Mississippi Trial, 1955
Final Assignment
English 9 - Mr. Bullis
75 points
Focus Question #5: R.C. told Hiram that “he was going to Money with a couple of men and that they were going to
teach a Northern Negro a lesson.” Emmett disappeared the next night. Hiram had to decide whether or not to tell a
jury what R.C. told him or to withhold the truth and deny knowing anything about R.C.’s possible role in the
murder. He thought of plenty of reasons why he should implicate R.C. and plenty of reasons why he should keep
his mouth shut. Looking back, weigh the pros and cons of Hiram implicating R.C. in Emmett’s murder in court.
Answer Plan
1. Restate the prompt and state your opinion as to whether you believe Hiram handled the situation properly and
reasons why you believe that way.
2. Write one paragraph discussing the pros of Hiram keeping his mouth shut.
3. Write another paragraph discussing the cons of Hiram not implicating R.C.
Focus Question #7: It has been over fifty years since the trial of the people involved in the death of Emmitt Till.
Consider what would be different in the trial today because of being in a different time and because of advances in
forensics?
Answer Plan
1. Restate the question and state your opinion.
2. Write one paragraph discussing how the following aspects were handled in 1955: identification of the body, location
of the trial, regard for eye-witnesses, jury selection, influence of local/national laws, and sympathy shown for accused
killers.
3. Write another paragraph discussing how those aspects would be handled today.
Focus Question #8: How do you think Hiram now feels about his father and his grandfather? Was there a change
since the beginning of the book?
Answer Plan
1. Restate the question and state your opinion.
2. Give four to five sentences of relevant and specific support for your opinion.
3. Conclude with a paragraph suggesting what Hiram’s relationships with these men might be in the future, and defend
it with support from the text.
Focus Question #9: Compare and contrast the lives of African-Americans from the North and the South. Did
Emmett have an opinion or strong feeling about segregation in the South? How did white Southerners feel toward
segregation?
Answer Plan
1. Write several sentences showing the similarities and differences of African-Americans from the South and the
North.
2. Write a paragraph that expresses Emmett’s opinions about segregation in the South.
3. Write another paragraph describing the feeling of white Southerners towards segregation.
Focus Question #12: Not only is this novel an indictment on racism in this country, it is also a snapshot into family
relationships. Compare and contrast the experiences in your life with those of the characters in the novel.
Answer Plan
1. Restate the prompt and give a general statement has to how you have handled situations dealing with
discrimination, and how you have navigated through family issues and misunderstandings.
2. Compare and contrast your experiences with discrimination to those in the novel, citing specific examples.
3. Compare and contrast your experiences with handling family “drama” with those in the novel, citing specific
examples.
Focus Question #13: Carefully read the song lyrics below, written by legendary singer and songwriter
Bob Dylan.
The Death of Emmett Till
Bob Dylan
'Twas down in Mississippi not so long ago,
When a young boy from Chicago walked through a Southern door.
This boy's fateful tragedy you should all remember well,
The color of his skin was black and his name was Emmett Till.
Some men they dragged him to a barn and there they beat him up.
They said they had a reason, but I disremember what.
They tortured him and did some things too evil to repeat.
There was screaming sounds inside the barn, there was laughing sounds out on the street.
Then they rolled his body down a gulf amidst a blood-red rain,
And they threw him in the waters wide to cease his screaming pain.
The reason that they killed him there, and I'm sure it was no lie,
Was just for the fun of killin' him and to watch him slowly die. ('cause he was born a black skinned boy, he was
born to die)
And then to stop the United States of yelling for a trial,
Two brothers they confessed that they had killed poor Emmett Till.
But on the jury there were men who helped the brothers commit this awful crime,
And so this trial was a mockery, but nobody seemed to mind.
I saw the morning papers but I could not bear to see
The smiling brothers walkin' down the courthouse stairs.
For the jury found them innocent and the brothers they went free,
While Emmett's body floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea.
If you can't speak out against this kind of thing, a crime that's so unjust,
Your eyes are filled with dead men's dirt, your mind is filled with dust.
Your arms and legs they must be in shackles and chains, and your blood it must refuse to flow,
For you let this human race fall down so God-awful low!
This song is just a reminder to remind your fellow man
That this kind of thing still lives today in that ghost-robed Ku Klux Klan.
But if all us folks that thinks alike, if we gave all we could give,
We could make this great land of ours a greater place to live.
Answer Plan
1. What it is your opinion of Dylan’s song lyrics? Please be specific about your thoughts – support your
“claims.”
2. Specifically, what lines in this song stir up emotions? Why?
3. Compare and contrast the themes of this song to what was discussed in your anticipation guide. This
paragraph should include 8-10 sentences.
Mississippi Trial, 1955
Final Assignment
English 9 - Mr. Bullis
75 points - due Thursday, January 12
In lieu of vocab skits or a “final” assessment on the entirety of the novel, you will be responding to three
focus questions on the following two pages.
Important to note...
• You are required to answer Focus #12 or Focus #13 as one of your choices.
• MLA style (typed, 12 font, etc.) must be observed. As a result, you will be required to cite passages
from the novel. A handout and explanation is forthcoming.
• You may work with a partner on this, however, you both will receive the same grade if “equal” work is
contributed to the assignment. Mr. Bullis reserves the right to dock points, if deemed necessary.
• Partners must have their own copies of the assignment, as this assignment will be placed in your writing
folder.
• There will be a significant amount of self-evaluation involved with this assignment, however, Mr. Bullis
does reserve the right to issue the “final” grade on this project.
• A scoring rubric will also be forthcoming; however, if you adhere to the “Answer Plans,” you will be on
“the right track.” In order to score well on this assignment, you MUST follow the directions.
• Late papers will not be accepted. You must have your paper with you on the 12th when you walk in to
class, as we will begin the scoring process right away. If you are not in school on January 12, you will
be required to email Mr. Bullis your responses. Your responses must be received by the time your
respective class period meets.
As a result to the change in schedule, we will adjust the remaining semester schedule to look like this:
Monday, January 9:
Class time to work on this assignment (or the grammar due on Tuesday).
Tuesday, January 10:
Check grammar p. 120-122, 124-126, and 128-130. Use remaining
class
time to work on this assignment.
Wednesday, January 11:
Lit elements assessment (use Short Story Unit workbooks to study).
Continue using remaining class time to work on this assignment.
Thursday, January 12:
MT, 1955 Final Assignment is due. Self-evaluation.
Friday, January 13:
Continue with self-evaluation and check it with Mr. Bullis. Grammar quiz
#3??? Handout final exam study guide.
Monday, January 16:
NO SCHOOL - MLK DAY
Tuesday, January 17:
Socratic Circles - Comprehensive review for exam.