The Friendship
 by Mildred Taylor
3rd grade level (below grade)
Section 1: (pgs. 9-31)






Discussion Director:

Your job is to ask 5 questions about the following that your group can talk about:


EOG Question
1. All of the following describe Tom Bee except which one?
a. Brave
b. Terrified
c.  Angry
d.  Determined

A- b. Terrified
p. 26

Cause and Effect
2.  Name 3 events that happened in pages 9-31 (effect), and then discuss why (cause) each one happened.

a.  Effect: The Logans went to the Wallaces’ store.

    Cause:   Aunt Callie Jackson told the Logans to go to the
    store and buy her some head medicine.
        p.  11   par. 1

b.  Effect: Dewberry yelled at Little Man and hurt his feelings.

    Cause:   Little Man put his “dirty” hands on glass counter.
        p.  13   par. 2

c.  Effect: Tom Bee called John Wallace by his first name and did not use
     “mister” before John's name.

    Cause:  Dewberry wouldn't get the things that Tom Bee wanted
    to buy.
        p.  26  par. 2

Character Goal
3.  Q - What is Stacey's goal in this section of the book? What does Stacey
    want to accomplish?

    A - Stacey wants to go to the store to buy some head medicine
    and not get into trouble while in the store.
        p.  11   par. 2

Main Idea
4.  What is the most important idea in this part of the book?

The most important idea in this part of the book is that in this time period, white people think they are superior to African Americans. Whites during this time treat African Americans badly, and can get away with it.

p. 26 (throughout the book also)
Fact/Opinion
5.  State two facts from the first section (9-31). Now give two opinions from this section.  Discuss the difference between a fact and opinion.

Facts:
a.  Little Man is the youngest sibling and he is six years old. p. 14  par. 1
b.  The Wallaces own a store where the Logans went to buy some medicine. p. 10  par. 1

Opinions:
a. Little Man had dirty hands and messed up the glass counter. p. 14  par.2
b.  All white people during the 1930’s were mean to African Americans. p. 22

A fact is something that is true and you can prove it.  An opinion is something that you think or feel, and you cannot prove it.


Passage Picker:
Your job is to pick passages from this section that you and your group can talk about. Choose passages that satisfy these 4 reasons: 1. Dialect
a.  p. 16  par. 3
b.  “Y’all hold on . . . he laughed”
c.  Dialect:  I picked this passage because of the dialect that Tom Bee used,
    when talking to the Logans.  I really had to pay attention to this paragraph to
    understand the dialect Tom used. The author made it more realistic, by
    making Tom speak as they did during this time period.
d.  The dialect that Tom uses in this passage, originates from which region?
     A-The South
e.  The authors purpose is this passage is to inform. The author is informing the
    reader about how people in the South talked back then.

2.  Controversial
a.  p 26  par. 2
b.  “Mr. Tom Bee stood . . . you sorry boys won't.”
c.  Controversial:  I picked this passage because it was controversial. It was
    controversial because Tom disrespected John and did not call him “mister”.
    John thought he was right, and Tom Bee thought he was right, so it caused
    some controversy between them.
d.  Why would Tom Bee not saying “mister” before John make him mad?
    A-  It showed that Tom Bee did not respect John by doing this. In 1933
    blacks were seen as inferior to whites, so the whites thought they needed to
    command respect from the blacks.
e.  The author's purpose was to inform how times were back in 1933.  The author
    wanted to show the reader how blacks were expected to act when whites were
    around.

3. Scary/Frightening
a. p. 29   par. 1
b.  "Dewberry pointed . . . to whip"
c.  Scary: I picked this passage because the way that Dewberry was talking to
    Tom Bee was scary.  If I  was Tom Bee it would have made me really scared
    of Dewberry even though he was younger than me.
d.  Why was Dewberry mad at Tom Bee?
    A- Dewberry thought that Tom Bee was disrespecting his father by not
    saying "mister" before his name.
e.  The author's purpose was to describe to the reader how whites treated
    blacks, and how blacks were supposed to treat whites.

4.  Funny/Amusing
a. p. 14 par. 1
b. "My hands . . . They clean"
c. I picked this passage because it was amusing to me. I thought that Little man was funny,
    because he got all worked up about his hands being clean.
d. What was Little Man informing Dewberry about?
    A- Little Man was telling Dewberry that his hands were clean.
e. The author's purpose was to entertainthe reader.


Word Wizard:
Your job is to choose 4 words from the following:
  1.
a.   plantation p. 16  par. 1
b.  Mr. Tom Bee was and elderly, toothless man who had a bit of sharecropping land over on the Granger
    Plantation.
c. Dictionary: A large estate or farm on which crops are raised and harvested, often by resident
    workers.
    My own:  A place where crops are grown and it is very large.
d. noun
e. Most of the fruit and vegetables that John bought were grown on the plantation next to the forest.

f.  Word Wizard Card (below)


 
 

2.
a. affirmation p. 20  par. 4
b.  Skeptically Little Man looked to Stacey for affirmation.
c.  Dictionary: Giving assent; confirming.
    My own:  Agreeing with.
d.   noun
e.  I nodded my head yes, giving a sign of affirmation, when my mother asked if I wanted another piece
    of pie.
f. Word Wizard Card (below)

 

3.
a. muggy p. 24  par. 4
b. After that we all just sat there in the muggy midday listening to the sounds of bees and flies and
    cawing blackbirds and kept our silence.
c.  Dictionary: Warm and extremely humid.
    My own: Moisture in the air, and a hot day.
d. adjective
e. The next day after it rained was muggy, because there was still water vapor in the air and it was hot
    outside.

4.
a.  respect p. 29   par. 1
b. And don't you never stand up there with yo’ black face and speak of my daddy or any other white
    man without the proper respect.
c.  Dictionary:  To have regard for, esteem.
    My own definition: To care about others, to think of them greatly.
d. noun
e.  The teacher had much respect for the students, as she realized they had accomplished a lot of work
    for class.


Character Sketcher:
    Your job is to find a interesting character from this section you read today. You will find three words that describe the character.  For each word, or character trait, you will give the proof or example (including page # and paragraph).
    The next thing you will do is to tell one of your character's goals, or what the character wants to do in this section.
    Then you will find one of the character's problems in the section and the solution or possible solution to the problem.
    Finally, you get to have fun and illustrate your character!
 

Character: Tom Bee

Character Traits:
a. Determined- Tom Bee was determined when he would not leave the store without his fish or his candy
    canes. He kept yelling at the Wallaces until he got what he wanted.
    p. 30  par. 3

b. Brave- Tom Bee was brave when he went into the store and ordered Dewberry and Thurston to get
    him four cans of sardines.
    p.  25  par. 1

c. Rebellious- Tom Bee was rebellious when he said Johns name without the mister in front of it.
    p. 26 par. 2

Character's Goal
a.  Tom Bee's goal in this section of the book was to get some candy canes and sardines from the store.
    He wanted to do this without getting disrespected by the Wallaces.

Character's Problem
a.  Tom Bee's problem in this section was the Wallaces would not give him the things that he wanted to
    buy from the store. The Wallaces would not sell him the objects because Tom Bee was black.

Character's Possible Solution
a. Tom Bee was determined, so the Wallaces could have backed down and just sold him the things that
    Tom Bee wanted to buy.

Character Scketcher Illustration


Investigator

    Your job is to investigate the race relations in the 1930s. The information you find will help your group understand the book better and how people felt during this time. Specific things to look for are:

    1. How were African Americans treated in the 1930's by whites?
        (see web sites 1,2,3,4 below)

    2. What were the roles of whites in the 1930s? What activities did they participate in?
        (see web sites 3, 4 below)

    3. What were some African American roles during the 1930's? (ex. Were they slaves? Job-holders
        etc.) (see web sites 1,2)

Here are some web sites to help you find information:

1.  Scottsboro Trials   - This web site is about the Scottsboro trials in the 1930's.
2. Growing up Black in the 1930s  - This is an interview with a black woman who lived in Alabama in the 1930s.
3. Growing up white in the 1930s    -    This is an interview with 3 affluent white women who lived in the south.
4. Hundred years of terror -  This web site is about the Ku Klux Klan from the late 1800's through the mid 1900's.