Examiner
To Kill Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells of a novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up.
Told from a child’s point of view, Scout, Jem, and Dill watch as Atticus defends a man in Alabama,
which causes racial conflict. The kids are determined to get the strange Boo Radley out of the house
to play with them. An innocent man is accused of rape, but the town is not ready for Atticus Finch to
defend a black man. The characters are dynamic, and the story comes together with each character
playing a key role in the story.
Your assignment:
While reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, choose a topic to focus on and research using
outside resources and information directly from the text.
Library Catalog Subject Headings
Father-daughter relationships
Race relations
Trials
Family life
Legal Stories
Remember
Use .edu, .gov, .org
Use quotes around exact words
Cite your sources
Keyword Search Terms
Racism
Southerners
Lawyers
False Accusations
Dewey Decimal Numbers
F LEE
305.8 RAC
Possible Topics to Research:
Life for Blacks in the South after the Civil War
Jim Crow Laws
The Ku Klux Klan: Its History and Methods of Instilling Fear
Plessy v. Ferguson: A Landmark Case and Its Impact on “Separate but Equal”
Lynching and Lynch Mobs: Citizen Enforcement of Jim Crow Laws and Nooses:
Modern Day Symbolic Threats and Sundown Towns
America and the World in the 1930s: The Time Period of To Kill a Mockingbird
The Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression: The Impact on Economic
Prosperity for Blacks and Whites in America
The Dust Bowl: The Impact on Economic Prosperity for Blacks and Whites
Herbert Hoover vs. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Two Presidencies, Two Policies, One Era in
American History
The Rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany: Hitler’s Rise to Power, the Formation of the
Nazi Party and the Treatment of Blacks in the United States Compared to Jews in
Germany
Education for Blacks in the Early Twentieth Century
W.E.B. Dubois and the NAACP: Fighting Against Scientific Racism
Booker T. Washington and the Tuskegee Institute: Up from Slavery
Brown v. Board of Education: A Landmark Case and Its Impact on Education Rights
Education of Blacks in the South after the Civil War and Prior to the 1950s (leading up to
Brown v. Board of Education): General History and Overview
The Trial of Tom Robinson: The Death Penalty and Criminal Law
The History of the Use of Capital Punishment/Death Penalty in the United States
The Scottsboro Case: A Landmark Case and Its Impact on Capital Punishment Cases
Major Criminal Court Procedures and the Sixth Amendment: Right to Counsel (Atticus
defending Tom Robinson) and Right to a Jury Trial (Right to a Jury of Your Peers)
The Fairness of Capital Punishment: The Eighth Amendment, the Death Penalty, and “Cruel
and Unusual Punishment”
The Rise of Black Identity and Culture after the Civil War
The Great Migration: Blacks Moving from the South to the North after the Civil War
Harlem Renaissance: The Rebirth of Black Arts and Culture in the North
The Black Church: The Rise of the Church in the Southern Black Community and in Educating
and Organizing Black Communities for Civil Rights
The Evolution of Black Music: Negro Spirituals and Field Music to Modern Day Hip Hop
Beyond the Book: The Culture of To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee’s Biography: How Her Life Connects to the Story She Wrote
The Film to Kill a Mockingbird: The Making of the Film, the Actors, and Its Impact
The Role of Women in 1930s south and Women Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird
Civil Rights Defenders for Blacks: Atticus Finch as a Reflection
Web/Database Resources
http://www.vahistorical.org/civilrights/jimcrow.htm
Explains what Jim Crow Laws were and how, where, and why they originated. Who Jim Crow was,
and what the original laws and policies were.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow
The impact Jim Crow laws had on blacks and the rights they violated. This site talks about how the
whites and states defended Jim Crow laws.
http://docsouth.unc.edu/index.html
The connections between Jim Crow laws and policies, and the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/98/mock/intro.html
What was Black Friday? What caused the stock market to crash? Had it happened before?
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depression/depression.htm
What was the Dust Bowl? Where did it take place and when? Who was directly affected by it?
http://history1900s.about.com/library/photos/blyindesdepression.htm
When was Herbert Hoover president? What condition was the county in when he started as
President?
http://www.webdubois.org
Who was W.E.B. Dubois? Give important biographical facts on his background. Why was he so
important, and why is he a historical figure?
http://www.vahistorical.org/civilrights/naacp.htm
Who was Booker T. Washington? Hive important biographical facts on his background. Why was he
so important, and why is he a historical figure?
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/bookert.html
Explains and summarize the case (who was involved, what the main points of the case were, when it
occurred, and what the final decision was). What problems did Linda Brown encounter in Topeka
that eventually resulted in the case?
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/deathpenalty.htm
The history of the use of capital punishment/death penalty in the U.S.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/scottsboro/index.html
The Scottsboro case. A landmark case and its impact on capital punishment cases.
http://www.splcenter.org/
Major Criminal Court Procedures and the Sixth Amendment: Right to Counsel (Atticus defending Tom
Robinson) and Right to a Jury Trial (Right to a Jury of Your Peers)
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/545.html
The Great Migration. Blacks moving from the south to the north after the civil war.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/reference/articles/great_migration.html
Harlem Renaissance. The rebirth of black arts and culture in the north.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/strangefruit/film.html
The Black Church. The rise of the church in the southern black community and in educating and
organizing black communities for civil rights.
http://www.neabigread.org/books/mockingbird/
Civil Rights defenders for blacks. Atticus Finch as a reflection.
http://web.archive.org/web/20070626171138/www.chebucto.ns.ca/culture/HarperLee/bio.html
Harper Lee’s biography. How her life connected to the story she wrote.
http://library.thinkquest.org/12111/girl.html
The role of women in 1930s south and women characters in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Magazines/Articles
Time Magazine: http://time.com/3928162/mockingbird-civil-rights-movement/
To Kill a Mockingbird – The New York Times: www.nytimes.com/learning/issues_in_depth/
Scottsboro Trial Articles
Emmitt Till Articles
James Byrd in Texas Articles
Non-fiction Books
Movies
Finding Forrester
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals
To Kill A Mockingbird Bonus Feature
Songs/Poetry
Strange Fruit by Billy Holiday
Fiction Books
A Time To Kill by John Grisham
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
To Kill a Mockingbird Suite by Philip Aalberg
Dinner Guest Me by Langston Hughes
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
I Too Sing America by Langston Hughes
Research Process
A Research Guide for Students: http://www.aresearchguide.com/
Inspiration: http://www.inspiration.com/
Bibliography: http://www.easybib.com/
MLA Format: http://www.mla.org
Writing tips: http://www.owl.english.purdue.edu
Works Cited
"Study Guides, Lesson Plans, Homework Help, Answers & More - ENotes.com." Enotes.com.
Enotes.com, Web. 24 June 2015.
"To Kill a Mockingbird Research Topics." PDF. Web. 24 June 2015.