This project is going to give you the chance to "walk around in other people's skin" for a while. You've just finished reading the story of To Kill a Mockingbird from Scout's perspective as an adult looking back at her childhood. Now, you are going to rewrite the story from the perspective of some of the minor characters in the novel, and you are going to design and create the book that contains these stories.
Step One: Select two partners to work with. You need a group of three to get this done right.
Step Two: Each group member needs to select two minor characters from the following list: Mrs. Dubose; Boo Radley; Tom Robinson; Walter Cunningham; Aunt Alexandra; and Calpurnia.
Now, split up. Each group member should work independently for a while.
Step Three: For each of your two characters, select and re-read one chapter from the novel in which that character is important.
Step Four: Research some background for your character. What would life have been like in the 1930's for your character?
Step Five: Re-write Harper Lee's original chapter from your character's perspective. Try not to change what happened in the original story, but make sure your reader will understand what your character was thinking and why she or he acted in specific ways. Each chapter should be long enough to tell the same piece of the story as the original novel does.
Now, re-form your group. You need to work together for the rest of the mission!
Step Six: The group should work together to write an introduction telling your reader all about Maycomb, Alabama, the fictional setting for the novel. Some research on the town of Monroeville, Alabama, where Harper Lee grew up might help.
Step Seven: Write a conclusion chapter that imagines what has happened to all of the six characters plus Scout, Jem and Atticus 20 years after the original story ends.
Step Eight: Design and create a cover for your book, and bind all of your chapters together inside the cover. Here are some ideas for how to do that, but you should feel free to do this however you think best gets your message across.
Now you're ready to present your book to the class!
Congratulations!
