In Class Analytical Writing Exercise 2

**Make a copy of this document and place in your TKAM folders**

Click here for assessment criteria (30 points)
Prompt:
Pick one specific element from To Kill a Mockingbird and argue its significance in the
context of the messages and themes of the book. Pick something specific within one of the
following categories and connect it to a deeper message within the text:

Symbols
Motifs (recurring element or idea that has a larger significance within the story)
Specific moments
Character/s (specific character traits; importance of minor characters; relationship
between two characters; character development)
Aspects of setting
Aspect of narrative structure (narrator; style; text structure)
Other (let us know if there is another category you would like to explore)
Make sure your argument is precise and narrow enough for the scope of one paragraph.
Guidelines:
You will have the entire class period to write your paragraph.
You may bring your book with you to class.
You may refer to the notes that you have taken on the brainstorming section of this
document.
You may not write the paragraph at home the night before. Please remember what
we have discussed about academic honesty.
Paragraph structure:
Begin with a clear, specific, and precisely worded topic sentence. No need to
include superfluous context before your argument, just delve right in.
You may consult this sample paragraph to help you structure your paragraph.
You may also refer to peer examples.

**Go to the next page to begin your brainstorm**

Brainstorm:
Specific element from text

Why is this specific

element so important?

Id rather you shot at tin

cans in the back yard, but I
know youll go after birds.
Shoot all the bluejays you
want, if you can hit em,
but remember its a sin to
kill a mockingbird (103).

It shows a deeper
significance, and Lee is
trying to use african
americans as the
mockingbirds in this
metaphor.

N word Lover

People say this a lot in the

book, and they obviously
say it as an insult and a bad
thing.

What is this specific

elements implication in
the larger scheme of the
text? (This is the so
what? question)

It shows how everyone

thinks of African Americans
as trash, and its a terrible
thing to enjoy being around
them.

Once youve chosen an element to focus on, gather some evidence (quotes & examples)
that you will use to support your claim about why this element is important:
Id rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know youll go after birds. Shoot
all the bluejays you want, if you can hit em, but remember its a sin to kill a
mockingbird (103).
"Scout," said Atticus, "nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean
anythinglike snot-nose. It's hard to explainignorant, trashy people use it when they
think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves. It's slipped into usage with
some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody."
"You aren't really a nigger-lover, then, are you?"
"I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody... I'm hard put, sometimesbaby, it's
never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how
poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you." (124)

"Which, gentlemen, we know is in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson's skin, a lie I do
not have to point out to you. You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie,

some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around womenblack
or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of
men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never
done an immoral thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman
without desire." (232)

Write: Write your final paragraph in the space below :

Harper Lee incorporates the quote its a sin to kill a mockingbird to portray that
Blacks are metaphorically the mockingbirds in the Maycomb society. On page 103, Atticus
tells Jem the following: Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit em, but
remember its a sin to kill a mockingbird...Mockingbirdsdontdoonethingbutmake
musicforustoenjoy.Theydonteatuppeoplesgardens,dontnestincorncribs,they
dontdoonethingbutsingtheirheartoutforus.Thatswhyitsasintokilla
mockingbird. Atticus and Miss Maudie are suggesting to Jem that you shouldnt hurt or
kill a being that exists solely provide good things. Essentially, Harper Lee is trying to say
that Blacks are like mockingbirds, they dont do anything to hurt us, they are simply there
to make music. This, however is false. A black person is the same person as you or me,
simply with a different pigmentation in their skin. Saying that they are flawless innocent
beings is putting them into a box, and suggesting that they arent normal humans. Atticus is
aware of this, and tells us on page 232 that every human flaws, not just Negroes. "Which,
gentlemen, we know is in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson's skin, a lie I do not have
to point out to you. You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some

Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around womenblack or
white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of
men. Atticus claims this during his closing statement in Tom Robinsons case, and he is
saying that Negroes dont necessarily sin more than any respectable white man. There are
two racist extremities in To Kill a Mockingbird; one is assuming that all Negroes are terrible
people and they are always guilty until proven innocent, and the other Harper Lees
metaphor that all Blacks are perfect, and just exist to sing their hearts out for us. These
two assumptions are equally racist, and are both fundamentally segregating Blacks from
Whites. A skin color is simply an outer trait, and does not affect in the least any of the
genuine traits on the inside.