Roll
of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by Mildred Taylor
Roll
of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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author study classroom connections list of related books web activity links
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* A NCSS-CBC Notable Children's
Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
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This book was set in Mississippi in the early 1930’s. The main character, Cassie, is the daughter of the Logans. This 9-year old girl’s family owns land, which was not very common for a black family at this time. The family bought the land during the Reconstruction period after the Civil War from the Grangers, who have been attemptinged to get the land back. Mary Logan, Cassie’s mother, fails one of her students and has "defaced" school property, she is fired. This act feeds the fire between the whites and blacks in the community.
When T.J. Avery is involved in a robbery that leads to the murder of the white store clerk, he is hunted down. The two white boys involved in the robbery/murder help lead the manhunt. David Logan, Cassie’s father, can only think of one way to prevent T.J.’s lynching. To distract everyone from T.J. by setting fire to his cotton field. Therefore sacrificing everything for T.J. and his family. The white men join efforts with the Logans to fight the fire that threatens to take all the trees and crops. Cassie is never the same. She cannot claim the innocence that she once knew.
This story shows the racial tension during in America during 1933. Slavery was gone, but segregation was still active. Even though terms are used in this book that are not politically correct, this book depicts this era very well. The terms however add to the tension felt between the races, and although it may be offensive to some it is true to life, which adds character to the story.
Mildred Taylor:
Even though Mildred D. Taylor was born in Jackson, Mississippi on September 13, 1943, she spent the majority of her childhood in Toledo, Ohio, where she attended primary school through college. Upon graduating from the University of Toledo, she left the United States to join the Peace Corp. While in the Peace Corp she spent much of her two years in Africa observing black pride and teaching English and history. She then decided to return to the States in order to recruit for the Peace Corp, and also to pursue her Masters degree in journalism at the University of Colorado. After graduation, she decided to move again, to Los Angeles, where she worked during the day and was able to write at night. During this time she created , Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Song of the Trees, and Let the Circle Be Unbroken, three novels that express family love and security when dealing with the evils of racism.
Taylor has received critical acclaim for her innovative exploration of the black experience and in 1997 received the ALAN Award. During her acceptance speech she explained how she her intent was to present loving and respectable parents, who were strong and sensitive, guided their children without harming their spirits. She stated that she gained the vision from her own family, and wanted her readers to know this family, and to feel related to them and to have her readers walk in their shoes. Through her novels, Taylor was able to give people a vision that would erase the line of prejudice. She felt that from her loving background and childhood, and from writing about these experiences, she would help others to also know and understand that we can all be raised in caring homes and caring families, and that the caring does not stop from one race to another.
Art --
1. Identify 5 artists that have depicted
American black history; summarize their works and life. (See webquest,
#2.)
2. Create a dust jacket for the book, that
is not the same as the cover but depicts some important aspect of the novel.
Writing --
1. Have the students re-write chapter 12
creating a different ending to the story.
2. Describe the incidents in which the Grangers,
Wallaces, and Simms take advantage of or harm the Logans.
3. Explain the school bus incident.
Do you think the Logan children's final response to the bus harassment
was justified?
4. Help the students create a Venn diagram
comparing/contrasting Stacey with T.J.
5. Write a letter to Cassie Logan describing
your school system and how it differs from hers; include a discussion of
the evolution and demise of the separate but equal issue. (See webquest,
#1.)
Discussion --
1. Is there any foreshadowing in the text
that centers on T.J.'s mischievousness that points to what will happen
to him later on in the story? Why or why not, and be prepared to
give examples and to discuss them with the class. You do have to
cite page numbers.
2. Do you think the ending of the story was appropriate given the circumstances and the situation that the Logan family was about to enter. Discuss and be prepared to share your beliefs with the class.
3. Using the bus accident as an example, would you have handled the teasing and discrimination the same as the Logan children did? Why or why not? If yes, would you have done something different, why?
Social Studies --
1. In the story that you have just read,
the school systems operate under the separate-but-equal clause. Discuss
and give reasons, supported by the text, that the school systems are anything
but equal. If you disagree with this statement, be able to explain
why by using evidence from the text. You do not have to cite page
numbers.
2. Research school and students of this time. Compare with the students today. What differences are there? Do changes still need to be made?
Math
1. From the size of the field given in the
text, determine how much of the Logan's field was destroyed. After
this, using facts researched on the Internet, determine if the Logan's
will be able to survive on what they still own. Be able to argue
your answer.
Young adult novels dealing with the issue
of slavery
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
Ballad of the Civil War by Mary Stolz
Caleb’s Choice by G. Wisler
Jip-His Story by Katherine Paterson
Picture of Freedom by Patricia McKissack
Poison Place by Mary Lyons
Rebels Against Slavery by Patricia
McKissack
Sarny by Gary Paulsen
Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
Steal Away Home by Lois Ruby
True North by Kathryn Lasky
#1- The objective of this webquest is to encourage students to discuss racial issues openly and to examine our history to explore the American culture. In each of the classroom activities #1 and #5 the students are asked to make a comparison of their own school with the system described in the book. Prior to completing the classroom activities, we will break into circles of 6 students to discuss the issues researched with these websites.
Use the listed websites as resources to gather information regarding the separate but equal principle and the case which made the principle illegal. Review these materials before drafting your article or letter regarding why the school systems are anything but equal or why they are different or not different.
Have the students create a newspaper letter to the editor arguing their point, rationally and diplomatically.
These sites provide links to the concepts and issues of Separate But Equal, Jim Crow Laws, Brown v The Board of Education, 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution
http://www.pbs.org/jefferson/enlight/brown.htm
http://www.americanradioworks.org/features/remembering/index.html
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1982/3/82.03.06.x.html
http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/forty.html
#2-This webquest coordinates with the art classroom activity (#1) suggested above. Objectives of the classroom activity are: Identify 5 artists who have made representation of the history of American black culture the focus of their art. Write a description of each artist's background and accomplishments. Describe at least 3 of the artist's major pieces and locate pictures or copies of the artist's work, if applicable, from the library to share with the class. The referenced websites catalog painters, sculptors, writers, musicians and dancers, among other types of artists and will provide an introduction to these artists.
Links to American artists portraying American Black History
http://www.usc.edu/isd/archives/ethnicstudies/africanamerican/black_artists.html
http://www.artlex.com/
