FENCES WEBQUEST
NAME:________________________
25 CLASSWORK POINTS
HISTORY: Fences is the Pulitzer Prize award-winning play by August Wilson. Published in 1985, the play
is set in the 1950s and explores both the African-American experience and race relations in Pittsburgh,
PA. Use the following hyperlinks to answer some questions about the historical and cultural context of
this play.
PART 1: SEGREGATION
One aspect of race relations Fences deals with is segregation. Before we begin we must travel to the
land of Jim Crow (a series of laws and system of power designed both to keep white Americans on top
and black Americans on the bottom socially, economically, and politically).
1.
Open up an internet browser and log on to website:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/themap/map.html
2.
View the “colored only” image and click on the banner titled “Jim Crow Laws.” Read the
blurb to the left. In your own words, who or what is Jim Crow?
3.
Now click on the section the left titled “public accommodations.” On the map of the
United States find Georgia and Oklahoma. Click on each state and briefly summarize the laws.
Include a brief description of the photo that accompanies the write up.
4.
Next: VISIT: http://urbanhonking.com/plazm/files/2012/01/Screen-Shot-2012-01-15at-10.17.32-PM.png (from rememberingsegregation.org)
a. Why are there two separate entrances to this website?
b. If this were still the time between 1876 and 1965 then you would be required to choose
the entrance that applies to you. Please do so. Read the information that
follows and click on the link to take you back to the other side. What could happen
to you if you were found on the wrong side? Who would enforce these laws?
http://adland.tv/adnews/remember-segregation/1137012792
c.
Go to image: http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/wpcontent/uploads/2007/09/segregated.jpg
What was the importance of separating “blacks” and “whites?” Why would the
separate fountains be placed right next to each other?
FENCES WEBQUEST
NAME:________________________
25 CLASSWORK POINTS
PART II: Negro Leagues
Go to: https://www.nlbm.com/s/history.htm
Read this section and jot down 7 facts about the Negro Baseball Leagues
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
1.
Now, visit http://www.coe.ksu.edu/nlbemuseum/history/nrplayers.html and find the name
Leroy “Satchel” Paige. Jot down some information about him in the space below.
CONNECTIONS: Visit the following website and find the year 1896 on the timeline.
http://www.negroleaguebaseball.com/timeline.html
2.
Based on the laws you read and the pictures you viewed regarding Jim Crow and segregation,
what effect did Plessy v. Ferguson have on America?
3.
The title of our story is Fences. What else happened in 1896 concerning “fences?”
SUPPOSITION: Symbolism in writing can be described as using a theme, object, or idea to represents
something else, either by association or by resemblance.
4.
Based on all that you have read, viewed, and
learned, what can the word “fences” symbolically
mean?
FENCES WEBQUEST
25 CLASSWORK POINTS
NAME:________________________