To Kill A Mockingbird Rhetorical Analysis

Kaleb Fisher, Henlie Guy, Jason Harris, Rowan Scripps, Coleman Wright
Ms. Brewer
Honors English 9
28 February 2023
Excerpt 8 Analysis Essay
In Harper Lee's fictional novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus argues that Tom Robinson is an innocent man. In the novel, we meet Tom an African-American man accused of raping Mayella, a young white women. Atticus is appointed as Tom’s lawyer and this is Atticus’s closing statement. Atticus claims that there is no real evidence to convict Tom and he has done nothing wrong. Also, Atticus asserts that Mayella is lying about what happened that day and Tom Robinson is telling the truth. In Excerpt 8, the speaker demonstrates rhetorical, aesthetic, and organizational choices to help the reader understand the speaker's point of view and purpose. In Excerpt 8, Atticus utilizes rhetorical appeals to convince the jury of Tom Robinson’s innocence. The logos appeal is when Atticus expresses, “There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and there is no man

Atticus creates an assertive, serious, and persuasive aesthetic in Excerpt 8. He expresses this aesthetic by stating, ”She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable. She kissed a black man. Not an old uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.”(Lee 272). The statement is a powerful and assertive claim that Atticus proclaims upon the jury and courtroom, to display that Atticus knows that Mayella is lying and he is trying to convince the jury that Tom Robison is innocent. It is powerful and assertive because of its meaning and how it conntributes to his argument. Atticus' aesthetic choice provides his point and sets the tone of the