Student version

Mississippi Burning Online Worksheet

Write brief answers during viewing, then use scenes for analysis. You do not need to describe graphic violence.

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Before viewing

1. Why might a witness hesitate to speak when powerful people support violence?

2. How can a fictional historical drama differ from a documentary?

Part A · Arrival and obstruction

3. What event brings Anderson and Ward to Mississippi?

4. How do the two agents’ initial approaches differ?

5. What does the segregated town setting reveal about access to public life?

6. How do local officials respond to the federal investigation?

7. Why are many Black residents cautious about speaking to the agents?

Part B · Fear and testimony

8. How do attacks on homes and churches function as intimidation?

9. What does Mrs. Pell reveal about the cost of challenging the local code of silence?

10. How does the discovery of the victims change the investigation?

11. What connection does the film show between racist groups and local power?

12. Choose one moment when fear limits the information available to investigators.

Part C · Methods and consequences

13. How do Anderson’s later tactics raise questions about justice and methods?

14. Why should those tactics not be treated as a record of actual FBI procedure?

15. What does the investigation’s outcome resolve, and what remains unresolved?

16. What perspective does the final community sequence add to the agents’ story?

After viewing

17. Choose a scene showing the difference between formal authority and genuine protection.

18. How does centering the FBI agents affect whose actions viewers notice?

19. What historical information about the murdered workers would you add to a lesson?

20. Choose a film claim to check. How would two different sources help?

Final written response

How does Mississippi Burning’s investigative perspective shape what viewers understand about the civil rights struggle? Write a paragraph with a clear claim, evidence from two scenes, reasoning, and one limitation of using this film to learn history.

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