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DeMiero/Smiley · MTHS ENGLISH 9 HONORS Name(s) _______________________________________ Period Due Date ___/___/___ _______ A Webquest for “To Kill a Mockingbird” Essential Guidelines for your Webquest: The class is relying on you and your group to do some important research to better understand this novel Not only is your group responsible for carefully researching the information, you must plan an effective way of informing the rest of the class about what you discover Your group will present your findings to the rest the class via a presentation using Google Slides Each group should create a shared Google Doc for notes and a shared Google Slide for the presentation Cite plenty of evidence and offer ways for your fellow students to explore your topic more deeply if they’re interested Each group should identify a key role for each member – including Leader, Google Doc owner, Google Slide owner, presentation leader and researcher, for example Each person in the group should plan to speak in some meaningful way during the presentation Presentations are encouraged to be visual and/or multi-media in design with a minimum of essential text There should be a minimum of three compelling images in the presentation, but there may be more Presentations should last roughly five to six minutes Questions? Ask! Quest Group One: Who is Harper Lee? Your job is to find out as much as possible about Harper Lee – the author of “To Kill A Mockingbird.” She is an enigmatic figure in American literature, and she has been in the news recently because she released her second novel not too long ago. Use credible resources that will help you answer the following questions: 1. When and where was Harper Lee born? What was her family like? 2. Who was her childhood best friend? Why is this of interest? 3. What did she study in college? Did she participate in any extra-curricular activities? 4. How did her decision to move to New York impact “To Kill A Mockingbird”? 5. Given what you know about Lee’s life (including personality traits, friends, family, experiences) make a prediction about what kinds of issues might surface in the book. Do you think that your knowledge about Harper Lee will influence your reading of the book? Why or why not? Suggested Website/Resource: bio-dot-com info on Harper Lee Quest Two: The Scottsboro Boys Find out as much as you can about The Scottsboro Boys and why their story is relevant to reading “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Using credible sources, answer the following questions: 1. Who were The Scottsboro Boys, and when and what was the incident that led to all their trouble? 2. Where and when did The Scottsboro Boys’ original trial take place? How do you think this affected the outcome of their trial? 3. What does the NAACP acronym stand for? Why did the NAACP decide not to help The Scottsboro Boys? 4. The Communist Party came to the aid of The Scottsboro Boys. How did the South perceive the Communist Party? What was the Communist Party's hidden agenda in this case? 5. In what ways were the defense lawyers for the Scottsboro Boys inadequate? 6. Describe the trials. Were they fair or unfair? Provide ample evidence. 7. Were the Scottsboro Boys ever pardoned of their convictions? 8. The Scottosboro Boys’ trial took place during Harper Lee’s childhood. How might this trial be an important impetus for the book? Suggested Website/Resource: PBS info on The Scottsboro Boys · English 9 Honors · To Kill A Mockingbird Webquest · This draft printed 10/24/15 ·

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Page 1: To Kill A Mockingbird Webquest (E9H) - Teach Free …teachfreespeech.com/.../10/To-Kill-A-Mockingbird... · A Webquest for “To Kill a Mockingbird ... Who were The Scottsboro Boys,

DeMiero/Smiley · MTHS ENGLISH 9 HONORS

Name(s) _______________________________________Period Due Date ___/___/__________

A Webquest for “To Kill a Mockingbird”Essential Guidelines for your Webquest:

• The class is relying on you and your group to do some important research to better understand this novel

• Not only is your group responsible for carefully researching the information, you must plan an effective way of informing the rest of the class about what you discover

• Your group will present your findings to the rest the class via a presentation using Google Slides

• Each group should create a shared Google Doc for notes and a shared Google Slide for the presentation

• Cite plenty of evidence and offer ways for your fellow students to explore your topic more deeply if they’re interested

• Each group should identify a key role for each member – including Leader, Google Doc owner, Google Slide owner, presentation leader and researcher, for example

• Each person in the group should plan to speak in some meaningful way during the presentation

• Presentations are encouraged to be visual and/or multi-media in design with a minimum of essential text

• There should be a minimum of three compelling images in the presentation, but there may be more

• Presentations should last roughly five to six minutes • Questions? Ask!

Quest Group One: Who is Harper Lee? Your job is to find out as much as possible about Harper Lee – the author of “To Kill A Mockingbird.” She is an enigmatic figure in American literature, and she has been in the news recently because she released her second novel not too long ago. Use credible resources that will help you answer the following questions:

1. When and where was Harper Lee born? What was her family like? 2. Who was her childhood best friend? Why is this of interest? 3. What did she study in college? Did she participate in any extra-curricular activities? 4. How did her decision to move to New York impact “To Kill A Mockingbird”? 5. Given what you know about Lee’s life (including personality traits, friends, family, experiences)

make a prediction about what kinds of issues might surface in the book. Do you think that your knowledge about Harper Lee will influence your reading of the book? Why or why not?

Suggested Website/Resource:bio-dot-com info on Harper Lee

Quest Two: The Scottsboro Boys Find out as much as you can about The Scottsboro Boys and why their story is relevant to reading “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Using credible sources, answer the following questions:

1. Who were The Scottsboro Boys, and when and what was the incident that led to all their trouble? 2. Where and when did The Scottsboro Boys’ original trial take place? How do you think this

affected the outcome of their trial? 3. What does the NAACP acronym stand for? Why did the NAACP decide not to help The

Scottsboro Boys? 4. The Communist Party came to the aid of The Scottsboro Boys. How did the South perceive the

Communist Party? What was the Communist Party's hidden agenda in this case? 5. In what ways were the defense lawyers for the Scottsboro Boys inadequate? 6. Describe the trials. Were they fair or unfair? Provide ample evidence. 7. Were the Scottsboro Boys ever pardoned of their convictions? 8. The Scottosboro Boys’ trial took place during Harper Lee’s childhood. How might this trial be an

important impetus for the book? Suggested Website/Resource:

PBS info on The Scottsboro Boys

· English 9 Honors · To Kill A Mockingbird Webquest · This draft printed 10/24/15 ·

Page 2: To Kill A Mockingbird Webquest (E9H) - Teach Free …teachfreespeech.com/.../10/To-Kill-A-Mockingbird... · A Webquest for “To Kill a Mockingbird ... Who were The Scottsboro Boys,

DeMiero/Smiley · MTHS ENGLISH 9 HONORS

Quest Three: Jim Crow Laws Find out as much as you can about the so-called Jim Crow laws in the United States. Using credible sources, answer the following questions:

1. Where did the term “Jim Crow” come from, and how is the origin of this term offensive? 2. How did the term “Jim Crow” become synonymous with the segregation laws in the South? 3. What ended Reconstruction in the South, and what effect did that have on southern blacks? 4. Legally, African-Americans had the right to vote. How was their right to suffrage compromised? 5. How did the Plessy v. Ferguson case (1896) uphold Jim Crow laws? What effect did this case

have on the lives (transportation, education, social implications, etc) of southern blacks? 6. Who was Booker T. Washington? Where did he live? What did he believe was the best way for

southern African-Americans to survive in the South? 7. Who was W.E.B. DuBois? Where did he live? What did he believe was the best way for southern

African-Americans to survive in the South? 8. Why do you think Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois had differing opinions on how to

survive in the South? 9. How did many blacks escape the South? Where did they go? What was this movement called? Suggested Website/Resource:

A brief history of Jim Crow

Quest Four: Growing up in the South Find out as much as you can about what it was like to grow up in the South during the depression. Try to contrast the experiences of black American with white American. Here are your questions:

1. Read the interview with Peacolia Barge titled “Growing up black in the 1930s” then answer these questions:

(a) What does Mrs. Barge know about her ancestry? How does she talk about her family? (b) What were her and her family’s living conditions like? (c) When was the first time she noticed a difference between the lives of black people and

the lives of white people? From Mrs. Barge's account, what do you think is the most astounding difference?

(d) What was school like for Mrs. Barge? (e) Mrs. Barge clearly has a different opinion of white people than her father does. What

does she say that proves this? How does her perception of white people differ from her father’s? Why do you think that is?

2. Read the interview titled “Growing up white in the 1930s” then answer these questions: (a) What do these women have in common in terms of their ancestry? (b) What were the living conditions like for these women? (c) What were these white ladies’ first experiences with black people? (d) Did these white ladies ever play with their black peers as children?

3. What else can you conclude from these two articles in terms of growing up in the South? Suggested Website/Resource:

Growing up black in the 1930sGrowing up white in the 1930s

· English 9 Honors · To Kill A Mockingbird Webquest · This draft printed 10/24/15 ·

Page 3: To Kill A Mockingbird Webquest (E9H) - Teach Free …teachfreespeech.com/.../10/To-Kill-A-Mockingbird... · A Webquest for “To Kill a Mockingbird ... Who were The Scottsboro Boys,

DeMiero/Smiley · MTHS ENGLISH 9 HONORS

Quest Five: The Great Depression Find out as much as you can about the Great Depression. Here are your key questions:

1. What was “Black Tuesday” and why does it mark the beginning of the Great Depression? 2. WWII is often seen as the end of the Great Depression. How did the war affect the economy? 3. What president was inaugurated in 1933? What was the New Deal? How did the New Deal affect

American citizens? 4. What was the Dust Bowl and how did it affect the Southern Plains and farmers in that area? 5. Given what you learned about the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, make a prediction about

what you think the setting of “To Kill A Mockingbird” will be. What will the houses look like? What will the characters be wearing? How will the characters act towards each other?

Suggested Websites/Resources:PBS info on The Great DepressionHistory-dot-com on The Great DepressionThe Dust Bowl

Quest Six: Cultural Impact of the Novel Find out as much as you can about how “To Kill a Mockingbird” has impacted American culture. Here are your key questions:

1. What year was “To Kill A Mockingbird” first published? Why was this significant? 2. What are some of the major awards that the novel has earned? What are some that Harper Lee

has earned because of the novel? 3. This book has often been referred to as “America’s national novel.” What do you think about

that? Do you agree? If not, why not? If so, why? 4. Go to this PBS site and view the video and read through the other material. What are some of the

claims made in these resources about the impact of the novel? 5. What are some of the primary themes that the novel addresses that still seem relevant today?

What are some of the contemporary connections you can make between the novel and current events?

Suggested Websites/Resources:PBS Learning Media (same link as above)Here and NowFrom AL-dot-com (great resources!)

· English 9 Honors · To Kill A Mockingbird Webquest · This draft printed 10/24/15 ·