Historical Timeline
Part of the Bill of Rights, this amendment to the
Constitution guarantees all U.S. citizens accused of a
crime the right to a trial, a lawyer, an impartial jury, and
witnesses.
6TH AMENDMENT
A lawyer or attorney (licensed to practice law)
Counsel
Retrospective Narrative
A story told from the point of view of a character
looking back on past events; uses first-person, past-
tense narration
A system in which things are ranked according to importance
Hierarchy
wanting to harm or do evil to another person
malevolent
Southern states secede from the U.S. to maintain their
system of slavery, causing the Union (North) and
Confederacy (South) to fight the bloodiest war in U.S.
history.
Civil War
A group of people selected and sworn to listen to
evidence and deliver a verdict or decision in a trial.
Jury
Irony
The opposite of what is expected; dramatic irony refers
to situations in which a reader’s awareness of what is
happening exceeds a character’s awareness
Enforcing the separation of people according to race, religion, gender, etc.
Segregation
different from what is familiar or acceptable
Alien
Economy collapses as a result of the stock market crash
and many lose their life savings; unemployment is
widespread.
The Great Depression
Finding a defendant guilty of a crime. If a judge or jury
finds a person not guilty of the crime they are charged
with, it is called an acquittal.
Conviction
Satire
The use of humor, irony, or sarcasm used to critique
the flaws of something, often government or society
A caste system created when many state and local
governments, angered by the freedoms granted to Black
Americans through Constitutional amendments, passed their
own laws enforcing segregation and removing freedoms and
legal protections from Black people. (1877 - 1960s)
Jim Crow
irritation and annoyance
vexation
Slavery is abolished throughout the U.S.
13TH Amendment
Testimony
The answers and explanations given by a witness
under oath. Cross examination is when the opposing
counsel asks questions.
Reference to a significant historical, literary, cultural, or political figure or idea
Allusion
Execution, usually by hanging, often committed by a mob,
without a legal arrest or trial for the victim.
Lynching
likely to cause an argument or controversy
Contentious
During the middle of the civil rights movement, Harper
Lee publishes her novel. It is set in Maycomb, Alabama
during the Great Depression, roughly 1933-1935.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Contempt of Court
Being disrespectful to the judge; causing a disturbance
in a courtroom
Genre tracing the development of a protagonist
through naiveté (lack of experience, wisdom, or
judgement) to a new understanding about their world.
Often emphasizes a loss of innocence; sometimes
includes the development of cynicism (mistrust or
doubt in humanity).
Coming of Age
A rigid system that divides people into groups with different privileges
Caste
causing sadness or feelings of gloom
Melancholy