or (rare) the building in which the process is carried out. 13. (music, countable) 14. A part of a piece of music or a song which differs from the other parts in that it features improvisation or is stripped down (for example, played by fewer instruments or a solo performer). 15. Synonym of percussion break (“a percussion-focused segment of a song, chosen by a hip-hop DJ to manipulate through cutting, mixing, and other techniques in order to create rhythmic music”) 16. (chiefly Southern US, countable) 17. (dance, dated) A noisy, rapid, shuffling dance engaged in competitively by a number of individuals or pairs in succession, common among African-Americans from the Southern United States; also, a lively event, chiefly in a rural setting, at which such dancing is done; a hoedown, a shindig. 18. (music) A piece of music played for such a dance, especially a rapid bluegrass tune featuring a five-string banjo. 19. (obsolete, countable) An act of a structure or other thing breaking and collapsing. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/breakdown> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its leaves are a little yellow, its tone mellower, its colours richer, and it is tinged a little with sorrow and a premonition of death. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor of the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and is content. From a knowledge of those limitations and its richness of experience emerges a symphony of colours, richer than all, its green speaking of life and strength, its orange speaking of golden content and its purple of resignation and death. --Lin Yutang <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lin_Yutang> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe write to: [email protected] Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
