Commencing with a broad overview, we exchanged ideas on "what is a novel?" and how a novel differs from a short story. I noted that a characteristic of a novel is a character's progression from ignorance or innocence to some form of knowledge and recognition. We then delved into chapter 2 wherein the author depicts southern education in the 1930s, and we discussed the author's view that the characters in the book will not progress intellectually or personally as a result of their deficient education. In fact, we noted the humor in the novel wherein it seems the students reverse roles with their teacher and need to comfort and teach the teacher about life in their rural community . We then discussed the class system in the town, and Bobby placed in his notebook notes on the class system and on the main characters' perception on their reclusive neighbor Boo Radley. Recalling the "definition" of the novel, we began to look for clues that the main characters will in fact change or learn something from their experiences that will correct their childhood misconceptions about Boo. For homework, I assigned reading chapter 5.