RESEARCH+ENRICHER

=RESEARCH ENRICHER= Your job will be to provide enrichment material regarding some topic within the chapter. This material could be historical, information about bees, an article on the Wailing Wall, or even some facts about the Black Madonna. You will investigate Information which a reader may not have too much familiarity with, but that is important to the author’s purpose and message. It should be something that you as a reader would like to know more about in order to get a more accurate interpretation of the author's intent.

Chapter 1 November 4, 2008

Just a few decades ago in the United States, African Americans did not have many rights that others had. They were not allowed to vote, and they faced segregation in schools, places of employment, and public locations. In 1957, President Eisenhower introduced the first of many civil rights acts that would change America. This first civil rights act supported the right to vote for African Americans and the creation of government departments to monitor civil rights issues. This act seemed like a progressive move, but it lost support after Eisenhower admitted that he did not understand parts of it. In 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected President, and he had plans to create a new Civil Rights Act to improve the lives of many people. During the time in which Kennedy was creating this new act, he was assassinated, and Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as President. Johnson continued Kennedy's efforts to create the act, and on July 2, 1964, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. This act banned racial discrimination in places of employment, public locations, and in voter registration. It also encouraged desegregation in schools and expanded the Civil Rights Commission that had been established by the Civil Rights Act of 1957. This act was crucial to helping our country through difficult times, and without it we would live in a much different country today. -E.N.

Chapter 2 November 5, 2008 E.M. The Black Madonna is a symbol representing the Virgin Mary with dark skin. It is believed that originally the Madonna had dark skin because she was from the Middle East. Back in the Middle Ages, people would carve the Madonna statue, but years later the wood used to carve the Madonna would turn black, and therefore everyone called it the Black Madonna. Lily packed her mother’s picture of the Black Madonna with her while she is packing to run away. Tiburon, South Carolina was written on the back of the picture. Lily thinks that she might receive some clues about her mother’s life and death there. So, Lily picks up Rosaleen from the hospital and travels to Tiburon with her. -E.M-

Chapter 3 November 5, 2008

In chapter 3, they mention the Black Madonna, and Black Madonna Honey. Before I read the Secret Life of Bees I didnt know who the Black Madonna was. Now that I know, I'm going to tell you some information about her. The Black Madonna is also known as the Black Virgin. One of the reasons that the Black Madonna skin is black is because they couldv'e used ebony, or it couldve gotten dirty from candle soot. The candle soot got on the picture/statue because thousands of people used to place candles infront of her. I found that interesting. The Black Madonna originally comes from Checkloslavakia. -K.R-

Chapter 4 November 5, 2008

In chapter 4, they mention the bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. We have all learned about the Civil Rights movement in History Class, but I will explain a little more about the bombing. One of the members of the Ku Klux Klan claimed responsibility for the bombing at the 16th street Baptist Church. This was a colored church where Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement meet for meeting and speeches. In this bombing, four children were killed and twenty-seven others were injured. The people of Birmingham thought it was there governor because a week before the bombing, he said that to stop integration, Alabama need a few first class funerals. This was a horrible and memorable event that happened. It is so sad that people would want to kill someone because of there color. When Lily looks at the newspaper article, she just sets the paper right back down. Even though these were horrible events that happened, if they didn't then our country and lives would be much different then they are now. -K.D-

Chapter 5, November 10, 2008

In chapter 5, they had mentioned the Black Madonna. The Black Madonna is a painting or statue of Mary with black or dark colored skin. Europeans had thought that it was the true color of Mary and showed that in many of their statues and paintings. Some of the paintings were mostly found in Africa and areas with a large population of blacks. Another peice of information stated in the book was the Civil Rights Act which im sure most are familiar with. THis movement started in 1960, when it had first began gaining public attention. Blacks had been trying to gain the rights to freedom for almost a century. A man in the South named Jim Crow had concentrated on keeping the blacks seperated from the whites which caused the blacks to migrate North and West to break away from him. They remained fighting for their rights which let to the Civil Rights Act and they received the freedom they had been trying to gain. These events and figures coincide with the book and reality.

R.L

Chapter 6 November 11, 2008

In Chapter 6 Rosaleen asks Neil if he has registered to vote yet. Afican- Americans had the right to vote sicne the fithteenth amenment. Very few of the Afcan-Americans did register to vote but then wehen they went to the voting polls. Even if they went to the polls they would get taunted and tramatized. The Voting Rights Act acurrented in 1965 and made it illigal to desciminate againist anybody based on there rasise while there at the voting polls. In 1966 a Civil Right Act was past that enfored the law and rights of Afican- Americans. -B.T.- Chapter 7 In Chapter 7,one point was prejudice. This mainly involved Zach, when Zach and Lily were talking he mentioned that he was thinking about becoming a ass- kicking lawyer. Lily seemed to origanally doubt he would ever become one, for she never heard of a black lawyer. SHe asked about it he ould play football or sports, but he quickly became insulted. Zach want sto become a lawyer and feels he can do it, when Lily believes if could happen, but dosen't have the image. During the book there is a lotof segregation and seperation between the black and white people. Some people stood up for their rights like, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. There is amd was hope for equality in this book.

-FC

In chapter eight, the Black Madonna Honey is mentioned. That is the brand name of honey the Boatwright sisters, August in particular, produce. The Black Madonna was a painting painted by St. Luke the Evangelist. While he painted, Mary, the virgin mother, spoke to him about the life of her son, Jesus. It has been gifted and passed down through the years, until1832 where it was relocated to a church in Czestochowa, Poland. Many people have gone to extreme measures traveling across the globe to glimpse at the painting. The Black Madonna has been known to work miracles for centuries. There have been prayers, songs, and stories created through the generations to show praise for the beautiful Black Madonna. -J.D.
 * Chapter 8,November 12, 2008**

Chapter 9, November 12, 2008

In chapter nine, Lily was listening to the news on the radio, and one active news report was the searching of three civil rights workers bodies in Mississippi. These three bodies were a twenty one year old black man named James Chaney, a twenty year old white man named Andrew Goodman, and a twenty four year old white man named Michael Schwerner. They were all political activists of the American Civil Rights Movement. They were headed to Longdale, Mississippi to inspect the ruins of the Mount Zion United Methodist Church, which had been burned five days earlier. This church was a meeting place for civil rights groups. The Ku Klux Klan had found out the three men’s’ station wagon license plate number. The deputy of Neshoba County Cecil Price, who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, pulled over the station wagon. He arrested Chaney for driving thirty five miles per hour above the speed limit, and also booked Goodman and Schwerner for “investigation”. During their time in jail, they were denied phone calls. While they were in jail, Price notified other Ku Klux Klan members, who then assembled a plan to the three civil rights workers. Price then released the three men, fined Chaney $20, and ordered them to leave the county. Price followed the three men’s vehicle again, and pulled them over with the police car siren, waiting to the Ku Klux Klan murder squad to arrive. Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner were taken to an isolated place and were assassinated by the Ku Klux Klan. This incident has caused much publicity. In the Sage Chapel at Cornell University, there was a stained glass window with Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner’s pictures, honoring them. 

-S.H.  Chapter Ten, November 13, 2008

In Chapter ten May commits suicide by drowning herself in the river. After May's death the remaining sisters decide that they will hold a vigil for her. A vigil, or wake, is a ceremony assoicated with death that traditionally takes place in the house of the deceased with the body present. Close friends and family watcth over the body until burial. This can last from two to nine days, but most commonly wakes are held for around four days. //Just like in The Secret Life of// Bees the attendees of the wake usually feast throughout. Wakes, or vigils, began in Christian England. Originally wakes's purpose was to watch over the body in case life returned to it, but over the ages science has proven that it is not possible for life to return to a corpse. In present times wakes are used so that family members, and friends console each other about the death prior to the funeral. In some countries, mainly New Zealand and Australlia, the wake is "wet". The term "wet" means that there is alchohol served, and the wake becomes more of a party to celebrate the dead, rather than a type of service. More commonly countries such as Iceland, hold small thirty minute prayer services with the body in small chapels. Although the wake in The Secret Life of Bees was a more traditional wake, and there are many types. They all serve mainly the same purpose, to celebrate, and honor the dead. You will find that many cultures celebrate their dead in different ways, and wakes are just one way to do that. //O.K.//

Chapter 11 Mary day or the day of assumption

The day of assumption August 15th is the day when Mary the mother of God went to heaven with her soul and body. she went to heaven with her body and soul because she had not done any sin. so Mary's body was so pure that she went to heaven with it and not just her soul. So Mary went to heaven with both her soul and body. We celebrate the assumption because it is the day when the mother of God is reunited with her son. J.J.A.

Chapter 12 November 18,2008 Mary Through the Ages

Lily decided to wait to have a serious talk with August in her bedroom. While Lily waited in August's room she closely looked at the things on her dresser. Lily noticed a book called Mary Through the Ages. She opened the book and saw many different Mary's. Some had dark hair and dark eyes and others had light hair and light eyes. Lily also noticed that in every picture Mary was being handed a Lily from Gabriel. The White Lily was a symbol for Mary. The white Lily was chosen because it is the sign for virginity or purity and Mary was a virgin. -M.M.W.

Chapter 13 November 18, 2008 Voting In Chapter 13 Rosaleen finally registers to vote. In the history of the United States it has not only been African Americans who were not given the right to vote. In fact, when America had just become an independent nation the voters consisted of white men over the age of 21 of the Protestant faith because these were the people who owned property. As time progressed however states dropped the need to own property, so the voting pool expanded. In 1870 African Americans were formally given the right to vote, and 20 years later women were given the right to vote in Wyoming, the first state to ratify such a law. The 19th amendment gave women across the country the right to vote. Although Native Americans were recognized as citizens formally in 1940 they were not given the right to vote in all states until 1947. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned obstacles used to keep people from voting. The most recent change of who can vote is the legal voting age which was lowered from 21 to 18 after many 18-year-olds pressured the government, on an "Old enough to fight, Old enough to vote" basis. The people who are allowed to vote have changed significantly since this country's beginning. R.C.M.

Chpater 14- Researcher One of the main parts of this chapter is Zach going to a white school. Back then the schools were segregated. There were white schools, and African American schools. Zach joins the school with Lily and her friends, and he is made fun of, and so is Lily for being friends with him. In the time of the book, people did not understand that everybody is equal, and that we are not separated by our skin color. Zach and Lily learn a lot about what other people think, and they are not dragged down by being made fun of, and Lily does not stop being friends with Zach, because she is being made fun of. -S.M