...INTRODUCTION Grabber: get your reader interested. If using a quote, lead into it and cite it. Lead in with speaker identification and qualifications. As Atticus said to his daughter Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee). Transition: Connect your grabber to your next sentence. Mockingbirds represent those who are innocent in the novel. Background info: Discuss any pertinent information about the author or story details necessary for the reader’s comprehension The book is about a man who is on trial for rape. That man, Tom Robinson was black and the town was ruled under very unfair social standards. His lawyer Atticus Finch knew he was not guilty. So he was trying to protect his children from Maycomb's corrupt town by...
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...This quote is saying that if I am a coward and cannot hold my head up, I shouldn’t be in the legislature. Because he would be going against all of his beliefs. Atticus feels he must defend Tom Robinson because it would be the right thing to do. A big idea Atticus is demonstrating is equality and liberty for all. I think this because everyone else in town is going against him, but does it anyways. This quote is saying that if I am a coward and cannot hold my head up, I shouldn’t be in the legislature. Because he would be going against all of his beliefs. Atticus feels he must defend Tom Robinson because it would be the right thing to do. A big idea Atticus is demonstrating is equality and liberty for all. I think this because everyone else in...
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...these thoughts and opinions somehow coexist in the world we live in. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, she explains just how the actions and the rivalries existed in the small county of Maycomb. The ideas of existence and representations of both good and evil grow up with Scout and Jem, making them recognize early on in their young lives that the world is never fully good or evil. Early on in the novel, good and/or good people are symbolized by mockingbirds. By telling of the innocence and the faultless qualities of the Mockingbird, that they “...don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy”, the author really appeals to the emotional side of the audience towards the goodness of the mockingbird (103). Potential to be good is shown several times throughout the book. A bit of sincere thoughtfulness is shown when “the men of Maycomb, in all degrees of dress and undress, took furniture from Miss Maudie's house to a yard across the street”, they became completely selfless when a friend needed help (78). Their conscience found a emotional side that connected with the good in the men....
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...Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, mentions countless lessons that Scout learns while growing up. She learns these lessons from the adults in her life, which includes her African American caretaker, Calpurnia. Without an actual mother around to guide her, Calpurnia becomes the motherly figure in Scout’s life who guides her. The interactions between Calpurnia and Scout affects the way Scout goes about her daily life as a result of what she learns from Calpurnia, like writing, understanding black culture, and keeping an open mind in relation to other people. One of the most crucial lessons that Calpurnia taught Scout was how to write. In chapter two, Scout says, “She would set me a writing task by scrawling the alphabet firmly across the top of a tablet, then copying out a chapter of the Bible beneath” (Lee 18). In this quote, Scout explains how Calpurnia taught her how to write by having her copying chapters from the Bible and writing the alphabet. The fact that she can write, causes Scout to stand out because during her first week of school, her teacher took an immediate dislike to her since she could write. In addition to her teacher disliking her immediately,...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird is packed with famous and helpful life quotes. On of the greater quotes is “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,” said by Atticus. The quote has a deep meaning and is a good moral to live by. Atticus and Miss Maudie say that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird because they don’t do anything but sing for us. They don’t tear up gardens or nest in corncribs, they just sing(119), but there’s a deeper meaning than that. Atticus and Miss Maudie don’t mean just mockingbirds, they mean real people, too. Take Atticus for example: he could be considered a mockingbird because he’s nice, helpful, never done anything wrong. Just like a mockingbird, he doesn’t do anything but help people. Maycomb was a racist town, but Atticus was one of the few wholesome people. He didn’t care if someone was white or black, rich or poor, he saw everyone the same. Those qualities were very useful for his career as a lawyer, because he wasn’t biased. He even says “ but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal. (274) He’s saying that the court makes everyone equal and a black man has an equal chance of winning against a white man. Even though he has his...
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...Few Have True Courage Harper Lee only has only written one book as far as we know, but that book is a masterpiece. One of the most beloved and powerful books of the last century, To Kill A Mockingbird will go down as a timeless classic. To Kill A Mockingbird is Set in Maycomb county, southern Alabama, in the early 1930's. This was a time of great poverty and of course racism, including segregation. A black man named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white girl and put on trial. The attorney asigned to his case is Atticus Finch, who is by far the wisest, and most gentle man in Maycomb. He clearly does not see men by their color, (which was such a rareity in those parts) but by their character. Atticus has two children:...
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...What would you do if you were accused of something you didn’t do? An example of this can be found in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This book tells of Jem and Scout, who grow up in a time with many racial differences, dealing with divarication situations. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin" is a quote that sums up the entirely of the book. Don’t judge or discriminate somebody without getting to know them first hand. Harper Lee expresses this using a formal discussion which is associated with class and her own ideologies. The book is set in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s in an area with a large amount of racial injustice. With the Civil War between the North and the South behind their backs, the blacks are set free and yet discrimination is still spread across the South. Their hatred towards the colored people is greater than that of any other. Many issues in the town caused people to think they are higher in power than others as a means of survival. This setting in the book was created in the same way Harper Lee’s town had to grow up in. With this she had a...
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...In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates the negative effects of prejudice by showing it in racism like the Tom Robinson trial, social class like the Ewells, and sexism by showing that the women are not really a big part, they are just there to keep things clean. Racism is a huge negative effect in Maycomb because like during the Tom Robinson trial most of the people in the courtroom were like why is this even an issue, he did it, he is guilty. “I didn’t know what Tom had done so I asked. Cal sighted, “old Mr. Bob Ewell accused him of rapin’ his girl an’ had him arrested an’ put in jail—” Pg 124-125 This shows racism because just because he is a black man does not mean that he always does things that will get him in trouble. The quote above also shows racism because almost everyone in Maycomb are not happy that black people live in the same town as them, so they treat the black people...
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...In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus is the father of Scout and Jem. Throughout the novel, Atticus teaches the readers many different lessons that can be applied to everyday life. Without Atticus, the story would not be the same. Atticus is a well known man in Maycomb County. Many people look up to Atticus and many have respect for him and his decisions. Atticus is an loving and caring father of Scout and Jem. The readers discover this when Scout states, “We were far too old to settle an argument with a fist-fight, so we consulted Atticus. Our father said we were both right” (Lee 3). Along with this quote, readers can see that Atticus does not necessarily take sides with anyone; instead, he decides things by what he...
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...One word or phrase that helps me visualize Miss Caroline is, “she looked and smelt like a peppermint drop.” The author uses a simile when describing Miss Caroline in that quote. Miss Caroline is a new native teacher. Miss Caroline often has trouble disciplining the children and does not understand the family economics of Maycomb. She seemed nice with bright colors and smelt like mint. Scout says it in an almost patronising way, as though she is mocking teacher’s naivety. Scout never loved to read until she fears she wouldn't be able to in the future. She compared it to breathing; people don't care for breathing, it's not a thing people think about they just do it. People start to think about breathing once they are trying to catch their breath...
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...Atticus Finch is one of the most steadfastly honest and moral characters in “To Kill a Mockingbird“ by Harper Lee and his character remains, for the most part, unchanged throughout “To Kill a Mockingbird”. As any character analysis of Atticus Finch should note in terms of the plot of “To Kill a Mockingbird” he begins as an upstanding citizen who is respected and admired by his peers and even though he loses some ground during the trial, by the end of To Kill a Mockingbird he is still looked up to, both by his children and the community as whole—with all class levels included. As a lawyer in To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch represents everything that someone working in the justice system should. He is fair, does not hold grudges, and looks at every situation from a multitude of angles. As Miss Maude quite correctly puts it in one of the important quotes from “To Kill a Mockingbird”by Harper Lee, “Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets” (87) and this could also be said of how he behaves in the courtroom. He is a skilled lawyer and without making outright accusations in a harsh tone he effectively points out that Bob Ewell is lying. Even more importantly, the subject of this character analysis, Atticus Finch, is able to gracefully point out to the jury that there although there probably are a few black men who are capable of crimes, “this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men” (208). His understanding of...
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...Literary Analysis Inequality and prejudice plays what I believe is the most important role in the story To Kill a Mockingbird. Events such as Tom Robinsons trial emphasize this point. Also points such as the game Scout and Jem conjured up to be about Boo Radley’s life. Some points of the book where Aunt Alexandra talks about others as if they are less than them shows that she is basically the living embodiment of racial and social discrimination. These all show the strong tension between the people of Maycomb and those who they believe are different. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee emphasizes the theme of inequality and prejudice through metaphors, tone and characterization. My first piece of evidence to support the theme of prejudice in the town of Maycomb is when Aunt Alexandra was talking to scout about inviting Walter Cunningham (Jr.) over for dinner and Scout is complaining why Aunt Alexandra wont let her play with him and she says, “I’ll tell you why…Because—he—is—trash, that’s why you cant play with him.” This is an example of a metaphor used to describe that Walter is “Worse than them” essentially. This supports the theme of inequality by showing that Aunt Alexandra doesn’t want Scout playing with Walter because she believes they are in some sort of higher “social class”. For my second piece of evidence I have another quote from Aunt Alexandra. This time she is speaking with Atticus about getting rid of Calpurnia because she is black. The quote reads...
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...Just Birds - Analysis of Symbolism in To Kill A Mockingbird Most people would think of love when they look at the symbol ‘heart’. A symbol is an important literacy feature that is used to represent larger or abstract ideas. Symbols are often used by authors to deepen and further extend themes. In Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, her effective use of symbols and their deep meanings contribute towards the development of some important themes. The uses of symbols, a mockingbird and blue jay, significantly develop the key theme that the coexistence of the good and evil always remain. A mockingbird and blue jay prove that the good and evil coexist by utilizing two characters, Bob Ewell and Boo Radley. First, Bob Ewell...
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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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...TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Analysis of Atticus’ Closing Argument Using the Rhetorical Devices The purpose of this writing assignment is to analyze Atticus’ closing statement and identify the three approaches – ethos, logos, pathos—he uses to persuade the jury. This approach to rhetorical analysis will help you question a text, explore your responses to it, and prepare an analysis on the thoughts and ideas of the novel. INTRODUCTION: Paragraph 1: Introduction Catchy beginning – usually a quote from the reading Title of novel, Name of author 2-3 sentence summarizing what the trial is about Thesis statement based on the reading prompt and including the three points the prompt suggests—ethos, logos, and pathos. BODY PARAGRAPHS: Paragraph 1: Discuss...
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