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Rhetorical Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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Rhetoric plays an enormous role in argument, specifically Aristotle's ethos, logos, and pathos. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, it revolves around the trial of Tom Robinson. He is a black man living in Maycomb, Alabama and has been charged with the rape of Mayella Ewell. In this trial his lawyer, Atticus Finch, defends him and delivers closing arguments in an effort to prove his innocence. In Atticus’s closing remarks, the strongest rhetoric provided was logos and pathos. Throughout the closing, Atticus makes many remarks that follow along with the lines of the logos. His statements were full of logic, that makes everyone think about the trial, and Tom’s innocence. The logo is shown in the text as it says, “no doubt signing it with his left hand” (Lee 3). …show more content…

Showing us that she would have been hit with a left hand, as Tom's left hand doesn't work, unlike Bob Ewells, signing his name with his left hand. It is also shown when Atticus is speaking about the jury, “A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up” (Lee 8). The jury is known to run the court, and what the jury has on their mind will counteract the case. As it is in the book, the jury is made up of racist country men that believe Tom is guilty whether he's proven innocent or not, no matter the points that have been brought up by Atticus showing Tom's innocence. Atticus also uses the rhetorical term pathos in his statement. Pathos is used in this to help convince and have people reach into their hearts and understand where Tom is coming from. As a black man in a racist town, he's being used as an easy target. Atticus makes the point of Tom deserving a fair trial as anyone else does, “But this truth applies to the human race and to no particular race of

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In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” , and the movie “A time to kill” by John Grisham , the main characters Atticus Finch and Jake Brigance both do their best to persuade their jurys to side with their arguments. Atticus Finch and Jake Brigance both use pathos in their closing arguments as their main source of persuasion and use pathos very effectively and in ways that really caused the jury to feel and think about the case differently. In Atticus's closing argument he utilizes pathos by using emotion to build pity for Mayella Ewell. “ She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot pity her: she is white” (Atticus).

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Atticus then used the third proof, ‘pathos’. Pathos is the artistic proof that chases after the empathetic feeling of a person. Atticus used this when he vividly described Mayella brutally beaten and raped on the floor of her own house. He then also called for pity on Tom Robison in the courtroom since Atticus believed and preached that Tom was wrongfully accused on the account of

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Atticus uses pathos in his closing argument to appeal to the emotions of the jury. He does this by painting an image of the suffering and injustice that Tom Robinson, the defendant, would face if he were to be convicted. He evokes feelings of empathy by describing the difficult circumstances of Tom's life and the discrimination he has faced because of his race. For example he says "Tom Robinson's a human being, just like you and me" In which he is trying to make the jury see the

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The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee follows the childhood of Scout Finch. Scout grew up living in Maycomb, Alabama along with her brother Jem and her father Atticus. In the midst of her childhood Atticus was called upon to represent Tom Robinson, a black man living in Maycomb who was accused of raping a girl named Mayella Ewell. During this time Scout and her family had many hardships due to the towns criticism while doing the right thing and helping an innocent man. In the novel, Harper Lees’ use of tone helped to develop the central idea, which is the importance of having a moral compass.

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In the argument between Mr.Gilmer and Atticus In to kill a mockingbird about Tom Robinson being found guilty for raping Mayella. There was impressive work of rhetorical analysis (Logos, Pathos, and Ethos). This argument takes place in a courthouse in Maycomb which if packed with the people of Maycomb. The argument between Atticus and Mr.Gilmer was about Tom Robinson to find out if he truly raped and abused Mayella. In the argument between them both used Logos, Ethos, and Pathos.

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Tom's skin color. Atticus says, "There's nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who'll take advantage of a Negro's ignorance." (Lee 296) By Atticus saying this it shows his strong value of equality and fairness. When he says "There's nothing more sickening to me" it shows his hatred towards discrimination and prejudice. This shows Atticus as being principled because although he knew going into the trial that he would not win because of Tom's skin color, he still saw it through because he sees no difference between the skin colors and believes everyone is equal.

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Option 2 Literary Analysis To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel set during the 1930s in a small town in Southern Alabama called Maycomb. The story is told through the narrator, Scout, a young girl who lives with her father, a lawyer, and her older brother Jem. As a child, Scout is portrayed as a stubborn and obnoxious little girl who loves to read, play with her brother Jem, and fantasize about her mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. However, her life gets turned upside down when Scout’s father agrees to do something that is deemed unacceptable in the south; he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a white girl. Instantly, Atticus and his family go from being respected and beloved by their town, to being

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When the judges all decide if Tom Robinson is guilty or not, Judge Taylor is polling the Jury he says, “Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty” (Lee 282). Indicating about how after all Atticus said and all the points were given, the judges racially chose Mayella's story over Tom’s and Tom is being sent to the electric chair. The viewpoint on the mockingbird is better than the counterclaim because there are so many lessons and people in the story that or who represent mockingbirds. However the claim is correct because when tom was announced dead, Atticus says, “We had such a good chance. I told him what I thought, but I couldn't in truth say that we had more than a good chance” (Lee 315).

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Throughout the court scene, but specifically in his closing argument, Atticus skillfully and effectively used each rhetorical element of pathos, ethos, and logos to convey to the jury that Tom Robinson was not guilty. As a skilled lawyer, Atticus was able to question the ethical standpoint of the opposition, logically imply using factual information that Tom Robinson could not have done what he was being prosecuted for, and appealed to the emotions of the jury in a way that was intended to convince them to believe his side. Although the jury did not side in Atticus’s favor, his argument was compelling, and in modern society, it would have most likely won the benevolence of the jury. Ethos:

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The award winning novel by Harper Lee has so many lessons that still resonate in society today. It discusses topics sensitive to the public and forces people to finally talk about these subjects. It proved how deeply these differences affected the community. The events in the novel make us think about today by making the reader understand they need to put themselves in another’s place, and how everyone just wants to fit in.

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When Atticus uses imagery, he allows the jury to imagine what happened in greater detail which helps his and Tom’s case because the jury is seeing what actually happened in more detail rather than seeing the other side of the story with Tom Robinson in place of the actual

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Atticus also says “i am confident that you gentlemen will review without compassion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty.” This is the strongest point that Atticus makes that alludes to the jury's sense of ethics, because when Atticus says God, it makes any of the jury who believes in a God which at that time most did it draws to their attention that Tom Robinson is a man with a family, that he is a human being and that is what God wants them to do. Atticus also uses logos many times.

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