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A set of activities for investigating social context in the novel, 'To Kill A Mockingbird' focusing on chapters 12-13. Students need some knowledge of the plot of the novel, and the aims in these activities is to investigate the social prejudices which exist in the community of Maycomb. Images courtesy of www.tumblr.com Created by Michelle Terry & Chloe Edwards 2010
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Activity for chapters 12-13 of To Kill a Mockingbird
The ‘Maycomb caste system’
Unit guiding question: How does literature reflect the social and political issues of an era?
How can we understand the author’s views on prejudice through an analysis of ‘the caste system of Maycomb?’
Objectives
You have 5 minutes to answer the following question in your groups.How do the people at Cal’s church treat the
children?Why doesn’t the church have hymn books?Who moves in with the Finches? Why?Why are so many people in Maycomb related to
each other in some way?Describe the ‘talk’ Aunt Alexandra asks Atticus
to have with the children. How do the children react to this talk?
The Big Picture…
Read and discuss the following passage from pg. 137, “There was indeed a caste system….their mother did the same”
What is a caste system?noun a social structure in which classes are
determined by heredity www.dictionary.com
Focus on key passage
Examples of Caste system
Benefit
Discuss how a caste system might benefit and harm a society (general and in Maycomb)
Harms
Place the following ‘castes’ in the order you think they belong.
Cunningham FinchEwellRadleyCalpurnia and her
church
Maycomb heirarchy
Each group discusses and researches their assigned ‘caste’. Each member of the group will research one of the points below and present to the class. Presentation should include specific quotes and evidence.
1. Who is this ‘caste’ in society Level of education, manner of speaking, titles or
manner in which they are addressed, physical appearance
2. What are their values: what do they think of themselves?
3. What do others think of them? 4. What assumptions are made about this caste? 5. What stereotypes come into play?
The Activity (20 mins preparation time)
Elect one member of your group to represent your caste.
This person will come to the front of the class and present their views on key statements by standing on the VALUE LINE
Disagree Agree
Where does your ‘caste’ stand?
All men are created equalThe strong are responsible for taking care of
the weak, whether they want help or not.People don’t changeYou’ll never know a man until you walk in his
shoes.
Key statements
How can we understand the author’s views on prejudice through an analysis of ‘the caste system of Maycomb?’
Discuss the question with your group, write their opinion in the outer circles
Write a response in your class notebook
Bringing it all together
