ESSAY PLAN

Topic: Justice is something that people like Tom Robinson could never have hoped for. Do you agree? ESSAY TIPS st L link the 1 sentence to the topic sentence I identify the text and author E explain 1-2 sentences on the plot related to the topic S summarise your contention and main ideas that you will be discussing Or A ANALYSE: define key terms/words. Rewrite the question so that we understand it R RESPOND: interrogation method/brainstorm. Ask questions of the topic S SUPPORT: quotes/evidence from the text O ORGANISE: order/place your ideas in a sequence P PLAN: introduction, body, conclusion Or D IDENTIFY: identify key words/ideas connotations/definitions I INTEREST: grab the readers attention D DIRECTION: hint to what your contention is supporting your thoughts INTRODUCTION: 1. Establish your contention (re-write the essay topic) 2. Define key words 3. Quick synopsis of the story 4. Include main points to be addressed in the body of your essay Justice is something that people like Tom Robinson could never have hoped for. Discuss. Equality, respect and impartiality in a judicial law system were things that citizens of African American background could never have had belief or faith in. MEANINGS: JUSTICE: fairness, honesty, equality, validity, legitimacy, righteousness, integrity, justness, impartiality, even-handedness, reasonableness, rightness, truthfulness, veracity (truth), reliability also, marginalised, misunderstood and ostracised. PEOPLE: persons, folks, individuals, publics, societies, general public, populaces, citizens, publics, nations, communities, natives, inhabitants, populations, nationalities, intimates, associates, relatives, families, relations, kin TOM ROBINSON: African American, mockingbird, ostracised, stereotyped, prejudged, presupposed, victim, vindicated (innocent), innocent, virtuous, innocuous, excluded, snubbed, blamed, held liable, accused, impugned, held accountable HOPE: prospect, desire, confidence, faith, anticipation, promise, aspiration, wish, yearn, reliance, assurance, fervour, certitude, craving, plea, entreaty, covet, long for, likelihood, possibility embodiment of hope KEY POINTS: FOR: Inequality between blacks and whites and racial discrimination Mockingbird: Tom and Boo Radley ostracised Even though there were people like Atticus who were willing to stand up to injustice and inequality, the racial discrimination therefore lack of respect and justice, still had the upper hand (court case) AGAINST: Atticus being the embodiment of hope and justice The people in the law system and in town that fought though quietly for equality (sheriff tate, judge taylor etc.) The times were changing and more and more people became aware of the awful biasness and discrimination that the African Americans were subjected to daily (miss Maudie, dill, mr dolphus Raymond, jem, scout etc)

EXAMPLE: 1. In a time of racial discrimination, harsh prejudices and unequal social classes, a person like Tom robinson, a misunderstood African American, could never have faith in a law system free of equality and respect. 2. Maycomb County in the 1930s was a place devoid of justice, for anyone who was marginalised, misunderstood and ostracised. It was a world where prejudgements were the norm. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley had the greatest misfortune of being subjected to the barbarity of the times. However, it would only take one person to re-educate through his actions and words. That person being Atticus Finch; the embodiment of hope. BODY PLAN: A ANALYSE: define key terms/words. Rewrite the question so that we understand it R RESPOND: interrogation method/brainstorm. Ask questions of the topic S SUPPORT: quotes/evidence from the text O ORGANISE: order/place your ideas in a sequence P PLAN: introduction, body, conclusion Use TEEL to write each paragraph T overview sentence that is the main point for this paragraph E explain the details that support this paragraph E quote from the novel L link to essay question Write the answers to the following questions they will become the paragraphs in the body of this essay. 1. Why would Tom Robinson never have been able to have hope in the law system? 2. Why did Atticus stand up for justice? 3. Why did most townsfolk ostracise Boo, Tom and on occasion Atticus? 4. Who - in particular - ostracised Boo, Tom and Atticus? 5. Why did Mr Dolphus Raymond prefer to live with the Negroes than his own kind? 6. Was social inequality prominent then? If so, where were the African Americans placed? 7. How was Tom treated throughout the court case? 8. Did atticus treat mayella and bob the same as mr gilmer? 9. How does dill, Maudie, jem, scout, heck tate and judge taylor stand up for justice and equality? 10. How did Atticus affect the lives of Tom and Boo? How did jem and scout and dill affect the life of Boo? 11. Why was justice no given to those like Tom? 12. Did Tom ever have a chance of a fair trial? 13. Why could they not hope for justice? QUOTES: Well Dill, after all, hes just a Negro.I dont care one speck. It aint right, somehow it aint right to do em that way. Hasnt anybody got any business talkin like that it just makes me sick Thats just Mr Gilmers way. Dill he does em all that way. Youve never seen him get goodn down on one yet well, today Mr Gilmer seemed to like he wasnt half trying. They do em all that way, mostly lawyers I mean.... Mr Finch doesnt (pg. 220) oh yes, you mean why do I pretend? Well, its very simple, he said. Some folks dont like the way I live. Now I could say the hell with em, I dont care if they dont like it. I do say I dont care if they dont like it, right enough but I dont say the hell with em, see?I try to give them a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch on to a reason It aint honest but its mighty helpful to folks. Secretly, Miss Finch, Im not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because thats the way I want to live. (pg. 221) Cry about the simple hell people give other people without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that theyre people too. (pg. 222) Miss Jean Louise, you dont know your pas not a run-off-the-mill man, itll take a few years for that to sink in you havent seen enough of the world yet. You havent even seen this town, but all you gotta do is step back inside that court house. (pg. 222) Theyve done it before and they did it tonight and theyll do it again and when they do it it seems that only children weep. (pg. 235 after trial and jem asks why they convicted tom. Atticuss response)

They preciate what you did Mr Finch. They aint oversteppin themselves, are they? Atticuss eyes filled with tears. He did not speak for a moment. Tell them Im very grateful, he said. Tell them tell them they must never do this again. Times are too hard

It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived. (pg 54)
If theres just one kind of folks, why cant they get along with each other? If theyre all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think Im beginning to understand something. I think Im beginning to understand why Boo Radleys stayed shut up in the house all the time (pg 251) "As you grow older youll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but le t me tell you something and dont you forget itwhenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, of how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.(pg. 243) You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.(pg. 33) The main one is, if I didnt I couldnt hold up my head in town, I couldnt represent this county in the legislature, I couldnt even tell you or Jem not to do something again. (pg. 83). When Jem an I fuss Atticus doesnt ever just listen to Jems side of it, he hears mine too (pg 95) The handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White Only; the handful of people who say a fair trial is for everybody, not just us; the handful of people with enough humility to think, when they look at a Negro, there but for the Lords kindness am I. (pg. 261) Mockingbirds dont do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They dont eat up peoples gardens, dont nest in corncribs, they dont do one thing but sing they hearts out for us. Thats why its a sin to kill a mockingbird. (pg 100) I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your fathers one of them. (pg 114) I never heard tell that its against the law for a citizen to do his utmost to prevent a crime from being committed, which is exactly what he did (pg 304) Will you take me home? He almost whispered it, in the voice of a child afraid of the dark. (pg 306) He gently released my hand, opened the door, went inside, and shut the door behind him. I never saw him again. (pg 306) Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world. She was even lonelier then Boo Radley, who had not been out of the house in twenty-five years. When Atticus asked had she any friends, she seemed not to know what he meant, then she thought he was making fun of her. She was as sad, I thought, as when Jem called a mixed child: white people wouldnt have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldnt have anything to do with her because she was white. (pg 212) I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. Its when you know youre licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. (pg. 124) Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her. (pg 212) It occurred to me that in their own way, Tom Robinsons manners were as good as Atticuss. (pg 215) Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try moren the rest of them You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her. Mr Gilmer seemed ready to rise to the ceiling (pg 217) CONCLUSION: 1. Summarise your main points 2. Re-iterate your contention based on the essay topic