To Kill a Mockingbird
1.Why did Harper Lee choose a mockingbird as a central image in the novel and even use a mockingbird in the title? What are the habits and characteristics of a mockingbird? Which characters in the novel could be considered mockingbirds and why? (Include direct quotations and page numbers in your presentation.)
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/tokil/bird1.htm
http://www.holoweb.com/cannon/northergn.htm
2. The setting of the novel is Alabama in 1932-3, during the Great Depression. What was the Great Depression and what evidence of it do you see in the novel?
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/1929-1945
3.To Kill A Mockingbird was first published in 1960. Investigate the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s. What effect could this movement have had on Harper Lee and the writing of the novel?
http://library.thinkquest.org/12111/chrcivil.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/12111/SG/SG5.html#pubs.
4.It is true that in 1933 in Alabama, an all-white jury composed entirely of men would try an African-American citizen and that prominent citizens could excuse themselves or be struck. Have the rules changed? What is the process of jury selection today? Who can be chosen and who can be excused and why?
5.What is the Scottsboro case? How does that trial parallel the one in To Kill A Mockingbird? (Consider references to lynching, jury selection, and other racial issues.)
http://www.afroam.org/history/scott/scotts.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/12111/scottsboro/scottsbo.htm
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm
http://www.courttv.com/greatesttrials/scottsboro/index.html
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm
6.Create and perform a one-act play set twenty years after the time of the novel. It would be 1953; Jem would be 33 and Scout would be 26. Describe the children's visit at Atticus's house for Thanksgiving. Refer to specific events in the novel; demonstrate how Jem and Scout have grown and what they've learned.
http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Belmont_HS/tkm/index.html
7.Compare and contrast the movie of To Kill A Mockingbird with the novel. What situations or characters were enhanced by the film? Which ones were miscast or misinterpreted? Investigate reviews of the film written at the time the film first opened in theaters and reviews of the novel when it was first published.
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/classrev/mocking.htm.
8.Design and produce a newspaper containing articles about Tom Robinson's trial, the death of Mr. Ewell, the fire at Miss Maudie's, etc. The paper should also contain current events and advertisements from the time period.
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/browse.html
9.Consider the role of women during the 1930's. What expectations existed for female behavior? Consider the role of Aunt Alexandra in the novel. What was Harper Lee's purpose in having her come to live with Scout, Jem, and Atticus?
http://library.thinkquest.org/12111/mculley.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/12111/girl.html
10.To what extent is the novel autobiographical? Investigate the relationship between the author Harper Lee and the character Scout.
http://library.thinkquest.org/12111/SG/SG5.html#author
http://www.tokillamockingbird.com
Your presentation will address one of the ten topics listed above.
All members of the group will participate in the presentation.
The presentation will include clear and useful visuals to help the audience understand your information.
Whenever you refer to incidents or events in the novel in your presentation materials, you will provide direct quotations and page numbers to support your point of view.
At the beginning of your presentation you will answer these five questions:
What is interesting or important about this particular subject?
What do you hope to accomplish in your presentation?
What do you hope your viewers will learn or appreciate from viewing this project?
What were some of the difficulties in completing this project?
What were the surprises?