To Kill a Mockingbird Theme PowerPoint

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To Kill a MockingbirdTheme PowerPoint

• By Ashley Mullen
• Jessica Dockstader
• Period 5
• June 1st , 2007

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Theme Statement

• In Harper Lees novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the
  authors portrayal of African Americans and the
  society they live in shows how people have a
  difficult time overcoming their prejudices
  considering skin color.

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• After Mr. Gilmer gives his cross examination to
  Tom Robinson, Dill runs outside crying. When
  Dolphus Raymond sees Dill, he explains why Mr.
  Gilmer thinks its acceptable to treat Tom in that
  manner.
• Cry about the simple hell people give other
  people- without even thinking. Cry about the hell
  white people give colored folks without, even
  stopping to think theyre people too (Lee 201).
• Mr. Raymond is talking to Dill before the
  conclusion of the trial. Dill doesnt understand
  why Mr. Raymond acts like hes drunk, in front of
  white people, when hes not even drinking.

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• Connection to I Have a Dream Speech
• But one hundred years later, the Negro still is
  not free. One hundred years later, the life of
  the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles
  of segregation and the chains of discrimination.
  One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a
  lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast
  ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years
  later, the Negro is still languishing in the
  corners of American society and finds himself in
  exile in his own land. So we have come here today
  to dramatize an shameful condition
• -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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• This excerpt from the I Have a Dream speech by
  Martin Luther King, Jr. ties in with the theme of
  racial injustice because it shows how African
  Americans are discriminated against. Even though
  they fought for their freedom, segregation still
  exists and there is still tension between all
  different races.

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• Gone with the Wind
• By Margaret Mitchell
• Scarlett O'Hara, a spoiled adolescent girl, deals
  with the struggles of the civil war. Scarlett
  owns many slaves and is not accustomed to life
  without them.
• -Ashley M.

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• Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell,
  expresses how people in the South treated African
  Americans without respect. Many times throughout
  the story, the author captures Scarlett shouting
  commands at her slaves, without understanding
  that they are human beings with feelings, too.

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• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
• By Mildred D. Taylor
• Cassie and her brothers attend a school for
  black children in Mississippi she is unaware of
  racial hatred and prejudice that exists in her
  community. She begins to fear the violence
  accompanies the existence of segregation.
• -Jessica D.

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• Taylors novel shows Cassie is just a young girl
  wanting to be able to run free through her land
  without any worries, but when Mr. Harlan
  expresses an interest in their land, Cassie
  learns how African Americans have a difficult
  time overcoming their racial prejudices.

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Current Event

• In February 2003, the Sudanese government and
  rebels
• have been targeting the people of Darfur. Over
  tens of thousands have been killed, raped, or
  assaulted because of their different religion or
  the land they live on. There have been mass
  killings of over 200 farmers, or community
  leaders, and the Darfur civilians are now living
  in fear. This is an example of how prejudice
  still affects the world today. Just as the white
  people in Maycomb were prejudice towards African
  Americans, the Sudanese government is now
  prejudice against the Furs.