To Kill a Mockingbird



To Kill a Mockingbird Name____________

Period_____

Webquest: About the Author





1. Where and when was Harper Lee born?

2. What was her family like?

3. Who was her childhood best friend?

4. What did she study in college?

5. What extra-curricular activities did she participate in while in college?

6. Why might this be important to consider while reading To Kill a Mockingbird?

7. How did her decision to move to New York make the novel a reality?

8. What year was the novel published?

9. When was it adapted to screen?

10. In what way was Harper Lee honored following the novel’s publication?

11. Harper Lee’s real life influenced many of the characters and events in the novel. Given what you have learned about her life (including personality traits, friends, family, experiences) make a prediction about what kinds of issues might surface in the novel.

12. Do you think your knowledge about Harper Lee will influence your reading of the book? Why or why not?

To Kill a Mockingbird Name____________

Webquest: Jim Crow Laws Period____



1. Where did the term “Jim Crow” come from?

2. List three ways how the origin of this term is offensive.

3. How did the term “Jim Crow” become synonymous with the segregation laws in the South?

4. What ended Reconstruction in the South, and what effect did that have on southern blacks?

5. Legally, African-Americans had the right to vote. How was their right to suffrage compromised? List three ways whites made it nearly impossible for blacks to vote.

6. How did the Plessy vs. Ferguson case (1896) uphold Jim Crow laws?

7. What effect did this case have on the lives (transportation, education, social implications) of southern blacks?

8. Who was Booker T. Washington? Where did he live? What did he believe was the best way for southern African-Americans to survive in the South?

9. Who was W.E.B Dubois? Where did he live? What did he believe was the best way for southern African-Americans to survive in the South?

10. Why do you think Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois have differing opinions on how to survive in the South? List three facts to support your opinion.

11. How did many southern blacks escape the South? Where did they go? What was this movement called?

To Kill a Mockingbird Name_____________________

Webquest: Growing up White/Black in the South Period_____

“Growing up Black in the 1930s”



1. What does Mrs. Barge know about her ancestry?

2. How does she talk about her family?

3. What were her and her family’s living conditions like?

4. When was the first time she noticed a difference between the lives of black people and the lives of white people?

5. From Mrs. Barge’s account, what do you think is the most astounding difference?

6. What was school like for Mrs. Barge?

7. What kind of jobs were available to black people in the South?

8. Were black people allowed to vote?

9. Mrs. Barge clearly has a different opinion of white people than her father does. What does she say that proves this?

10. How does her perception of white people differ from her father? Why do you think that is?

“Growing up White in the 1930s”



11. What do these three ladies have in common about their ancestry?

12. How do they talk about their families?

13. What were the three ladies’ living conditions like?

14. What were these ladies’ first experience with black people?

15. Did these white ladies ever play with their black peers?

16. Compare the three ladies’ backgrounds from “Growing up White in the 1930s.” How do their backgrounds differ from Mrs. Barge’s background in “Growing up Black in the 1930s”?

17. What do the ladies say “makes a good family” in “Growing up White in the 1930s”?

18. How do you think Mrs. Barge would describe a “good family”?

19. What are the similarities and differences between Mrs. Barge’s family and the white ladies’ families?

20. What occupations were available to black women in the 1930s?

21. How did these occupations influence Mrs. Barge’s perception of white people?

22. According to the white ladies, how did these occupations influence the perception of black people?

23. Write a paragraph commenting on Mrs. Barge’s statement that one “shouldn’t put people into categories.”

To Kill a Mockingbird Name__________

Webquest: The Great Depression Period___



1. What is “Black Tuesday” and why does it mark the beginning of the Great Depression?

2. Many people believe that WWII marked the end of the Great Depression. How did the war affect the economy?

3. What president was inaugurated in 1933?

4. What were some of the changes made by his administration?

5. What was the New Deal and how did it affect American citizens?



6. What was the Dust Bowl?

7. How did the Dust Bowl affect the Southern Plains?

8. What affect did the Dust Bowl have on agriculture?

9. How did this affect farmers and their employees?

To Kill a Mockingbird Name_____________

Webquest: The Scottsboro Boys Period______



1. What were the Scottsboro Boys known for? Who were they? What did they do? How did they get in so much trouble?

2. Where and when did the Scottsboro Boys’ original trial take place?

3. How do you think this affected the outcome of their trial?

4. Why did the NAACP decide not to help the Scottsboro Boys?

5. The Communist Party came to the aid of the Scottsboro Boys. How did the South perceive the Communist Party, and how was it similar to the perception of blacks?

6. What was the Communist Party’s hidden agenda in providing aid to the Scottsboro Boys?

7. List three ways in which the Scottsboro defense lawyers were incompetent.

8. Describe the trials. Were they fair or unfair? Provide three specific examples to back up your opinion.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download