...To Kill a Mockingbird Seminar Essay Guiding Question 2 In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee explains Scout’s coming of age story through a point of view lesson and a lesson about society. After Scout’s first day of school, Atticus justifies Miss Caroline’s extreme behavior regarding Scout’s early reading skills by claiming “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view(Lee 39)”. At this point in the novel, Scout thinks little of what Atticus says and refuses to believe any justification for how Miss Caroline treated her earlier in the day. However, Scout quickly becomes reminded of this lesson time and time again. At the climax of the novel, Atticus justifies Bob Ewell’s reaction of the court proceedings as “some kind of comeback(Lee 292)” when putting himself in Ewell’s shoes. Scout begins to relax, but is not reassured completely by Atticus’ explanation of Bob Ewell’s bland threats. Scout finally truly understands this coming of age lesson when putting herself in Boo Radley’s...
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...the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, there was plenty of misunderstanding, prejudice, stereotype, and bias. But misunderstanding was an idea that came up the most. To Kill A Mockingbird shows misunderstanding in society from a child’s point-of-view and not an adult’s point-of-view because adults are more mature and they don’t have as much imagination as a child does. This is shown from a child’s point-of-view because children have more creativity and are more energetic than adults. In society, misunderstanding can be seen when people do unusual things. This can be seen on page 24 where Scout, one of the main characters in the novel, doesn’t know why Walter, another character in the novel, pours syrup on his vegetables. The reason why Walter pours syrup on his vegetables is because Walter is poor and he has never tried sugar. People do things like this because they’re hungry or they’ve never tried sweets. Misunderstanding shows how people don’t understand...
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...Influential Themes in the book To Kill a Mockingbird The history of the world has lots of social problems that still exist in the world today. We deal with an extensive amount of racism all around the world; therefore, it is still a struggle for the world to learn how to live in peace and harmony. Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, captures many themes, but the most influential life lessons deal with racism, perspective, and morality. Racism is one of the most influential themes in the book. Lee explains very well about the problems of racism in the south; in other words, the theme of racism in the book teaches an important message that all people need to learn. Atticus says, “Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird: Essay Explore the growth to maturity of Scout in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Maturation is one of the most important themes in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, and one of the characters to whom this theme applies the most is Scout Finch, the narrator. Starting out as a young, tomboy character who is naïve and immature, over the years in which the novel is set a change in her behaviour becomes prominent, as she acquires more grown up behaviours and beliefs. Arguably the most important change in Scout’s character is her learning to understand other people and their desires and needs, rather than just her own. A notable example of this is her treatment of Boo Radley. At the beginning of the novel, the children’s games concerning his lifestyle and family history demonstrated childish and immature fantasies and, ultimately, a selfish obsession with him, revealing no thought of Boo’s feelings or point of view. Atticus advises them against this habit, telling the children to “stop tormenting that man”. The Radley games is also the one of the first times in the novel when Atticus uses one of his commonest pieces of advice: to “climb into his skin and walk around in it”. However, as the novel progresses, it is obvious that Scout and Jem do become more thoughtful of Boo Radley, stopping their constant annoyance of him, and starting to realise Boo’s sentiments as well. This is shown when Jem has an epiphany that the reason “Boo Radley’s stayed shut...
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...experiences, many characters in texts such as Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, and the film, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, directed by Mark Herman, undergo various changes and transformations, not only physically, emotionally and intellectually, but also in their understanding and perspectives of the world around them. Studying texts such as these provides the audience with valuable insight into the aspects of changing worlds, perspectives, relationships and selves, which they are then able to relate to their own lives. Characters in both To Kill A Mockingbird and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (hereafter referred to as Mockingbird and Pyjamas respectively) change their attitude to society’s notions of the superiority of certain races and religions over others, creating a valuable moral imperative through the historical nature of the texts. Harper Lee’s Mockingbird is set in the small American town of Maycomb amidst the 1930s civil rights movement, and is centred on Scout’s moral struggle when questioning the racism and discrimination present. At the start of the novel, Scout blindly follows the discriminatory beliefs of society, although as she experiences more of the world for herself, she begins to question the hypocrisy of society, “How can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home?” Through the use of colloquial language, the author demonstrates Scout’s criticism and confusion concerning the hypocritical nature of society...
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...Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel centered around a few years in Jean Louise “Scout” Finch’s childhood, featuring her experiences and the lessons that she learns growing up in the 1930s. Scout and her brother, Jeremy “Jem” Finch, mature in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, in a one-parent home. Their father and aunt, Atticus and Alexandra, raise them with help from Calpurnia, their African American maid. Harper Lee weaves several different themes throughout the novel, but some are more prominent than others. Lee develops the main themes of growth, protection of innocence, and perception throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, disguised in the form of lessons learned during the narrator’s childhood. Harper Lee reveals her theme of growth...
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...THE GLENCOE LITERATURE LIBRARY Study Guide for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee i Meet Harper Lee at the same university. In 1949, however, she withdrew and moved to New York City with the goal of becoming a writer. While working at other jobs, Lee submitted stories and essays to publishers. All were rejected. An agent, however, took an interest in one of her short stories and suggested she expand it into a novel. By 1957 she had finished a draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. A publisher to whom she sent the novel saw its potential but thought it needed reworking. With her editor, Lee spent two and a half more years revising the manuscript. By 1960 the novel was published. In a 1961 interview with Newsweek magazine, Lee commented: Writing is the hardest thing in the world, . . . but writing is the only thing that has made me completely happy. To Kill a Mockingbird was an immediate and widespread success. Within a year, the novel sold half a million copies and received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Within two years, it was turned into a highly acclaimed film. Readers admire the novel’s sensitive and probing treatment of race relations. But, equally, they enjoy its vivid account of childhood in a small rural town. Summing up the novel’s enduring impact in a 1974 review, R. A. Dave called To Kill a Mockingbird . . . a movingly human drama of the jostling worlds—of children and adults, of innocence and experience, of kindness and cruelty, of love and hatred, of humor...
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...“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” (Margaret Mead) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story told from the point of view of Scout Finch, a young tomboy. Her father, Atticus, is the judge for the trial of a young black man accused of raping a white girl. This trial reflects the Scottsboro Trials of the 1930s. Scout’s brother, Jem, grows up alongside her and is an influence on how she acts as she grows. Their Aunt, Alexandra, moves in to give their family a stronger “feminine influence”. Other people in Scout’s life help to develop her character over time including a old woman named Mrs. Dubose. Gender roles of society shape who we are and the development of character Scout Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird does not...
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...Faisal Amjad 11/01/15 Film Appreciation The Film and novel I decided to do on is the classic To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), which had a legendary cast starring Gregory Peck as Atticus and Mary Badham as Scout, this adaption of the book is as much a classic as the novel itself in my opinion which can be backed up by any person who is in American theater. The film received eight Academy Awards nominations and netted awards for Best Actor, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and Best Art Direction — Set Decoration, Black and White. This film was a critical adaption of the book. Fans and critiques alike rank this among the best movies of all time, it is ranked #84 top rated movie of all time on IMDB.com, (rated by the people and critiques alike) the production was very extensive and expensive for its time, the budget for the film was about 2 million dollars and made well over $15 million at the box office and it was filmed on 35mm role of film. It was directed by Robert Mulligan, Written by Harper Lee (based on her novel "To Kill a Mockingbird"), and Horton Foote (screenplay) the movie was produced by universal international pictures....
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...Victoria Heckel Professor Baldassare English 201 4 April 2014 Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird: The Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee in 1960. Lee’s early life influenced a lot of what was introduced in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, although she made a point that this was not an autobiographical novel. Throughout her life Lee shows similarities in characters in the story as well as ones she’s grown up with. Lee addresses prejudice and tolerance and especially the courage it takes to make societal change. These ideas combined with her personal experiences is what probably won her Pulitzer prize winning novel. Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. Her mother, Frances Cunningham Finch Lee, was a homemaker. For most of Lee's life, her mother suffered from mental illness, rarely leaving the house. It is believed that she may have had bipolar disorder (Harper Lee 1). Her father, Amasa Coleman Lee, practiced law, a member of the Alabama state legislature (Lee, Harper 2). She grew up as a tomboy in a small town, which she fought on the playground, and talked back to teachers. She was bored with school and resisted any sort of conformity. Truman Capote was one of Lee’s closest childhood friends, Lee often stepped up to protect Truman from other boys his age that picked on him for the fancy clothes be wore and also for being a sissy. The two were different but they both shared in having difficult home...
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..."Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always" (Goodreads). People are often prejudice without fully understanding the entire situation. In times of immense struggle, people feel alone and take out their pain on others, in attempt to bury their own hurt. Throughout the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, readers see an array of many characters going through some very difficult times, thus resulting in conflict among them. During this time, of the Depression, people faced economic and social struggles. Segregation was a growing problem in the South during the 1930s. People are quick to judge, based on their appearance, without looking deeper, into their skin. In To Kill A Mockingbird, the Finch family does their best...
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...To kill a Mockingbird is said to be about Harper Lee’s life; however, she never did interviews so there is some evidence, but not enough to say for certain. With Harper Lee’s death in 2016 no one will ever know for sure. To Kill a Mockingbird is about Scout and her family going through Tom Robinson's trial and the family living through the Great Depression. Scout is six at the beginning of the story, but we watch her grow up through the book. Scout's older brother Jem is ten in the beginning of the book we watch him grow up in the book as well. To Kill a Mockingbird was published on July 11th 1960 by Warner books the book takes place in the 1930’s great depression times. The book was written to show you the life of scout as a kid. The meaning...
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...and Jem from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsb by Scott Fitzgerald. Each of these characters encounters different processes of coming of age. When these characters process of maturation and coming of age are compared, the most relevant coming of age best exhibited by Holden from The Catcher in the Rye, following with Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird and Mr. Gatsby from The Great Gatsby; however, differences in coming of age are apparent in the different time periods of each novel setting, practicality, and present social issues. Holden Caulfield, the main character in The Catcher in the...
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...22 December 2015 Scout’s Development Essay In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” Jean Louise Finch or better known as Scout develops over the course of the book, her development is paralleled by her view and opinion on Boo Radley. Throughout the book she changes her views on Boo from an unsightly monster to a kindhearted gentle man. While scout starts to understand Boo over the course of the book, her maturity also develops and she starts growing into an adult. In the very beginning of the book when Scout and Jem first meet dill, Scout says this to Dill about the Radley residence, “Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him” (Lee 7.) As the quote shows Scout views Boo Radley as a monster who has no care for anyone. At this point in the book Scout is six years old. When scout is at school she picks fights with teachers and other kids. One of the best examples of this in the beginning of the book is when Miss Caroline tries to give Walter Cunningham a quarter to buy lunch when he forgets his lunch. Scout tries to explain to Miss caroline that his family is poor and cannot pay her back. After Scout is punished she goes home and whines to Atticus about what happened. This situation is a representation of her immaturity at the beginning of the book. The rest of the year goes by, Scout and Jem both finish up their school year, but Scout’s developments in her maturity and her understanding...
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...difference between right and wrong, and the symbolism of the mockingbird is shown by the use of dialogue, and characterization. In the novel, Lee expresses hypocrisy within the Society through the use of three characters. Lee shows hypocrisy with the use of Miss Gates, Scout’s third grade teacher. Miss Gates teaches the class about all the evil things Hitler does to the Jews in Germany. Showing her students why she disagrees with Hitler, Miss Gates tells the class that “over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced” (208-209). However, while at the Missionary Society meeting Scout overhears Miss Gates talking about how Tom Robinson's conviction...
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