Writing Resources
English Independent Reading Assignment Independent Responses The Help takes place in Jackson Mississippi during the early 1960s or the Civil Rights crisis in the South The novel begins with African American maid Aibileen Clark nursing Mae Mobley a white toddler who has been neglected by her mother and is under the care of Clark Later Clark is invited to join for supper at the Leefolts house She is accompanied by Hilly Holbrook and Eugenia Phelan However this supper turns sour when Phelan is appalled by Holbrook s idea to have outhouses built for all white families in Mississippi that own black employees So the maids decide to team up and attempt to expose Holbrook and her corruptive methods Along the way Clark s only son Treelore died in a work accident He slipped off the shipping dock at the mill and was pancaked by a tractor trailer Emotionally touched by this Phelan has a plan to write a book called Help which describes what life is like living in a racially torn Mississippi This follows Treelore s aspiration to write a book regarding life of a black man in Mississippi All the maids converge together to publish the book much to Holbrook s displeasure When the book spreads around the state Mississippians get a taste of what corrosive ways Holbrook is using to manipulate the rich and or white women in her community Infuriated Clark is fired and tells Mae that she is a gorgeous and intellectual girl With Clark s life hitting the reset button she starts a new life by writing about her life and the others around her good and bad
