Prior to reading the book, we had high expectations. We encountered many positives and some negatives to this book. After reading, we agree on giving this novel 8 out of 10 camellias. The way that Harper Lee utilizes symbolism, figurative language, and foreshadowing elevates the story to appeal to teachers and students across the country. The symbolism in this novel is hidden in plain sight and leads readers to predict and imagine what is going to happen in the following chapters. Symbolism in this novel allows readers to use their imagination when they’re reading. It grasp your attention with descriptions that can prompt the reader to question if something is true or not. This leads readers to being involved while reading and to fully immerse themselves in the protagonists position. The novel engrossed you to dive into each character's backstory, and enables you to dive into the life of the little girl Scout and to fully understand how the world is different through the eyes of a child.
Harper Lee addresses many points of foreshadowing in the novel and gives the reader questions about what might happen when they get deeper into the book. Harper Lee utilizes many forms of foreshadowing in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, and it can prompt the reader to become more involved in the novel as a whole. Our favorite foreshadowing overall was when Bob Ewell was accounted for saying,”It made one down and about two more to go.” This led readers to wonder what it might mean, and to wonder how it might affect and lead to the later parts of the novel. Harper Lee did an astonishing job of using this type of foreshadowing throughout the novel, and kept readers enthralled at all times. The novel overall was mostly enjoyable, and even in times when it got slow, it was still interesting. This novel made us think one way about a character and suddenly, make us second guess myself about the character. Foreshadowing keeps the book interesting, as it allows you to use your imagination as you read.
We also enjoyed how Harper Lee wrote many characters that all had an influence on Scout and her way of thinking. Atticus, for example, influenced Scout because she took anything he said as truth. She portrayed him in the way that Scout sees him, as a very wise man. It is hinted at throughout the book that Atticus is not what he seems to be, that he might not be as good a person as he seems. But this is difficult to see because Harper Lee does an amazing job of showing other characters through the eyes of the little girl, Scout. Another example of this is shown in Jem, as when Scout is younger he is more of a friend, and as he gets older he is more of a version of an authority figure. Jem is only thirteen by the end of the book, and to most other people around him, he is a child. But, because the book is written from the point of view of Scout, characters are portrayed differently than if they were from the point of view as an adult. Harper Lee does a good job of making everything look like it is actually from the point of view of a child, even though she wrote this as an adult, and it gives this book the feeling of child-like carefreeness despite the harsh topics that are throughout the novel.
Although there may be many amazing things about this novel, there is still many things that we disliked. One of which is how the novel got a little slow at times and caused disinterest. There were some points in the book where Harper Lee went deeper into detail than was necessary. At some parts it seemed like Harper Lee was trying to run on with one scene and it became slow and didn’t flow. Despite this negative of the book, the majority of it was able to pick back up and kept readers enthralled in other ways. As we mentioned before, Harper Lee was able to keep readers guessing what will happen next, even if some parts of the book were slightly dragged on. Another part of the novel that we didn’t enjoy was the beginning, as it was slightly hard to follow.There were a lot of flashbacks and we were thrown into the beginning of the story, which was hard to follow without knowing a lot of the characters and their backstories. After the beginning, when we got more into the lives of the characters and things started to fall together, it made a lot more sense.
Harper Lee made us feel like we were involved in the book and it made us feel like we were really there. She used distinctive details to make you interested and came with the events to drag you in. Harper Lee used specific symbols and foreshadowing, along with other literary techniques to keep readers curious even when certain parts are confusing or drag on. Harper Lee made things feel real and hit us with sudden info that we didn’t think was going to happen. Overall, we all agree that the novel To Kill a Mockingbird was an amazing novel that talked about rough topics and we recommend this novel to all 8th graders across the country. We truly believe that this novel deserves an 8 out of 10 camellias.
Harper Lee addresses many points of foreshadowing in the novel and gives the reader questions about what might happen when they get deeper into the book. Harper Lee utilizes many forms of foreshadowing in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, and it can prompt the reader to become more involved in the novel as a whole. Our favorite foreshadowing overall was when Bob Ewell was accounted for saying,”It made one down and about two more to go.” This led readers to wonder what it might mean, and to wonder how it might affect and lead to the later parts of the novel. Harper Lee did an astonishing job of using this type of foreshadowing throughout the novel, and kept readers enthralled at all times. The novel overall was mostly enjoyable, and even in times when it got slow, it was still interesting. This novel made us think one way about a character and suddenly, make us second guess myself about the character. Foreshadowing keeps the book interesting, as it allows you to use your imagination as you read.
We also enjoyed how Harper Lee wrote many characters that all had an influence on Scout and her way of thinking. Atticus, for example, influenced Scout because she took anything he said as truth. She portrayed him in the way that Scout sees him, as a very wise man. It is hinted at throughout the book that Atticus is not what he seems to be, that he might not be as good a person as he seems. But this is difficult to see because Harper Lee does an amazing job of showing other characters through the eyes of the little girl, Scout. Another example of this is shown in Jem, as when Scout is younger he is more of a friend, and as he gets older he is more of a version of an authority figure. Jem is only thirteen by the end of the book, and to most other people around him, he is a child. But, because the book is written from the point of view of Scout, characters are portrayed differently than if they were from the point of view as an adult. Harper Lee does a good job of making everything look like it is actually from the point of view of a child, even though she wrote this as an adult, and it gives this book the feeling of child-like carefreeness despite the harsh topics that are throughout the novel.
Although there may be many amazing things about this novel, there is still many things that we disliked. One of which is how the novel got a little slow at times and caused disinterest. There were some points in the book where Harper Lee went deeper into detail than was necessary. At some parts it seemed like Harper Lee was trying to run on with one scene and it became slow and didn’t flow. Despite this negative of the book, the majority of it was able to pick back up and kept readers enthralled in other ways. As we mentioned before, Harper Lee was able to keep readers guessing what will happen next, even if some parts of the book were slightly dragged on. Another part of the novel that we didn’t enjoy was the beginning, as it was slightly hard to follow.There were a lot of flashbacks and we were thrown into the beginning of the story, which was hard to follow without knowing a lot of the characters and their backstories. After the beginning, when we got more into the lives of the characters and things started to fall together, it made a lot more sense.
Harper Lee made us feel like we were involved in the book and it made us feel like we were really there. She used distinctive details to make you interested and came with the events to drag you in. Harper Lee used specific symbols and foreshadowing, along with other literary techniques to keep readers curious even when certain parts are confusing or drag on. Harper Lee made things feel real and hit us with sudden info that we didn’t think was going to happen. Overall, we all agree that the novel To Kill a Mockingbird was an amazing novel that talked about rough topics and we recommend this novel to all 8th graders across the country. We truly believe that this novel deserves an 8 out of 10 camellias.