1930’s – The Great Depression
October 24, 1929: Black Thursday:
the day the stock market crashed
4
November, 1932-- Franklin Delano
Roosevelt is elected President in a landslide
over Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt received
22,800,000 popular votes to 15,750,000 for
Hoover.
July 7 of 1932 when the Times index was only 33.98,
a decline of over 89% from its high of 311.90 of September 19, 1929.(!!!)
No government programs existed to provide aid to people who needed it.
Is this different from today?
What assistance exists today?
For the unemployed? The elderly? The sick?
At the worst point of the Great Depression, in 1933, one in four Americans who
wanted to work was unable to find a job.
• “The only thing necessary for the triumph of
evil is for good men to do nothing.“
• Edmund Burke
• Agree? Why or why not ? Explain
To Kill a Mockingbird
• Goals and Approach: This unit will represent a
study in themes, including their interactions with
history, nonfiction pieces, and the self.
• Goals:
– Connect nonfiction to classical literature and the self
– Identify and examine similar themes and symbols across
literature (fiction and nonfiction), history, and personal
experience
– Participate in meaningful discussion
– Refine note taking skills based on verbal discussion
– Read a literary classic for both enjoyment and academic
purposes 
– Analyze literature with peers
To Kill a Mockingbird
• Requirements and Expectations Include:
– Reading 15-20 pages per night from the novel
– Nonfiction reading- 2 selections from the literature
anthology text
– Honest, thought provoking discussion
– Participation on the part of all class members
– Respect for others’ ideas at all times
– Independent note taking and an on-task work ethic at
all times
To Kill a Mockingbird
• Potential Academic Assignments:
– Comprehension and Critical Thought Quizzes (announced and
unannounced)
– Creative In-class Activities (connections to art and poetry)
– Homework Assignments- character analysis, comprehension
questions, analysis questions, connections to theme and
symbolism
– Unit Test and/or chapter quizes
– In-class and/or Out of Class Essay- Literary Analysis / Historical
Connections
– Quote Anthology Project
– Post-It© Note-Taking
– Meaningful Participation in Round Table Discussion
To Kill a Mockingbird
• Setting– The American South
– Maycomb, Alabama- a fictional town based on
Monroeville, Alabama
– 1930's (1933 to start)- Great Depression Era
– Pgs. 5-6 give the clues necessary to recognize the
historical era “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” FDR's Inauguration Speech in 1933
– While it is the story of Scout’s growing up, it is also a
story of the racially charged atmosphere of the town in
the years of the Great Depression.
To Kill a Mockingbird
• Related Historical Events:
• In 1931, nine black teenage boys were accused of rape by
two white girls. The trials of the boys lasted six years, with
convictions, reversals, and numerous retrials. These trials
were given the name The Scottsboro Trials, made national
headlines, and drastically intensified the debate about
race and racism in America. Ultimately, after six years of
trials in which the boys were kept in jail, and despite the
fact that one of the girls ultimately changed her testimony
and claimed that no rape had actually occurred, five of the
nine were convicted of rape.