This lesson plan aims to analyze representations of racism and violence in The Help. Students will identify examples of racism and violence from the text and form opinions on the author's portrayal. They will discuss their views verbally and in writing. The teacher will monitor discussions and collect written responses. Students will compare events from the novel to current events and discuss similarities and differences in sources of discrimination over time.

1. Tess McNamara
TL525
LESSON PLAN: Analyzing sources of race and portrayal of violence in The Help
OBJECTIVES
Content: SWBAT identify and cite specific examples of racism and violence represented in
The Help. SWBAT use textual evidence to form an opinion about how the author represents
racism and violence, and why or why not they personally agree with the author’s
representation.
Language: SWBAT clearly communicate in verbal and written formats why they agree or do
not agree with the ways violence and racism are portrayed in The Help.
(Lesson Preparation)
ASSESSMENT
Teacher will circulate and monitor how students use textual evidence to support their
discussions. Teacher will collect students’ written responses at the beginning of the next
class period.
(Lesson Preparation, Review and Assessment)
CONNECTION TO STANDARDS
STATE STANDARDS
College & Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading 6-12
Key Ideas and Details, 1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make
logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support
conclusions drawn from the text.
Key Ideas and Details, 2. Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over
the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details;
provide an objective summary of the text.
Craft and Structure, 4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word
choices shape meaning or tone.
Craft and Structure, 6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a
text.

2. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, 7. Analyze various accounts of a subject told in
different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining
which details are emphasized in each account.
WIDA STANDARDS
English Language Development Standard 1: English language learners communicate for
social and instructional purposes within the school setting.
English Language Development Standard 2: English language learners communicate
information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of
language arts.
WARM UP/DO NOW (Building Background, Lesson Preparation)
In one or two sentences, summarize the current event you researched for homework last
night. Your sentences should focus on the description of the actual event and the major issue
that it raises.
(Comprehensible Input, Strategies, Review and Assessment)
INTRODUCTION OF NEW MATERIAL
*For homework the night before this lesson, students were instructed to research online or in
a printed newspaper and find a current event which has been in the news sometime in the
past three months. The current event has to relate to a moral, religious, racial, or political
controversy that has stemmed from human violence or terrorism. The students then needed
to summarize the main points of the event, the main people involved, and the main issue(s)
that has caused controversy.
1. Teacher calls on five students to go to the board and write the major topic that their
current event article is about, and then write their name underneath the topic. If the
five students have different topics, then they should each write out their topic (neatly,
in a line across the board). If any of them have the same topic, then only one student
should write the topic, and both students write their names under the topic heading.
(Lesson Preparation)
2. Teacher calls on next five students to go to the board and continue the process. Then,
the next group of five, and so on.
3. Teacher asks students to gather into groups with the other students who chose articles
about the same topic.
4. Each group is given 5-8 minutes to review their notes. Then, each group is given a
poster-sized paper to neatly write out a title for the event, the date(s) of the event, the
people involved, a brief summary of the actual event, and the controversial issues or
arguments that have followed the event. (Building Background, Interaction,
Practice and Application)

3. 5. Each group selects a representative to present their event/poster with the rest of the
class. (Interaction, Practice and Application)
*The introduction of new material in this lesson is presented by the students. The new
material being introduced is information about various current events related to violence and
discrimination in today’s world.
GUIDED PRACTICE
1. In whole-class discussion, teacher asks students to think of themselves as characters
in The Help, and identify what events have happened in the novel thus far that would
be heard of in the news and would be considered “important current events.”
2. The teacher lists the events on the board as the students identify events in the
discussion. (Comprehensible Input)
3. After forming a list of “current events” from The Help, teacher asks students to turn
to a partner and work together to find a few of the scenes in the novel where these
events happened. Students are to identify the narrator of the chapters, and then review
what kind of an emotional response that character had to the event. Partners are then
prompted to consider why Stockett chose that narrator and if they think the
character’s reaction would have been accurate and sufficient in comparison to the
way Stockett portrayed it. (Interaction)
4. Teacher does a think aloud example before the partners have the discussion. For
example, in the scene where Medgar Evers is killed during chapter fourteen, Aibileen
is the narrator and Stockett portrays a scene with chaos in the streets and then Minny
and Aibileen reacting to the tragic news while listening to the reporter on the radio.
Minny and Aibileen are horrified and very saddened by the news, and they discuss
how they will pray for the Evers family. (Lesson Preparation, Comprehensible
Input, Strategies)
5. Teacher asks partners to share their findings with the class in whole-class
discussion.(Interaction, Review and Assessment)
6. Teacher facilitates discussion asking students to consider how often and how extreme
the portrayal of racial violence is depicted in the novel. In discussion, students are to
consider if Stockett includes enough accurate depictions of violence and danger in
Jim Crow Jackson throughout the novel.
7. Teacher briefly explains and then plays movie clip from Mississippi Burning, a film
released in 1988. It is loosely based on the FBI investigation into the deaths of three
civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964. The two men in the clip are FBI agents
on the case, and are also the two main characters of the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlzaBi_QxPw (Lesson Preparation, Building
Background)
8. Teacher asks students to react to take a minute to silently gather their reactions to the
film clip and write down their thoughts in their reaction journals. Students are
prompted to consider what the film clip suggests about sources of violence and racial

4. discrimination in American history. (Comprehensible Input, Lesson Delivery,
Review and Assessment)
9. Students return to their partners and discuss their reactions. (Interaction, Practice
and Application)
10. Teacher asks students to share findings and reactions with the class. (Interaction,
Practice and Application)
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
1. Students work independently to analyze the scenes in the novel where violence and
discrimination are portrayed.
2. Students write a response explaining where the sources of racist attitudes come from
in the novel (ie. tradition, unclear sources, certain characters, etc.). Which characters
do they think are racist and which characters do they think are not racist? They are
also told to consider both sides of the racism – white characters and black characters.
Where do both sides of their anger stem from? How do the characters show their
anger? Is any of it justified? (Practice and Application, Review and Assessment)
3. Students share responses with the class. Students consider if the sources of violence,
discrimination, and racism have strengthened or weakened in the overall novel or if
any of the characters’ personal sources have strengthened or weakened throughout
the novel? (Interaction, Practice and Application, Review and Assessment)
4. Students return to original current event groups. They discuss similarities and
differences between the novel’s “current events” and the current events of today’s
society. The students are to discuss the similarities and differences in the sources of
the violence and discrimination. Have those sources strengthened or weakened
throughout the course of history? Are any of the sources of discrimination, racism, or
violence justified now? (Interaction, Practice and Application, Review and
Assessment)
CLOSING/EXIT TICKET (5 min.)
Were you surprised by any of the similarities or differences between the novel’s events and
today’s current events? If yes, what surprised you? If not, why not?
HOMEWORK (if appropriate).
Take into consideration all of the viewpoints and information gathered in the different class
discussions today. Continue to write or revise the student response you began during
independent practice. Use textual evidence to support your claims wherever appropriate.
(Practice and Application, Review and Assessment)