English 11

To Kill a Mockingbird Final Paper

Choose one of the following essay prompts and write an essay of approximately three pages. Make sure you follow MLA format with citations from the book cited correctly, and submit your final draft to turnitin.com (on time).

  1. Harper Lee once commented that she considered To Kill a Mockingbird to be “a simple love story.” Explain why you think this is a good description. Be sure to explain what/whom “the love story” is about.
  1. Do you think Atticus’ kids will catch Maycomb’s “usual disease”? What is Maycomb’s usual disease?Explain.
  1. Choose one of the themes from the novel (courage, growing up/maturing, empathy /“walking around in someone else’s shoes, superstition, family, race/prejudice, etc.) and show how that theme is illustrated in the novel. Which characters are used to develop the theme? In other words, what “lesson” or “moral” does Harper Lee want us to learn from reading To Kill a Mockingbird?
  1. Jem Finch grows up throughout the course of the story. Trace his maturing from the beginning to the end of the novel. Include important incidents that illustrate this maturation. What has he realized by the end of the novel?
  1. Scout Finch also changes quite a bit throughout the course of the story. Trace her maturing from the beginning to the end of the novel. Include important incidents that illustrate this maturation.
  1. Choose a minor character and show how Harper Lee is using him or her (in literary terms) in the novel. Examples of minor characters include Boo Radley, Dill, Aunt Alexandra, Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, Tom Robinson, etc.

Note: What distinguishes between an “A” paper and a “B” paper, etc? If you’re striving for an “A” paper, attempt to go beyond the surface layer analysis. Include original or compelling examples for your points in order to answer the question posed. Make sure you include specific quotations and passages from the novel to support your ideas and that they are properly cited. Also, thoroughly develop your thesis throughout the paper and make sure to answer each component of the question. Good luck!

Outline DueRough Draft DueFinal Draft Due

Outline

A formal outline provides a clear blueprint for your paper. It should be done once you have generated some ideas and formulated a tentative thesis. The following sample shows what a formal outline should look like:

Student sample outline: To Kill a Mockingbird/Love Story

  1. Introduction
  1. Attention Getter: Romeo and Juliet quote on love
  2. Fill in quote here
  3. Background Information
  4. Explain how the quote fits into a love story. Describe what a “love story” means.
  5. Thesis: In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many types of love stories or acts of love.
  1. First Main Point
  1. Nothing is stronger than the bond between a father and his children
  2. Example one illustrating this bond
  3. Example two illustrating this bond
  1. Second Main Point
  1. Boo Radley is another example of love throughout the novel
  2. ______
  1. Third Main Point
  1. ______
  2. ______
  1. Conclusion
  1. Review thesis:
  2. Background information
  3. Leave the reader with something to think about without making a cheesy question at the end like, “I think prejudice is wrong, do you?” 

Note: the outline above was formatted differently. Ideally, you would stick to the roman numerals and subordination, but this helps to illustrate the general idea.

The importance of subordination and parallelism are important when it comes to creating a formal outline. Subordination means that capital letter “A” is less important than Roman numeral “I” but more important than Arabic numeral “1.” Parallelism means that capital letter A is approximately equal in importance to every other capital letter in the outline.

Other things to keep in mind:

  • Start with your thesis and think of all the ways you plan on talking about your thesis.
  • Use complete sentences for the roman numerals (think of it as your topic sentence) and then you can write in phrases.
  • Always use at least two subdivisions for a category. If a subject is divided, logically it must have at least two parts. When you are tempted to use a 1 without a 2 or an “A” without a “B,” either incorporate the idea into the level of generality immediately above it or omit it entirely.