CHAPTERS 14-16

TKAM

Do Now

What do you think is involved in making a fair judgment about a person or situation? Explain your answer.

Ch. 15…

Jem, Scout, and Dill go into town and find Atticus outside the Maycomb jail surrounded by a crowd of people. Who does Scout recognize in the crowd? What does Scout discuss with this character? How does this scene illustrate Scout’s innocence?

“Strange Fruit” information

“Strange Fruit” was written by a white school teacher from New York City named Abel Meeropol, who was outraged after seeing a photograph of a horrific lynching in a civil-rights magazine. The photo was a shot of 2 black men hanging from a tree after they had been lynched in Marion, Indiana on August 7, 1930. In 1971, Meeropol said, "I wrote Strange Fruit because I hate lynching, I hate injustice, and I hate the people who perpetuate it.“

"Strange Fruit"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Web007rzSOISouthern trees bear a strange fruitBlood on the leaves and blood at the rootBlack bodies swingin' in the Southern breezeStrange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant SouthThe bulgin' eyes and the twisted mouthScent of magnolias sweet and freshThen the sudden smell of burnin' flesh

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluckFor the rain to gather, for the wind to suckFor the sun to rot, for the tree to dropHere is a strange and bitter crop

What are the “strange” fruit? Why is it that southern trees bear “strange” fruit?

What is ironic about the words “gallant south” and the south that bears “strange” fruit?

Why do you think the word “lynching” never appears in the poem? Do you think it is more or less effective because the message of the poem is implied instead of stated?

Write a brief reaction to the poem