What is appropriation
Sample Essay Questions (To Kill A Mockingbird)
- “It is difficult for an individual to overcome the prejudices of their environment.” Discuss the extent to which this statement is true in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
- “Prejudice does not exist.” Do you agree? Discuss using your core text To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
- Discuss the importance of social environments in influencing attitudes about the ‘other’.
- Discuss the concept of family and Lee’s presentation of the American family. What does it consist of?
- Trace the theme of the mockingbird throughout the novel and analyze what the bird symbolizes or represents.
- Scout and Jem mature considerably through the course of the novel. What developmental changes do they go through, and what causes these changes?
- Discuss the town of Maycomb as you might discuss a main character in the book. What is the identity or “character” of the town, and how (if at all) does it change and grow over the years? How does its diversity give it a pluralistic character?
- Discuss law as it is represented in To Kill A Mockingbird. What power and limitations exist within the legal system according to Atticus, Jem, and Scout?
- Would Heck Tate have filed charges against Tom Robinson so quickly if Tom were white? Why or why not? Would Sheriff Tate have been so unwilling to file charges against Boo Radley if Boo was black? Why or why not?
- How does racial prejudice and class differences like parameters decide the treatment of an individual in a society? Discuss this in relation to the treatment of Tom Robinson, Mayella Ewell and Boo Radley.
- To what extent does Harper Lee suggest that discrimination stems from ignorance?
- How does superstition, traditions, and storytelling affect the characters’ actions and decisions? Give concrete examples.
- Evaluate the symbolic meaning of the mockingbird and why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.
- Explore the coexistence of good and evil in the novel.