Shakespeare presents the intentions of Brutus as clean and precise, through the use of metaphor in his speech to Cassius, about the potential killing of Mark Anthony.

Using the analogy of dismemberment after murder to present his thoughts to Cassius, Brutus reasons that once Caesar is dead his right-hand, in Anthony, can do as little as his literal right hand could after his death. This shows Brutus’ reluctance to take part in the conspiracy, but also highlights his need to perform actions to benefit the people, as is shown in the line ‘let us be sacrificers, not butchers’. Making this point, Brutus shows that he believes that, while ridding of Caesar would benefit Rome, he does not want to wield the blade.

‘…then couldn’t shake off the two burning rings.’

This relates to the idea that the act was, in fact, a ‘butterfingered’ proposal from the character. This displays the poet’s view that the emotions of love and pain are intertwined.

In the 13-year-old’s mind, branding the subject of their love with rings on their fingers—albeit the wrong ones—was ensuring that they could never lose his love, which would stand for eternity. He ensured that she was branded, with a symbol of his love forever.

‘I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us.’ — Miss Maudie

This shows that Miss Maudie holds the majority of Maycomb’s inhabitants at a lesser moral value than ‘some men’, alluding to those such as Atticus, Heck Tate and Judge Taylor. I believe that this presents Miss Maudie’s view of Maycomb’s society as flawed, but one for which Maudie holds great fondness. As Jem slates the morality of the county, Maudie once again interjects, labelling Maycomb’s inhabitants as ‘the safest folks in the world’. This shows that Maudie is willing to defend her county, despite being in full awareness of its flaws.

Also, Lee repeatedly utilises plural personal pronouns such as we and us in Maudie’s speech, displaying that Maudie feels one with her home county. ‘We’re making a step’, claims Maudie as she explains to Jem that Maycomb’s flaws are being overcome by morality, suggesting that Maudie believes that county is advancing as one.

How does Lee use details in the passage to present Miss Maudie’s view of Maycomb?

‘We’re the safest folks in the world,’ claims Miss Maudie, going on to explain that ‘We’re so rarely called on to be Christians, but when we are, we’ve got men like Atticus to go for us.’. This presents Miss Maudie’s view of the county as one of great fondness; she believes that the good people at the core of Maycomb are good enough to do their part for the whole county. By bringing the religion of Christianity into it, Miss Maudie links her original statement to God, showing that she believes that the people of the county are ‘safe’ in the eyes of God, because of men like Judge Taylor and Atticus being prepared to stand up for the oppressed and do the right thing, even when they may be frowned upon or hated.

Harry fallen leaves from Joel North on Vimeo.

Starter:

Muezzin – The official who issues a call to prayer.

Dinars – A currency used in the Middle East.

Tigris – A river running through Western Asia.

Salaam – A greeting in the religion of Islam.

Task One:

The events of the poem are very dark, but it is written in a relatively peaceful manner, especially as it presents the beauty of the environment. I believe that the theme of the poem is suffering.

• The man observed as a funeral procession passed him, in honour of man killed by poisonous gases during the conflict.

• The man heard the call to prayer, only to approach the mosque and find the dying muezzin.

• The man met two blind beggars and gave them 100 dinars, the beggars then saluted him.

• The man watched as a cruise missile flew by overhead and as a young beggar turned to see the projectile.

• After all this, the man watches contently as a child reaches to pluck yellow dates from a palm tree.

Task Two:

The repetition comes with the use of ‘As I made my way down Palestine Street’, which is the first line of each stanza. This helps to show that all these events occurred within a short space of time, and in a concentrated area. It helps to evoke a feeling of sympathy towards the people of that singular space of land.

Task Three:

The range of first person verbs, such as ‘I watched’ and ‘I heard’, build a more complex impression of the conflict, as they are used to describe all of the senses. This gives the audience a better idea of the feel of the moment and allows them to create a more vivid image of the events.

Harper Lee prepares her audience for the impending trial in chapter 16 of her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To do this, she utilises descriptions of the courthouse, its regular attendees and its visitors.

Firstly, Harper Lee’s character Miss Maudie labells the attending ‘folks’ as like a ‘Roman carnival’. She also calls the trial morbid, implying that it is common knowledge within Maycomb that Tom Robinson will be found guilty. This shows that those hoping to be in attendance are there to watch Tom Robinson have his life taken from him, portraying them as barbaric, and similar to the people of the Roman Empire, who took pleasure in watching the deaths of gladiators.

Then, the author goes on to contrast the description of the white and black visitors, to create a more vivid picture of the inequality in Maycomb. Scout describes the ‘scattered bits of newspaper, cellophane, and wrapping paper’ left by the black community, but describes the white men she comes across as ‘white-shirted, khaki-trousered, suspendered old men who had spent their lives doing nothing.’ This reinforces that the fact that Maycomb’s white inhabitants value themselves above their black counterparts, as their ideology promotes white supremacy.

Furthermore, Harper Lee goes on to describe Judge John Taylor and the inside of the courthouse, moving further towards the court in description, as the trial draws nearer in chronology.

Calpurnia is portayed as an outsider in chapter 12 of To Kill a Mockingbird. Her claim that she ‘doesn’t have a birthday’ shows that she isn’t particularly valued as an individual. The contempt towards her from both the white society, because she’s black, and members of the black community, such as Lula, because she works for Atticus and his children. She wasn’t even acknowledged by her own son. To me, this implies that she is in between two communities and is valued by neither. This generates sympathy for the character.

Courage is presented by Harper Lee in chapter 11 of To Kill a Mockingbird, through the introduction and demise of Mrs Dubose. In her short-lived stint in the novel, Mrs Dubose is presented as a senile old lady, but as the chapter eleven draws to a close, Atticus reveals the true nature of her inner suffering. These revelations morph the perception of Mrs Dubose from that of an antagonising old woman, to that of a heroine. Her desire to come off morphine before her death leads Atticus to hail her ‘the bravest person he ever knew’, and challenges the children’s earlier views of Mrs Dubose.

Atticus conceal his prowess as a marksman as it goes against his moral code. Miss Maudie theorises that ‘maybe he put his gun down when he realised that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things.’ It is my opinion that Miss Maudie is correct, or along the right lines at least. This is because we know already that Atticus follows a strong set of morals, and taking life from God’s creations for no reason other than for pleasure, would most likely go against these morals. His past is most likely hidden from his children to prevent them from growing up believing that firearms are an integral part of life.