Gaining Background Knowledge and Extending Learning

• Memoir
o Just Mercy (2014) by Bryan Stevenson
▪ This text features Bryan Stevenson, a Black man, who works as an
attorney to help Walter McMillian, an innocent Black man, who was
falsely convicted of murder get off of death row. This case occurs in the
same town that To Kill a Mockingbird is based on except at a later time in
history which can reinforce the students’ understanding of the norms of
that setting that existed, emphasize the prevalence and severity of race-
based injustice, and be used as a point of reference to track change (or lack
thereof) in history relating to disproportionality and injustice between the
two novels.
▪ Overall themes/concepts: confronting racism, supporting Black
community members, court/justice system

• YA Literature
o The Hate U Give (2017) by Angie Thomas
▪ This text features the perspective of a sixteen-year-old Black girl as she
learns to navigate a world that is unjust and discriminatory following her
witnessing of the shooting of her childhood friend. This coming-of-age
plotline in conjunction with the protagonist’s loss of innocence as it relates
to racial injustice can relate to the students’ understanding of Scout within
To Kill a Mockingbird. Although Scout is a white character, her
development can be compared and contrasted with Starr’s experience to
give the students a more holistic representation of a young girl’s
experience navigating the newfound awareness of injustice.
▪ Overall themes/concepts: racism, coming-of-age, loss of innocence,
criminal (in)justice
• Essay
o “The Meanings of a Word” by Gloria Naylor
▪ In this text, Gloria Naylor recounts an experience she had as a child where
she was called the n-word, and she was left unsettled. She then begins to
unpack the usage of this word by explaining instances where it is
appropriate/inappropriate depending on the context and the identity of the
individual using the term. Students will read and annotate this text, answer
comprehension and analysis questions, and hold a discussion on this text
as a way to begin confronting the n-word within To Kill a Mockingbird.
This background knowledge will then be used to set classroom norms of
not speaking or writing the term throughout the unit to ensure the safety
and inclusion of each member within the class.
▪ Overall themes/concepts: identity, context, racism

• TedTalk Video
o “We Need to Talk about Injustice” (2012) by Bryan Stevenson
▪ In this TedTalk, Bryan Stevenson talks about his experience representing
prisoners on death row. He pleads for people to be upstanders by
recognizing that Black individuals are disproportionately incarcerated as
those with the most influence in this system oftentimes have the whitest
skin and the most money as a defense. The TedTalk is set in more modern
times which will act as an extension for student learning as students will
gain a better grasp on the growth or lack thereof of the criminal justice
system and the disproportionality it reflects. This will also precede the
students reading Just Mercy as a way of providing students with an
introduction to Bryan Stevenson – the one who gives the TedTalk and the
author of the memoir.
▪ Overall themes/concepts: confronting racism, criminal (in)justice
• Article
o “History of Lynching in the South Documents Nearly 4,000 Names” (2015) by
Campbell Robertson, posted by The New York Times
▪ This article provides a description of what lynching is and its horrific
history. This pairs well with chapter fifteen of To Kill a Mockingbird as
the people of Maycomb mob outside of Tom Robinson’s jail cell. This
provides students with background knowledge surrounding what lynching
it and its prevalence within this setting as seen in the novel.
▪ Overall themes/concepts: racism, violence born from racism

o “Straight Talk About the N-Word” (2011) by Sean Price

▪ This article provides a brief history of the n-word, reasoning behind its
popularity, and some ideas for approaching how to teach it to students as a
white woman. By having students read this article, they can think about
the usage, lineage, and approach we will be taking when confronting this
word throughout the novel. Price reflects this mindset of exploration and
discovery by concluding the text saying, “It’s not about whether or not a
person uses the n-word. I try to move the class beyond easy
binaries…What we are trying to do…is so much more. The class strives to
teach us all manner of ways to talk about, think about and to understand
ourselves, and each other, and why and how we fit in the rest of the
world.” It will be beneficial for students to be aware of the complexity of
understanding sensitive material that is often present when reading
harmful and aggressive language.
▪ Overall themes/concepts: confronting racism, understanding the context of
the n-word

• Podcast
o “State v. Johnson” (2017) by Malcolm Gladwell
▪ This Revisionist History podcast includes a description of a rape case
between a Black man and a White woman in 1959 that makes commentary
 on the intersection between power and justice just as seen in To Kill a
Mockingbird. Learning about dynamic provides yet another example from
that time period of how white people had power and influence within the
court system simply because of their skin color.
▪ Overall themes/concepts: sexual violence, power, injustice