Name: ______Period: ______African American History and MLK Web Quest
Resources: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/special/mlk/king/studyguide.html and texts in the library.
Method: Complete the below web quest using this packet to do so. You are free to complete this on word and print out the final version or by writing out the answers on loose leaf paper. Do not write on the packet as they are shared between classes. This packet is also on the wiki and in the S drive under AAA_Teach, Desaulniers.
A. As a companion to the above Web site, the following study guide is intended to prompt further discussion about King's life and legacy, and particularly about how society has changed (or not changed) due to the civil rights movement. Answer the questions below using the web site, your critical thinking skills and tests in the library about Dr. King
1. Why was Martin Luther King Jr. attracted to the philosophy of Mohandas Gandhi? Research Gandhi's life and philosophy and discuss how the two men's approaches and beliefs were similar, and how they might have disagreed.
2. Julian Bond writes: "The civil rights movement, enjoying its widest national support at the Edmunds Pettis Bridge in Selma, Ala., in 1965, was actually preparing to self-destruct, its demands increasing and its public support diminishing." In what way was it preparing to self-destruct? What happened with the civil rights movement in the next ten years after 1965, and why did its course change so dramatically?
3. What examples of a movement similar to the civil rights movement exist today, either in America or elsewhere in the world? What are some of the strategies people are using to win those rights?
4. What did King mean when he said, in 1965, "I'm much more than a civil rights leader"? See the discussion by Julian Bond, and try to imagine what King might have done in five years or in 10 years had he lived.
5. If King were to come to your school one day, and look around and listen, what would he say about the nature of race relations there now?
B. Go to http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/special/mlk/king/quiz.html and take the quiz on civil rights. Note your answers below and submit them to the site.
1. What year was Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated?
a. 1960
b. 1963
c. 1968
d. 1973
2. Where did Rosa Parks become famous?
a. At a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina
b. At a high school in Little Rock, Arkansas
c. On a bus in Montgomery, Alabama
d. On a march in Selma, Alabama
3. Which president signed the first major civil rights act of this century?
a. John F. Kennedy
b. Lyndon B. Johnson
c. Richard M. Nixon
d. Ronald Reagan
4. Which president signed the law creating the Martin Luther King holiday?
a. John F. Kennedy
b. Lyndon B. Johnson
c. Richard M. Nixon
d. Ronald Reagan
5. What was the name of King's first book?
a. Stride Toward Freedom
b. Dreamer
c. Why We Can't Wait
d. We Shall Overcome
6. Where was the tactic of the sit-in protest first used?
a. At a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina
b. At a high school in Little Rock, Arkansas
c. On a bus in Birmingham, Alabama
d. On a march in Selma, Alabama
7. Where did King deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech?
a. At Ebenezer Baptist Church
b. In front of the Atlanta City Hall
c. At the Lincoln Memorial
d. At the Nobel Prize ceremony
8. Who is the protagonist of the novel Charles Johnson is writing?
a. The driver of a Birmingham bus
b. Martin Luther King Jr.
c. A bodyguard in Chicago
d. A sanitation worker in Memphis
9. What foreign figure has King been compared to?
a. Charles de Gaulle
b. Mohandas Gandhi
c. Albert Nobel
d. Nelson Mandela
10. What year was the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday first observed?
a. 1969
b. 1973
c. 1980
d. 1986
11. What black leader was killed five years before King's assassination?
a. James Meredith
b. Malcolm X
c. Medgar Evers
d. Stokely Carmichael
12. Why was King arrested in 1956?
a. Protesting segregated department store facilities in Birmingham.
b. Driving too fast
c. Sitting in at a Woolworth's lunch counter.
d. Assaulting a police officer.
C. Go to http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/special/mlk/king/speeches.html and listen to the “I have a dream” speech and the “I’ve been to the mountain top” speeches. Read the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. Answer the following questions.
1. What are the 3 main points of the “I have a dream” speech?
2. What is the Promised Land?
3. What did King see from the Mountain top?
4. What kind of world did King want the future to be?
5. What did King say about what influenced him in the “Letter from a Birmingham jail”?
6. In the Letter from a Birmingham jail, King outlines the reasons for his peaceful approach. What are his reasons?
7. What did King write the letter in response to?
8. Describe the significance of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail and his “I Have a Dream Speech” to the Civil rights movement and you?
D. Martin Luther King Jr. had an amazing life that spanned over three decades. Within that time, King changed our world. Research his life and create a timeline of 10 events that you think are significant. Go to http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/special/mlk/ and read King’s biography to help you do this. You can do this by hand in the space below or in word. You can also use the program TIMELINER.
E. Copy, paste and print out on one sheet of paper the 3 pictures from the web site that you think show the soul and spirit of Dr. King. Caption each picture as to what is happening in the photo.