Tasks for the Historian: To Kill a Mockingbird

Tasks for the Historian – To Kill a Mockingbird

PRESENTATION #1

Define the following words and be ready to explain them to your group:

The Civil War
The Union
The Confederacy

Find the answers to the following questions and be ready to report on them to your group:

When was the Civil War?

Who was president at the time of the Civil War?

What happened at Appomattox?

Useful websites:

Timeline of the U.S. Civil War

"The Civil War"

The Surrender by Rocco

PRESENTATION #1: Famous Quotation

Who said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself"? When?

What else do you know about the person who said it?

PRESENTATION #1: Prohibition

Define the following words in English or Japanese and be ready to explain them to your group:

Prohibition
bootlegger
stumphole whiskey
still
booze
spike

INTERVIEW Task

Listen to two women talk about Prohibition.

Go to Farming in the 30s and click on Carla Due, then Millie Opitz.
(You may use this for your Interview Report on your Study Guide.)

Internet Task: Breastworks

In Chapter 10 (p. 91) [p. 121], Scout erects a breastworks. Find photographs of breastworks used in the Civil War. Describe them to the class or print photographs to show them.

Useful websites:

U.S. Civil War Photographs

Battle of Gettysburgh

PRESENTATION #2: Ku Klux Klan

Before we study Chapter 15, define the following phrase and be ready to explain it to your group:

Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

Useful websites:

Wikipedia Article on the Ku Klux Klan

Definition of Ku Klux Klan

PRESENTATION #2: Question

How many members did the Ku Klux Klan have in 1924?
[See: Timeline of the Great Depression]

Internet Task: KKK

Click on the interview with Birdie Farr

Who does Birdie Farr say the KKK were against?

Click on the interview with Walter Schmidt
What three groups does Walter Schmidt say the KKK were against?

Why was Walter Schmidt not a member of the KKK?

PRESENTATION #2: Racism

Which words for 黒人 are not polite? Which are most common today?

African American

Black

Colored

Darkie

Negro

Nigger

What does Atticus say about the term "Nigger"? (p. 75) [p. 99]

Useful websites:

Nigger and Caricatures

A Brief History of the Word "Nigger"

The Afro-American Image Abroad

PRESENTATION #2: Signs of Discrimination

Segregated Drinking Fountains

Sidewalk Discrimination

Segregated Restroom

Show the signs above to the members of your group.
What do they tell you about life in the 1930s?

Developed by CA Edington, Spring, 2005; revised Spring, 2012
Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan