Scout Finch

WALT Analyse and Describe these two crucial characters.

CA Title: Explore the ways the relationship

between Jem and Scout is presented in To Kill a

Mockingbird.

Band 5‘sophisticated, impressive’ 25-30

Sophisticated interpretation of texts.

Sophisticated engagement with writers’ ideas and attitudes; sophisticated interpretations using imaginatively selected supporting textual detail

Sophisticated analysis of aspects of language and structure

Scout’s Function… In the story, Scout functions as both questioner and

observer.

Scout asks tough questions that aren't "politically correct," but she can ask these questions because she is a child.

As a child, Scout doesn't understand the full implication of the things happening around her, making her an objective observer and a reporter in the truest sense.

Remember that To Kill a Mockingbird really presents two Scouts: the little girl experiencing the story and the adult Jean Louise who tells the story.

The woman relating the story obviously recognizes that her father is exceptional.

However, the child Scout complains "Our father didn't do anything . . . he never went hunting, he did not play poker or fish or drink or smoke. He sat in the living room and read."

Scout and Education Scout hates school because in many ways it actually

prevents her learning. Her teacher is appalled that she already knows how to

read, instead of celebrating that fact.

She is bored waiting for the rest of the class to catch up to her skill level, and she doesn't have more than a passing respect for either of the teachers she describes in the story.

The most sympathy she can muster toward a frazzled Miss Caroline is to remark "Had her conduct been more friendly toward me, I would have felt sorry for her."

What Scout Learns..

From Calpurnia: Politeness should be shown to all people (Chapter 3)

From Atticus: To be calm and to turn the other cheek and to appreciate different kinds of courage.

Scout’s Honour

Scout is a fighter. At the beginning of the novel, fighting is her solution to everything: she goes after Walter Cunningham and beats up Dill when she thinks he’s not paying enough attention to her. She kicks a member of the lynch mob when he grabs Jem.

Violence is almost always Scout’s first response because it’s a technique that’s working for her - it skips over the trickier business of thinking about the moral right: righteousness goes to whomever is the better fighter.

Scout’s fighting shows her quick temper and lack of self-control, but it also suggests her simplicity when it comes to moral matters, and her desire for a quick fix to complicated questions.

While Scout doesn’t see a problem with her approach to dealing with people, Atticus thinks otherwise, and tells Scout not to fight any more. Scout has difficulty obeying him, but manages it at least some of the time, starting with her classmate Cecil Jacobs.

“I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away, "Scout's a cow- ward!" ringing in my ears. It was the first time I ever walked away from a fight.”

Boo Radley and Scout’s Coming of Age

From the beginning, Scout is more terrified of Boo than Jem or Dill are.

While the two older boys push at the edges of their fears by attempting to make indirect contact with Boo, Scout hangs back, not wanting to bring the monster’s wrath down upon them.

When she does get drawn into their schemes, she pays for it with sleepless nights.

Quote… “Every night-sound I heard from my cot on

the back porch was magnified three-fold; every scratch of feet on gravel was Boo Radley seeking revenge, every passing Negro laughing in the night was Boo Radley loose and after us; insects splashing against the screen were Boo Radley's insane fingers picking the wire to pieces; the chinaberry trees were malignant, hovering, alive”

Her Fears Lessen… In Scout’s fevered mind, Boo expands into a

dangerous world, where every sound signals a threat. And later, when Scout realizes that it was Boo who brought her a blanket, she’s nearly sick.

As time passes and Scout faces down more real threats, her fear of Boo lessens. He lurks in her imagination not as a monster but as a neighbour, who feels familiar even though she’s never actually laid eyes on him.

Conclusion… This shift in Scout’s interest in Boo reflects her

growing experience with different kinds of people; having seen the likes of Bob Ewell, poor Boo doesn’t offer much in the way of chills anymore.

Seeing Boo makes Scout see herself differently, and she’s not entirely pleased with what she sees. This moment of self-examination suggests that Atticus stopped too soon with his advice that putting yourself in another person’s shoes allows you to understand them better – it also has the potential to let you understand yourself.

Structure…

Task: Imagine it is time to write your

controlled assessment.

Write me an introduction, no longer than 10 lines, that you might begin your essay with.

We will then share and assess these.

Things to

Discuss

An analysis of how their relationship changes

How Jem and Scout

talk to each other, the

sort of things they

say.A language analysis of the Chapter

31 How the narrator describes the characters

Why Harper Lee included the characters and the roles they

play

USE PEEL! Example for “How their relationship changes”The relationship between Scout and Jem has changed a great deal by the beginning of part 2 of the book, Jem seems much more distant from Scout and is “difficult, inconsistent and moody” (Chapter 12). We can therefore imply that the events of part 1 have taken their toll on Jem and have caused him to grow up quicker than perhaps he’d like. This shows a realistic portrayal of a sibling relationship that may have been based on Harper Lee’s own experiences.

USE PEEL…

The relationship between Scout and Jem has changed a great deal by the beginning of part 2 of the book, Jem seems much more distant from Scout and is “difficult, inconsistent and moody” (Chapter 12). We can therefore imply that the events of part 1 have taken their toll on Jem and have caused him to grow up quicker than perhaps he’d like. This shows a realistic portrayal of a sibling relationship that may have been based on Harper Lee’s own experiences.

USING PEEL! YOUR TURN! Create for me your own example of

PEEL that could be written for the section of your CA based on how their relationship changes.

You have ten minutes.

Explaining is important…PO

INT

EXAM

PLE

EXPL

AIN

/ LI

NK

People get the most marks for their explanations. In this part of your PEEL you make insightful links between basic observations and advanced inferences.

Ways to begin Explanations:

‘This shows us that…’‘From this we can infer…’‘The effect of this is…’‘This would make the reader feel…’‘I believe this means that…’

And then link it back to the essay title:

‘This shows a portrayal which is…’‘In terms of how this effects the portrayal, it….’‘I believe Harper Lee wishes to show a portrayal that…’