Context of To Kill A Mockingbird: Questions on Strange Fruit AWI 1.Why were most lynching victims hung from trees? Would they have died this way had they been convicted of a crime in a court of law?.

2.What kinds of fruit do trees usually bear?.

3.How do we know from the lyrics that the "strange" fruit here means the bodies of lynching victims?.

4.Why is it that Southern trees bear the "strange fruit"?.

5.What contrast is made between the "gallant South" and the South which bears strange fruit? What is ironic about this contrast?.

6.Meeropol almost called the poem “Bitter Fruit” but then changed it. What are the connotations of the words ‘bitter’ and ‘strange’ and why do you think he changed it?.

7.Why do you think the word "lynching" never appears in the song?.

8.Do you think the song is more powerful, or less powerful, because its topic [lynching] is implied instead of stated?.