Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

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Roll of Thunder,Hear My Cry

• Written by Mildred D. Taylor

My ABC Book by Dorothy Henry
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• A is for Anger
• Anger is an underlying theme in the book.
• Anger fueled by prejudice and hate
• Anger fueled by the resentment of being
  mistreated

A
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B
B is for Big Ma Big Ma is the matriarch of the
Logan family. She knows how things are and knows
that sometimes you must swallow your pride, even
when you know that in your heart of hearts the
circumstances are wrong. Survival is sometimes
more important than being right.
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C
C is for Cassie
Cassies eyes are opened up in the course of the
book. She goes from blissful in her ignorance to
the depth of hate in the world, to a girl whose
heart and soul have been touched by it. She will
never be the same again.
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D
D is for David David, the father of Cassie and
her brothers, has had to go away from home to
work the railroad to help provide for his family.
He is a strong man of character.
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E
E is for Education Mary always wanted to be a
teacher. Marys father sacrificed to give Mary
an education. Mary knows the value of an
education and tries to instill that in her
children as well as her students.
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F
F is for Fire Fire the only thing that could
consume the burning rage inside the lynch mob
coming for T.J.
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G is Gentle Christopher-John, the third child in
the Logan family has a gentle spirit. He just
wants to live his life in peace, not stir the
pot, not get all riled up.
G
Y-you mean we aint gonna eat no lunch!
Christopher-John cried in dismay.
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H
H is for Harlan Harlan Granger wants the Logan
land. He is the major landowner in the area. He
holds the land that the blacks sharecrop on.
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I is for Innocence Childhood innocence is lost to
Cassie. She sees what the world is, and where
she is in it.
I
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J is for Jamison Mr. Jamison was one of the few
white people in the story that could see the
anger but not have his heart swept up in its
hateful torrents. He stood up for what was right
and helped where he could.
J
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K
K is for Kindness Kindness can be found in the
harsh, cruel places. Jeremy is a Simms, yet he
lives outside of their world dominated by hate.
He is kind to the Logan kids, he wants to
befriend them.
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L is for Little Man Little in size, young in
age, but long on knowledge that the world around
him was not fair
L
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M
M is for Mary Strong woman. Must be able to
stand strong in her husbands absence. Must work
hard to keep her family together.
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N is for Nigra The word in the opening scene that
sets the stage for the book. The word that
brings indignation in Little Man and Cassie. The
word that is found stamped inside the very poor
condition books given to the children of the
Great Faith School. The word that Miz Logan
covers to ease the sting.
N
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O
O is for Obnoxious T.J. is obnoxious, so much so
that Little Man really cant stand him, neither
can Cassie. Although he is a know-it-all and a
manipulator, he really is only trying to mask the
pain he feels inside. He tries to control what he
can, because he really has no control in the
grand scheme of things.
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P
P is for Prejudice The far reaching effects of
prejudice are explored in Roll of Thunder, Hear
My Cry. It touches everyone in the book, but not
everyone reacts in the same way.
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Q is for Queen Lillian Jean is the Queen on the
throne of her fathers hate. Lillians heart is
filled with such egotistical pride, which will be
what Cassie preys upon in her plan for revenge.
Q
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R
R is for Roots The further the roots of a tree go
into the ground, the more life sustaining water
it will have access to. Same with the Logan
family, their roots go deep into their land, it
gives them strength and purpose.
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S
S is for Stacey Stacey is on the cusp of manhood.
He feels ready to take that leap, to protect his
family, make important decisions. He gets some
opportunities throughout the book to take a stand.
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T is for T.J. Looking for acceptance that he
would never get, he falls in with the R.W. and
Melvin Wallace who use him and then frame him for
murder.
T
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U
U is for Uncle Hammer Uncle Hammers temper is
always burning under the surface, it is a part of
who he is and what he does in life
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V
V is for Vengence The night men take to the
darkness to repay what they feel are travesties
against the whites Calling someone on their
lies, for standing strong in the face of hate and
injustice.
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W
W is for Wallace The Wallace family are the local
bad boys in the story. They spread their
prejudice and malice throughout the story.
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X is for Fix Things were broken in Mississippi.
Things that the Logan family tried to repair.
Boycotting the Wallaces, getting credit for
blacks to shop elsewhere, covering over offensive
words in textbooks.
X
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Y
Y is for Yearning Even though, this is how things
were, there is a yearning for that future day
when equality becomes a reality.
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Z is for Zenith Owning land was a zenith for
blacks during that period of time in history.
The Logans owned land, and quite a bit of it.
They took that responsibility very seriously and
fought hard to keep it. It is their legacy.
Z
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Credit for Pictures

• Roll of Thunder Book Cover on title slide from
  http//peacecorpsonline.org/messages/jpeg/rollofth
  under.jpg
• Map used for H http//www.city-data.com/county/Je
  fferson_Davis_County-MS.html
• All other images are from the Microsoft Office
  Online Clip art collection found at
  http//office.microsoft.com/clipart/