Article Information

Compose an article that compares and contrasts the trial in To Kill A Mockingbird with the Scottsboro trial. Your paper should be 2-3 pages in length, and formatted according to class policy:

• font should be 12 point or smaller
• margins should be no larger than one inch on all four sides
• paper should be double spaced
• paper is well written in standard American English
• paper must have a title
• include at least one rough draft
• work with another student to edit your paper
• placed finished paper and drafts in your webquest folder

Some advice for collecting information:

• Create a chart like the one in ACTIVITY 2 to help you compile a list of characteristics for comparison
• Consider the question "how are these cases alike/different?" as the focus for your research
• Use any of the resources offered previously to help you. But remember, this article is to be in YOUR OWN WORDS. DO NOT "borrow" others' words and pass them off as your own. This is called plagiarism, and besides being a crime, could possibly get you expelled from school. Plagiarism is considered theft. If you would like to use a quotation, do so by providing credit to the author(s) in a signal phrase--for example, "According to Court TV's Greatest Trials Web site...".
• Somewhere in your article, you must use the following quotation from To Kill A Mockingbird (Chapter 10):

[Atticus said to Jem one day, "I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin To Kill A Mockingbird."]

[That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. "Your father's right," she said, "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up peoples gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin To Kill A Mockingbird."]

Evaluation: This article is worth 50 points. The rubric is as follows

Content (15 points): Paper compares and contrasts at least 3 characteristics of the trial. Writer has done good research, and uses this research to support points.

Organization (10 points): Paper is constructed in such a way that it makes sense, and does not "jump" from point to point; there is an obvious introduction, body, and conclusion.

Fluency (8 points): Sentences "flow" well, that is, they move into one another without leaving gaps in information. Paragraphs demonstrate good transition.

Conventions (7 points): Grammar, usage, mechanics, and formatting are correct according to assignment and standard edited American English.

Voice (5 points): Author's own writing personality is appropriately demonstrated.

Diction (5 points): Words are carefully and thoughtfully chosen, demonstrating an evolving working vocabulary.

Timeline

10--looks professionally formatted, is computer-created, and includes several significant events correlating the civil rights movement with the Scottsboro case.

7--looks fairly professional, may be computer-created, and includes two significant events correlating the civil rights movement with the Scottsboro case.

4--may not look professional or be computer-created, and includes one significant correlation between the civil rights movement and the Scottsboro case.

2--submits assignment.

0--does not submit assignment.

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