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Sometimes authors create imaginary, or fictional, stories and characters and set them in a time and place that has actually existed. This type of literature is called historical fiction. Historical fiction often portrays alternate accounts or dramatization of historical figures or events. Stories in this genre, while fictional, make an honest attempt at capturing the spirit, manners, and social conditions of the person or time they represent with attention paid to detail and fidelity. Famous examples include the film Forrest Gump, the television series The Tudors, and the book Memoirs of a Geisha. Set in a small Alabama town during the Great Depression of the 1930s, To Kill a Mockingbird is an example of historical fiction. (adapted from:

1. How are people convicted of crimes? 2. What is innocence? 3. Is society corrupt? Why or why not? 4. What sorts of punishments exist in Canadian Law? 5. How do you think people were punished in the mid 1900s?

Southern trees bear strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the gallant south, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh, Then the sudden smell of burning flesh. Here is fruit for the crows to pluck, For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop, Here is a strange and bitter crop. "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday  Please listen to the following song carefully.  After we listen to the song once you will move in to small groups of four.

 She first sang the song in 1939  Written as a poem by Abel Meeropol  It protested American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans  Definition: Lynch, v., (of a mob) kill (someone), especially by hanging, for an alleged offense with or without a legal trial. dia/images/amg_artist_portraits/standard/drp200/p248/p i 1l.jpg?enlarge=false&matte=true&matteColor=black&quality=0.85

1. What do you think this song is about? (i.e. What might ‘strange fruit’ represent and why do southern trees bear this ‘strange fruit’?) 2. What clues from the song tell us that the strange fruit is really a body hanging from a tree? 3. Why do you think the term “lynch” or “lunching” never appears in the song? 4. Does the absence of this word make the song more powerful? Why or why not? 5. How might this song be connected to To Kill a Mockingbird?

Lynching of African Americans The Civil Rights Movement _march_on_washington.jpg G/3/theater2.jpg content/uploads/2012/06/Untitled-181.jpg