Pudd'nhead Wilson Lesson Plan

Jim Crow Laws

Kind of Activity:

Mixed Media

Objective:

To allow students to put America’s history of racial injustice into context, and to shed light on why Mark Twain was so pessimistic about racial equality in Pudd’nhead Wilson.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7

Structure:

As we’ve seen in this section of the reading, Pudd’head Wilson is a fierce criticism of America’s treatment of black people. The book was published in 1894, nearly 40 years after the end of the Civil War. Slavery had been abolished, so why was Mark Twain still so pessimistic about the United States and racial justice?

It’s important for students to...