Historical Research for To Kill
a Mockingbird
1. What was (is) the Civil Rights Movement? When
did it begin? What was its purpose?
2. When was To Kill a Mockingbird published?
What significant historical events occurred during
this period? How do you think this impacted the
book's success? See
http://library.advanced.org/12111/mbirdha.htm for
help.
3. Where do you think Harper Lee came up with
material for her book? Do you think she may have
drawn on her own life experiences? Were Lee's and
Scout's childhoods at all similar? In what ways?
See
http://livrary.advanced.org/12111/mbirdha.htm for
help.
4. Who is Rosa Parks? What role did she play in
the
Civil Rights Movement?
5. Who was Autherine Lucy? What role did she play
in the Civil Rights Movement?
6. Read the Mculley Quarter Interview. With a
partner, be prepared to act out the interview. What
was it like to grow up a young black girl in the
South? See
http://library.advanced.org/12111/mbirdha.htm for
the
interview's text.
7. Read the interview with three white girls at
http://library.advanced.org/12111/mbirdha.htm Be
prepared in a group of four to act out the interview
for the class.
8. Read the above two interviews. Name several
ways
in which the lives of white children and black
children differed.
9. Name several way you believe expectations for
little girls have changed since the 1930's.
10. What was the New Deal? What historical events
led to its inception?
11. What was the stock market crash? When did it
occur? What effects did it have on people's
lives?
12. What educational opportunities were typically
open to women in the 1930's.
13. What is the National Conference of Christians
and Jews? What are their goals and
objectives?
14. What is the Ku Kux Klan? What kinds of
activities have they been known for in the
past?
15. How do the objectives of the Conference of
Christians and Jews and the Ku Klux Klan differ?
16. Research mockingbirds. What are their
characteristics? Can you find a picture of one to
bring to class?
17. People used to barter goods for professional
services. What does this entail?
18. What was the WPA? Why was it developed? How
would it affect people at the time?
19. What was the National Recovery Act?
20. When did African Americans win the right to
vote? When were literacy tests abolished? How old
would a person be now who was 18 the year literacy
tests were abolished?
21. Go to http://newdeal.frei.org/library/h_3s_8w.htm
Look at the photographs linked here. Describe the women, children, their clothes, and the rooms. Looking at these pictures, what do you imagine their lives were like in the 30's?
Links to Historical Research
Sites~Contributed by Innovative Teaching
Email:
kglee@webtv.net
