Background Lesson #2 - Arts and Culture

ENGAGE
To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the mid-1930s during the Great Depression. The economic depression and the Jim Crow Laws, laws that prevented African Americans from enjoying equal rights, left an indelible impression on the young Harper Lee.

EXPLORE
In the era of legal segregation in America, there was a distinction between the statement "separate but equal" and reality.

Activities:

1. Read The Great Depression.
2. Read Historical Context: The Jim Crow South.
3. On NEA’s Jazz in the Schools Web site , listen to Billie Holiday’s 1939 Strange Fruit a description of the Southern practice of lynching.

EXTEND
With your group, discuss and record your response to the readings. The following questions may be used to guide your response:

1. What historical realities may Harper Lee have incorporated into her book?
2. What makes a good work of historical fiction? The response to this question involves adding new understandings gleaned since Background Lesson #1.
3. How can citizens, particularly ourselves, break through barriers of prejudice to promote tolerance?

Groups engage in discussion to extend and apply knowledge. The groups examine all students' viewpoints, agree on a response, and justify their response using details from readings.