RHETORIC DISCUSSION

BACKGROUND ON HARPER LEE

• Monroeville, AL 1926
• Pulitzer Prize for “To Kill a Mockingbird" 1960
• Small town, youngest of four, tomboy, book related to life
• Father- lawyer, state legislature
• Went to college for English lit, unusually focused on her studies

BACKGROUND ON ATTICUS FINCH

• Exemplary lawyer and father
• Respected for his honesty and intelligience
• Unique in that he's risking his career with this courtcase
• Based off Lee's father
• 1997, AL State Bar erected a monument in his honor in Monroeville

SOAPS

• Atticus Finch {Harper Lee}
• 1935 AL {1930. 1960 AL}
• Jury, Court {Segregationists}
• Innocent {Equality, Honesty}
• Black vs. White {Discrimination}

TONE
Earnestly honest, just, somewhat empathetic, unbiased

~Evidence~
“You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro are not to be trusted around women-- black or white. ...this...truth... applies...to no particular race of man."

{TONE}
Weary of this journey for justice, tired of reiterating a point so long struggled for, persistent for justice

~Evidence~
Time between when she wrote it and when she published it

Ethos

• “...my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man's life at stake..."
• compassionate but honest and just - credibility

Pathos

• “There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie..."
• relating it back to them - hits hard personally

Logos

• “The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place."
• no facts to prove he did it - medical evidence big part in this case

Repetition

• “...the evil assumption...that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all..."
• Christian Logos - so many assumptions, that all = slogging through them

Simile

• “...we know is in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson's skin..."
• sneaking in a relation to the race issue - you can talk about their color without offending them

Antithesis & Pathos

• “...there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man equal of an Einstein, and an ignorant man equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest J.P. court in the land..."

Untitled Slide

• comparing great to not great
• makes them feel like being just in court is their duty to the country and they should perform it well

overall effectiveness

• Yes - faith, his pathos and passion and supports (logos - Christian)
• Not necessarily for the jury - verdict not decided before he was shot trying to escape
• hard to persuade with the race issues during that time

discussion questions

• Would you have considered Tom Robinson innocent?
• Are Finch's (Harper Lee's) devices and appeals persuasive to you?
• If you were Tom Robinson, would you have tried to escape even after hearing this speech?