Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Talyor
Book Assignments Overview
Projects are from http://www.bcps.org/offices/Lis/models/rollofthunder/index.html#task
Historical fiction blends details from a specific time period in history with fictional elements to tell a compelling story. When the author depicts these historical details accurately, the story seems authentic, like it really could have happened. Use one of these resources to read about and discuss the definition and characteristics of authentic historical fiction:
Historical Fiction | What Kind of Story is Historical Fiction? | Historical Fiction Characteristics
The novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor is a work of historical fiction about an African American family living in rural Mississippi in 1933, at the height of the Great Depression. In this story, the Logan family experiences racism and injustice as they pursue their dream of owning and farming their own land.
At a time when memories of slavery lingered in the South, owning land represented independence for African Americans. Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution were enacted. These laws gave former slaves the rights of full citizenship: they could vote, participate in the political process, own land, seek their own employment, and use public accommodations. However, new laws and social practices designed to suppress these rights were soon put in place. Legalized racial segregation and discrimination continued in the South until after the Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950's.
To fully understand the historical context for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, you will need to develop some knowledge about the social, political, and economic conditions which affected African Americans in the South during the 1930's. You and your classmates will gather facts about these conditions through research in order to prepare for reading the novel and answering the essential question:
How authentic is Mildred D. Taylor's depiction of African American life in the South during the 1930's in the historical novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry?
* Authentic means "accurate in representation of the facts" or "reliable."
Assignment:
While you read the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry you will conduct research on topics in the novel (see below). Each, Friday in class you will you will collaborate with other students who are researching the same topic that you are individually researching to organize your research findings and create a presentation to share with classmates. Your group may use one of these presentation formats, as directed by your teacher:
Historical fiction blends details from a specific time period in history with fictional elements to tell a compelling story. When the author depicts these historical details accurately, the story seems authentic, like it really could have happened. Use one of these resources to read about and discuss the definition and characteristics of authentic historical fiction:
Historical Fiction | What Kind of Story is Historical Fiction? | Historical Fiction Characteristics
The novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor is a work of historical fiction about an African American family living in rural Mississippi in 1933, at the height of the Great Depression. In this story, the Logan family experiences racism and injustice as they pursue their dream of owning and farming their own land.
At a time when memories of slavery lingered in the South, owning land represented independence for African Americans. Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution were enacted. These laws gave former slaves the rights of full citizenship: they could vote, participate in the political process, own land, seek their own employment, and use public accommodations. However, new laws and social practices designed to suppress these rights were soon put in place. Legalized racial segregation and discrimination continued in the South until after the Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950's.
To fully understand the historical context for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, you will need to develop some knowledge about the social, political, and economic conditions which affected African Americans in the South during the 1930's. You and your classmates will gather facts about these conditions through research in order to prepare for reading the novel and answering the essential question:
How authentic is Mildred D. Taylor's depiction of African American life in the South during the 1930's in the historical novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry?
* Authentic means "accurate in representation of the facts" or "reliable."
Assignment:
While you read the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry you will conduct research on topics in the novel (see below). Each, Friday in class you will you will collaborate with other students who are researching the same topic that you are individually researching to organize your research findings and create a presentation to share with classmates. Your group may use one of these presentation formats, as directed by your teacher:
- Oral Report with Visuals - For class Jigsaw activity
- Digital Presentation:
- PowerPoint or Prezi - Multimedia presentation
- Wiki Page - Interactive webpage
- Museum Box - Virtual museum exhibit
Research Projects Topics
Great Depression
Research Questions: What was the Great Depression? When and why did it happen?
How did the Great Depression affect farmers and sharecroppers? How did the Great Depression affect African Americans?
Great Depression (FactMonster)
Great Depression - Click on the numbers or table of contents links to read each chapter (Awesome Stories)
Amistad Digital Resource: The Great Depression (Columbia University)
Impact of the Great Depression on African Americans (Britannica)
An American Exodus: Displacement in the 1930's (University of Virginia)
The Great Depression (PBS)
Jump Back in Time: Great Depression (Library of Congress)
The Great Depression (NPS: Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site)
Great Depression and WW II: Overview Race Relations in the 1930's and 40's(Library of Congress Learning Page)
The Farmer's Plight | African Americans and the New Deal (Digital History)
This group is divided into two groups:
Group 1 (economic and politics): will research and create a presentation on the economic and political concerns of the 1930’s including The New Deal, Dust Bowl, The Great Migration, Hoover, Roosevelt, Social Security, the WPA, and The League of Nations. Include statistics on the U.S. population, average salary, and cost of living, including home, rent, cart, etc.
Group 2 (daily life): will research and create a presentation chronicling daily life during the Depression. Some ideas you may also wish to include: plastic, nylon stockings, lawn tennis, stamp collecting, Baseball Hall of Fame, Howard Hughes, Lindbergh kidnapping, 21st amendment, Empire State Building, monopoly, radio, riding the rails, Tarzan, comics Laurel and hardy, and Dick and Jane books. (Keep in mind that not everyone had the same experiences during the Depression.) (documented life by Dorothea Lange): Focus Questions: Describe Dorothea Lange. What effect does her art work have on others? Describe her popular photos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l40XSvs4l0s
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Lange&co=fsa
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrODn0f1z0g
Sharecropping and Cotton
Research Questions: What was sharecropping/tenant farming? When and why did sharecropping start?
How did sharecropping affect African American families? What role did cotton play on the Southern economy?
Sharecropping (FactMonster)
The Beginning of Sharecropping in the United States
Sharecropping in Mississippi (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
About Sharecropping
Sharecropping Photo Gallery
Sharecropper Plantations
Rise of the Sharecropping System
Segregation and the Start of Desegregation
Jim Crow Laws
Focus Questions: What were Jim Crow laws? What are some examples? Why were Jim Crow laws passed?
How did Jim Crow laws affect African Americans in the South?Jim Crow Laws (FactMonster)
Remembering Jim Crow - Includes oral history audio interviews and slideshows (American Radio Works)
Introduction to the Jim Crow South
What was Jim Crow? (Ferris State University)
Segregation and the Jim Crow Era (About.com)
Jim Crow Laws (National Park Service - National Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site)
White Only: Jim Crow in America / Jim Crow Laws (Smithsonian-National Museum of American History)
Interactive Map - Select Jim Crow Laws, then click Mississippi on the map (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
Jim Crow - Includes photo gallery (Columbia University)
Little Rock Nine
Focus Questions: Who were the Little Rock Nine and how were they selected? What effect did these students have on the future of schools in Arkansas, and other parts of the country? Were there other children like the Little Rock Nine in other parts of the country, who helped desegregate public schools? Provide examples.
http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_little_rock_school_desegregation_1957/ (Sanford) includes primary documents
http://www.littlerock9.com/ (biographies of the nine students)
http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/school-integration/lilrock/index.html
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/central-high-school-integration (history channel)
Racism
Ku Klux Klan
Focus Questions: What was the Ku Klux Klan? When and where were KKK groups formed? What did the KKK do?
How did the Ku Klux Klan affect African Americans in the South?
Jim Crow Stories/Organizations: Ku Klux Klan (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
Jim Crow Stories/Events: Ku Klux Klan (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
The Ku Klux Klan (TruTV Crime Library)
Ku Klux Klan (Infoplease)
Ku Klux Klan (Digital History)
Lynching
Focus Questions: What was lynching? When and where did lynchings occur? Why were African Americans lynched?
Lynching (Infoplease)
Interactive Map - Select Lynching, then scroll over Mississippi on the map (Educational Broadcasting System)
The History of Lynching (TruTV Crime Library)
Lynching (Yale-New Haven Teachers' Institute)
Lynching Statistics: By State and Race; By Year; By Supposed Offense (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law)
American Lynching: The Shocking History
Lynching in America (PBS American Experience)
Civil Rights
Plessy v. Ferguson
Focus Questions: What happened in the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case? What was the "separate but equal" policy established by the Plessy v. Ferguson court decision How did this court decision affect African Americans?
Jim Crow Stories: Plessy v. Ferguson - Includes video (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
Plessy v. Ferguson: Legal Segregation (Awesome Stories)
Separate But Equal: The Law of the Land (Smithsonian National Museum of American History)
Today in History: May 18 - Plessy v. Ferguson - Includes primary source material (Library of Congress - American Memory)
Plessy v. Ferguson Supports Segregation - Includes primary source material (Library of Congress)
Supreme Court Landmark Cases: Plessy v. Ferguson (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
Separate but Equal: Segregation in the Public Schools (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law)
Plessy v. Ferguson Visual
Brown v. Board of Education
Focus Questions: What happened in the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case? What were public schools in the South like for African American children before this court decision? How did this court decision affect African Americans?
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (BrainPop) Username/password required for home access.
Jim Crow Stories: Brown v. Board of Education (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education (Rossville Junior High School)
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site (National Park Service)
"In Pursuit of Freedom and Social Equality" (Brown Foundation/National Park Service)
Civil Rights Law and History: Education
Famous African Americans of the 1930's
Focus Questions: Why are these people famous? What impact did these individuals have on society?
Choose, research, and create a presentation on a famous black American of the 1930’s such as George Washington Carver, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Mary McLeod Bethune, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Charles Drew, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Hattie McDaniel. James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Eugene Toomer, Sterling Brown, Claude McKay, and/or others.
Author Study
Mildred D. Taylor
Focus Questions: How did Mildred D. Taylor learn about conditions for African American's in the South? How is the author's own family history reflected in her novels? What novels did she write about the Logan family? Who inspired these characters?
Author Spotlight: Mildred D. Taylor (Random House)
The Mississippi Writers' Page: Mildred D. Taylor (University of Mississippi)
Taylor, Mildred (Educational Book and Media Association)
Mildred Taylor (Think Network - Greater Dayton Public Television)
Mildred D. Taylor, Mississipi Writer
Biography of Mildred Taylor (GradeSaver)
Mildred D. Taylor (NovelGuides)
Search for additional resources: Websites | Database Content | Print Resources & People | Media
Teacher Resources:
http://millerms.weebly.com/teacher-resources.html
Research Questions: What was the Great Depression? When and why did it happen?
How did the Great Depression affect farmers and sharecroppers? How did the Great Depression affect African Americans?
Great Depression (FactMonster)
Great Depression - Click on the numbers or table of contents links to read each chapter (Awesome Stories)
Amistad Digital Resource: The Great Depression (Columbia University)
Impact of the Great Depression on African Americans (Britannica)
An American Exodus: Displacement in the 1930's (University of Virginia)
The Great Depression (PBS)
Jump Back in Time: Great Depression (Library of Congress)
The Great Depression (NPS: Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site)
Great Depression and WW II: Overview Race Relations in the 1930's and 40's(Library of Congress Learning Page)
The Farmer's Plight | African Americans and the New Deal (Digital History)
This group is divided into two groups:
Group 1 (economic and politics): will research and create a presentation on the economic and political concerns of the 1930’s including The New Deal, Dust Bowl, The Great Migration, Hoover, Roosevelt, Social Security, the WPA, and The League of Nations. Include statistics on the U.S. population, average salary, and cost of living, including home, rent, cart, etc.
Group 2 (daily life): will research and create a presentation chronicling daily life during the Depression. Some ideas you may also wish to include: plastic, nylon stockings, lawn tennis, stamp collecting, Baseball Hall of Fame, Howard Hughes, Lindbergh kidnapping, 21st amendment, Empire State Building, monopoly, radio, riding the rails, Tarzan, comics Laurel and hardy, and Dick and Jane books. (Keep in mind that not everyone had the same experiences during the Depression.) (documented life by Dorothea Lange): Focus Questions: Describe Dorothea Lange. What effect does her art work have on others? Describe her popular photos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l40XSvs4l0s
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Lange&co=fsa
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrODn0f1z0g
Sharecropping and Cotton
Research Questions: What was sharecropping/tenant farming? When and why did sharecropping start?
How did sharecropping affect African American families? What role did cotton play on the Southern economy?
Sharecropping (FactMonster)
The Beginning of Sharecropping in the United States
Sharecropping in Mississippi (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
About Sharecropping
Sharecropping Photo Gallery
Sharecropper Plantations
Rise of the Sharecropping System
Segregation and the Start of Desegregation
Jim Crow Laws
Focus Questions: What were Jim Crow laws? What are some examples? Why were Jim Crow laws passed?
How did Jim Crow laws affect African Americans in the South?Jim Crow Laws (FactMonster)
Remembering Jim Crow - Includes oral history audio interviews and slideshows (American Radio Works)
Introduction to the Jim Crow South
What was Jim Crow? (Ferris State University)
Segregation and the Jim Crow Era (About.com)
Jim Crow Laws (National Park Service - National Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site)
White Only: Jim Crow in America / Jim Crow Laws (Smithsonian-National Museum of American History)
Interactive Map - Select Jim Crow Laws, then click Mississippi on the map (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
Jim Crow - Includes photo gallery (Columbia University)
Little Rock Nine
Focus Questions: Who were the Little Rock Nine and how were they selected? What effect did these students have on the future of schools in Arkansas, and other parts of the country? Were there other children like the Little Rock Nine in other parts of the country, who helped desegregate public schools? Provide examples.
http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_little_rock_school_desegregation_1957/ (Sanford) includes primary documents
http://www.littlerock9.com/ (biographies of the nine students)
http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/school-integration/lilrock/index.html
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/central-high-school-integration (history channel)
Racism
Ku Klux Klan
Focus Questions: What was the Ku Klux Klan? When and where were KKK groups formed? What did the KKK do?
How did the Ku Klux Klan affect African Americans in the South?
Jim Crow Stories/Organizations: Ku Klux Klan (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
Jim Crow Stories/Events: Ku Klux Klan (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
The Ku Klux Klan (TruTV Crime Library)
Ku Klux Klan (Infoplease)
Ku Klux Klan (Digital History)
Lynching
Focus Questions: What was lynching? When and where did lynchings occur? Why were African Americans lynched?
Lynching (Infoplease)
Interactive Map - Select Lynching, then scroll over Mississippi on the map (Educational Broadcasting System)
The History of Lynching (TruTV Crime Library)
Lynching (Yale-New Haven Teachers' Institute)
Lynching Statistics: By State and Race; By Year; By Supposed Offense (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law)
American Lynching: The Shocking History
Lynching in America (PBS American Experience)
Civil Rights
Plessy v. Ferguson
Focus Questions: What happened in the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case? What was the "separate but equal" policy established by the Plessy v. Ferguson court decision How did this court decision affect African Americans?
Jim Crow Stories: Plessy v. Ferguson - Includes video (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
Plessy v. Ferguson: Legal Segregation (Awesome Stories)
Separate But Equal: The Law of the Land (Smithsonian National Museum of American History)
Today in History: May 18 - Plessy v. Ferguson - Includes primary source material (Library of Congress - American Memory)
Plessy v. Ferguson Supports Segregation - Includes primary source material (Library of Congress)
Supreme Court Landmark Cases: Plessy v. Ferguson (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
Separate but Equal: Segregation in the Public Schools (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law)
Plessy v. Ferguson Visual
Brown v. Board of Education
Focus Questions: What happened in the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case? What were public schools in the South like for African American children before this court decision? How did this court decision affect African Americans?
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (BrainPop) Username/password required for home access.
Jim Crow Stories: Brown v. Board of Education (Educational Broadcasting Corporation)
Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education (Rossville Junior High School)
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site (National Park Service)
"In Pursuit of Freedom and Social Equality" (Brown Foundation/National Park Service)
Civil Rights Law and History: Education
Famous African Americans of the 1930's
Focus Questions: Why are these people famous? What impact did these individuals have on society?
Choose, research, and create a presentation on a famous black American of the 1930’s such as George Washington Carver, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Mary McLeod Bethune, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Charles Drew, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Hattie McDaniel. James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Eugene Toomer, Sterling Brown, Claude McKay, and/or others.
Author Study
Mildred D. Taylor
Focus Questions: How did Mildred D. Taylor learn about conditions for African American's in the South? How is the author's own family history reflected in her novels? What novels did she write about the Logan family? Who inspired these characters?
Author Spotlight: Mildred D. Taylor (Random House)
The Mississippi Writers' Page: Mildred D. Taylor (University of Mississippi)
Taylor, Mildred (Educational Book and Media Association)
Mildred Taylor (Think Network - Greater Dayton Public Television)
Mildred D. Taylor, Mississipi Writer
Biography of Mildred Taylor (GradeSaver)
Mildred D. Taylor (NovelGuides)
Search for additional resources: Websites | Database Content | Print Resources & People | Media
Teacher Resources:
http://millerms.weebly.com/teacher-resources.html