Pre-Reading Research Assignment for To Kill a Mockingbird
Students will research one of the topics below and develop an 11-slide presentation with facts and images, either with a
partner, or independently as requested by the student.
1. Research the 1930s
Research the decade of the 1930s through culture, economics, geography, history, and society. The 1930s began
during an economic crash and ended with the onset of World War II. Interview grandparents and others who lived
through the 1930s if possible.
2. Research the Jim Crow Laws
Southern society in the 1930s was strictly segregated, which is portrayed in the novel. Blacks and whites did not
mingle at parks, libraries or restaurants. In North Carolina, for example, textbooks used at a white school could not
be used at a black school and vice versa. Research the Jim Crow laws and imagine life in a segregated society.
3. Research Life in the South
To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, a small Southern town. Compare and contrast small
southern towns with the towns and cities they live in now. Technology was not ever-present in people's lives as it is
today. Small towns meant living close to the land, socializing mostly at church and watching out for your neighbors.
Men were polite to women and children were not supposed to be heard from, only seen.
4. Research The Great Depression
To Kill a Mockingbird takes during the Great Depression, a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade
preceding World War II. The Great Depression had devastating effects in countries rich and poor.
5. Research The Scottsboro Boys
The Scottsboro Boys were nine black teenagers accused of rape in Alabama in 1931. The landmark set of legal cases
from this incident dealt with racism and the right to a fair trial. The case included a frame-up, an all-white jury,
rushed trials, an attempted lynching, and an angry mob; it is frequently given as an example of an
overall miscarriage of justice.
6. Research the WPA
The Works Progress Administration (renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration; WPA) was the largest
and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unemployed people (mostly unskilled men) to carry
out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads.
7. Research Autherine Lucy
Born in Shiloh, Alabama as a daughter of a tenant farmer, Autherine Lucy was the first black student to attend the
University of Alabama in 1956.
8. Research Rosa Parks and/or The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks was an African-American Civil Rights activist, whom the United States Congress called "the first lady of
civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement". The Montgomery Bus Boycott, a seminal event in the U.S.
Civil Rights Movement, was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the
public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama.
9. Research the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1865-1895; 1954–1968)
The African-American Civil Rights Movement encompasses social movements in the United States whose goals were
to end racial segregation and discrimination against black Americans and to secure legal recognition and federal
protection of the citizenship rights enumerated in the Constitution and federal law.
10. Research Little Rock Nine/Brown vs. Board of Education
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in
1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from
entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas.
11. Research Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee (born April 28, 1926) is an American novelist widely known for her 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning To
Kill a Mockingbird which deals with the racism she observed as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama.
Though Lee only published this single book for half a century, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
for her contribution to literature.
Students will be evaluated based on the quality of their presentations, grammar, the variety of their research, and the
quality of their responses to questions and comments. Students should feel prepared to read To Kill a Mockingbird after
participating in this research.
Assignment: Research one aspect of culture that is found in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Project goals are to enhance student:
▪ Research and documentation skills (MLA citations required).
▪ Cultural Concepts and Book Background Information:
1. 1930s
2. Jim Crow Laws
3. Life in the South
4. Great Depression
5. Scottsboro Boys
6. WPA
7. Autherine Lucy
8. Rosa Parks/Montgomery Bus Boycott
9. Civil Rights Movement 1865-1895; 1954–1968
10. Little Rock Nine/Brown vs. Board of Education
11. Harper Lee
Requirements:
▪ You will research and develop a Google.docs presentation – you may work with a partner or you may work
independently. You must each research independently and then collaboratively develop the presentation. If
you work with a partner, you must decide which information and slides to use – no more than 11 slides total.
▪ You must use at least three (3) credible online sources (e.g.: .gov, .edu, .net, .org). You must include a Works
Cited Page at the end of the slide deck that follows MLA requirements.
▪ Slide 1: Title Slide (Topic title, partner names, class period, date). Save slide deck using last name of student or
student team member names.
▪ Slides 2-11: Body Slides - Provide a minimum of 10 facts meeting the following requirements:
▪ Include at least 1 fact per slide - clearly identified
▪ Include a minimum of 1 image per slide, to illustrate the fact or topic and each image must be
cited in MLA format
▪ Include at least 1 scholarly document source (see What is a Scholarly Source? document for
guidelines)
▪ Include at least one quote from someone reflecting a first-hand experience with the topic (if
you have trouble with this, see your instructor)
▪ Have a minimum of 1 statistic about your topic that measures its impact/result/idea
▪ Your summary slide should relate your topic to a current event/person in the world today in
some way (if you have trouble with this, see your instructor)
▪

Use appropriate MLA citation for all facts, quotes, statistics, images, and other sources of
information - refer to class notes provided by your instructor on how to do this in Google.docs.
Slide 12 – Works Cited Slide
▪ Spelling, Neatness, Grammar Correctness, and MLA citations count!
Weight: Test Grade
Timeline: 6 Days
 Thur. April 23: Assign and explain the project
 Fri. April 24; Mon - Wed. April 27-29: Student research and slide development IN GOOGLE.DOCS - Room A131
 Thur. & Fri. April 30 & May 1: Learn about everyone’s research - Classroom
 Final presentation DUE DATE: Your final presentation must be shared with me LMTafoya@g.risd.org in
Google.docs by: April 29, 2015 by 11:59. The title slide should include all names of those in the group.
Late policy: Work turned in one day late will penalized 30%, and work turned in two days late will be penalized 50%.
Grading Rubric
Requirements
Possible Points
Well-written summary in bullet format that sets up the
remainder of the presentation.
10
10 Body Slides that support intro summary with at least
one fact, statistic, quote, image, etc. At least 3 credible,
reputable sources.
50
Summary Slide: Compares the event to a current
event/person in the world today that effectively ends the
paper.
10
Works Cited Slide and Citations: Each time research is
embedded, proper citations MUST be used. Proper
citations include author’s last name and page number of
book. Have you cited EVERY source you used in your
paper? Refer to MLA for specific questions!
15
Conventions: Grammar, spelling, punctuation and
capitalization are correct. Fragments, run-ons, and
awkward phrasing are avoided.
15
This assignment is a test grade:
Total Points
100
Your Points
To Kill a Mockingbird Reading Approximate Timeline:
May 1-6: Read Chs. 1-7 (pages 3-84 = 81 pages)
May 7-8: Discussion Chs. 1-7
May 9-13: Read Chs. 8-15 (pages 85-192 = 107 pages)
May 14-15: Discussion 8-15
May 16-24: Read Chs. 16-30 (pages 193-376 = 183 pages)
May 26-29: Discussion Chs. 16-30
June 1: Review for Final Exam