To Kill a Mockingbird Historical Research Project
9/28/05
Complete one of the following projects or, if you have your own idea, run it by me and verify that it would be alright to do. Make sure to record all internet or written resources you might use. Take our time in the computer lab to explore search engines and the following website in particular: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm
Remember to keep in mind the guidelines we established for appropriate use of Internet Resources
- Create biographies, each at least being half a typed page, of two participants in the Scottsboro Trials. They can be the defendants, any lawyers or judges involved, the alleged victims, etc. Do not just copy and paste biographies you might find online. Put them in your own words and if you have to quote, use quotation marks. Also, draw pictures to go along with these two biographies (either courtroom scenes or headshots of the subjects of your projects).
- Create two dramatic monologues or letters by two participants in the trial. The monologues or letter must be first person accounts. You could write the monologues about the participants’ feelings before or after one of the trials (note how you must know what happened during one or more of the trials). The letters could be from a participant to their mother, father, spouse, etc. (note how you must know their family history before writing this journal). Be prepared to read these aloud in class.
- Write a script out of a trial segment at least two and a half pages long. You may research the events of any one of the trials in the case and dramatize it using as many characters as necessary. Be prepared to perform these in class using other students from English 9.
- Make a chart of similarities and differences between Harper Lee’s real-life childhood and Scout’s childhood in the book. The chart must be colorful, not on lined paper, easy-to-read, and show that you’ve done some research. An unacceptable comparison, for example, would be “Harper Lee is a woman and was probably a girl in childhood and Scout is a girl.”