Lavoie 1
Danielle Lavoie
June 3, 2011
Diane Kern
EDC 448
Guiding Questions:
Textset: To Kill A Mockingbird : Racism in America
1.
Is understanding the laws and social dynamic of the 1950’s and 1960’s important when reading To Kill A Mockingbird ?
2.
Does the culture (music, art, literature, food, etc.) of the time period effect Lee’s novel, though it is not necessarily present in it?
3.
How are novels like Harper Lee’s working to change the way we think about racism?
4.
Do you think racism is still a prevalent issue today, how has it changed since 1960?
5.
What is your idea of a hero? Who are the heroes in this novel? Why?
Text # 1
Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird . New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a critical text covered by most high schools nationwide. Although, it is fictional, it is always accompanied by a variety of nonfictional resources that are challenging, and stimulating for students. It teaches students the importance of standing in someone else’s shoes. It encourages them to straighten their moral compass, and practice the golden rule. Additionally, it exposes them to the often-unjust ways of a judicial system deemed indisputably “right,” teaching them to stand up for what they believe is truly right. Though it is a story set in the sixties, the novel’s main morals are timeless.

Lavoie 2
Text #2
Bridges, Ruby. "Ruby Bridges." Ruby Bridges . Guideposts, 1 Mar. 2000. Web. 03 June 2011.
<http://www.rubybridges.com/story.htm>.
Atticus is the novel’s ostensive hero. He is the adament lawyer who defends those he believes in for little to no money and simultaneously teaches his children right from wrong.
However, it is Scout who learns the biggest lessons. The novel is also viewed as a coming of age story, as much as it is about overcoming racism. Ruby Nell’s actual life parallels Scout’s. She was the first black student at an all white elementary school. The students will read her story that takes place in November 1960, the same year the novel To Kill A Mockingbird was published and see what lessons Ruby learned as Scout was learning the ones posed in the novel. They will then compare and contrast the two as we talk about what makes a hero.
Text #3
"Sparknotes: To Kill A Mockingbird Video Sparknote." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study
Guides . Web. 03 June 2011. <http://www.sparknotes.com/sparknotes/video/mocking>.
Sparknotes.com is now offering condensed audio summaries of popular study guides with cartoon videos. To Kill A Mockingbird was one of the first ones to be provided. It gives quick facts such as the main characters, the settings, the three main lessons taught in the novel. For students who are having trouble motivating themselves to read the novel this may be a good way to get into it. The video is only a few minutes long and provides an entertaining summary that could hook reluctant readers.
Text #4
"The Trials of The Scottsboro Boys." UMKC School of Law . Web. 03 June 2011.
<http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm>.

Lavoie 3
Students will be asked to read about The Scottsboro Boys Trial, in which nine teenaged black boys were accused of rape in Alabama in 1931. The trial is relevant not only to explore the judicial system more but also to directly parallel it with Tom Robinson in our primary text. The website listed offers letters and accounts written by the boys, a timeline, information about the trials, images and pictures from the trials, and much more. Students could spend up to an entire day in the library researching this trial and an additional day working with one another to compare and contrast it with Lee’s novel.
Text #5
"The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow. Games and Activities | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting
Service . Educational Broadcasting Corp, 2002. Web. 03 June 2011.
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/tools.html>.
To Kill A Mockingbird was published during the time of Jim Crow Laws and right on the cusp of changing them. PBS.org has an interactive website all about The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow.
Although, the website conveniently provides lesson plans for teachers, it is the tools and activities for students that would be critical for this unit. Students could participate individually or in pairs on several interactive activities on the website and take the quiz at the end to assess their knowledge.
Text #6
Dylan, Bob. Another Side of Bob Dylan ; The times They Are A-changing ; The Freewheelin'
Bob Dylan . Columbia, 1996. CD.
Bob Dylan was an active voice of the civil rights movement, as well as an influencial artist in the folk genre. He changed the way people listen to, receive, and play folk music opening up a variety of avenues for change and creativity by going electric. Arguably, his lyrics could even be

Lavoie 4 read as poetry. Students will read as well as listen to The Times They Are A Changing and work to relate it to what we have studied so far and try to apply it to the world we live in today.
Text #7
Gladwell, Malcolm. "THE COURTHOUSE RING." New Yorker 85.24 (2009): 26-32. Academic
Search Complete . EBSCO. Web. 3 June 2011.
In addition to having an audio option, The Courthouse Ring is an effective resource because it compares a real person Alabama’s Governor “Big” Jim Folsom, known for his desire for racial equality, to Atticus Finch. They compare Folsom’s actions with Atticus’ in the courtroom scene.
Text #8
"Kara Walker | Main | Home Page Browse." Learn.walkerart.org
. Web. 03 June 2011.
<http://learn.walkerart.org/karawalker>.
Kara Walker is a contemporary artist who paints silhouette murals and smaller scale silhouette paintings that display themes of race, violence, and sex in ironic ways. Her work has been shown in a variety of museums nationwide and is incredibly moving, disturbing, and thought provoking.
If unable to attend an exhibit I would ask students to look at her work and journal what thoughts each piece evokes in them, be it related to the novel or not.
Text #9
"NPR Media Player." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts
: NPR . Web. 03 June 2011. <http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1>.
Marvin Gaye, much like Dylan is an influential artist of the civil rights era. His work speaks to racism, the social dynamic in the world, and how it can be changed and hopefully will. His interview is particularly powerful because it is taking place in a time when it has changed and

Lavoie 5 brings us up to speed. Our unit will have come full circle and will be hearing someone, though for a brief time, who has lived and experienced life in a time our novel narrates.
Text #10
To Kill A Mockingbird . Dir. Robert Mulligan. Perf. Gregory Peck. Universal International
Productions, 1962. DVD.
Robert Mulligan’s To Kill A Mockingbird starring Greogory Peck would be a nice way to conclude our unit on To Kill A Mockingbird . The movie closely follows the book, though no film adaptation can ever be the novel itself. Film offers students an opportunity to see the scenes they have read unfold on screen in ways they may have not been able to envision before.