To Kill a Mockingbird: An Historical Perspectivekpdraft2

American Memory Draft Lesson

To Kill a Mockingbird: An Historical Perspective

Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 23:47:10 GMT
From: Kathleen Prody <Kathleen_Prody@metnet.mt.gov>

The central purpose of this unit is to give students who read and study the novel To Kill a Mockingbird a sense of the living history that surrounds the work. Through studying primary source materials from the American Memory collections and other online resources, students of all backgrounds may better grasp how historical events and human forces have shaped relationships between the black and white, and rich and poor cultures of our country.

All students, especially those who live in isolated parts of the United States or in homogeneous communities, will benefit from reading first person accounts, analyzing historical documents, and viewing photographs that tell the story of other citizens of the United States in other places and times. If students are able to make human connections by studying literature and history, they may better comprehend and accept racial and social diversity wherever and whenever it touches their lives.

This unit is intended to guide students on an American journey through the Depression Era in the 1930's and on a personal journey toward accepting differences and practicing tolerance. The unit activities are designed to familiarize the students with Southern experiences through the study of the novel and African American experiences through the examination of primary sources.

Objectives

Students will:

Learn about the history of African Americans in the South through studying historical and literary documents.

Be able to identify primary sources.

Be able to distinguish the points of view in several types of primary sources.

Be able to identify literary devices and figurative language in historical documents and personal narratives.

Demonstrate proper techniques for citing written, oral, and visual primary sources.

Master research skills necessary to navigate through the American Memory Collection.

Write creative works that reflect the themes of racism, compassion, and tolerance in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Demonstrate visual literacy skills.

Demonstrate the technique of recording oral histories.

Time Required

This unit will cover 4 to 5 weeks, depending on the time allowed for reading the novel. Activities included in the unit range from 1 to 4 days. Several optional extension activities can be integrated with the study of the novel or presented as independent units at other times during the school year. Choices about these activities will effect the length of the To Kill a Mockingbirdunit.

Recommended Grade Level

The unit is designed for high school sophomores but can be adapted for students from middle school through high school.

Curriculum Fit

This unit is designed as an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the novel. It encompasses mastery skills in the areas of language arts and history. The unit emphasizes language arts and includes: creative writing, critical analysis of the printed page, theme, voice, visual literacy, and research skills.

Resources Used

To Kill A Mockingbird Unit Resources

America from the Great Depression to World War Two: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945.

American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project. 1936-1940

Triggering Town by Richard Hugo

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Eyes on the Prize I: The Awakening

The Murder of Emmett Till

African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A. P. Murray Collection, 1818-1907

Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division's First 100 Years

A View from a Helena Black by Dr. Raymond Howard

The Scottsboro Boys

Enrichment Activities Resources

Middle Passage: White Ships and Black Cargo by Tom Feelings

Juneteenth Pictorial: Middle Passage

Roots by Alex Haley

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

"A Child's Reasoning" by Frederick Douglass

Twelve Years A Slave: Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of Newark, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841

African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A. P. Murray Collection, 1818-1907

Mr. Lincoln's Virtual Library

"The Negro Mother" by Langston Hughes

"Of the Sons of Master and Man" by W.E.B. DuBois

"Booker T. and W.E.B." by Dudley Randell

"Strong Men" by Sterling Brown

Procedure

A Literary look at Themes of Compassion and Prejudice

Rationale for the novelTo Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee explores two major themes in her work, To Kill A Mockingbird,both central to the ongoing struggle for racial equality. The first theme she addresses is the need for compassion and human understanding by all human beings of every color. The addition of Boo Radley to the story, a persecuted white man, illustrates the human inclination to dehumanize anyone who is different, regardless of color. The story of Tom Robinson explores the theme of racial prejudice and highlights man's inhumanity to man, provoked by one's color. Each of these stories is told from the point of view of a child not yet tainted by the shadow of prejudice and intolerance. Readers of this novel learn with Scout, the narrator, the painful lessons of man's capacity for hatred and his potential for compassion.

Kathleen_Prody@metnet.mt.gov or nwhearty@helena.k12.mt.us

May 20, 1999

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