To Kill A Mockingbird pre-reading
Name
World Literature
Date
Follow the links, read the information and answer the
questions.
I. Jim Crow laws
from University of Dayton, School of Law website:
Examples of Jim Crow Laws
1. What was the purpose of “Jim Crow” laws?
2. What kind of partition did restaurants in Alabama need to have?
3. In Georgia, what was the law about amateur baseball?
4. What was the fine in Mississippi for promoting the idea of equality and
intermarriage?
5. How do you think these laws would have affected your life if you had to follow
them?
II. The Scottsboro Trial
from PBS website:
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: Stories [Events]
from From Trivia-Library.com:
The Scottsboro Boys 1
The Scottsboro Boys 2
1.
What were the basic facts of the Scottsboro case?
2. What motivated the women to testify against the men?
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3. Who tried to make sure justice was truly served in this case?
4. What does Clarence Norris say he has learned?
5. What is your opinion of this case?
III. Life in the South during the Great Depression
from Oracle: Think Quest website:
Interview: Growing up Black in the 1930s in McCulleys Quarters,
Alabama
1. What was life like for a typical 6 year old girl, according to Mrs. Barge?
2. What does she say was her experience with white people when she was
growing up?
from The Library of Congress “American Memory” website:
America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black-and-White
Photographs from 1935 – 1945 (Greensboro, Alabama)
Click on “Gallery View” to see photographs.
Based on these photographs, what are your impressions of the town of
Greensboro, Alabama?
1.
Based on these photographs, how would you describe life for a black farming
family in Greensboro, Alabama at this time?
2.
3.
Describe one thing that stands out for you in these photographs:
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from The Library of Congress “American Memory” website:
America from the Great Depression to World War II: Black-and-White
Photographs from 1935-1945 (Sharecroppers)
Click on “Gallery View” to see photographs.
4. Based on these photographs, how would you describe life for a white farming
family in Greensboro, Alabama at this time?
Now search on this website for “Mr. Ramsey, lawyer”
5. What do you notice about the home of this lawyer, as compared to the homes
in the other pictures?
from Library of Congress: Prints and Photographs Reading Room website
Photographs of Signs Enforcing Racial Discrimination
6. Look at some of the signs that enforced racial segregation. How do they
make you feel?
7. How would these signs have affected your life?
IV. Harper Lee
from National Endowment for the Arts: The Big Read website
To Kill a Mockingbird: About the Author
1.
What was Harper Lee like as a child?
2.
What did her father do for a living?
3.
What major prize did To Kill a Mockingbird win in 1961?
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