To Kill A Mockingbird
By: Jalen K., Bea G., Katie R., & Audrey C.
Literary Criticisms
- Harper Lee uses her personal experiences in her writing to allow readers to understand what it was like during her time period.
- Atticus raises Scout to appreciate the good qualities in someone and understand the bad ones by treating them with sympathy and trying to see from their perspective.
- "Atticus said that Jem was trying hard to forget something, but what he was really doing was storing it away for a while, until enough time passed." (Lee, 247)
Characterization
Direct and Indirect Characterization of Jem
Indirect Characterization: "Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks, the dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were blood stained-if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off.” (Lee, 16)
Symbolism/Motifs
Narrator
Character Foil: Tom Robinson and Boo Radley
Tom Robinson
Boo Radley
Similarities
Allusions
Biblical: "Let this cup pass from you, eh?" (Lee, 117)
Historical: "Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal." (Lee, 205)
Irony/Sarcasm
In this quote, Miss Maudie is referring to Miss Stephanie Crawford's tendency to spread gossip throughout Maycomb. This refers to sarcasm because Miss Stephanie thinks that she knows everything about the trial, but she knows nothing of the real problems because her knowledge is based of of rumors.
Thematic Statement
Work Cited
Ellsworth, Loretta. "What Harper Lee taught me about writing and the writing life." The Writer Sept. 2010: 8. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 June 2015.
Kasper, Annie. "General semantics in To Kill a Mockingbird." ETC.: A Review of General Semantics 63.3 (2006): 272+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 28 May 2015.
Murray, Jennifer. "More Than One Way to (Mis)Read a Mockingbird." The Southern Literary Journal 43.1 (2010): 75+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 31 May 2015.
Smykowski, Adam. "Symbolism and Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird." Readings on "To Kill a Mockingbird". Ed. Terry O'Neill. San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press, 2000. 52-56. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 194. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 June 2015.