Final Thoughts
Please respond to ONE of the following questions. Use
your book to provide specific evidence to support your claims. Responses should
be approximately two complete paragraphs (at minimum) in length. Be sure to
cite specific evidence.
1. Choose one of the following themes and describe the
role it plays in the novel: Growing up/loss of innocence, Racism, The
Importance/role of Social class, Gender Roles, Empathy (seeing things from another
person’s point of view). Use evidence from the text to support your points.
2. What is THE major life lesson Atticus teaches his
children in the novel? Explain the lesson and how the children come to learn it
or experience it. Use evidence from the text to support your points.
One of the themes that played a large role in the novel was growing up. In the beginning Scout and Jem were just kids that didn't understand a lot about why things were what they were. Jem growing up also had a big effect on Scout. She was confused about why Jem had changed so suddenly. This forced her to meet new people and to also change with Jem.
ReplyDeleteSince the book is written through Scouts eyes you can see the moments she realized things about growing up. An example of that is when she saw how her aunt could put on the face of a lady even when she was so distraught and act like nothing was going on. Scout progressively grew all throughout the story. When you go back to the start you can see how much Scout, Jem, and even Dill have changed as characters. -Ash Lyons
The big lesson that Atticus teach his children is to see things from the point of view of others before judging them. That you don't really understand someone until you've seen things the way that that person sees things. A good example from the story is near the end when Scout finally sees things the way Boo Radley had seen them. After meeting him she realizes the he is actually a very nice person. That her and Jem had been treating him wrongfully over the years after all the kind things he had done for them. She sees that he is only an abused and scared child, that he wasn't the monster they had thought him to be. Boo had given them many gifts, even saved her life and she hasn't done anything in return.
ReplyDeleteLillie Merfeld
ReplyDeleteThroughout this book Atticus is teaching his kids a life lesson about courage. An example is when Atticus says, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.” (Chapter 11) Atticus is telling his children to have courage when he tells them to ignore what other people say about their family. Atticus teaches his kids not only with his words but also with his actions. He shows his kids what courage is when he defends Tom Robinson and when he ignores Bob Ewells threats. Atticus even displays courage when he talks to Mrs. Dubose or stands up against Aunt Alexandra.
All of Atticus’ actions show that he has courage and as Scout grows older we can see that she is learning to be courageous too. Scout talks to the lynching mob outside of the jail and she ignores what people say about Atticus. She is even kind to Arthur Radley after he saves her from Bob. Scout acknowledged that is took courage for Arthur to do that so she pushed through her fear and was nice to him. Jem shows just as much growth in this book as Scout did. He shows courage when he stands up to Atticus outside of the jail house, when he reads to Mrs. Dubose and when he fights in the dark to help Scout get away from Bob Ewell. In the beginning of this book, neither of these kids would have been willing to do these things. I think Atticus did a good job in teaching his kids the life lesson of courage.
Jessica Kremer
ReplyDeleteDuring this book Atticus is showing his kids a lot of life lessons. One of them that I think is the most important is the one about courage. When Jem had to read to Mrs.Dobuse Atticus said that she was a women addicted to morphine and every time that alarm went off she would be relaxed and she most likely wasn't even listening to Jem. What he tells Jem next is that she had courage that she went into this battle knowing she wast going to win but she wanted to do what was right and stick to what she was going to do before she died because she didn't want to die being an addict. So he says that you have to have courage even if you know that you are not going to end up on top. I think that this is an important lesson because throughout the book Jem and Scout tried to always have courage with everything going on at this time.
I think the greatest lesson Atticus taught the kids was don't judge a person unless you walk in there shoes. The reason I think this is the major lesson Atticus is teaching them is because he stresses it multiple times throughout the book and really teaches the children that people live there lives differently and enjoy different things. The biggest example that sticks out to me in the story is when Walter Cunningham attended lunch with Scout and Jem. While they were home for lunch that day Atticus and Calpurina really showed Scout how to be a good host and told her that she was not to make fun of Walter until she knew what he has been through.
ReplyDeleteIn the book Atticus wasn't the only one that was teaching the children that judging a person before you know them was rude. I think the person that taught the children this lesson the best was Dolphus Raymond. I think the day outside of the court house really changed Scout's outlook on things and how she judged people without knowing them. She was really surprised to find out the real reason on why Mr. Raymond hung out with the African Americans. This scene really helped back up Atticus's point of view and all the things he was telling Scout because there was real evidence to prove the stuff he was say was real.
The major life lesson that Atticus tried teaching his children throughout the book was to always step in the shoes of someone else and look at their perspective. For example in chapter 11 Jem looses his temper because of what Mrs. Dubose says to him about Atticus. So Jem decided it was a good idea to ruin her flowers and wreck them. So in punishment Atticus makes Jem go to Mrs. Dubose's house to read to her for everyday for a month. In the process of reading Jem soon finds out that Mrs. Dubose was slowly dying and he had no idea. Atticus soon tells Jem that Mrs. Dubose had an addiction to morphine which opens up Jem's eyes because he realised that he was actually helping her everyday. The message of standing in someone elses shoes was really potrayed in this because Jem had no idea what Mrs. Dubose was going through mentally which explains why she was so cruel to Jem. And if Jem were to "step in her shoes" he would understand why Mrs. Dubose was feeling the way she felt.
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes that played a large role in the book to "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee would include Gender Roles. There are many examples in this novel around Gender Roles. For example, in Chapter 9 Page 86 Jean Louis Finch says, "I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she (Aunt Alexandra) said I wasn't suppose to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra's vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing Add-a-Pearl necklace she got me when I was born." People expect Scout to act a certain way and not be a tomboy. Gender Roles also come in when Aunt Alexandra comes to stay with Atticus and his kids for a little bit as a "feminine influence."
ReplyDeleteAnother example of Gender Roles would include when Dolphus Raymond uses a brown bag to cover up his "alcohol" because men didn't drink in front of a lady in public during this time.
One of the themes that played a major role in the book was racism and how it impacted peoples lives. In the book people think that white people are better then blacks just because of the skin color. In the book it Atticus says "As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men everyday of your life,"(capture 23). This is important to know that only some people are trying to do something about the issue. We know that Tom ended up guilty at the court case, but the only reason that he was found guilty was because he was black and the one accusing him of rape was white. The last half of the story is all tied around racism and how it could end someones life.
ReplyDeleteRacism is a huge part in changing the story because if it wasn't for the court case there would be no book. If people didn't look down upon black people, the case would have been fair and Tom would still be alive. But sadly racism had a say in the book and eventually ended an innocent persons life. Racism is the major theme in the book and with out it being a part of the book, there would be no ending.
-Gavin Foust-Wollenberg
One of the major themes that was shown throughout the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” was Racism and how much it affected people’s view on things back then. Racism is shown by how much separation there was between whites and blacks. An example of racism being shown in the book is when the court case was going on. Mayella Ewell accused Tom Robinson of raping her. Tom Robinson is black and Atticus had the evidence that he did not commit the crime. In most of the rape cases back then, blacks were always accused of harming the white women and they would automatically be found guilty. Tom was found guilty based on the color of his skin. (Chapter 21)
ReplyDeleteDuring the time of the book taking place, it was always known that the blacks were below the whites. The whites were seen as better and had many more freedoms. For example, you could not marry an African American without it being frowned upon. Another way whites thought that they were better than African Americans was during the court case when Tom had made the mistake of saying, “I felt sorry for Mayella.” In chapter 19. This was a surprise, because they took it in a way of Tom saying that he was better than this white women. In the town of Maycomb whites would always be superior to blacks no matter what the case was. They were all shocked and thought how dare he think he’s better than a white.
Throughout the book Atticus was teaching his childern life lessons, but the major one he taught them was to walk in their shoes before they are so quick to judge. At first, Scout was so quick to judge Walter Cunningham. Scout started rubbing the syrup in his face until Atticus told him that was the wrong thing to do. She realized she wasn't doing the right thing. Atticus' talk gave her a different outlook on life. Another time they learned this lesson was when Jem didn't understand why Mrs. Dubose was so mean to him. He didn't know what she was going through and just figured she was a mean old lady until Atticus made him go read to her. Jem suddenly realized that Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addicted and that was why she was always so angry and mean.
ReplyDeleteTowards the end of the book the kids start to experience this lesson more. Jem always thought Mr. Raymond was a drunk man that had a black wife until he runs into him outside the court house. Jem found out that he always has been drinking Coca Cola out of a brown bag, so it gave him an excuse to hangout with black people. This made Scout and Jem realize that everyone is so quick to judge in this world and maybe that is why Boo Radley never comes out of his house. They start to realize what the world has come to.
Chloe Geerts
ReplyDeleteI personally think that there is a theme in this book, gender roles. Gender roles are the roles or things that a certain gender should or shouldn't be doing. In this book Atticus and lots of other people have norms about what Scout is doing. Many people think that Scout should be more lady like and not play with the boys and others, like the kids think its ok. In the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" this book is wrote in the year of 1960, year that they had norms and different life styles then they have now, now you can be a guy or girl and do different sports.Gender roles are some thing that shouldn't exist but unfortunately they do.
Some things that support my thought might include these things. When Aunt Alexandra comes to visit she says many things to and about Scout and who she hangs out with, or is being friends with. In the book Aunt Alexandra comes into the story in chapter 13 and says that Scout isn't acting lady like and she should. In the book Scout feels very threatened by this and waits to change how she acts till later. Aunt Alexandra is a very judgmental person and insists that Scout should wear more dresses. That's why I think that gender rules should not be assigned at all. Scout should have had the option to do whatever she chooses.
One of the major lessons Atticus teaches in the book is walk in their shoes before you try to judge them, to me that is something that everyone should think about before being so quick to judge them because you never know what they have been through in their life. A good example would be Boo Radly because Jem and Scout were so fast to judge him because he never came out of his house, no one really knew him or how he acts and just because they never saw him they say he a scary person.
ReplyDeleteAnother lesson that Atticus taught them was you should never cheat a colored man because it is 10 times as worse than cheating a white man and to be that is the best lesson that he taught because it Tom does not have the same rights as white people so he is not able to defend himself, to me the lesson their is no matter the color of their skin you should never cheat someone no matter what.
I think the main lesson that Atticus teaches his children is to walk n someone else's shoes before you make conclusions or judge them. in the beginning of the book when they go to Finch's landing scout is told who she should talk to and what she should do and that she should be lady like and is being judged for being her. i the middle of the book when the kids start the Boo Radley game they are judging Arthur with out knowing him in any way. This is the main lesson of the book that Atticus teaches them and These are just a few examples.
ReplyDeleteThe reason you shouldn't judge someone or make conclusions about someone with out knowing them is you could be completely wrong. They assumed Boo was scared to come out and that he didn't have anywhere to go but really he was just very shy. in the end of the book Scout is standing on the Radley's porch and she realizes that Arthur has been there te whole time watching them grow up taking care of them and he put the blanket on Scout and stabbed/killed Bob Ewell.
Throughout the book, I thought the major lesson Atticus was trying to teach his kids was not to judge others before you walk in their shoes. The lesson means to think of what others are going through in their life. In the beginning of the book, Scout and Jem judge Arthur Radley for the rumors that the town has about his family. The kids continue to think that the Radleys are the scary family in town that never come out of their house. Atticus then tells the children that they need to walk in their shoes before they form an opinion about them.
ReplyDeleteScout also judged Walter Cunningham for putting syrup all over his food before realizing what he was going through, and how limited syrup is for his family. Jem judged Ms. Dubose for what she said about their family, but he didn't understand what she was going through. At the end of the book, Scout finally realizes what Atticus means by walking in their shoes when she takes Boo home and can see his point of view of the town.
I thought that the biggest lesson Atticus taught the kids was to not judge people unless you walk in their shoes. He has always told them to be nice to other because you never know what they are going through. We may be very happy with everything we have, but others are not as fortunate as us. Arthur Radley never came out of his house, so Scout and Jem always assumed he was scary or creepy. In the end, they realize he is nice because he saved them from Bob Ewell.
ReplyDeleteSomething that stuck out to me was when Scout and Jem had Walter Cunningham over. He was adding a lot of syrup to his food. Scout had noticed and she was judging him. Calpurnia told her that it was very rude because she does not know what kind of life Walter lives. He obviously does not get food like that at home, so he ate as much of it as he could while the Finches gave it to him. Scout learned to realize that some people are less fortunate than us. They may not have as much as us, but we still have to treat them the same. Atticus told the kids do not judge someone usless you have been in their skin.
The big lesson that Atticus teaches his children is to see things from the point of view of others before judging them. You don't really understand someone until you've seen things the way that that person sees things or havebeen through things that others have. One Example is Boo Radley, when scout meets him he is not the person she thought he was. She Also realizes that her and Jem had been treating him wrongfully over the years. She sees that he is only an abused and scared child, that he wasn't the monster they had thought him to be. Boo had given them many gifts, even saved her life and she hasn't done anything in return.
ReplyDeleteA big lesson that I liked was it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. When Atticus explains to the kids it is a sin to kill a mocking bird cause mocking birds dont cause any harm they just sing there hearts out to give us music. It is a very good lesson to teach all of them because it is very true
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