To Kill A Mockingbird

Passage Summary: In this article, Kubic explores the causes and effects of the greatest economic recession in American history: the Great Depression. Although an incredibly difficult period for many Americans at the time, the economic policies and reforms that spawned as a result of it continue to shape economic and political policy in the United States today.

When and How to Pair: Have students read "The Great Depression" before beginning the novel in order to provide context on the period the novel is set in. Ask students to keep the economic and employment circumstances of the Great Depression in mind as they meet new characters throughout the novel.

Passage Summary: This collection of three primary texts from the Reconstruction Era reveal the difficult decisions that freed slaves faced as sharecroppers.

When and How to Pair: Have students read "From Slaves to Sharecroppers" before they begin reading chapter 6, in order to provide them with context on the racial climate of the time. After reading the chapter, ask students how they view Mr. Radley's language in light of this contextual information?

Passage Summary: Francis Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) was the child of free African American parents. In her adult life, Harper helped slaves escape through the Underground Railroad and wrote for abolitionist newspapers. In this poem, Harper describes what it was like to have been discouraged from learning how to read.

When and How to Pair: Introduce this text after students have read chapter 12. Ask students to discuss the significance of Calpurnia's literacy and how education and race affect the social structure of Maycomb. How does Calpurnia talk to and relate to other people at her church? Compare and contrast this to the way she talks and relates to Jem and Scout. What are the similarities and the differences?

Passage Summary: Billy Collins (b. 1941) is an award-winning American poet who writes about everyday occurrences to express the deeper meaning of life. In this poem, the speaker reflects on his youth with longing.

When and How to Pair: Introduce this text after students have read chapter 13, when Aunt Alexandra arrives to give them “a feminine influence.” Ask students to compare Jem's character, as a maturing boy, to that of the speaker in the poem. What does growing up mean to the two of them? How are the two impacted by their environments?

Passage Summary: “Herd Behavior” describes how individuals can behave in a crowd. Without a clearly planned direction and little individual decision-making at work, do individuals become like cattle in a herd? Do people lose a sense of self when they are among others?

When and How to Pair: Introduce this article after students have read chapter 16 — when people from across the county come to town for the trial — in order for students to analyze the climate in Maycomb. Ask students to discuss Atticus' explanation of mobs in the context of the article. Ask students to use the two texts to form their own explanation for mob behavior.

Passage Summary: In “Excerpt from Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws in All Its Phases,” historical activist Ida B. Wells discusses the injustice and horrors of Southern lynch laws, focusing especially on the violence enacted against African Americans following the Civil War and Reconstruction Era.  

When and How to Pair: Have students read this text before reading chapter 18, in order to provide them with some insight into the history of white women accusing black men of rape in the post-Reconstruction South. After reading chapter 18, ask students to discuss their views on Mayella's believability in the context of the article "Southern Horrors."

Passage Summary: Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) was an influential African-American poet during the early twentieth century. He was the son of freed slaves and was a friend of Frederick Douglass. In “We Wear the Mask” (1896), Dunbar introduces the idea of hiding behind a metaphorical mask.

When and How to Pair: Introduce this text after students have read chapter 19, when Tom testifies in court, in order to examine this character through a cross-text analysis. Ask students to examine Dunbar’s poem and use it discuss whether Tom, as a black man in a courtroom, wears his own type of mask.

Passage Summary: In “The Scottsboro Boys,” Jessica McBirney discusses the historic event in which nine black boys were wrongfully accused and convicted of assault.

When and How to Pair: The trial of the Scottsboro boys inspired much of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird." Have students read "The Scottsboro Boys" after reading chapter 21, when the jury returns a verdict, and ask students to write a paragraph comparing the trials in the two texts. Ask students to discuss the similarities and differences between the two trials.

Passage Summary: In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s poem “An Obstacle,” she urges us to remain strong when facing everyday obstacles. Gilman was writing as a feminist during a time when it was not socially acceptable to identify as such.

When and How to Pair: Have students read "An Obstacle" after reading chapter 24, and ask them to discuss how Scout is learning to overcome or dismiss prejudices regarding society's expectations for her as a woman. Ask students to discuss what lessons can be taken from Gilman’s poem and applied to the prejudice that takes place throughout the novel.

Passage Summary: On the evening of February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, a 17-year old African American boy from Florida, was fatally shot by a George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder and was found “not guilty” by a jury in July of 2013. These are the remarks of President Barack Obama after the trial.

When and How to Pair: Introduce this text after chapter 25, in order to use the text and its themes on race and responsibility to discuss contemporary events. Ask students to discuss the evolution of the public reaction to the death of unarmed black men. How can the modern story shed light on America's history of race relations?

Passage Summary: Claude McKay (1889-1948) was a Jamaican-American writer and poet who was a seminal figure during the Harlem Renaissance. In this poem, McKay discusses facing death and other obstacles with courage and dignity, and reflects upon his perspective on the black experience during early 20th century America.

When and How to Pair: Have students read “If We Must Die” after reading chapter 25, in order to discuss the novel through a cross text analysis. Ask students to compare Tom to the speaker in the poem. Can Tom's decision to run be understood better through the lens of McKay's poem?

Passage Summary: This article details the rise of anti-Semitic laws in Nazi Germany throughout the 1930s which eventually led to the complete dehumanization and segregation of Jews living in Nazi-occupied territory.

When and How to Pair: Have students read this text after they have read chapter 26, in order to gain historical background on the antisemitic practices in Germany that are discussed in Scout's class. Ask students to discuss what the texts paired together reveal about the themes of fairness, tolerance, and indifference.