Goal: To familiarize you with the era of the Great Depression, which is the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird. The information collected from these websites will help you to better visualize the story.

Choose one Web site to explore. Use the information in the Web site to answer the questions listed below the Web link. Be sure to read the complete articles! After you finish answering your questions, meet with your classmates to find out the answers to the remaining questions.

The BIG QUESTION: After sharing information with your classmates, meet in your group to answer the BIG QUESTION. This will require that you synthesize (mix together) much of the information you got from all the Web sites that were explored. Good luck and enjoy this activity.

If you need a dictionary, there is one here for you!

Website: "I Remember . . . Reminiscences of the Great Depression" 

1. What were some things that people did to make money during this time?

2. What kinds of food did people eat most often?

3. What kind of Christmas presents might a child receive during the Great Depression?

Website: Growing Up Black in the 1930's

4. According to Mrs. Peacolia Barge, what was the attitude of blacks toward the subject of slavery in the 1930s? How about the subject of farming?

5. What were typical living conditions for southern blacks during this time?

6. Summarize some of the social, educational, and legal "barriers" that Barge discusses.       

7. Barge ends her interview by saying, "No, not all black people are the same and not all white people are the same." What do you think she means by this?

Website: Growing Up White in the 1930's

8. What were some qualities of what was considered a "good" family in the south during the 1930s? (Consider religion, employment, wealth, speech, etc. in your answer.)

9. What common role did black women play in the lives of white children?

10. What sorts of play activities did the interviewees enjoy as young girls? How were their activities different from the ones Barge remembers?

Website: The Depression News (Read "Labor unions rise!" and "Relief in sight!")

11. Why did workers form labor unions during the great depression? Do you think they reached their goal?

12. What was the CCC and who did it help?

Website: Background on the New Deal

13. What did President Hoover try to do to ease the effects of the stock market crash?

14. What was President Roosevelt's "New Deal?"

15. What was the "bank holiday?"

BIG QUESTION: What do you think was the most important quality for a person to possess in order to survive the Great Depression? Why? (Minimum 250 words. Don't forget to write a topic sentence and give examples from the readings.)