To Kill A Mockingbird Critical Thinking Quotes

Kristin Lewis uses the literary device, a simile, in the first paragraph. She compares “New Jersey” having heat “like a hot blanket.” She uses this device to compare and help the reader understand how hot it was during “the summer of 1912,” in New Jersey.

This is the closing statement of Atticus’s argument. Before the jury goes off to decide the verdict, he is trying to ignite an inner battle between right and wrong, along with provoke thought within the minds of the men that makeup the jury.

Undoubtedly, one of the most controversial subjects in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, would be whether or not Atticus Finch should have defended Tom Robinson. However, in order to understand this controversy, a person must first be able to understand Atticus Finch himself. Atticus as a character is a very intellectual person who possesses the fortitude to stand up for whatever he believes is right and will not let other people’s choices affect his own. Furthermore, it is also important to understand that Atticus is not a racist, nor does he approve of the idea that one group of people are better than another based on their appearances in general, and because of this, a person can generalize that Atticus’s characteristic traits are why he did not complain when given the task of defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who had been wrongfully accused of raping a white woman. A man that he, as well as a small group of other people from town, viewed as the picture of innocence. In their eyes, Tom was no more than a mockingbird, “[and mockingbirds] don’t do one thing but make music for [people] to enjoy” (Lee 119). Knowing this, anyone with a reasonably strong sense of what is right and what is wrong can conclude that it does make sense for Atticus Finch to have taken the case due to his belief that it is a sin to kill the innocent as well as his courage that allows him to stay true to his ideas, even though when taking the case, he was inevitably going to be putting his

Lawyer Atticus Finch, in his closing argument from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee states in Tom Robinson’s case that racial prejudice has blinded the county into deciding the misguided decision. Finch’s purpose is to convince the jury one’s race is irrelevant to justice. He adopts a moralistic tone in order to persuade the jury of Tom Robinson’s innocence. Finch furthers his purpose by effectively employing rhetorical devices to inform the jury to discard their differences and make the choice that can set an innocent man free.

Atticus aims to strike this change into the hearts of others when he is appointed to defend Tom Robinson; however, courthouse critics have said “Atticus aims to defend him. That’s what [they] don’t like about it” (137). This shows that Atticus is willing to give his all to show people Tom Robinson is an innocent man and convicting him just because he is black would be wrong, so it needs to change. Atticus has been leading the charge for change mostly in the beginning chapters of this book, but during the trial is when Atticus can truly influence people to write their wrongs and free an innocent man despite his skin color. Although some people don’t like what he’s doing, eventually they begin to realize that what Atticus is doing is the right thing. After finding out about the news of Tom’s death, Aunt Alexandra proceeds to complain about how all the strain of changing things gets to him. To ease Alexandra’s worries, Miss Maudie says Maycomb “[trusts] him to do right” (201), showing that Atticus has a crucial role in leading the change, and people flock to him when they want change to occur as Judge Taylor did when he didn’t want the jury to convict Tom Robinson, so he appointed Atticus as his lawyer in hopes that he would win the

Don't say niggers, scout. That's common.’ ” (Lee 99) Atticus knew from his kids especially how everyone thought of him defending Tom Robinson. But since he knew that Tom needed a lawyer and he believed he was innocent, he decided to stick with his opinion. This quote shows how even when Scout complained to Atticus, he still stuck with his opinion. He didn't change his answer for his youngest daughter for her to feel better around her friends. He decided that if he believes in one thing, he has to stick with it without listening and falling into what other people think. Another example in TKAM was when Miss. Maudie and Jem had a discussion after the trial. Jem was complaining to Miss. Maudie who in the town helped Tom at least by a little. Miss Maudie replied saying that Judge Taylor was a great help in picking Atticus as the lawyer to defend Tom. She asked if it ever struck Jem that the judge assigning Atticus as the lawyer was no accident. This example shows how Judge Taylor knew exactly what he was doing when he picked Atticus as the lawyer. He knew that Atticus wouldn't fall under the rumors and all of the thoughts of him defending a

To Kill a Mockingbird Many people were disturbed to see a video where a canadian women said racial comments which were driven on her emotions, theses emotions are also seen in To Kill a Mockingbird. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows that prejudice is based on emotions rather than reasoning. There are many examples such as the mob that wants to hurt Tom Robinson and the hatred that Lula has against Scout and Jem. As well of attempted murder on the children by Mr. Ewell. Theses are some of the cases where emotions took over rather than proper reasoning.

Different Skin Have you ever met someone who seems oblivious to everything happening around them? What about someone who doesn’t really seem to know what on Earth they’re doing so they do the wrong thing? If that type of person sounds familiar to you, then you must be thinking of Miss Caroline from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. “You never really understand a person until you consider his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (lee 39), that is one of the many powerful quotes from the book.

“Knowledge is power” Sir Francis Bacon. Atticus, a character in To kill a Mockingbird, understands that his knowledge has the power to do many things, including influence the lives of many people. Atticus does his best to influence his children, and educate them every chance he gets. Atticus does his best to teach his children what is right and what is wrong, and in doing this Atticus made one point immensely clear. It is a sin to kill a Mockingbird.

BOLD THESIS TOPIC SENTENCES AND QUOTES Have you ever felt as if you were defined as an individual due to what others may think of you? Maybe you had to dress, speak, or even act in a way that was not how you wanted yourself to be seen. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mayella Ewell was limited by what the people of Maycomb County thought of her family. They were seen as low class, trashy, and had been the disgrace of Maycomb for the past 3 generations. The opinions of others limited Mayella’s choices during the trial of Tom Robinson which further reflected her obscure behaviour throughout her hearing.

Atticus believes that he can fight back against the verdict of Tom. Specifically “Atticus assured us that nothing would happen to Tom until the higher court reviewed his case, and that Tom had a good chance of going free, or at least of having a new trial. ”(Lee 293) Atticus thinks that Tom is still innocent.

**Summary of the Recollection Argument (72e-78b): ** Socrates starts by discussing the nature of learning. He argues that when we learn something new, we are actually recollecting knowledge that our souls already possess. He illustrates this with the example of learning geometry. Even though we may not have been explicitly taught geometry in this life, we are still able to learn it, which suggests that our souls must have acquired this knowledge before our current existence.

Doing what’s right and doing what you think is right based upon others opinions, are two different things. Growing up in a world where gossip dominates is a difficult world to understand. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee uses the elements of characterization, setting ,and conflict to convey the theme that although you're in a dangerous situation, doing what's right is always the best option; by doing what's right it shows the courageous action of an adult facing a conflict. Harper Lee first shows this in the characterizations of many of her characters.

Who would destroy something that contained a heart filled only with good? The answer to that can be found in the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee in an unjust time of unequal opportunity. The story follows the retelling of an 8-year-old girl named Jean Louis and those around her moral growth. She lives in Maycomb Alabama during the Great Depression. She has many chapters of growth including changing from afraid of a person to wanting to meet them, seeing people put on masks in order to avoid judgment, and watching an innocent man go to jail. Scout learns that to Kill a mockingbird is a sin for they have done no wrong, that people make that most meaningful mockingbirds, and the true significance of them because of the moral growth they bring about in people.

While Martin Luther King Jr. was locked up in a jail he received a letter from eight clergymen. They reached out to King in a letter that is called “A Call for Unity.” In this letter, they are telling king that people needed to stand up and try to make a change by peaceful protesting to get their point across (“A Call for Unity”). King then replies to their letter with a letter of his own which is known as “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” King states that he gets a lot of letters and doesn’t reply to them but he thought that the clergymen meant good so he would try to answer their questions to the best of his ability (King). Also in the letter, he focuses on what is going on in Birmingham at the time and tells about himself and how he oversaw a lot of planning comities (King). In the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” King uses three main ways to connect with the audience of the letter and those are ethos, pathos, and logos.