Essay #12

Ryan

8 English

Mr. H. Salsich

Essay 12

1/25/10

A Quote from To Kill a Mockingbird

And its Effect on The Book

(TS) Books have many amazing lines in them, but after you think about it, most of those those alluring lines relate to your life. (C) One of the most moving lines I have read is from the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. (C) The book is about a trial that one of the main characters, who is an attorney, loses because there is a lot of racism. (CS) There are many lines in books, but the most powerful comes from a book by Harper Lee.

(TS) In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, the character Atticus, knowing all the hatred that is in the world, states, “Whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.” (Lee, 295) (SV Split). (SD) This is one of the most dynamic lines in the book, and it precisely shows one of the lessons in the book: everybody is equal. (C) Atticus is saying that all people are equal, and if someone treats somebody poorly because their skin is dark, that person is garbage. (C) This could also go the other way, if somebody who is colored does this to somebody; they are no stronger as a person. (SD) In addition, this quote also talks about how somebody who is wealthy is no different from somebody who is dirt-poor. (C) I find this ironic because the character Aunt Alexandra talks about how the children cannot be friends with somebody who is very poor. (C) I completely agree with this statement; we are all the same, some of us being having no choice but to beg for money, and some of us bathing in it. (SD) Lastly, this quote is perfect for the time that this book takes place in. (C) There used to be a lot of segregation in the world, and this sounds exactly like what people must have been saying. (C) Atticus sounds like one out of the many people who were against segregation. (CS) Books make stronger points than you would imagine, and they carry great lessons.

(TS) Harper Lee covers so many different topics with one line. (C) She states that somebody who mistreats somebody just because of the color of their skin is wrong, and the person who commits something like that is simply garbage. (C) This also has a great lesson inside! (C) Treat others the way you want to be treated: if you treat somebody like trash, you are trash. (CS) Harper Lee makes a bold, moving statment in the book To Kill a Mockingbird, it really made the book serious, and it carried a very good lesson.

Self Assessment:

I thought that this essay was a good essay. I think that I explained the quote the way that Harper Lee meant it to be very well. My favorite part of the essay was in my last paragraph. I state, "If you treat somebody like trash, you are trash." This is probably one of the most powerful sentences I have ever made, and I am proud of it. One flaw that I think the essay might have is its clarity: this may be very clear to our class, but to somebody else, it may be confusing. Also, I think that I could make my closing sentences stronger. They are supposed to be the most exciting sentences of the essay, but they do not stand out very well to me. I would give myself a B on this essay.