ALLUSIONS IN INHERIT THE WIND—Presentations (have 56 copies made*)
The underlined people, places, and things in the following quotations are allusions made in the play, Inherit the Wind. [An allusion is
an indirect or casual reference to something.] You will explain one allusion to your classmates. You can read your information (no
PowerPoint) Make sure that your verbal explanations are clear, thorough, and accurate. You will only get partial value for partial
explanations. You will take notes on the allusions presented in class. They will be part of your final Inherit the Wind test.

Your task is to do some research on the allusion assigned to you.

You will be given a number that corresponds to the allusions listed below.
 You must find information in texts or on the internet and complete the following tasks:
1.
Establish context for the allusion and read the full line (s) that contain the allusion. Be sure to read
the full sentence that contains your allusion. (2 points)
2.
Find pertinent information on the allusion, using resources in the library or on the internet. Be
sure to tell your audience exactly where you found your information. You must do some research, even if
your allusion is familiar to you. (4 points) NO WIKEPEDIA!!
3.
Explain why the authors used the allusion in the play and why it is effective (4 points) Once you
have researched the allusion, you should see how the authors have used the allusion to further develop an
idea in the play. Make sure you explain this section very clearly.
***page numbers may not be correct for some play books***
1. "... Heavenly Hillsboro. The buckle on the Bible Belt." (Lawrence and Lee 13)
2. "I seen him once. At a Chautauqua meeting in Chatanooga." (8)
3. “To them, the Reverend Brown is a combination Milton Sills and Douglas Fairbanks.” Do both! (55)
4. "I must be thinking of another Elijah." (14)
5. "Whose tread has the thunder of the legions of the Lion-Hearted!" (p.15)
6. "Mr. President Wilson wouldn't never have got in the White House..." (p.19)—also connect to suffrage**
7. " If the enemy sends its Goliath into battle, it magnifies our cause." (p.25)
8. "If St. George had slain a dragonfly, who would remember him." (p.26)
9. "B. Cates: boy Socrates, latter-day Dreyfus, Romeo with a biology book." (p.29)
10. "B. Cates: boy Socrates, latter-day Dreyfus, Romeo with a biology book." (p.29)
11. "B. Cates: boy Socrates, latter-day Dreyfus, Romeo with a biology book." (p.29)
12. "Henry's Lizzie rattles into town." ("Tin Lizzie") (p.31)
13. "Colonel Brady's virginal small-towner has been had- / By Marconi and Montgomery Ward." (p.31)
14. "Colonel Brady's virginal small-towner has been had- / By Marconi and Montgomery Ward." (p.31)
15. "two child murderers" -Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb (p.24 )
16. “Like Barnum and Bailey coming to town.” (p. 44)
17. "I recollect a story about Joshua." (p.78)
18. " You suppose Houdini could do it?" (p.78)
19. (p.29)" Wake up Sleeping Beauty." (p.31)
20. "Brady brandishes his speech, as if it were Excalibur." (p.106)
21. "You only thought you missed the Coronation of Charlemange ! (p.101)
22. “Don’t worry. I’m not the serpent, Little Eva. This isn’t from the Tree of Knowledge” (29)
23. " Et tu, Brute." (p.67)
24."Now take this place where the whale swallows Jonah" (p.78)
25. “And the advance of man’s knowledge is more of a miracle than any sticks turned to snakes, or the
parting of waters!” (p.83)—see Moses
26. "A fine Biblical scholar, Bishop Usher." (Ussher) (p.85)
27. “The Word tell us that the World was created in Seven Days”(p.58) See The Book of Genesis
28. "…From the wicked modern Sodom and Gomorrah" (p.28)
29. "Now I suppose you can quote me chapter and verse right through the King James Version" (p. 76)
30. "Would you like to ban Copernicus from the classroom..." (pp.79-80)
31. “If, ‘In the beginning’ there were only Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, where’d this extra woman
spring from?” (p.80)
32. “a mélange of Moorish and Methodist;” (95) Do both.
33. “Hail the apostle whose letters to the Corinthians were lost in the mail?” (112)
34. “I am more interested in the Rock of Ages, than I am in the Age of Rocks.” (84)
35. “From the hallowed hills of sacred Sinai, in the days of remote antiquity, came the law … (p 105)
36. “The mighty Evolution Law explodes with the pale puff of a wet firecracker.” (103) (research
creation/evolution laws in the United States and or in public education)
(Biblical Eve and the serpent)
Allusion Marking Rubric
Speaker and
Situation
Pertinent
Research
Information
Not given
Speaker Given 1
Context somewhat
Established 1
Context Clearly
Established 2
Did not provide a
source for the
information__ (-1)
Provided___
Limited and/or
irrelevant
1 2
information given.
All pertinent
information given.
Very clear and
thorough.
4
Relevance of
allusion and its 1
effectiveness not
clearly explained.
Relevance of
allusion and its 2
effectiveness not as
clear as it should
be.
Good information
given, but maybe
missing some
important or
3
specific detail(s)
Good explanation
of relevance of
allusion and its 3
effectiveness.
Missing some info.
/4
/10
Allusion Marking Rubric
Speaker and
Situation
Pertinent
Research
Information
Not given
/4
/10
Pertinent
Research
Information
Context somewhat
Established 1
Context Clearly
Established 2
Did not provide a
source for the
information__ (-1)
Provided__
Limited and/or
irrelevant
1 2
information given.
All pertinent
information given.
Very clear and
thorough.
4
Relevance of
allusion and its 1
effectiveness not
clearly explained.
Relevance of
allusion and its 2
effectiveness not as
clear as it should
be.
Good information
given, but maybe
missing some
important or
3
specific detail(s)
Good explanation
of relevance of
allusion and its 3
effectiveness.
Missing some info.
/10
Excellent
explanation of
relevance of
allusion and its
effectiveness.
4
Name_____________________________________
Not given
Relevance to the
Play
/4
TOTAL
0
0
Speaker Given 1
Context somewhat
Established 1
Context Clearly
Established 2
Did not provide a
source for the
information__ (-1)
Provided___
Limited and/or
irrelevant
1 2
information given.
All pertinent
information given.
Very clear and
thorough.
4
Relevance of
allusion and its 1
effectiveness not
clearly explained.
Relevance of
allusion and its 2
effectiveness not as
clear as it should
be.
Good information
given, but maybe
missing some
important or
3
specific detail(s)
Good explanation
of relevance of
allusion and its 3
effectiveness.
Missing some info.
/2
/4
4
Speaker Given 1
Allusion Marking Rubric
Speaker and
Situation
Excellent
explanation of
relevance of
allusion and its
effectiveness.
Name_____________________________________
/2
Relevance to the
Play
/4
TOTAL
0
/2
Relevance to the
Play
/4
TOTAL
Name_____________________________________
Excellent
explanation of
relevance of
allusion and its
effectiveness.
4