Rhetorical Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

The verdict of a court case lies squarely on Atticus’ closing statement that needs to be powerful in order to win. In “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, a court case takes Maycomb by surprise. A case between an African American man and a poor white woman makes for a difficult situation for its residents. The jury needs to be able to analyze the information and evidence given from the witnesses to give an honest conclusion. Depending on how the jury swings, it could put an innocent man’s life at risk. Atticus Finch needs to use many forms of strong rhetoric when giving his closing argument to convince the defendant not guilty. Atticus used ethos throughout his speech. “Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the Yankees and the distaff side of the Executive branch in Washington are fond of hurling at us” (Lee). When Atticus mentioned Thomas Jefferson in his speech, it built his ethos. Thomas Jefferson is a trusted historical figure that aids in pointing out the importance that everyone is created equal and how the phrase travels back from a long time ago. Using a strong historical figure like Thomas Jefferson helps make his speech better and more powerful because it mentions a remembered person from history, so it shows the significance of
Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” displayed a problematic state of affairs for the town of Maycomb. The events leading up to the court case foreshadowed the toughness of this case before it happened. The snowfall, Miss Maudie’s house burning down, and many other small disastrous things that occurred in Maycomb only furthered the proof that the court case wouldn’t end any easier than what Atticus tries to prove. The fate of Maycomb only makes us question what will happen next for the town’s people. The truth about the case might not even be known to others after the assumption that no black man can be