To kill a Mocking Bird.Written response to an extended text.

Question

Analyse how the writer develops a significant idea or theme in an extended text.

What are the significant ideas or themes in TKMB?

Courage Education Prejudice Social status Having sympathy for other’s view points We fear what we don’t know Sex defined roles and their limitations

Planning your essay

Step one: choose a main idea or theme the writer developed.

Step two:Form an argument or case that will drive your essay.

Step three:Identify how the writer develops this idea and what evidence you will use to support your argument

Example

Step one:Courage is a main idea that is developed in TKMB

Step two:Real courage is often quiet and private, not necessarily obvious and physical.

Step three:Harper Lee uses characterisation to develop this concept of real courage. Evidence:1. Atticus2. Mrs Dubose3. Miss Maudie4. Jem and Scout.

Introduction

Harper Lee’s, “To Kill a Mockingbird” presents many themes and issues relating to 1930s society in the midst of the great depression. Southern states were plagued with prejudice, ignorance and social lies. Harper Lee emphasises the need for courage to fight injustice and provides an explanation of what true courage is. She reveals through such techniques as characterisation and symbolism, that real courage is often quiet and private, not necessarily obvious and physical.

Essay planning

Goal: To be able to plan essays for NCEA Level 2 questions.

Analyse how the writer created impact in one important section.

Analyse how the writer influenced you to think differently about an important idea or issue.

Analyse how the writer created impact in one important section

Step one: what are the key words? What is being asked?What literary techniques did Harper Lee use to make one scene in the novel memorable and emphasise it’s importance?

Step two: identify a scene in the novel that you think is important and could write about.

The verdict scene in the novel.

Step three: brainstorm what techniques Harper Lee uses to build suspense and atmosphere during the verdict scene. (mind map, grid, list

Step Four: form an argument to drive your essay and identify your evidence.

Analyse how the writer influenced you to think differently about an important idea or issue.

Your turn.Plan an essay for this question, following the same steps as your previous essay plans. Refer to your essays aren’t scary worksheets if necessary.

Essay feed back

Show awareness of the author’s purpose or intentions.

Harper Lee uses the symbol of the mockingbird to illustrate…

Lee uses Atticus as a vehicle to explore this idea of true courage….

Miss Maudie displayed true courage when her house was burnt down…. Lee

emphasises Miss Maudie’s bravery by setting the novel in the depression, where losing a house would have been financially crippling.

Fluent and articulate in the expression of ideas.

Make connections beyond the text.

You could link Scout and her views to ‘kids of today’, make connections to your own life or the world around you.

Courage needed to defeat dictatorship in North Africa.

. Readers will often think about characters long after a text has been finished.Analyse how the writer made a character or characters memorable for you in a text you have studied.

Step one: what are the key words? What is being asked?

Analyse how Harper Lee made characters memorable for you in a text.

Brainstorm which characters you know well and why you remember them.

Step two: form an argument that will drive your essay.

The most memorable characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, were those that displayed true courage.

Step three: What evidence will you use to support your argument? Atticus- taking on the case/ symbolism/imagery (mad dog etc.)Mrs Maudie- house burning down/ symbolism Mrs Dubose- morphine addiction/ symbolism (camellias)/imagery

Essay planning continued Introduction: state what your argument is. (The most

memorable characters were those…) Define true courage. Briefly outline 3-4 solid points that you will expand into paragraphs to support your argument. (Through the use of imagery, behaviour and symbolism, Lee successfully creates memorable characters that all display true courage.)

State your main point. Keep it clear and simple. Give evidence from the text that supports your point.

(quote/plot detail/character behaviour/dialogue, imagery etc. make sure you use specific and relevant details.

Explain how the evidence supports your main point. Develop your paragraph by commenting on the author’s

intentions and reinforce your main argument.

example

S= Atticus memorable character, shows true courage. E= addressing the jury (dialogue/ behaviour) and imagery

(parallels the mad dog scene) E= Atticus standing up to prejudice town, aware of the

consequences him and his family would face- true courage. Parallel with mad dog scene, one where Atticus also displays courage.

D= develop your paragraph by commenting on the authors intentions or the wider message. Reinforce your argument at the end of each paragraph.

Example

Through imagery Lee creates parallels between the mad dog scene and the Verdict scene. Lee has done this to emphasise the courage displayed by Atticus in both scenes and explore this idea of true courage as being quiet and private. Scout describes watching her father address the jury as “it was like watching Atticus walk into the street, raise a rifle to his shoulder and pull the trigger, but watching all the time knowing that the gun was empty.” This creates a direct parallel between the two scenes. Perhaps what is most significant about these two scenes is not what they have in common, but what distinguishes them from one another. Atticus’s gun is ‘empty’ in the court scene, symbolising the hopelessness of his case and reinforcing the courage he demonstrates while defending Tom Robinson. This memorable character behaves courageously without the aid of any weapons and is fully aware of his inevitable defeat.