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To Kill A Mockingbird Literary Techniques Essay

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To Kill A Mockingbird Literary Techniques Essay
To Kill A Mockingbird Literary Techniques

Text Analysis - Novel: TASK: In an essay, with close reference to your novel, explain how the author uses specific writing techniques to influence the opinions of the reader.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel published by Harper lee in 1960. This book takes the reader back to the 1930’s. She illustrates the theme of Prejudice in the 1930’s all through the eyes of a young girl called Jean Louise Finch. This essay was intended to highlight 3 literary techniques that Harper Lee uses to convey her point to the reader. The three techniques I chose to examine where Tone, Point of view and symbolism
Tone
I never understood her preoccupation with heredity. Somewhere, I had received the impression that Fine Folks were people who did the best they could with the sense they had, but Aunt Alexandra was of the opinion, obliquely expressed, that the longer a family had been squatting on one
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(pg 105) Harper lee includes this event for a very specific reason. The name Tim Johnson sounds remarkably similar to Tom Robinson this could be just a coincidence but She writes He’s gone lopsided (pg 103) This Imagery draws startling resemblance to Tom Robinson’s shorter arm. Scout herself draws a connection between these two events It was like watching Atticus walk into the street, raise a rifle to his shoulder and pull the trigger, but watching all the time knowing that the gun was empty. (pg 232-233) Perhaps Harper Lee draws on this symbolism between Atticus’s fight with the mad dog to his fight against racism. He couldn’t beat racism because he was missing a bullet it was an unfair fight and he was beaten before he started. The dog could also represent the madness of the people around racism. This incidence also shows Atticus strength and resolve to protect his family from the madness around them as he grabs a gun and shoots the mad

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