Angie Thomas
Where was Angie Thomas born?
Jackson, Mississippi
In what year was Harper Lee born?
1926 (April 28, 1926).
In what year was The Hate U Give published?
2017
In what decade is To Kill a Mockingbird set?
1930s.
Name one family or early life detail that influenced Thomas’s perspective as a writer.
Raised in a predominantly Black neighborhood; experienced or witnessed racial profiling and community activism; family emphasis on education and storytelling.
Name one aspect of Lee’s family background or early life that shaped her later writing.
Grew up in Monroeville, Alabama; father Amasa Coleman Lee was a lawyer and served in the state legislature—his profession inspired Atticus Finch; childhood friendship with Truman Capote.
Briefly state the central incident in The Hate U Give that drives the novel’s plot (one or two phrases).
The shooting of Starr’s childhood friend Khalil by a police officer.
Name the year the novel was published and its author.
Published in 1960 by Harper Lee.
Where did Angie Thomas go to college and/or what did she study that contributed to her career?
Attended Belhaven University (writing/theatre background); studied creative writing and participated in writing programs (e.g., Pitch Wars).
Which authors or literary influences are commonly cited as shaping Harper Lee’s style or themes?
Influences often include Southern writers and journalists; friendship with Truman Capote; American literary realism traditions (e.g., Mark Twain’s regional storytelling).
Identify one real-world movement or event from the 2010s that influenced the novel’s themes.
The Black Lives Matter movement and national attention on police shootings of unarmed Black people in the 2010s.
Identify one historical reality of 1930s American South (set of the novel) that appears in the book.
Jim Crow segregation, racialized legal inequalities, and lynching threats; entrenched racial hierarchy in Southern towns.
Describe one way Thomas has engaged in social activism or community involvement.
Public speaker, youth mentor, participates in panels, supports literacy initiatives and protests; uses platform to advocate for racial justice.
What was Harper Lee’s profession or work background before publishing To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)?
Worked as an airline reservation clerk and studied law briefly; later wrote for newspapers and worked on fiction before To Kill a Mockingbird.
How does Thomas portray the effects of police violence on families and communities in the novel? (2–3 sentence response)
Thomas shows trauma, community outrage, activism, and the ripple effects on economic, emotional, and civic life; families struggle with grief and the need for public truth and accountability.
Which events or social movements from the 1950s might have shaped public reception of To Kill a Mockingbird when it was published in 1960? (2–3 sentence response)
The emerging Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954) and increasing national attention to segregation made the novel’s themes especially resonant in 1960; readers interpreted it as both a critique of past injustices and a timely call for empathy.
Summarize in one sentence Thomas’s stated or inferred beliefs about race and justice as reflected in interviews or public statements.
Thomas has expressed that Black lives matter and that storytelling can spark empathy and change; she centers Black voices and critiques systemic injustice.
After the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, name one major event or change in Lee’s life or public role.
Following publication, Lee became a public literary figure, received the Pulitzer Prize (1961), and largely retreated from public life while managing her privacy and estate.
Based on research and inference, list two events or trends from the 2010s that likely informed Thomas’s inspiration for The Hate U Give.
Examples: (1) High-profile police killings of Black people and ensuing protests (e.g., Ferguson, 2014); (2) Rise and organization of Black Lives Matter and related activism; both shaped the novel’s focus on protest, media, and youth activism.
Based on historical context and Lee’s life, list two events or conditions from the 1930s–1950s that likely influenced Lee while writing To Kill a Mockingbird. (2–3 bullet points with brief explanation)
Examples: (1) Jim Crow laws and segregation in the South—these shaped setting and social dynamics shown in the novel; (2) The Civil Rights Movement and growing litigation against segregation in the 1950s informed Lee’s moral framing and the book’s reception—Lee’s own Southern upbringing and her father’s legal work further supplied material and perspective.