Linguistic assignment

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Tom Robinson Guilty
Thomas Robinson, 25, has been convicted of raping Miss Mayella Violet Ewell, 19. Once placed in jail for 30 days for disorderly conduct, the father of three children is now going to be imprisoned for life. He intends to appeal against his sentence. The trial had lasted 12 noon to 11pm, the longest trial Maycomb has ever seen.

The crime took place on 21 November 1932, when Mayella Ewell asked Robinson to come into the Ewell's house. Mayella had asked Robinson to help her chop up a chiffarobe. Then, when he was inside, Robinson grabbed Mayella and started to beat her up violently and shouted obscenities at her. Her ordeal only ended when her father, Robert Ewell came through the window and shouted at Robinson, who then fled. Mr. Ewell quickly ran for Mr Heck Tate, the sheriff to report the incident.

Mayella, whose right eye was bruised and had injuries on the arm and around the neck, was also hurt emotionally and had burst into tears when she was questioned by Atticus Finch, the defence for Robinson. Mayella testified that Tom Robinson had come into her house several times before the crime to help her with chores, but this time he assualted her when her back was turned.

The prosecutor, Mr Gilmer, questioned Tom Robinson why he would help Mayella Ewell with her chores for free. Tom Robinson gave the most possibly shocking answer. "I felt sorry for her." Tom Robinson's side of the story was that he had gone in to the house to help Mayella to chop up a chiffarobe, but was hugged and kissed by Mayella on the cheek. He tried to resist her advances but Mr. Ewell had shouted a vulgarity at him through the window and he ran away. When asked the reason for escaping, he simply answered to Mr Finch "Mr Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you'd be scared, too."

Despite Mr Finch's claim that there was 'not one iota of medical evidence' to prove that Tom Robinson was guilty, the jury pronounced Tom Robinson guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment in Enfield Prison Farm.