Ask the Expert Tutor: IGCSE English "To Kill A Mockingbird" Study Guide
This week, we’re taking an in-depth look at Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird for IGCSE English along with some revision tips.
What's To Kill A Mockingbird even about?
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee spins an intricate web within the confines of a small Alabama town during the financial hardship of the Great Depression.
The reader is given the eyes of young Scout Finch, who gradually becomes acquainted with the prejudicial and hypocritical attitudes towards race and class that were prevalent in the Deep South of the 1930s.
Weak IGCSE English response example
Consider the following question that may be given about To Kill A Mockingbird in a IGCSE English exam:
In To Kill A Mockingbird, how does Lee explore the theme of coming of age?
In response to that question, an underprepared IGCSE English student might produce something similar to the following paragraph:
Scout Finch started off To Kill A Mockingbird young and unaware. However, after the ordeal with Boo Radley and Mayella Ewell, Scout begins to understand the ideas of racism and prejudice. This represents her process of coming-of-age, and shows how innocence can never last.
Why is this IGCSE English student's response weak?
Weaknesses in this paragraph include:
There are no quotations from the novel to support the argument
The argument is weak; it merely summarises Scout’s coming-of-age process—her loss of innocence—rather than make any meaningful or critical connections
There is no reference to the context of To Kill A Mockingbird and how growing up during the Great Depression or the South may inform a child’s coming of age
Strong IGCSE English response example
The following paragraph is an improved response on To Kill A Mockingbird that our expert IGCSE English tutors would mentor our IGCSE English students towards:
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee explores the coming-of-age process through young Scout Finch. As the events of the novel unfold, Scout gains a more complex understanding of societal attitudes towards race and class.
When the novel begins, Scout and her brother Jem harbor illusions of a neighbourhood bogeyman in the form of Boo Radley. There were rumours that Boo murdered children, with Jem warning Dill that “he’ll kill us each and every one [...] Don’t blame me when he gouges your eyes out.”
However, after they begin noticing Boo’s acts of kindness and when he notably saved Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell, the children begin to wonder if their original perception of him was ill-informed.
This is aided by the attitudes surrounding mental illness in the Deep South during the 1930s; Boo’s differences are seen as alien and undesirable in such an oppressive context. According to the adults surrounding them, he is someone who “just stays in the house, that’s all.”
As the children grow older, they learn that their childhood fears were merely imagined, especially when compared to the genuine monsters who live among their community, such as Bob Ewell.
Overall, Scout’s coming of age process is shown throughout the novel as one where she begins to grapple with subtler understandings of human relationships and with more adult notions of good and evil.
Why is this IGCSE English student’s response better?
This paragraph is better for the following reasons:
There is specific and relevant use of evidence from To Kill A Mockingbird
Context of To Kill A Mockingbird is discussed in such a manner that aids the overall argument and topic of Scout’s coming of age
A more nuanced discussion of coming of age, it illustrates what this process of growing up actually meant for Scout
Hope this was helpful and best of luck!
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