To Kill A Mockingbird  &  Plessy v. Ferguson

 

Tiffany Wilkins

Health Opportunities              The United States of America guarantees its citizens individual rights that protects

                                                 one’s pursuit of happiness.  Unfortunately, it is a known fact that being a citizen of this country isn’t necessarily a promise that these rights will be distributed equally amongst its citizens, or that action will be taken if these rights are not provided.  Historically the rights of a citizen have often been withheld for many reasons:  Gender, Age, Religion and Race are just a few.  To Kill A Mockingbird exposes the historical robbery of the basic rights of African Americans in the south during the 1930’s.  Laws were created and enforced to prevent black people from exercising the rights they were allowed as citizens of the United States, and Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird is a victim of this injustice.

 

 

Task                         As citizens of the United States, should we ever be accused of a crime, we have the right to what is called Due Process, where in a criminal proceeding (or a school discipline situation), all of the proper steps are guaranteed under law.

 

The Equal Protection Clause under the 14th Amendment provides citizens the right to be treated equally to anyone else in a similar legal situation.  

 

As stated in the introduction, being a citizen of the United States doesn’t always guarantee our rights, as it should.  When legal misconduct occurs an Independent Council is appointed to investigate and decide whether or not there was misconduct, what it was and how the law was broken.  We are going investigate Tom Robinson’s case, using the Plessy v. Ferguson case as a precedent or model to prove that Tom Robinson’s rights were violated.  We will also compare and contrast these cases in order to better understand what it means to be wrongfully accused of a crime simply because of your race, and then go through a legal process that is completely unfair.

 

Process    

I.       In groups visit http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/scales/ to review and analyze the Plessy v. Ferguson case.  Find out:

 

1.      What rights Homer Plessy was entitled to as a partially white and partially black citizen of the United States.

2.      If Homer Plessy’s rights were legally or ethically violated.

3.      Explain how those rights were or were not violated.

 

II.      In groups go to your books To Kill A Mockingbird to review and analyze Tom Robinson’s case.  Find out: 

 

1.      What rights Tom Robinson was entitled to as a black citizen of the United States.

2.      If Tom Robinson’s rights were legally or ethically violated.

3.      Explain how those rights were or were not violated.

 

III.    In groups make a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting Homer Plessy’s case vs. Tom Robinson’s case.

 

Your diagrams should show me how the cases are different on each side, then show me how the cases are similar

down the center of the chart:

Homer Plessy Case                                       vs.                               Tom Robinson Case

 

DIFFERENCES                                  SIMILARITIES                       DIFFERENCES
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


IV.     In groups prepare all of your work for presentation:  Acting Out Your Scene

 

Based on our reading and examination of the screenplay To Kill A Mockingbird, your group will prepare a scene of your choice from the screenplay where you will include all literary devices in a novel that were dramatized in the screenplay: 

 

1. You will show me the physical, social, or historical aspect of the setting

 

2. You will dramatize characters in your scene (in their actions and dialogue)

 

3. You will make your scene suspenseful to your audience

4. You will show me a theme in your scene.

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V.       All work will be presented in Microsoft PowerPoint format.

 

This is where your group will use technology to finalize and present what you’ve researched and created.  Microsoft PowerPoint  is a computer program that allows you to visually present your written work.  Each step of the Process can be illustrated in a series of pictures, colors, shapes and artistically printed words.  Think of what I do at the chalk board in class transformed into a computer chalk board!  Your group can creatively show what you have produced through not only the writing of your scene and answers to the research questions but also through the images you collect and combine with your research.

 

 

It’s like the computer tells the story for you!

 

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