Kaleb Fisher, Henlie Guy, Jason Harris, Rowan Scripps, Coleman Wright Ms. Brewer Honors English 9 28 February 2023 Excerpt 8 Analysis Essay In Harper Lee's fictional novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus argues that Tom Robinson is an innocent man. In the novel, we meet Tom an African-American man accused of raping Mayella, a young white women. Atticus is appointed as Tom’s lawyer and this is Atticus’s closing statement. Atticus claims that there is no real evidence to convict Tom and he has done nothing wrong. Also, Atticus asserts that Mayella is lying about what happened that day and Tom Robinson is telling the truth. In Excerpt 8, the speaker demonstrates rhetorical, aesthetic, and organizational choices to help the reader understand the speaker's point of view and purpose. In Excerpt 8, Atticus utilizes rhetorical appeals to convince the jury of Tom Robinson’s innocence. The logos appeal is when Atticus expresses, “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 …show more content…
Atticus creates an assertive, serious, and persuasive aesthetic in Excerpt 8. He expresses this aesthetic by stating, ”She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable. She kissed a black man. Not an old uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.”(Lee 272). The statement is a powerful and assertive claim that Atticus proclaims upon the jury and courtroom, to display that Atticus knows that Mayella is lying and he is trying to convince the jury that Tom Robison is innocent. It is powerful and assertive because of its meaning and how it conntributes to his argument. Atticus' aesthetic choice provides his point and sets the tone of the
By his logic, if the court knew what Mayella thought throughout the case, and knew why she framed Tom, they would be able to understand that Tom is innocent. Atticus provides logical reasoning to this by explaining that, “She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man.”(Lee). Atticus describes what Mayella did, but explains why she felt it was so wrong. It wasn’t because she had committed a crime, and it wasn’t because Tom committed a crime; it was because she had broken the racist codes of Maycomb county, and because this racism was embedded so deep in the roots of her life, Mayella needed to frame Tom so she wouldn’t be thought of as someone negative.
Rhetorical Precis Writing Atticus Finch, a fictional character within Harper Lee’s 1930s set novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, (1960) argues that Tom Robinson is innocent, and rather the defenseless victim of a society ruled by prejudice. Consequently, through Atticus, Harper Lee supports this argument by applying the use of rhetorical appeals and literary devices. For instance, Lee establishes ethos through the utilization of an allusion to Thomas Jefferson, showing Atticus’s credibility and education: “‘Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal” (Lee 233).
‘I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty.” Atticus becomes very passionate during this last moments of his closing argument, almost pleading or even begging the jury to make the moral, and just decision; to actually analyses the evidence, and events. He does so because he is certain, what he proclaims won't be enough to sway the jurors’ minds, as if Tom’s conviction was set in stone, before he even began. Unlike many others in Maycomb, he strongly believes in a strict moral code, to treat everyone with respect and seek real Justice, not based one who the person is but the credible evidence of their
" By saying this, Atticus is using the appeal of ethos by explaining how the flaws of both black and white men are similar. This effect given was to have the jury see eye to eye with black men and realize in a specific way that their flaws are the same as any white
Attorney Atticus Finch relies on ethos persuasion in the closing argument containing the intention to connect with the jury by highlighting the code of society along with the trustworthiness of the courtroom. Recently, Mayella Ewell is on trial prosecuting Tom Robinson on charges of rape. Atticus Finch (Tom’s Lawyer) is currently summing up his cross examination of Mayella in his closing statement. “She has committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with… she tempted a Negro.” (272) Atticus Finch connects the Jury to the code of society, which is the long-lived and unbroken belief in which any white woman with a negro
Besides the case never bothered us except once a week and then it didn't last.” (Lee 156). This also makes Atticus guilty because Atticus didn't put in the time or effort to make his case better to defend Tom Robinson. Then Atticus said to a group of people outside of his house "You ain't scared of that crowd are you?” (Lee 165).
“Cult” a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. Cult leaders and members are driven to do ludicrous things, this is what Charles Manson did. The Charles Manson Trial was a case where Charles Manson, leader of the Manson Family murdered 7 people based on the book ‘helter Skelter’, surprisingly these actions weren't what brought him into court but it was for the belief that they had vandalized a portion of the Death Valley National Park. Mr. Kunstler the defendant for Manson tries to persuade not only the jury put the public that Charles Manson was innocent. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” she builds the story in the early 1930s in Alabama, when Atticus is assigned to defend a black
Atticus’s use of ethos in his closing argument to
Atticus, when trying to channel his points through to the jury uses imagery by noting, ‘“No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards,’” (232). Which allows us to see that Mayella is cornered by the weight of her actions, kissing a black man. The point of Atticus’s final words are to make the jury believe that Tom Robinson is innocent and he strongly does that when he claims,’“... but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left,’”
True is Immortality, False is Gone Do you think that how many bias you have? If you have a bias, you cannot see the fact properly. We are living in an informative society, and even now much information is being created. If we hope to obtain the knowledge, we can get as much as we want.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel that explores the ideas of injustice towards “mockingbirds” people of minority difference in the 1930’s that were charged guilty for just living. During this novel, there is a man named Tom Robinson who is being falsely accused of raping a privelliged white woman from a racist family. This white family is a prime example of racism during this terrible American era. Tom represents a mockingbird because he did nothing wrong, brought the normalized racism out into the light to be questioned and he was a victim of a cruel reality that is still being portrayed in today's world. Tom Robinson resembles a mockingbird because he is not a harmful man and he was truly innocent.
Bear Srisongkham Benshoff LA 1 August 2023 To Kill A Mockingbird Themes and Messages The story To kill a Mockingbird discusses numerous themes and ideas throughout its story. The story follows Scout Finch and her experiences of growing up in maycomb and dealing with issues that involve her family, neighbors, and the overall culture of Maycomb, Alabama. And it’s through these experiences that the concepts of Racism, Sexism, and the judgment of others is explored.
“Nobody actually wants to grow up. We just want the freedom to use our youths. ”-Unknown. This quote represents Scouts character. How she wants to understand the world yet she doesn’t want to grow up.
In the argument between Mr.Gilmer and Atticus In to kill a mockingbird about Tom Robinson being found guilty for raping Mayella. There was impressive work of rhetorical analysis (Logos, Pathos, and Ethos). This argument takes place in a courthouse in Maycomb which if packed with the people of Maycomb. The argument between Atticus and Mr.Gilmer was about Tom Robinson to find out if he truly raped and abused Mayella. In the argument between them both used Logos, Ethos, and Pathos.
In the past, and even to this day, racism was one of the biggest problems in our society. Throughout history, there were attempts to alleviate inequality. Among these were the Civil Rights Movement and the publication of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, activists, including Martin Luther King, fought for justice in America. In To Kill a Mockingbird, topics like stereotypes and inequality are mentioned in Atticus Finch’s Closing Argument.