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aCTIvITy 1.13
continued
• From To Kill a Mockingbird – Atticus speaks to Jem about Mrs. Dubose: “You know, she was a great lady.”
“A lady?” Jem raised his head. His face was scarlet. “After all those things she said about you, a lady?”
“She was. She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe ... son, I told you that if you hadn’t lost your head I’d have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her—I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.”
Setting a Purpose for Reading
• As you read, put exclamation marks next to the author’s definition of heroism.
• Highlight details the author gives to support his definition.
• Circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by using context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.
my Notes
About the Author
Oliver Stone became a movie director after serving in the Vietnam War. Stone’s films have explored historical subjects, such as the Vietnam War and President Kennedy’s assassination. Three of Stone’s films—Midnight Express (for which he wrote the screenplay), Platoon, and Born on the Fourth of July— have earned Academy Awards.
article
Where I Find My
by Oliver Stone
from McCall’s Magazine, November 1992
1 It’s not true that there are no heroes anymore—but it is true that my own concept of heroism has changed radically over time. When I was young and I read the Random House biographies, my heroes were always people like George Washington and General Custer and Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. Men, generally, and doers. Women—with the exception of Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale, and Joan of Arc — got short shrift. Most history was oriented toward male heroes.
2 But as I’ve gotten older, and since I’ve been to war, I’ve been forced to reexamine the nature of life and of heroism. What is true? Where are the myths?
Unit 1 • The Challenge of Heroism 71
Heroes
short shrift: little attention
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