Analytical Essay on Theme in To Kill a Mockingbird
Directions: Choose one of these questions and answer it in a 5-paragraph essay of
between 350-500 words.
Formatting Requirements: Double spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, standard
margins
Point Value: 50 points
Due Date: End of class February 21
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 that Boo Radley
killed Tom Ewell 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.