One for English teachers.

[getthefeckouttahere]

Hi i'm a mature student doing GCSE.

Essay topic on To Kill a Mockingbird. - How does Harper Lee show the treatment of Tom Robinson was unfair and cruel.

I wanted to show that Harper Lee describes all of the elements of Allports scale of discrimination and prejudice. i.e. anti locution, avoidance, discrimination, attack, extermination.

Is this going to be too abstract and off topic?

I would suggest that the essay is asking you to look at the way the writer uses language in order to convey unfair treatment.

Most GCSE teachers suggest using the Point, Evidence, Analyse, Develop paragraph structure for essay writing.

So you make a point, find evidence to support it (quotation), analyse it at sentence or word level and then explain the effects of these language choices on the reader.

Hope that helps.

Look at the exam board and try and work out what they want. Do any of them cite Alport? Assuming they don't then yes you are barking up the wrong tree! Make your Point, show your evidence, give an explanation, develop yours and authors ideas, conclude.

thanks,

i think i'll ditch that as i may well spend time answering a question that they didn't in fact ask!.

Puny - i think your reinforcing what my tutor says. Tell em what you're going to tell em. Tell em it. Tell em what you just told em!

Ya

They don't want you to be clever. Just knowledgeable about the text and perhaps it's time period.

To push on to A*, talk about the title and reference the various "mockingbirds" in the story - the dog, tom himself, Boo and the children's innocence (esp Jem). Using the PEE strategy already discussed.