To Kill A Mockingbird Rhetorical Analysis

Throughout her essay, Woolf drives her argument home by using strong appeals to logos and pathos. In many instances, she shares empirical evidence to appeal to the reader’s intellect: “The only charge I could bring against the Fellows and Scholars was that

The coming-of-age novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is set in the fictional town of Maycomb County, Alabama around the 1930s. Vile racial discrimination in Maycomb is what lead to the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Atticus, the father of Scout, was assigned to defend Robinson in court. Atticus organized his argument to be successful by using rhetorical devices- ethos, pathos, and logos.

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, during chapters seventeen through twenty-one, one of the leading characters, Atticus, has to defend a black man in a court case against two white people. Before the jury is sent to make their decision, Atticus gives a closing argument speech. During his speech, Atticus uses three main types of persuasion called: ethos, pathos, and logos.

“First of all,' he said, 'If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-”

“How would it feel to be convicted for a crime that wasn’t committed just because of skin color?” This is what exactly happens in Harper Lee’s book “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Tom Robinson was charged guilty for rape and assault of Mayella Ewell. Atticus Finch went against Mr.Gilmer to defend Tom’s innocence. It was almost impossible to convince a white jury’s opinion towards Tom because of his color. Both Atticus and Mr.Gilmer both used Logos, Ethos and Pathos, rhetorical concepts in their arguments.Even though Mr.Gilmer had won the case, Atticus’s was more effective in terms of strengths and weaknesses shown.

Literature is such a beautiful thing because it does not give us an answer to it's questions. There are so many iffy spots that leave us to develop our own thoughts and feelings toward the piece of work. This is an interesting factor because at many times it affects us in a different way and can develop us as an individual. When reading a piece of literature, one person can interpret it in different ways than another person reading the same piece of work. I remember analyzing poems with my English class in the previous years and when we were asked to interpret it, we all had different answers. Sometimes what I got out of the poem didn’t even go close to the direction that my classmate

All good essays use some combination of the three rhetorical appeals: logos, ethos, and pathos. Logos is an appeal to logical reasoning and how a writer puts together a cohesive, flowing argument. Ethos is an appeal to a writer’s credibility and good character, while pathos is an appeal to the emotions of the audience. “The Great White Way” by Debra J. Dickerson is an essay that questions America’s racial and social norm of “whiteness”. Dickerson describes how the terms of being “white” have differed over the past century and how this infatuation with race still defines American society.

“Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase the Yankees and the distaff side of the Executive branch are quite fond of hurling at us.” A quote from Atticus Finch, a firm believer of equal rights for all races. A lawyer, Atticus has taken up the case of Tom Robinson, who has been charged with the rape of Mayella Ewell. A jury, made up by white men of the southern county of Maycomb, listens to Atticus’ argument that Tom Robinson, a black man, is not guilty of Mayella Ewell’s wrongful accusation of rape. Atticus Finch attempts to persuade the jury to find his client innocent of a heinous crime through employing devices such as repetition, similes, sincere tone, and a strong appeal to pathos all of which contribute strongly to Tom’s case. .

The world of writing is a vast and thoroughly confusing place, so vast in fact that it could not be navigated without an in-depth navigational chart. This chart is composed of and organized by terms that help us get a clearer picture of what we want to see. These terms are genre, audience, and most importantly rhetorical situation. These terms are all interrelated in which you can’t fully explore without having each one identified. One of the motives why writers delve into themselves, to put pen to paper so to speak is to express their views on a topic.

In order to achieve effectiveness within one's writing, the author must change the way the audience views the piece. In the speeches, “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” written by Martin Luther King Jr. and “Sinners in the Hand of God” written and spoken by Jonathan Edwards, an extreme Puritan, they both dramatically affect the audience in a way that moves their perception. While scripting these pieces, both authors have to use a multitude of stylistic techniques to achieve the effect they have been longing for initially. Both King and Edwards use specific approaches to affect their audience, but in order to get a more in depth perceptive one must analyze both pieces and their techniques.

In life you may hear people say that “all you need is a good lawyer”, but what makes someone a good lawyer? In the books to kill a mockingbird, and a lesson before dying there are two lawyers who are held responsible to defend a case. These men are atticus finch and JL, and Although both men are qualified lawyers, there are several differences between the way they argue their cases. Throughout the books we can see that Atticus does a better job of defending his case because he uses rhetorical devices and appeals correctly such as concession to the opposition, warrants, and pathos.

There are several aspects of my essay that are strong. First, I believe that my topic sentences were representative of the topics I detailed in my essay. For example, I stated that, “In Florence Kelley’s speech, child labor is portrayed as a difficult, evil task.” In doing so, I was able to describe Kelley’s central argument, which I returned through during the remainder of my essay. Secondly, I successfully chose effective rhetorical strategies to support my argument.

Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, focused on all three rhetorical appeal when she wrote Atticus’ closing argument. Atticus mixes ethos, logos, and pathos to attempt to persuade the jury that Tom Robinson is not guilty.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”(Lee,Chapter 3). This famous quote is used by Atticus Finch to explain to Scout why people should show empathy to others. Sadly, this principle is not followed by many of the citizens in Maycomb County, especially a weak and mistreated young girl named Mayella Ewell. She attempts to use her class, gender, and race to win a trial against Tom Robinson, an African American male, which she wrongfully accused of raping her. Does Mayella have enough power to overcome her situation? Mayella’s race provides temporary power during the trial, but gender and class leave her unable to change her predicament. To

Research shows that children are more susceptible to commit crimes, fail in maintaining long lasting relationships and develop depression as well as other psychological disorders from the effects of bad parenting. In fact, many people grow up treating others the same way their parents have treated them with reference to their parents’ values, behaviours and attitudes. Harper Lee, an American author, expressed her childhood experiences in Alabama through writing the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In this novel Harper Lee highlights the prevailing racist attitudes that existed in Alabama in the 1930s. Lee does this by having the parenting style of Atticus, and its impact on his children, stand in contrast to these prevailing racist attitudes. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys that Atticus Finch is a great parent because he is not a hypocrite, he has a sense of fairness and he has good morals and values.