As a group, you will deliver an approximately 10-minute presentation that explores the context of To Kill a Mockingbird. You will be responsible for presenting on either the context of the novel’s setting or its publication. This presentation must identify the details of your chosen era that explain the novel’s cultural, social, and historical context.
You must present one topic per person that explores the novel’s context. Your presentation must consider:
Historical Context: the events that occurred leading up to an event or a time. This generally considers the significance of these events and their effect, both at the time and the time that followed.
Central question: How was this influenced by what had come before?
Social Context: The physical or social setting in which people live during which something takes place. This generally considers the aspect of life in which people interact - the cultures, people, institutions, classes, etc. that are interacted with.
Central question: What does this reveal about living in society at the time?
Cultural Context: The ideology, traditions, and values that surround and shape a person’s beliefs. This generally considers the details that affect behavior, decision-making, and opportunities.
Central question: What does this reveal about people’s beliefs and behavior at the time?
Each topic must clearly comment on one or more of these!
You should consider: people, organizations, and events that are significant. You can even consider important art, music, or films if it helps us understand any of our three contexts. Note: your presentation must use audio/visual media to receive full points.
Include a handout or question guide for the class that allows them to follow along and respond.
You will need to share the presentation with me by Monday, April 1st.
REFER TO THE RUBRIC ON PAGE 224 OF OUR SPRINGBOARD BOOK
Goals are to set a context for the historical, social, and cultural contexts at the time of To Kill a Mockingbird’s setting and publication, demonstrating an understanding of the role significant events and people play in influencing the literary significance of the text.
Exemplary Work will demonstrate a strong understanding of the material covered, with clear connections to the contextual relevance and a presentation that is professional and practiced.
Context of the Novel’s Setting
Emancipation Proclamation
14th Amendment
15th Amendment
Black Codes
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Dredd Scott v Sandford
13 Amendment
Ku Klux Klan (1st/2nd)
Civil Rights Act 1866
The Souls of Black Folk
Jack Johnson
NAACP
Resegregation under Wilson
Red Summer (1919)
Harlem Globetrotters
Tuskegee Institute Study
Scottsboro Boys
T Shipp & A Smith
Jazz
Harlem Renaissance
Nat Turner’s Revolt
African Americans in WWI
Great Migration
Birth of a Nation (1915 film)
Lynching Souvenirs & Postcards
Costigan-Wagner Bill
KKK March on Washington (‘25)
Tulsa Race Massacre (Black Wall St.)
Context of the Novel’s Publication
Executive Order 9981
Brown v Board of Ed
Rosa Parks
Little Rock Nine
Ku Klux Klan (3rd)
Greensboro Four
Billie Holiday
Second Great Migration
Hattie McDaniel
African Americans in WWII
Executive Order 8802
Detroit Race Riots (1943)
Freeman Field Mutiny
Jackie Robinson
Redlining
Harry & Harriette Moore
White Citizens’ Council
Segregation Academies
Emmett Till
Freedom Rides
J. Edgar Hoover vs T.R.M Hover & Martin L King Jr
Odell Waller
Groveland Four
Rev. George W. Lee
Maceo Snipes
The Columbia Race Riot
Isaac Woodard
Willie McGee
Trenton Six