The Quest for Tolerance in

(student WebQuest) (link to teacher WebQuest)

Introduction
Your group of researchers has been given the task to separate fact from fiction. You are to use the provided research tools to explore one of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In Lee's novel, some, perhaps all, of the characters are based upon real historical people.

 

Your Task
Using the novel, the bookmarked Web sites below, and any other information you can find in the allotted time, your small group is to determine the following:

  1. To what extent is the character you selected based upon an identifiable character?
    1. Who is this person? What was he/she like?
    2. How is the fictional character different? The same?
    3. How is your character representative of life in a southern small town in the middle of the century?
  2. What important lessons about tolerance and intolerance are illustrated by this character?
    1. What evidence for this have you found?

The characters you may choose from are the following:

Your group will assemble its results either in ClarisWorks or PowerPoint and make an exciting multimedia presentation which will be given to the entire class.

Your Resources
Use any of the resources below. You may also use the novel and any other resources approved by me in advance!

Author information History Racial issues Teaching materials Student assistance

Visual organizer

Author information

http://library.advanced.org/12111/SG/SG5.html#author

The author and the book compared (reality and fiction compared)

http://educeth.ethz.ch/english/readinglist/lee,harper.html

Miscellaneous information on Harper Lee

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Culture/HarperLee/

A wonderful resource on the author written with much reverence. Includes links to other resources.

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/capote.htm

A biography of Truman Capote, the boyhood friend of Lee's who served as the inspiration for Dill.

http://csmonitor.com/durable/1997/09/11/feat/feat.3.html

A brief article about Harper Lee that first appeared in the Christian Science Monitor

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Culture/HarperLee/love.html

An essay by Harper Lee, first published in Vogue, on the redeeming power of love (1961)

Lee article

An article in the Washington Post about Lee's life in the 1990's

History

(click on the picture for a history link)

http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Belmont_HS/tkm/background_links.html

History and images from the time of the novel.

http://library.advanced.org/12111/mbirdha.htm

Historical archives for the Scottsboro trials and other important documentary background

http://www.afroam.org/history/scott/scotts.html

The Black History Museum's excellent website on the unfolding events surrounding the Scottsboro Boys, whose plight was an important inspiration for To Kill a Mockingbird

http://library.advanced.org/12111/chrcivil.htm

A concise timeline for the Civil Rights movement, with emphasis on the events surrounding the novel. Includes links to important civil rights documents.

Racial issues

http://cuba.k12.nm.us/webquest/kill.htm

Racism found in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

http://library.advanced.org/12111/girl.html

Interviews with three girls who grew up in the South at about the same time as Scout

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/english/English104W-15/miscegenation.htm

A challenging essay by a Vanderbilt professor on literature, miscegenation, and politics in the Jim Crow South.

Teaching materials

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/tokil/mocktg.htm

SCORE supplement for teaching To Kill a Mockingbird

http://www.slc.k12.ut.us/webweavers/janh/mbird.html

Another WebQuest done by a high school teacher

Student assistance

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/9502/essay.html

Basic techniques for writing a five-paragraph persuasive essay

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Culture/HarperLee/further2.html

A solid bibliography for further reading on Lee and her novel.

Rubrics

The rubrics used to give you a grade on the project: study them well!

Click on the book for a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of the novel

Listen to the mockingbird

View a thematic visual organizer

Author information History Racial issues Teaching materials Student assistance Visual organizer

 

Your Process
To accomplish your task,

  1. First, you'll be assigned to a team of five people.
  2. Your group will then assign itself the following roles (one student per role!)
    1. Researcher (leads the research effort)
    2. Techno Shark (leads the presentation making, and must have a free study hall to devote to the project)
    3. Presenter (leads the presentation)
    4. Scriptwriter (leads the scriptwriter for the presentation)
    5. Coordinator (coordinates all of the above and makes sure all steps are completely on time)

    (Notice that in no case does one individual do one entire task. Everyone will do some research; everyone will do some presentation making, etc.)

  3. For guidance, check the thematic visual organizer!
  4. Answer the following questions about your character:
    1. To what extent is the character you selected based upon an identifiable character?
    2. Who is this person? What was he/she like?
    3. How is the fictional character different? The same?
    4. How is your character representative of life in a southern small town in the middle of the century?
    5. What important lessons about tolerance and intolerance are illustrated by this character?
    6. What evidence for this have you found?

      The characters you may choose from are the following:

      • Scout
      • Atticus
      • Calpurnia
      • Dill
      • Boo Radley
      • Bob Ewell
      • Mayella Ewell
      • Tom Robinson
  5. Your group will assemble its results either in ClarisWorks or PowerPoint and make an exciting multimedia presentation which will be given to the entire class.

Your Evaluation

To make sure your evaluation goes well, pay close attention to the rubrics you have been given. You will be evaluated in two ways:

  1. A final five-paragraph essay based upon your group's work;
  2. An individual and group grade for your multimedia presentation;

Conclusion
This project was designed to help you explore a work of literature by concentrating on its treatment of bigotry and (in)tolerance. Some of the areas that were explored were the differing attitudes of the major and minor characters toward "difference," not only the obvious racism of many of the novel's characters, but also their feelings about children, women, and those who come from outside their small-town world. Included was an exploration of the historical events which led to Harper Lee's book, and a comprehensive comparison/contrasting of her world and ours. I hope you learned something about your world and yourself!