Instructions for the To Kill a Mockingbird essay
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1 body paragraph: the Christ-figure
Topic Sentence: In Harper Lee’s TKAM, Atticus Finch functions as the Christ-figure. (to save Maycomb from the madness of
racism.)
Content: Your job is to show how the character displays traits of Christ. Use the article on Christ-figures for a list of potential
attributes. You MUST include the most important one, that the Christ-figure sacrifices himself to save others. Be sure to
compare Christ’s attributes with the character’s attributes, which means that you’ll need to tell not only what the character did,
but how it’s like something that Christ did.
Conclusion: By the time you’ve finished, your paragraph should have established the fact that Harper Lee employs a Christfigure in order to establish humanity’s need to be saved from prejudice. Your final concluding statement(s) might suggest how
prejudice is harmful for the recipient, the perpetrator, and the bystander.
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2 body paragraph: the Trinity allusion
Topic Sentence: Harper Lee invokes the entire Trinity in her novel, TKAM, in order to emphasize the idea of
interconnectedness.
Content: Using the guided notes that I gave you on Biblical allusions and the notes from our discussion, discuss how Harper Lee
invokes all three Persons of the Trinity in order to emphasize the idea of interconnectedness. Your paragraph should prove
which characters fulfill which functions of the Persons of the Trinity. You will not need to establish Atticus as the Christ-figure
because you will already have done that in the previous paragraph, but you will need to discuss how he also fulfills the
functions of the other Persons of the Trinity. You will want to use words like integration, segregation, unity, diversity, division to
draw the reader from the abstract idea of interconnectedness to the way that interconnection looks in everyday life.
Conclusion: By the time you’ve finished, your paragraph should have established that Harper Lee alludes to the Trinity in order
to show that interconnectedness is a positive state. Now discuss WHAT Harper Lee thinks should be interconnected: race,
rich/poor, the mentally challenged (The incident with Boo’s father and Boo’s subsequent hermitage suggests some level of
mental infirmity, and his brother Nathan’s filling the tree’s knot-hole with cement establishes the idea that people with such
conditions should be separated from society.), America and foreign countries (the missionary committee), etc. You must be
sure to provide a minimum of two pieces textual evidence to support each idea you choose to discuss. Your final concluding
statement(s) might discuss how society, the world, the entire human race is unified and how that unity benefits everyone (as
opposed to the negative consequences of discrimination and segregation).
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3 body paragraph: the use of dialogue to forward theme
Read Ch. 23 from p. 299 to the end of the chapter and answered the following questions.
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What happens that makes Scout cry?
What is the problem that Jem and Scout debate?
What is Jem’s answer? What are the problems with his answer according to Scout?
What is Scout’s answer? What are the problems with her answer according to Jem?
How is Jem’s change in beliefs significant?
What idea is Harper Lee trying to present in this chapter?
Topic Sentence(s): Jem and Scout’s conversation in Ch. 23 discusses/reveals the two perspectives on humanity presented in
the children’s debate. One perspective, Jem’s, reflects adult society’s view that different people are of different worth. The
other perspective, Scout’s, recognizes human differences without associating those differences with a person’s worth.
Content: Our task is to discuss Jem and Scout’s conversation as a sort of symbol. Actually, it forwards the theme by drawing
our attention to the unity of man and the illogical nature of prejudice and hypocrisy. So, the dialogue is not a symbol proper,
but it does serve as a literary device to forward theme because it reveals on a child-sized scale the debate being conducted on
the adult level in the Tom Robinson case. Scout and Jem’s discussion reveals Lee’s belief that there is only one type of person
(folks), people(folks). Draw attention to the fact that Jem “used to think that,” but he doesn’t anymore.
Conclusion: By the end of your paragraph, you should have discussed the valid points of each child’s argument pointing your
reader to Jem’s struggle to reconcile what is right with the fact that adults refuse to do it. You might discuss the innocence of
childhood and how it’s more virtuous than prejudiced adulthood or how maturity requires an understanding of the human
potential for good OR evil.
CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH: Restate your thesis; then, draw your reader’s attention from the specifics of the book to society at
large. You might discuss how society is a corrupting influence in the real world, too; how the courage of a few, or the one, can
influence society in a positive way (Atticus, Ghandi, M. L. King, Jr., Nelson Mandela); how positive change requires courage and
RISK; and how good intentions don’t always lead to positive results. Be sure to provide a minimum of two pieces of textual
evidence to support each claim you make.
While the FIRST thing that you should compose is your THESIS, the last paragraph you write should be your introduction. Here’s
why: Your thesis is the anchor of your paper. Without one, you’ll ramble. An introduction prepares the reader’s mind to be
thinking toward your conclusions before you even make your case, so you won’t know what ideas to prep them with until
you’ve MADE your case.
INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH: Begin with broad general comments regarding 1-3 ideas that you discuss in your paper, NOT
your three body paragraph topics. With any work, you can safely begin with the history surrounding the era in which the work
was written or in which the work is set and show how the work informs or is informed by real events. You could discuss the
author’s background and any influence it may have exerted upon the work. Don’t discuss the same exact thing in both your
intro and conclusion, but do discuss related ideas. Some ideas for this particular paper are:
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The author’s literary technique: how Lee forwards her theme through symbolism, allusions, and dialogue
The author’s theme: the evils of prejudice; society as a corrupting influence in the real world the potential for change,
the courage and RISK involved in change; how the courage of a few, or the one, can influence society in a positive way
(Atticus, Ghandi, M. L. King, Jr., Nelson Mandela) ; and how good intentions don’t always lead to positive results
Discuss the era and Harper Lee’s reaction to it.
Discuss the unfairness of Jim Crow Laws.
Discuss the relevance of the Scottsboro Boys to the plot of the book.
Discuss how prejudice affects justice.
The LAST sentence of your introduction should be your thesis. I didn’t provide you with the thesis of this paper at the beginning
of the assignment because I wanted you to focus all your effort on FULLY discussing each topic that was to become part of this
paper, rather than lose your focus by concentrating on the paper as a whole. So, here is your thesis:
THESIS: In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee utilizes symbols, allusions, and dialogue to establish her theme of the
unity of man and the illogical nature of prejudice and hypocrisy.
THE POINT:
All of humanity is interconnected, one, and equal under the law whether we choose to abide by that truth or not.