* In a few weeks, I will be teaching To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee to my 8th grade English class, so I have spent this morning researching the novel, Lee and her odd relationship with Truman Capote.Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields, is an interesting look at Lee's life, but since it is written without Lee's permission, I take a majority of it with a grain of salt. Shields, a former English teacher, has pieced together the results of hundreds of interviews, along with much new information about Lee and this American classic.
As an introduction to reading To Kill a Mockingbird, I'm going to have my students read a short story from Truman Capote, so I started becoming more familiar with his work. I grabbed two books from the library that were very helpful. Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career by George Plimpton, is an oral biography, filled with wonderful intimate stories told by his famous friends and enemies.
The Complete Stories of Truman Capote by Truman Capote and Reynolds Price, is a "must read" and the last book that I looked at in my research. I chose two short stories ("Miriam" and "The Thanksgiving Visitor") from this collection to use in my classroom.
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