Flashcards for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Big Ma (Caroline Logan)

Big Ma (Caroline Logan) is the head of the Logan family in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, which takes place in rural Mississippi during the 1930s. As the mother of David Logan and the grandmother of Cassie, Stacey, Christopher-John, and Little Man, she connects the family's past to its present, representing the resilience and the painful compromises that Black landowners faced in the Jim Crow South.

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Cassie Logan

Cassie Logan, the nine-year-old narrator and main character of Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, lives in rural Mississippi during the Great Depression.

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Christopher-John Logan

Christopher-John Logan is the second-youngest of the four Logan siblings in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, a novel set in rural Mississippi during the Great Depression.

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Claude Avery

Claude Avery is T.J. Avery's younger brother and a minor, yet significant, supporting character in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

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David Logan (Papa)

David Logan (Papa) serves as the moral and physical backbone of the Logan family in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, which takes place in rural Mississippi during the Great Depression.

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Harlan Granger

Harlan Granger is the main antagonist in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, a wealthy white landowner in Spokane County, Mississippi, during the 1930s. He embodies the systemic racism and economic oppression that the Logan family continually fights against.

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Jeremy Simms

Jeremy Simms is a white boy about the same age as Stacey, living near the Logan farm in rural Mississippi during the 1930s. Unlike most other white characters in the novel, Jeremy genuinely wants to be friends with the Logan children, walking with them to school every morning, despite the social taboo and the teasing he faces from his family and peers.

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Lillian Jean Simms

Lillian Jean Simms is a white teenage girl living in Strawberry, Mississippi, and she plays a secondary antagonist in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

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Little Man (Clayton Chester Logan)

Little Man (Clayton Chester Logan) is the youngest of the four Logan siblings in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, which takes place in rural Mississippi during the Great Depression.

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Mary Logan (Mama)

Mary Logan, affectionately known as "Mama," is the moral and intellectual heart of the Logan family in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

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Mr. Barnett

Mr. Barnett is the white owner of the Barnett Mercantile store in Strawberry, Mississippi, and he serves as a stark example of the institutionalized racism present in the Jim Crow South.

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Mr. Morrison

Mr. Morrison is a tall and physically impressive Black man who arrives at the Logan farm early in the novel after losing his job on the railroad—officially for fighting, but the real reason is racial injustice.

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Stacey Logan

Stacey Logan is the oldest child in the Logan family and the secondary protagonist of Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, set in rural Mississippi during the Great Depression.

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T.J. Avery

T.J. Avery is a Black teenage boy living in rural Mississippi during the Great Depression.

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Uncle Hammer

Uncle Hammer is David Logan's older brother and a key secondary character in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

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“The land is the only thing worth fighting for, worth dying for — it's the only thing that lasts.”

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976), David Logan (Papa) shares this declaration with his daughter Cassie and the other Logan children during a crucial moment.

David Logan (Papa) · Chapter 1

“I am black, I am not ashamed.”

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976), Cassie Logan, the young Black girl narrator, expresses this declaration as she navigates her evolving understanding of racial identity and self-worth in the Jim Crow South of 1930s Mississippi.

Cassie Logan

“I had never had to stand before the world alone, and I did not want to stand alone now.”

This line is spoken by Cassie Logan, the young narrator of Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976).

Cassie Logan

“You know the Bible says to forgive these people and maybe I can... but I tell you right now it ain't easy.”

This line is spoken by David Logan (Papa) to his family in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976).

David Logan (Papa)

“Roll of thunder, hear my cry / Over the water, bye and bye.”

This spiritually inspired couplet — "Roll of thunder, hear my cry / Over the water, bye and bye" — appears in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976) and acts as the novel's thematic foundation.

Traditional spiritual / narrative epigraph

“That land is yours. You fight for it if you have to.”

This line is spoken by David Logan (Papa) to his children in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976).

David Logan (Papa)

“White ain't nothing... it ain't nothing but being white.”

This line is spoken by Mama (Mary Logan) to her daughter Cassie in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976).

Mama (Mary Logan) · Chapter 5

“There are things you can't back down on, things you gotta take a stand on. But it's up to you to decide what them things are.”

This line is spoken by David Logan (Papa) to his daughter Cassie in Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976).

David Logan (Papa)

Great Faith School

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Great Faith Elementary and Secondary School reflects the Black community's strong resolve to educate itself and maintain dignity amid systemic oppression.

The Berry Tree / Forest Fire

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, the Logan family's land, with its strong trees and surrounding forest, represents Black autonomy, dignity, and resistance to racial oppression.

The Logan Land

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, the Logan family's four hundred acres of land in rural Mississippi powerfully symbolizes Black autonomy, dignity, and resistance.

The Night Men (Night Riders)

In Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, the Night Men—white-hooded riders who terrorize Black families in rural Mississippi—embody the systemic racial violence that upholds white supremacy in the Jim Crow South.

The Worn Schoolbooks

In Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, the old, tattered schoolbooks given to the Black students at Great Faith Elementary highlight the deep-rooted racial inequality in the Jim Crow South.

Thunder and Rain

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, thunder and rain represent both the strength of nature as a force for justice and the Logan family's determination against racial oppression.

Juxtaposition

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, juxtaposition serves as a powerful tool that allows readers to feel racial injustice deeply rather than simply understand it.

Symbolism

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, the Logan family's land serves as the novel's most prominent symbol.

Motif

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, the land serves as a powerful motif that underpins every major plot twist and every assertion of Black dignity.

Metaphor

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, metaphor transforms systemic racial injustice into tangible, physical experiences that resonate with both the child narrator and young readers, allowing them to feel the impact rather than just comprehend it.

Simile

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, similes add a tangible dimension to racial injustice and the emotional weight of the land.

Foreshadowing

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, foreshadowing unfolds through the landscape, weather, and minor acts of violence that build toward an inevitable conclusion.

Imagery

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, imagery serves as the main way for readers to grasp the weight of racial injustice and the Logans' deep connection to their land.

Tone

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, the tone serves as the novel's moral backbone, shifting from quiet dignity to simmering outrage and grief.

Irony

In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, irony serves as a subtle yet powerful lens that highlights the Logan family's dignity in contrast to the cruelty around them.

Flashback

In Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor primarily uses flashbacks through the voices of Big Ma and Papa to weave the Logan family's history into the current crisis of the novel.

sharecropping

A farming arrangement in which a tenant farmer works land owned by someone else and pays rent by giving the landowner a share of the crops harvested each season.

noun · Chapter 1

mortgage

A loan secured against property — here, the Logan family's land — which must be repaid or the lender can seize the land.

noun · Chapter 1

night riders

Groups of white men, often Ku Klux Klan members, who rode at night to terrorize and violently punish Black families and individuals in the South.

phrase · Chapter 1

boll weevil

A small beetle that destroys cotton crops by feeding on the bolls; its devastation was a major cause of poverty for Southern cotton farmers.

noun · Chapter 1

Wallace store

A local store owned by white characters that also serves as a social gathering place; the Logan family boycotts it because its owners are connected to racial violence.

noun · Chapter 2

boycott

An organized refusal to buy from or do business with a particular store or company as a form of protest against unjust or harmful practices.

noun · Chapter 4

credit

An arrangement allowing a buyer to receive goods immediately and pay for them later; here, Black families are often trapped in debt by unfair credit terms at white-owned stores.

noun · Chapter 4

tarred and feathered

A violent punishment in which hot tar and feathers are applied to a person's body; used historically as a form of mob torture and humiliation.

phrase · Chapter 4

scalded

Burned severely by hot liquid or steam; used in the novel to describe injuries inflicted on Black victims by white attackers.

verb · Chapter 4

Depression

The Great Depression of the 1930s, a period of severe economic hardship across the United States when jobs and money were extremely scarce.

noun · Chapter 5

mercantile

A general store that sells a wide variety of goods; in this period, such stores were often the only place rural families could buy supplies.

noun · Chapter 5

deed

A legal document proving ownership of a piece of land or property; the Logan family's deed to their land is central to their independence and dignity.

noun · Chapter 6

lynch

To kill someone, typically by hanging, through mob action outside the law; used in the South as a tool of racial terror against Black people.

verb · Chapter 7

foreclosure

The legal process by which a lender takes ownership of property when the borrower fails to keep up with loan payments.

noun · Chapter 7

poll tax

A fee required to be paid before a person could register to vote; used in the South to prevent poor Black citizens from exercising their right to vote.

noun · Chapter 8

provocation

An action or statement deliberately intended to make someone angry or cause a confrontation; used here in the context of racial tensions and legal accusations.

noun · Chapter 9

wallowing

Rolling around or moving heavily in mud or dirt; used literally to describe the red clay mud of the Mississippi roads.

verb · Chapter 1

cotton gin

A machine that separates cotton fibers from their seeds; central to the Southern cotton economy in which the Logan family and their neighbors live.

noun · Chapter 5

sassed

Spoke rudely or disrespectfully to someone, especially an adult or authority figure; a Southern dialect term used frequently in the novel.

verb · Chapter 3

reckoning

A time of judgment or settling of accounts; used to suggest that a person or group will eventually face consequences for their actions.

noun · Chapter 11

pasture

A field of grass used for grazing animals; here also used to describe the open land around the Logan property.

noun · Chapter 1

holler

To shout or call out loudly; a Southern dialect term used throughout the novel in everyday speech among characters.

verb · Chapter 2

whupping

A physical beating or spanking given as punishment, especially to a child; a Southern dialect term used by characters when discussing discipline.

noun · Chapter 3

flouncing

Moving with exaggerated, bouncy motions to show annoyance or self-importance; used to describe a character's dramatic, huffy way of walking.

verb · Chapter 2