...Write about the ways that Harper Lee shows the significance of the title To Kill a Mockingbird The title of a novel is a significant asset for the writer to express his/her emotions and how they think the novel should be summed up. However Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” isn’t about “mockingbirds”. The word mockingbird is a metaphorical symbolization of the concept of innocence. This essay will be a critical analysis of the significance of the title “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Firstly Boo Radley is a character who exploits the true meaning of the title. Harper Lee presents Boo as a very controversial character due to him being locked in his house for 25 years, also because of his lack of speech and involvement throughout the whole novel. Through Lee’s vivid descriptions and Scouts narrations the reader firstly acknowledges Boo as a monster that is “six and a half feet tall”. Scout personifies Boo as a very intimidating individual through Lee’s vivid descriptions and linguistic imagery. The words “six and a half” are adjectives that describe the physical stature of Boo. The reader may feel Boo is the complete opposite of the titles reference however other readers may feel that Scout’s lack of education and maturity are the culprit of Boo’s false identifications. However throughout the novel the reader acknowledges the true qualities of Boo as does Scout as well. Lee establishes Boo as a peaceful individual whose love for children never stops. In modern society many individuals...
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...“To Kill a Mockingbird” Analysis Harper Lee published “To Kill a Mockingbird “ in 1960, a time buzzing with racial segregation and irrational injustice. She based the book on various events that were all to real, only fifty years ago. Throughout the book, the author captures these horrendous inequalities and is able to explore these subjects through various situations and characters. However, it is not always just the color of one’s skin as to the reason of why they are treated differently. Lee is able to display examples of prejudice based on class and status of a person, rather than race alone, through the use of abstract symbols through the use of characters. Harper Lee use birds to symbolize traits in various characters throughout the book. Although it is not just mockingbirds used as the only bird example. When Jem and Scout receive guns to shoot for fun, Atticus warns them against shooting mockingbirds. However, he states that they may shoot all the blue jays they desire. Blue jays are the nuance bird; this connects to Bob Ewell due to the fact that he is the perfect display of a blue jay. The blue jays represent the prejudiced citizens of Maycomb; they are ever present and continue to taunt others. Atticus goes on to tell the kids that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. The mockingbird is the innocent bird and therefore sums up Tom Robinson the most clearly. As being an innocent man that is only being tried due to his race, he embodies the mockingbird perfectly. Throughout...
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...Analysis of «To Kill a Mockingbird» written by Harper Lee The story under consideration is called « To Kill a Mockingbird» written by Harper Lee. Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926. Harper Lee grew up in the small southwestern Alabama town of Monroeville. Lee published her first and only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, in 1960 after a two-year period of revising and rewriting under the guidance of her editor, Tay Hohoff, of the J. B. Lippincott Company. To Kill a Mockingbird won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize despite mixed critical reviews. The novel was highly popular, selling more than fifteen million copies. Though in composing the novel she delved into her own experiences as a child in Monroeville, Lee intended that the book impart the sense of any small town in the Deep South, as well as the universal characteristics of human beings. The book was made into a successful movie in 1962. The text under analysis belongs to the group of fictional texts. The literary trend is realism. The style prevailed in the extract is oratorical. Its main function is persuasion of the audience. The main problem raised by the author is an issue of justice. The message of Hapter Lee is that in the face of court each and every human should be treated honestly, no matter what his social status, education or colour of skin is. In the novel the scene is laid in a small American town in Alabama. The given extract depicts a trial of Tom Robinson, a Negro, who is in the criminal dock on a capital...
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...protagonists in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, must endure this evolution with the help of their father. Atticus, an honest and righteous...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The extract under analysis is taken from the Harper Lee’s first novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The book published in 1960 was very successful and won great critical acclaim, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for its author. The plot and the characters are slightly based on the author’s thoughts about his family, as well as on events that took place in her hometown. The narration is done from the first person by Jean Louse “Scout” Finch. The scene is a small town Maycomb in the state of Alabama. Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, is appointed by the court to defend Tom Robinson, a good fellow being accused of raping a white girl Mayella Ewell. He has no hope for justice just because he is black. Atticus, a person of very strong moral views, is sure in his defendant's innocence. The article could be logically divided into four parts. The first part, the introduction, begins with Atticus half-way though his speech to the jury. He presents logically organized arguments, showing his experience, knowledge and justifiability. However, after going over the evidence he starts acting unusually and it shows his excitement. His manner of speech changes as he appeals people in the court to give up the prejudices and be just. The development of the plot is the Atticus’ speech when he underlines all the pieces of evidence proving that it’s not Tom Robinson, but Mayella Ewell who is guilty. Mr. Finch quotes Thomas Jefferson’s words – “all men are...
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...is To Kill a Mockingbird. Written by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the year 1962 in a small town in Alabama. The story is centered on how a white lawyer (Atticus Finch) and his family (Jem and Scout) are being belittled by their community for supporting a black man in court. The use of this book in many high school English classes as a classic example of prejudice and racism has led to only one interpretation of the novel and in extension the author herself. According to Barthes this book, is made of “multiple writing, drawn from many cultures”: a protagonist fight for justice and an antagonist trying to blame the innocent. In high school, the instructor conditions their students to analyze the book with the author in mind, which (according to Barthes) limits the interpretations of the text. From reading The Death of the Author, I have gained a wider appreciation for the reader and the author. I agree with Barthes when he states that the reader and the reader’s interpretation and understanding of a text the important part. Even though Barthes argues that a text should be understood and analyzed by the readers using their past experiences, I believe that the presence of the author is required at least some times. If the author writes a text that requires a detailed understanding of the author’s past experience, then the author must not die but, according to Barthes, must take the form of a scriptor. Works Cited Atchinon, Jacquelyn. "Critical Analysis...
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...Mockingbird‘s Faded Childhood Innocence Irish poet William Butler Yeats once said, “The innocent and the beautiful have no enemy but time.” There is no truer an example in literature than in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. In the novel the author uses the perspective of the novel’s storyteller, Miss Jean Louise Finch, more commonly known as Scout, and her brother Jeremy, nicknamed Jem, to highlight the blind innocence that comes as a byproduct of childhood. It is this innocence that also disappears from the children’s perspective in the novel. At least at first the two, blinded by their innocence, are unaware of the more mature and even sometimes ominous events and actions that eventually occur in the novel’s unveiling plot. It is because of their unwearied characters that Lee is able to best show how the events that occur in the lives of young characters causes blind innocence to disappear over time. Throughout the novel, there is a constant turn of events that ultimately leaves the children disillusioned with all their preconceived notions of all that is morally just and good. As Yeats said, time indeed proves to be the enemy for the children’s innocence, and by the novel’s end their worldly perspective is irreversibly changed. In the opening of the novel, Jean Louise Finch is revealed to be a grown woman looking back on her youth. The focal point of the narrative in particular is an innocent period from her childhood when she is six years old, just...
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...Analysis To kill a mockingbird The extract under study is taken from the book “To kill a mockingbird” written by Harper Lee. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is her first novel and the Pulitzer Prize winning novel. The novel depicts the life of its young narrator Jean Louse “Scout” Finch in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Her father, Atticus Finch, is a smart lawyer with high moral standards. Attitus decides to take up a case involving a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused in raping a very poor white girl named Mayella Ewell. Attitus is sure in his defendant's innocence but Tom has almost no chance to be acquitted, because the white jury will never believe the black man more than a white woman. The article could be logically divided into four parts. The first part begins when we meet Atticus in the court-room who is “half-way through his speech to the jury”. He proves the fact of being an experienced smart lawyer who knows his business pretty well. His speech is logically organized; he speaks “easily, with the kind of detachment he uses when he dictates a letter”. During his speech the jury seems to be attentive and appreciative. That is, according to Scout, because he is not a “thuderer”. His children present in the court-room and notice some strangers in their father's behavior – the so-called “firsts” – this kind of digression shows Atticus's excitement (“This is equivalent of him standing stark naked”). Atticus addresses the jury “gentlemen”, showing his respect...
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...Lina Osmolovskaya Group 402 Analysis of the extract from novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” Hapter Lee was born in 1926 in the state of Alabama. In 1945-1949 she studied law at the University of Alabama. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is her first novel. It received almost unanimous critical acclaim and several awards, the Pulitzer Prize among them. The extract under study depicts a trial of Tom Robinson, a Negro, who is accused of assaulting a white girl. His defending counsel is Atticus Finch, experiences lawyer who is going his best to prove the innocence of the Negro. The main problem raised by the author is an issue of justice. The message of Hapter Lee is that in the face of court each and every human should be treated honestly, no matter what his social status, education or colour of skin is. The story is told by Jean Louise, seven years old daughter of Atticus who is watching the trial. It helps to make the narration much more vivid, emotional and real because she knows her father very well and therefore is able to see each and every unusual detail in his behavior. For example antisepsis “in public and private”, homogeneous parts of the sentence “he unbuttoned his vest, unbuttoned his collar, loosened his tie and took off his coat” and an epithet “stark naked” are employed to show how excited was Atticus on the trial. But despite his excitement, he did not lose his professionalism what is made clear by the use of simile “he was talking to the jury as if they were folks on the...
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...Choice, Sports, Stem Cell Research, Steroids, Terrorism, Violence, War on Drugs, more... Business - Advertising, Business, Buy Web Sites, Economics, Finance, Management, Marketing, Sell Websites Education - ADHD, Learning, Philosophy of Education, Privatization, Public Schools, School Violence, School Vouchers, Teaching, Technology and Education, Test and Testing, Writing English Composition Essays - Analitical, Autobiographical, Argument, Cause/Effect, Classification, Compare/Contrast, Comparison, Conversation, Creative+Writing, Critical, Deductive, Definition, Descriptive, Description, Dialog, Division, Exploratory, Expository, Informative, Interview, Inquiry, Journalistic, Narration, Observation. Personal Narrative, Place, Profile, Process, Proposal English Literature and Literary Analysis - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A & P, Antigone, Apocalypse Now, Araby, The Awakening, Barn Burning, Beowulf, Beloved, Bible, Birthmark, Blade Runner, The Bluest Eye, Candide, Canterbury Tales, Catcher in the Rye, Cathedral, Chrysanthemums, A Clockwork Orange, The Color Purple, Comparing Literary Works, Crime and Punishment, Death of a Salesman, Death in Venice, Desiree's Baby, A Doll's House, Dr. Faustus, Epic of Gilgamesh, Everyday Use, A Farewell to Arms, Frankenstein, The Grapes of Wrath, Great Gatsby, Great Expectations, Glass Menagerie, Gulliver's Travels, The Handmaid's Tale, Heart of Darkness, The Iliad, Invisible Man, Jane Eyre, The Joy Luck Club, The Lottery, ...
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...Teaching Middle and High School Student Using Literature Outline: I. Short Stories a) Activating Prior Knowledge b) Responding to the Selection c) Short Story Selections 1. Suggested Activities to use with Various Groups II. Oral Tradition Literature – Tall Tales and Folktales a) Analyze characteristics and plots of Folktales and Tall Tales b) Understanding Hyperbole c) Writing a Tall Tale d) Selections of Oral Tradition Literature III. Novel Studies a) Previewing the novel b) Defining and Understanding Elements of c) Character Analysis d) Problems and Solutions of the story IV. Historical Fiction a) Activating background/prior knowledge b) Setting a purpose for reading c) Writing about historical fiction V. Realistic Fiction a) Evaluating Realistic Fiction b) Responding to the selection c) Distinguishing between Fact and Opinion d) Summarizing the Story Chapter 1 – Short Stories: A short story is, like the name says, a short literary composition. The action is compact and every single event is crucial to the development of the plot. The time span covered within the action of a short story could vary from a few...
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...Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi Coming of Age The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros A Separate Peace by John Knowles Detective/Thriller Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries The “A is for…” series by Sue Grafton The Client by John Grisham Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Shining by Stephen King Watcher by Dean R. Koontz Fantasy The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony Any Harry Potter book by J.K. Rowling Historical/Social Issues The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel The Color Purple by Alice Walker The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Lord of the Flies by William Golding Of Mice and Men and The Grapes ofWrath by John Steinbeck Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd White Teeth by Zadie Smith Inspirational/Spiritual Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For by Rick Warren A Simple Path by Mother Theresa The Tao of...
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...value on physical strength, power, or gender, and more value on virtue and morality. Evidence of the increasing obsoleteness of the relevance of gender and power can be found in recent literature and film. Many of society’s collective Heroes are not only female (Princess Leia, Star Wars; Daenarys Targaryen, A Game of Thrones; Janie Crawford, Their Eyes Were Watching God), but children as well (Alice, Alice in Wonderland; Scout Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird; Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games). Even male Heroes have shifted from super-human to ordinary men (The Father, The Road; Winston Smith, 1984; Guy Montag, Fahrenheit 451). A single trait relates theses Heroes and every other Hero in literature—they have made considerable sacrifices in the face of adversity in order to accomplish a task more significant than their own trivial, everyday interests. However, all of these modern Heroes differ from their more ancient Hero counterparts: they are extremely ordinary. Campbell, Vogler, and Jung were, and still are, critical figureheads in the analysis of quest literature. Their explanations of literary archetypes are paramount in describing the similarities and differences of stories in various cultures and eras. The central archetype, according to these scholars, is the Hero; however, the societal idea of a Hero, at least in most developed Western societies, has become broader over time. No longer does the Hero archetype need to be a super-human male individual with extravagant power...
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...The text under analysis belongs to belle-lettres style. The sub-style is emotive prose. The biggest part of the text is the finest example of oratorical style. The extract is taken from the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The author of the novel is Harper Lee. She is an American writer. She was born in 1926 in the state of Alabama. In 1945-1949 she studied law at the University of Alabama. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is her first novel. It received almost unanimous critical acclaim and the Pulitzer Prize. In this book the author paints a true and lively picture of a quiet Southern town in Alabama rocked by a young girl’s accusation of criminal assault. The main character of the novel is Atticus Fintch, an experienced smart lawyer. He was asked to defend Tom Robinson, a Negro, who was charged with raping a white girl. Her name is Mayella Ewell and she is old Bob Ewell’s daughter. Atticus has got two children. Their names are Jem, who is thirteen and Jean Louise, nicknamed Scout, aged seven. The extract under consideration contains the scene in the court. Both children were present at the trail and it is Jean Louise who describes it. So, it’s the first point narration. Jean’s observations make the story vivid, convincing and emotional because she “saw something only lawyer’s child could be expected to see, could be expected to watch for”. Also her observations after her father help the reader to understand how Atticus was excited and nervous in the court. The atmosphere at the trail...
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...examined works such as Kafka’s The Trial or Dickens novels as sources of legal theory for these same reasons. Professor R.M. Dworkin argued that law is similar to literature in that we seek to find meaning in the same by process of interpretation. He argued that this process is adopted by judges in that they interpret the law. He attacked legal positivists, who simply examine the law in isolation from society, who find only the meaning of the law and not its substance. The debate as to the usefulness of novels sees the creation of the distinction between ‘law in literature’ and ‘law as literature’ . The former thesis examines the worth of literature which tells a legal story. For example, it can be argued that the novel to kill a Mockingbird is a useful source of information about the American legal system at the time the novel is set. Just as The Long Firm is a useful source of information about criminals, their associates and how they operated in 1960’s London. The...
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