Name_____________________________________________
Date______________________________________________
English II Honors
To Kill a Mockingbird
Your objective: Render ONE clear and argumentative statement, and support this statement throughout the body of your
essay.
Due: Tuesday, October 15, 2013.
Minimum Length: 1000 words. NO BLOCK QUOTES UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
1.
Authors develop characters with different attitudes and beliefs so that they can illustrate the diversity in society.
Write a well-constructed essay exploring Lee’s development of the female role model by comparing and
contrasting Miss Maudie and Aunt Alexandra as models for Scout. Be sure to use textual evidence to support
your thesis, but avoid plot summary.
2.
The central issue of many novels and plays is the difficulty in discerning the “truth” about a certain event or
situation based on the differing accounts of various characters. Several times in To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee
questions who is responsible for Tom Robinson’s death. Write a well-constructed essay discussing different
characters’ views about where this responsibility lays, and include evidence that shows Lee’s view. Do not
summarize the jury’s verdict.
3.
Writers often use the first person narrative to provide one character’s feelings and reflections about the events
of a novel. The narrator can serve as a participant in the events as well as an adult looking back at events in the
past. Using Scout’s narrative in To Kill A Mockingbird, write a well-crafted essay about Lee’s use of first-person
narrative to explain the events as well as create suspense in the novel. Include a discussion of the impact of the
narrator’s age when the events occurred versus her age when she recounts the story.
4.
The use of allusions is a literary technique that authors use to combine real-life references with fictional events
in a novel. Write a well-constructed essay about Lee’s use of allusions in To Kill A Mockingbird to relate the
setting of the story to life in the United States.
5.
Responding to the New Yorker Article “Courthouse Ring: Atticus Finch and Southern Liberalism”. Do you agree
with Malcolm Gladwell’s message that “[Atticus] is much closer to Folsom’s side of the race question than he is to
the civil rights activists who were arriving in the south as Lee wrote her novel…”? Remember that you are
equally encouraged to agree or disagree with the author, but you will need several substantial examples (FROM
THE NOVEL) to emphasize your message.
A REAL CHALLENGE for all! Present your topics with evidence NOT discussed in class. Make me think about
Mockingbird differently than ever before.
Works Cited Page: You should include a proper MLA citation for the novel and for the article (if using). Please advise
(http://owl.english.purdue.edu/) for proper MLA citation.
Turnitin.com Submission: By midnight on Monday, October 14.