Analytical Essay on Theme in To Kill a Mockingbird
Directions: Choose one of these questions and answer it in a 5-paragraph essay
Formatting Requirements: Double spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, standard margins
Point Value: 50 points
Due Date:
Suggestions:
1) Remember to use the ANT strategy for your introduction.
☻A is for Attention getter
• rhetorical question
ex: Have you ever been afraid to do something but you knew you had to do it anyway?
• a quote from an outside source that relates to something in the story
ex: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• a quote from the story itself
ex: Courage is “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway...”
• a shocking statement, fact, or statistic about your topic (cite source)
Ex: About one out of eight Americans consider themselves racist.” Huston, Warner T. “CNN: Americans All Racists Says Poll - Blogger News Network." - Blogger News Network. Local Info Company, 2008. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.bloggernews.net/12990>.
☻N is for Necessary Information:
• Author’s full name
• Title of novel
• Brief plot summary – in two to three sentences briefly remind your readers what happened in the story. Highlight the major action of the story, especially those parts that are relevant to your analysis.
☻T is for Thesis:
The thesis should list the three points you are going to make in answering your question.
2) Do not refer to yourself in the essay. Do not say, “I think,” “I feel,” “I believe,” “In my opinion,” or make any other reference to yourself.
3) Make sure your essay includes an introduction, one paragraph about each of your three points, and a conclusion that relates back to your introduction.
Essay Choices:
A) Atticus tells the children several times that they need to “walk in someone else's shoes” before judging another person. Describe three times in the novel when Atticus, Scout, and/or Jem try to put themselves in someone else's shoes. How does this change the way they view the other people’s situations? What role does this advice play in sympathy and compassion?
B) In the last few lines of To Kill a Mockingbird Scout says, "he was real nice..." and Atticus replies, "most people are, Scout, when you finally see them." Describe three times in the novel when Jem and Scout learn that their first impressions of a person are not correct.
C) At the end of the novel, Scout says that telling the townspeople what happened would have been "sort of like shootin' a mockingbird." What does she mean? Write about three characters in the novel who are like mockingbirds and explain why.
D) Compare the members of the Finch family (Atticus, Jem, and Scout) to each other, the members of the Ewell family (Bob and Mayella) to each other, and the members of the Cunningham family (Walter Senior and Walter Junior) to each other. Based on your analysis, does the novel seem to suggest that family members are more LIKE each other or UNLIKE each other?
E) Atticus says that courage is “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” Describe three examples of courageous people and actions in the novel.