The Charater of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird
During the first half of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee constructs a sweet and affectionate portrait of rowing up in the world of small town Alabama. Harper Lee, however, continues on to dig underneath the portrayal of small town courtesy in the second half of the book. None of the characters in the book are perfect. This begins to show through in the second half of the book when the facade is removed to reveal the ugliness of Maycomb and the people living there. Through these tough times though, one character manages to keep his cool. Atticus Finch, through all the struggles and pressure, stands strong as a very positive father figure, making sure to instill in his children three very specific values: education, bravery, and acceptance.
At the beginning of the book it becomes clear why Atticus thinks education is so important, as he and Scout read before bed each night. During his closing arguments in Tom Robinson's case Atticus clearly acknowledges the ignorance blinding people's minds and hearts: "the witnesses for the state...have presented themselves to you gentlemen...in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the...evil assumption...that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, and assumption one associates with minds of their caliber" (217). Education is the key to unlocking the ignorance that causes such prejudice. Because of Atticus' example Jem begins to this lesson toward the end of the book, when he wonders if family education could be based more on education than on bloodiness.
Jem also learns important lessons from his father regarding bravery. Early in the book we learn that Atticus does not approve of guns. He believes that guns do not make men brave and that children's fascination with guns is questionable. To prove his point, he sends Jem to read for Mrs. Dubose who struggles to beat her morphine addiction before she dies. He wants to show is son that one shows true bravery "when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" (121).
... Even so, compassion emitted from Atticus towards his children is able to shield them from the disease and make them much like Atticus, someone who would see it like it is rather than be blindfolded by the pre-conceived ideas. Wisdom and life experience are also shown as very desirable traits to have as they can motivate you through the toughest tasks and drive you to do what should be done instead of abandoning your duties. In conclusion, Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird highlights the horrible prejudice and ignorance towards black people in the southern town of Maycomb, but also shows wisdom and compassion as not only desirable but necessary traits to have to withstand the bombardment of pre-conceived ideas from the people surrounding you, and also portrays these qualities as a shield to people around you.
Childhood is a continuous time of learning, and of seeing mistakes and using them to change your perspectives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how two children learn from people and their actions to respect everyone no matter what they might look like on the outside. To Kill A Mockingbird tells a story about two young kids named Scout and her older brother Jem Finch growing up in their small, racist town of Maycomb, Alabama. As the years go by they learn how their town and a lot of the people in it aren’t as perfect as they may have seemed before. When Jem and Scout’s father Atticus defends a black man in court, the town’s imperfections begin to show. A sour, little man named Bob Ewell even tries to kill Jem and Scout all because of the help Atticus gave to the black man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee illustrates the central theme that it is wrong to judge someone by their appearance on the outside, or belittle someone because they are different.
As a father, Atticus Finch tried to make his kids the best they can be. He tried teaching them that just because everyone acts a certain way, doesn’t mean they have to be close-minded and go along with it. Furthermore, he tries teaching them to always place themselves in someone’s position before judging them. Atticus leads them with example in the way he fought for Tom Robinson, tried helping Mayella Ewell deal with her father, and tried protecting Boo Radley from harassment. In conclusion, Harper Lee portrayed a sense of universal understanding in her novel.
Atticus Finch is a heroic character in To Kill A Mockingbird. A hero is a person who is known for certain achievements and qualities. Atticus is known for many qualities he displayed during the novel, as well as various achievements. This makes him a heroic character. Atticus Finch is a hero because he defended a black man in court, proved his abilities and intelligences, and cared for everybody equally.
Several people have trouble writing college level essays and believe that they are unable to improve their writing skills. In “the Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer,” Sarah Allen argues how no one is born naturally good at writing. Sarah Allen also states how even professional writers have trouble with the task of writing. Others, such as Lennie Irvin, agree. In Irvin’s article “What is ‘Academic’ Writing?” states how there are misconceptions about writing. Furthermore, Mike Bunn’s article “How to Read Like a Writer” shows ways on how one can improve their writing skills. Allen, Bunn, and Irvin are correct to say how no one is born naturally good writers. Now that we know this, we should find ways to help improve our writing skills, and
Atticus adopts the beliefs, morals and values he teaches his children to his own life. Through Jem’s point of view, he is witnessing how hard it is for a morphine-addicted old lady named Ms. Dubose (their neighbour) to fight through pain so that she can die (uncontrolled)unaddicted because even though she knew she was defeated by how strong morphine is, she tried anyway and she succeeded to die belonged to nothing and no one as she wanted. She is courageous because she choses not to die with the aid of morphine. ___ but to control herself and have strength to endure such pain showing people including Jem how courageous a person she is.
At the beginning of the semester, I had a different idea of what is considered as good writing. In my first rough draft for my first essay, “Post-secondary education and cultural backgrounds”, I demonstrated mostly of my preconceived idea of what good writing is suppose to be. I tried to sound intelligent by asking rhetorical questions and using big words improperly. I noticed that there was no harmony and organization on my essay as a whole. I had no idea what MLA was. With the help of the Writing Center and my determination on continually revising my essay, my scattered ideas developed into cohesive statements. I learned the use of topic sentences, thesis, reference page, page number, and other given structures on writing a paper. As I tried to develop my skills to becoming a good writer, my writing and knowledge has slowly grew into the accepted academic text.
For the entirety of my undergraduate career I had the distinct ability to successfully write research papers, critical essays and journal entries. On the whole I feel that my writing was successful due to the fact that I received excellent grades as well as glowing comments of support from my professors. Please understand that I am not boasting about my grade point average, class rank or even attempting to claim that I am a good writer. However, I do feel confident in my abilities to write papers that speak directly to the question at hand while simultaneously addressing, although not necessarily adhering to, the professor’s point of interest. I must credit much of my success as an undergraduate to Mr. M of the High School English Department. My outlook on academic writing was drastically altered during the fall of 1997 with the help of Mr. M and a writing course entitled College Prep II.
My first student teaching experience took place in a seventh-grade English classroom during the second half of the school year. The first couple of weeks gave me an opportunity to observe both the teacher and the students participating in various writing activities. One assignment in particular asked the students to choose a topic of interest and write down on paper all the information that they already knew about this subject. A simple assignment, right? Sitting off to one side of the classroom, I decided to attempt the assignment. On the top of my paper I wrote the word "athletics". Under it, I wrote about why I chose the topic, what it meant to me and how it has played a crucial role in my life. Before I knew it, I had covered one and a half pages with information.
Writing doesn’t come easily to me, which must make me a glutton for punishment. It has taken me years of training, learning to structure an essay and unlearning to begin again. Only since attending HSU am I realizing how exceptional my writing has become. Over the course of two semesters, I have seen my writing expand and grow. While I still adhere to the training I received in high school, I am excited to now take these tools and develop my own unique style in the years to come.
“You never really understood a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around it.” Atticus Finch is a man of extreme integrity. He, as both a lawyer and a human being, stands up for his democratic beliefs and encourages his children to stand up for their own, though they may stand alone. Harper Lee showed how far respect went in To Kill a Mockingbird when Atticus defended Tom Robinson in his rape trial. He did not think twice about being ridiculed by th...
My early writing education is mostly lost to my conscious memory, but I do think that regular reading, from a young age, of books of all sorts loomed large in that education. I remember a prose piece from sixth-grade “honors” English And Reading class called “Mutants”. It was my response to an assignment to write “a book”; about thirty handwritten pages, it was made up of two separate stories about young people with super-powers. I was at the time a huge fan of a comic book (recently popularized on film) called “The X-Men”, about a group of people born with strange powers who fought for good even though they were feared and hated by the public.
Dr. D is a cardiothoracic surgeon. He was my hero. He may well still be, even though he is a throw-back to the days when I was more concerned about science than symbolism.
As I look back on my schooling I can’t believe how many papers I’ve written throughout my life. Naturally as I’ve grown up, my writing has developed from learning how to write sentences all the way up to the pages of essays that consist of deeper criteria. I know for a fact that I’m a better writer now than I was before. College writing is more challenging and I’ve had to learn how to adjust to it.
Before entering this class, I thought I was prepared for college English. I had incredibly capable high school English teachers, who taught me detailed mechanics, creative writing style, and of course, the necessity of practicing good grammar. On entering this class, I quickly realized how little I had actually learned in my high school English classes. While most of my high school English essays I wrote were based on literature, the majority of the essays I wrote in this class have been more experiential and centered on real-life issues. I expected to be writing essays on books I read and articles I analyzed, but that was not the case. This class showed me in a variety of ways that things are often very different than they seem originally