Racism: Recurring Across LiteratureCarolyn Hilbert

English

Indicator D: Identify similar recurring themes across different works. References

The Adventures of Huckleberry

Finn

To Kill A Mockingbird

The Color of Water

Roll of Thunder, Hear

My Cry

Huck Finn

Author: Mark Twain

Summary: Twain goes on to tell of a boy, Huck, on a journey down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave. Huck finds that he can confide in Tom, the slave, and finally sees the other side of slavery.

Mark Twain

To Kill A Mockingbird• Author: Harper Lee• Summary: Scout Finch,

daughter of respected lawyer Atticus, learns the hardships faced by racism. Her father takes on a case he knows he will lose because he is defending a black man in the South. Scout learns a lot that summer, not only from her father, but in her own adventures. Harper Lee

The Color of Water• Author: James

McBride• Summary: James

writes from his own personal point of view. The story is true, and it talks about his and his mother’s experiences while growing up in the south.

James McBride

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry• Author: Mildred D.

Taylor• Summary: The Logans,

a family living in Mississippi in 1933, tells their story of how they live in the south in such a segregated time. Cassie, the second eldest child, is the narrator and tells her point of view as everything around her is falling apart.

Mildred D. Taylor

What is a Theme?

• Theme is a broad idea or message that is conveyed throughout a piece of literature

• Every piece of literature contains a theme; and along with themes are a plot, characters, setting, and style To further explore other

elements of literature, visit analyzing literature.

What does Recurring mean?• Themes reoccur across

literature countless times• Many books have the

similar, if not the same universal theme

• Themes tie everything together in a work, and bring different pieces in to make a whole

Atticus Finch• Lawyer, played by Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird• In the movie, Gregory Peck ends with a powerful speech as

he defended an African American man wrongly accused of committing a crime

Huckleberry Finn•“Huck Finn”•He is the main

character of the story, and travels down a river with a runaway slave

James McBride•Author/main

character•The story is an

autobiography where McBride tells of how he and his mother grew up surrounded by racism

Cassie Logan•Female; second

oldest child in the Logan family

•She is naïve about racism, and is always getting herself in trouble

References• Adventures of Huck Finn. Virginia H. Hope, 1995. Web. 3 Mar. 2010.

<http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/huckfinn/huchompg.html>.• "American Rhetoric: Movie Speech." American Rhetoric: Movie Speech. American

Rhetoric, 2001-2010. Web. 02 Mar. 2010. <http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechtokillamockingbird.html>.

• BookRags Book Notes. BookRags, 2000-2009. Web. 3 Mar. 2010. <http://www.bookrags.com/notes/tkm/SUM.htm>.

• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: Studyguide. GrAdesaver, 1991-2009. Web. 3 Mar. 2010. <http://www.gradesaver.com/roll-of-thunder-hear-my-cry/study-guide/short-summary/>.

• SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.