Mississippi Trial, 1955



Mississippi Trial, 1955

Focus Questions

English 9 - Mr. Bullis

Focus Question #1: What do we learn in these chapters about Hiram’s grandfather’s attitudes/prejudices? Do you think these attitudes are based on ignorance or lack of knowledge? Explain your opinion.

Focus Question #2: On page 35, Hiram’s dad, Harlan, tells him hat he (Harlan) can’t live in Greenwood, because, “…there are some things you can’t understand that keep it from being a good place for us right now.” Hiram replies that he likes Greenwood, and that it’s good enough for him. But some things have already occurred that foreshadow Hiram’s learning that this town is not everything he believes it to be. What are those things and what is your prediction about what will happen to Hiram when he returns to Greenwood?

Focus Question #3: At the end of Chapter 5, Hiram says, “It was good to be back in Greenwood. I had come back home, and I was free.” What do you think he means when he says he’s “free”?

Focus Question #4: What evidence do we see that Hiram’s view of life in Greenwood is changing?

Focus Question #5: R.C. told Hiram that “he was going to Money with a couple of men and that they were going to teach a Northern Negro a lesson.” Emmett disappeared the next night. Hiram must decide whether or not to tell a jury what R.C. told him or to withhold the truth and deny knowing anything about R.C.’s possible role in the murder. He can think of plenty of reasons why he should implicate R.C. and plenty of reasons why he should keep his mouth shut. Weigh the pros and cons of Hiram implicating R.C. in Emmett’s murder in court.

Focus Question #6: Considering Hiram’s conversations with Naomi and Mr. Paul, and considering what Hiram has been thinking about, what do you think he means when he says, “I was going to do the right thing”?

Focus Question #7: It has been over fifty years since the trial of the people involved in the death of Emmitt Till. Consider what would be different in the trial today because of being in a different time and because of advances in forensics?

Focus Question #8: How do you think Hiram now feels about his father and his grandfather? Has there been a change since the beginning of the book?

Focus Question #9: Compare and contrast the lives of African-Americans from the North and the South. Did Emmett have an opinion or strong feeling about segregation in the South? How did white Southerners feel toward segregation?

Focus Question #10: How would you have handled the situation differently if you were Emmett, Uncle Mose, or his cousins? What was your reaction to how the sheriff handled the case? Do you think he will continue his behavior?

Focus Question #11: Do you think the pressure to prosecute from Northerners helped or hurt the case against the two men?

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