Characterization- Scout Finch by Chris Cinturati

Characterization means a description of qualities or peculiarities.

Scout Finch is the main character in the book, who also is the narrator. the story is told through her perspective and it feels like you're experiencing the events in the book as one of the characters. Scout is a young girl who saw alot of problems in the world. she sees racism because this book is based in the 1930's. Scout is a young kid who likes to do whatever her brother Jem does even if that means doing something they're not suppossed to be doing. She's a very smart young kid and is often ridiculed for being that smart by her teacher. No one really expects a girl to be that smart during that time in history.

Plot by Chris Cinturati

The main plot in the story doesnt occur until the middle of the book. What happens is a African American man is blamed for raping a white women. the case goes to court and Atticus has to defend the African American man named Tom Robinson. What happened in the first place was Tom was fixing the womens house when she came on to him. He didnt want to get involved with her so she accused him of raping her. Of course Tom was accused because he was African American. Theres another significant event that happens at the end of the book but I'm not going to ruin it for the people reading this.

Structure by Chris Cinturati

The book is basically written with a lot of memories from the characters and alot of dialogue. Theres alot of characters introduced into the story. Theres at least a dozen or so per chapter. Most of them are only there to tell how the story got to this point in the story and some of the characters that were introduced dont appear in the book often. Most of them aren't involved with the main problem in the story. This book uses a lot of dialogue that was used during the time when the book was published. It gives you a real southern feel because the dialogue in this book is the same as they would talk in the south.

Theme by Chris Cinturati

The main theme in this story is Racism. You dont really see this theme much until the whole situation with Tom Robinson and the court case. During this period of time there was alot of racism in the south. Alot of African Americans would be blamed for crimes that they did or didnt do. If Tom Robinson was white then not that many people will care as much that he raped someone. There was a lot of evidence that showed Tom was innocent but since he was Black he was found guilty. Even the women who accused Tom of raping her, her dad saw the whole thing, and he helped blame Tom because of the color of his skin.

Setting by Chris Cinturati

The book is based in a fictional town in Alabama called Maycomb. The story wouldnt make as much sence if it was based in the North because if he was accussed of raping the women and they had a lot of eveidence that shows hes innocent he probably wouldnt have gotten convicted. The south wasnt as fair as the north when it comes to dealing with African Americans. This story is loosley based on the authors life and if they used a different setting for the book it wouldnt be as good. It wouldnt make any sense to use a different setting in a book that has to do with her life in the south

Motif by Brianna Hungerford

Motif:

In any novel, a motif coincides the general theme of the storyline which sets the tone and gives you a hint on the main or central idea. It is important because these details remind you of the theme and make you think how all of the information given to you in the story line can tie in with the theme that the author has provided.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses literary elements like vivid details and an "out-of-the-ordinary" setting to back up her theme and make sure the reader stays interested. Lee uses haunting settings and odd occurances to make the plot seem interesting and relevant. The odd events include Scout and Jem's suspicions about "Boo" Radley, the random snow that eventually falls after Maycomb County had not seem snowfall in years and the strange fire that comletely destroys Miss Maudie's home.

For the setting, Harper Lee uses a small town called Maycomb County to really set the mood for the storyline. Maycomb County is a small little town with friendly people; all except the Radleys. The legends that go about town make individuals percieve the Radleys as evil and weird people so the reader wants to stick around to see if the Radleys are really all they're cracked up to be.

Spark Notes. To Kill A Mockingbird. Sparknotes.com. Spark Notes LLC. Copyright 2009. www.sparknotes.com/lit/mocking/theme.html

Dialogue by Brianna Hungerford

Dialogue:

Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people and in a novel or story, most conversations are worth paying attention to because they reveal important and relevant information that may be needed to help the audience somewhat attempt to figure out the story.

Seeing as the story takes places in the mid-1900s, the language is much different. Calpurnia is of African-American descent so her English isn't the same as Scout, Jem and Atticus'. Calpurnia speaks with very improper English, but it is obviously clear enough so anyone could understand her. Scout and Jem speak like normal children of that day, but it is still rather improper compared to the 21st century. When a character speaks, Harper Lee allows you to try to picture the character's voice in your head and it helps you to consider everything each character has to say.