TKAM Mini-Research Project

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Here are the questions and links for your To Kill a Mockingbird pre-reading research:

1.  The Great Depression in the South

• Required source:  http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3540
• Required questions:
• Where did the Great Depression hit the hardest? Why? What were some of its effects in this area?

• What group of people did the Great Depression affect the most? How? Why?

• What did many African Americans say about how the Great Depression affected their culture as a whole? Include an example.

2.  Southern Traditions seen in literature

• Required sources: http://www.knowsouthernhistory.net/Culture/Literature and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger
• Another interesting source about the "n-word":  http://www.decodedscience.com/the-n-word-neutralising-the-power-to-harm-with-racial-epithets/9860
• Required questions:

o   How is Southern literature different from many other types of literature?

o   What are a few common themes in Southern lit?

o   What are a few common phrases used in the South? Where did they originate?

o   The “N-word” is used often in To Kill A Mockingbird. Where did this word come from?  How was it used in the 30s, 60s, and now?

3.  The Scottsboro Boys’ Trial

• Required source: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/SB_HRrep.html#REPORT%20ON%20THE%20SCOTTSBORO,%20ALA.
• Required questions:
• What is the basic story of the Scottsboro Boys’ trial?

• What are the most important facts about the case?

• Why did Victoria Price and Ruby Bates falsely claim that they were raped?

• Why did the case last 30 years?

• Why were the Scottsboro Boys on the train to begin with?

4.  The Rise of Jim Crow Laws

• Required sources; http://www.education.com/study-help/article/us-history-reconstruction-civil-war-jim-crow-laws/and http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/white-only-1.html

• Required questions:

o   What was “black face”?   What role did “black face” play in Jim Crow laws?

o   How did minority groups react to Jim Crow laws? What happened because of these reactions?

o   How did these laws hold up in court (for example, look at Plessy vs. Ferguson case)? How were they argued as being constitutional?

o   What were some of the most extreme of the laws?  Which states did they exist in?

o   How did slavery influence Jim Crow laws?

5.  The Ending of Jim Crow Laws

·      Required source: http://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/a-brief-history-of-jim-crow

·      Required questions:

o   How did WWII influence the ending of Jim Crow laws?

o   How did the Civil Rights Movement and the NAACP change Jim Crow laws?

o   What individuals helped to change these laws?  How did they do this?

o   What were some of the key court cases that helped to overturn the laws? How were they different (if they were different) from court cases prior?

6.  The Civil Rights Movement in Alabama

·      Required sources: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1580 and http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1358 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggUt0gJh9U8

·      Required questions:

o   What were the Montgomery Bus Boycotts? Explain their role in the Civil Rights Movement (CRM).

o   Who were some of the key members of the Civil Rights Movement in AL?

o   What were some of the most disturbing hate crimes that occurred in AL?

o   What was the “Donald Lynching” that occurred in Mobile, AL? What role did it play in the CRM?

o   The 1963 protests (known as the “Birmingham Campaign”) in Birmingham, AL are famous.  Summarize what happened and tell what about this protest was so disturbing or important?

7.  Harper Lee’s Life leading up to To Kill a Mockingbird:

·      Required sources: http://www.biography.com/people/harper-lee-9377021

·      Required questions:

o   How did the time period and place Lee was raised influence what she would eventually write about (racism, specifically in the courts)?

o   Give an overview of Lee’s family and the dynamics between family members.

o   How did she develop as a writer?

o   What are some parts of her life that are well-known for influencing her only novel?

8.  Changes made in Alabama after the Civil Rights Movement in 1963

·      Required sources: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1580  and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/jfk-desegregation/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgbNc-9Di7k]

·      Required questions:

o   Did race-relations change in Alabama after 1963? If so, how?

o   How did schools change in AL?

o   When did integration begin in AL? What were some reactions to integration in AL (specifically in schools)?

9.  Southern race relations in 1932 and 1961

·      Required source: http://mgagnon.myweb.uga.edu/students/3090/04SP3090-Briggs.htm

·      Required questions:

• What was the KKK?  What did they do? Who were members?

• How did many of the stereotypes of black Americans we see today begin in the 30’s?

• Find one historical example of white and a minority culture interacting in the South.
• Summarize what happened.  Is it an example of hatred or understanding?

• What caused the hatred or understanding?

• How was it shown?

• Has it changed? How/how not?

10.  Truman Capote and his relationship to Harper Lee

• Required sources: http://www.southernliterarytrail.org/monroeville.html and http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1115
• Required questions:
• What was the relationship between the two as children? 

• How did Capote show up in Harper’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird?

• What did Truman and Harper work together on? What did this work lead to for the two friends?

• Who was Capote in New York society? What was controversial and interesting about him?

11.  Horton Foote and the film To Kill a Mockingbird

• Required sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horton_Foote and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird_%28film%29 and http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128340180
• Required questions:
• Tell a little about Foote as a director and screenwriter.

• What effects did the movie have?

• Why is the film so popular?

• What awards did it win?

• Why did it win all of these?

12.  Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement

• Required sources: http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/civil_rights_leaders.htm and http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/civilrights/terms.html
• Required questions:
• Who were the key members, and what did they do?

• What were some of the tragedies faced by them?

• Did they succeed in their endeavors?

• Did they get to see their success if it was reached?

13.  Topic of interest for 1930s America (pick at least 2)

• Required sources: http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade30.html and http://www.history.com/topics/1930s
• Required questions:
• What topics did your group choose to focus on?

• Which of these are being researched in-depth by other members of your class?

• How did each of the topics you chose influence race relations in the U.S.?

• How did each of the topics you chose affect the majority of Americans? What about the minorities (e.g. women, races other than white, etc.)?

14.  Gender equality or lack of in Alabama, both in 1930s and the 1960s…

• Required sources: http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/great-depression/essays/women-and-great-depression and http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2010/03/12/the-1960s-a-decade-of-change-for-women and http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Working_women.aspx and http://www.bama.ua.edu/~sigmatau/texts/southern.html
• Required questions:
• What was a man’s role in the 30s? 60s?

• What was a woman’s role in the 30s? What about in the 60s?

• What kind of jobs did women have in America in the 30s? 60s?

• If they chose not to marry, how might women survive financially? Given an example.

• What was expected of women as far as how they were to look and act in public in the South?