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Secrets In To Kill A Mockingbird

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There are no secrets in the county of Maycomb. Harper Lee uses characterization to emphasize how society can change one’s perspective on life. Scout is referred to as a tomboy and does not conform to the standard image of a young, sweet, and small girl. Early on in the novel, Scout becomes of age to go to the local school. On the first day, she was told to wear a dress because it was considered to be more proper. She feels uncomfortable in it, and unlike herself. This is shown through her actions throughout the day. Unfortunately, she had no choice because it was deemed the appropriate attire for girls her age. “I swear Scout, sometimes you act like such a girl, it’s mortifyin.” - Jem. This quote shows that even though for most of her life …show more content…

These expectations can confuse young girls like Scout and can lead to identity issues as she matures. In today’s society, people have the freedom to dress how they want and won’t be ridiculed for it. As society has changed over time people are more aware of the issues in the world which can help them make better choices regarding their actions and words. Although Lee depicts the failure of the Maycomb education system through the description of the elderly students in Scout’s first grade. Scout is a very well-educated young woman, as she already knows how to read and write at an advanced level. Mrs. Caroline is surprised to see how smart young Scout is. Mrs. Caroline tells Scout that she shouldn’t have learned to read and write before coming to school and that she must unlearn it all. When Mrs. Caroline questions the class about the alphabet, most of the students failed to complete the whole series of letters. Mrs. Caroline is new to the county of Maycomb and her teaching method is impersonal and does not meet the needs of Maycomb’s students, which leads to a lack of learning. Proven by when the Ewell family only comes to the first day of school and never shows up

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Another way Scout has changed since the beginning of the book is she understands people have both good and bad qualities that coexist within them, as she becomes closer to an adult and encounters evil in the world. 20. Miss Gates’ lesson to the class about Hitler’s prosecution of Jew’s is ironic, because she herself came out of the courthouse after the trial ended and responded by telling Miss Stephanie Crawford that “it was about time that someone taught them a lesson” when referring to the blacks in the town. It reveals that most people during that time where racist and prejudice to some extent in Maycomb. An example that is similar in our current society portrayed in this chapter is how white males get paid the highest salary, but people of other races and women get paid lower salaries for

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In the first few paragraphs of chapter two. Harper Lee establishes failure of the education system in Maycomb through the lack of teaching from Miss Caroline which Scout cannot relate to. Once Scout reveals to Miss Caroline that she can read and write perfectly. Miss Caroline reacts “with more than faint distaste”.

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Scout is a very outspoken girl throughout the book. This is obvious to see in (lee 112) “ she called me a whore lady and jumped on me, is that true scout, said uncle jack. I reckson so.” Scout is in trouble she does not care she still chooses to smart off. Another way

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This quote shows that she was really young when her mother left her family. She just got left with her father that is hard for a girl because she really can’t talk about girl things to her father. She is really brave at a young age for all the thing that are going on throw about the

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Scout begins with an innocent and childish view, sometimes not understanding her own thoughts because she has not seen the unfairness in Maycomb. However, throughout the book, she begins to see these horrible rules of society and slowly begins to understand society and what it expects of her and others.

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Harper Lee foretells the story of a young, precocious tomboy named Scout Finch who is being pressured by society into conforming to the typical “southern lady” in To Kill A Mockingbird. Lee establishes and promotes Scout’s masculinity through the use of nicknames, fighting, and boyish clothing, while comparing her with women that fit the stereotypical female idea. Scout is faced with discrimination throughout the novel by other characters, Aunt Alexandra, her circle of friends, and Jem being the main sources of prejudice. They thought that acting like a “lady” was what was most proper due to their small town mentality. These strict gender roles were popular in small southern towns because they were isolated from the more progressive attitudes in other areas of the United States.

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At the first of the novel Scout is a bit of a tomboy and is determined to show people her point of view. When Scout started school, she was having a difficult time, because her teacher did not understand the ways of their town, Maycomb County. However, this did not stop Scout from trying to explain to Miss Caroline the ways of the people in Maycomb. “ I thought I had made things

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The author demonstrates the problems in the school systems when Scout enters school she is reprimanded by her teacher, Mrs. Honeycomb for reading proficiently. She is commanded to “tell [her] father not to teach [her] anymore” and stop reading outside of school. Lee’s incongruity of the situation alerts her readers to the flaws within the school system. Lee satirizes the church when Scout and Jem are taken to church by Calpurnia, their black housekeeper, when the children’s father is unavailable. At this Christian church, the children are ridiculed for being white.

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Many children have adults in their lives who influence the way they turn out in the future. These people can affect the children in negative or positive ways. Scout learns the importance of respect from Calpurnia, the ways of the world, how to live life to the fullest, and walking in someone else’s shoes to understand them throughout the entirety of To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee truly portrays Scout ’s coming of age by using the character’s Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, and Atticus as very important role models in Scout’s life.

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She is described as a tomboy who prefers playing with her brother Jem and their friend Dill rather than engaging in traditionally feminine activities. One of the most memorable quotes that highlight Scout's early character development is when she says, "I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, as girls always imagined things, that's why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with" (Lee 56). This quote illustrates Scout's initial reluctance to conform to gender norms and her desire to be accepted for who she is rather than conforming to societal

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During Scout’s first day of school, her teacher, Miss Caroline discovers that Scout can read more than the kids in her classroom. When Scout “read the alphabet a faint line appeared between [Miss Caroline’s] eyebrows, and after making me read most of My First Reader and the stock-market quotations from The Mobile Register aloud, she discovered that I was literate” (Lee 19). Although Scout did gain knowledge from reading, the actual knowledge she learned about society is actually experiencing the court case. Dolphus Raymond tells Scout that she hasn’t “ ‘even seen this town, but all you gotta do is step back inside the courthouse’ ” (Lee 229).

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Are the aims and goals of a group as a whole more important than one 's own desires and ambitions? The answer to this question can go as far as to define what kind of person one truly is and what culture he or she belongs to; an "individualist" culture, or a "collectivist" culture. The former of the two being the culture most commonly regarded as selfish and self-oriented, and is more prevalent in western societies; whereas the latter is viewed as the more selfless and group- oriented, and is more widespread in Eastern societies, such as that of Central Asia. The texts South to Samarkand by Langston Hughes and Jamilya by Aitmatov, which are both set in Central Asia, seem to have quite contrasting approaches to the raised question.

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1099 Words | 5 Pages

Scout said, “"Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life. I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam, that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year...." (108). This quote illustrates how Scout pushes against gender stereotypes, and this is the root of conflicts between her and Aunt Alexandra.

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723 Words | 3 Pages

Did you know that cheerleading is one of the most intense sports? Cheerleading was first thought of in 1898 when Thomas Peebles took an all male club who he named the princeton cheers to the University of Minnesota where fight songs and songs for football were becoming very popular. Then one day University of Minnesota was on a bad losing streak and a college student named Johnny Campbell created a group to help energize the crowd and team. They began to to shout stuff like “Rah! Ski-u-Mah!

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He wants Scout to change who she is to fit his idea of what being a woman is about. In Jem’s mind, women and girls should not be opinionated and “rough”, they must be feminine and frail.

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