VOCABULARY LIST

Words to know - Define each of the following terms and/or tell how it is culturally significant in the context of the story.

• Sharecropper

• Credit

• "nigra"

• Racism

• Freedom

• Revival meeting

• night-men

• Friendship

• Family

ESSAY TOPICS

1. Define friendship and use examples from the story to differentiate between real friends and false ones.

2. Write a character analysis of Cassie showing what kind of person she is at the beginning of the story and the ways in which she changes by the end of the story.

3. Write a comparison between Uncle Hammer and Mr. Morrison. Why is Mr. Morrison safer to have around?

4. Pretend you are a 1930's tourist who happens to be visiting the store in Strawberry on the day Cassie is mistreated. Write a letter to the newspaper editor describing your observations and making constructive suggestions about what should be done about it.

5. Create a diary for Jeremy showing how the story would be different from his eyes. How do the Logan children hurt him without meaning to? What could they have done differently?

6. Write a research paper about the effects of the Depression on the southern states, focusing especially on the effect it had on African Americans.

7. Define prejudice and show the impact it had on the characters. In what ways are the Logans themselves also prejudiced?

8. Research the Civil Rights Movement. Show how conditions in Mississippi got worse before they got better.

9. How does prejudice affect Americans today? How can people be prejudiced against a group of people without even realizing it?

10. Define respect and tell how a person earns it. What is wrong with using violence to demand respect? When, if ever, is violence an okay or necessary solution?

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