Atticus Finch Speech
By: Mr. Splash, JT Legend, JaKOBE
Table Of Contents
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Background Information
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Analysis of the Speech
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The Speech’s Legacy
Background Information
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Atticus has the task of defending a convicting
black man charged with rape
Tom is innocent but is convicted because of
his skin color
The speech shows society of the inequality
that was the reality in the 20th century
The Speech
Who is Atticus Finch?
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A knowledgeable attorney who
believes strongly in legal equality
Smartest man in Maycomb
Was respected in the town but
now that he is defending a “black
man” he is not.
To whom the speech was delivered
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People of Maycomb in the
court’s audience
The audience was
separated, a section for
whites and a section for
blacks
Reaction of Audience
The black people in the
audience were stunned
and praised Atticus
● The white people were
angry with Atticus
● Atticus’ children were
proud of their father
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Analysing Speech
Purpose of Speech
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Equality in all courts of law
Making the people of Maycomb feel
guilty
Holds mirror up to society (“Go along
with assumption that all Negroes lie”)
Atticus’ audience
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Atticus addresses the jury because
he wants their full attention
throughout his arguments.
Atticus has the courtroom’s
spectators captivated throughout
his speech
The spectators include: Blacks,
whites, Tom Robinson’s family,
Atticus’ children and members
from the Black church
Atticus’ Tone of Voice
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Atticus remains collected
throughout his closing
arguments
He is calm but addresses
the situation
He doesn’t use figurative
speech, instead he is
firm and straight to the
point
Language Used
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Calm and collected (loosens tie, is very
respectful when speaking)
He is not aggressive but simply says how
ridiculous this assumption is
Sympathetic to the audience (putting Tom’s
life at stake to get rid of her guilt)
Structure Of Speech
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Begins with respectful greeting
Approaches the judge and jury with
class
Begins telling the story of how it
took place
Atticus Threw him the glass at Tom
What Response did the speaker desire
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Equality in the court
Freedom
Change people's morals
Feel they could’ve done better
Legacy of Speech
How is the speech remembered
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Remembered in the story as the
speech that turned heads in
Maycomb
The black community praises Atticus
but he loses the respect of the white
The Ewell’s are now seen as the
problem in Maycomb by some people
that support Atticus
Works Cited
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Lee, Harper. “To kill a mockingbird (Atticus closing arguments).” Genius, 09
April 2014, web 14 april 2016
Dilts, Mollie. “Mollie Dilts E-Portfolio.” Speech Analysis, 15 april 2016
“To kill a Mockingbird (Novel)”. Wikipedia. Wikimedia foundation, 14 april
2016