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explain linguistic features of stylistics
literary elements in to kill a mockingbird
literary elements in to kill a mockingbird
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Recommended: explain linguistic features of stylistics
The stylistic elements that an author chooses are instrumental in ensuring that the theme or tone that he or she wishes to convey is in fact conveyed to the reader. Harper Lee obviously realizes this, for in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird, [New York: Warner, 1982] 278) she wisely selects a distinctive style to relate the moving story of a young child discovering harsh truths regarding human nature
The predominant stylistic element Miss Lee uses is her diction and choice of sentence length. At the beginning of the selection, the sentences are short and simple. This syntax is especially appropriate, due to the fact that the novel is written in first person, the narrator being a six year old girl named Scout. “I never saw him again,”she says, referring to her mysteriously reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley. “We never put back into the tree what we had taken out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.” Here, Lee takes on the persona of a child by using a short, simple sentence structure— no excessiveness or educated glibness, just the purity and honesty of a child’s prate.
As the piece progresses, Lee’s writing style begins to transform. It becomes more educated and mature. “I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle,” Scout says, creating not only a transition in how Scout sees her world, but also a transition in the syntax. While the sentences remain short, the diction Miss Lee chooses is more advanced, as Scout recaps wha...
It all took place in the quiet Alabama town of Maycomb, which was also during the Great Depression. Scout Finch lives with her brother, Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus. Atticus is an honest lawyer, so they are doing quite well compared to everyone else during those tough times. Jem and Scout befriended a boy named Dill one summer who came to live in the neighborhood close to them. Later on, Dill become curious about a weird yet spooky house in their street called the Radley place. Mr. Nathan Radley is the owner of the house, whose brother, Arthur (nicknamed Boo), has lived there for years without adventuring outside. That fall, Scout goes to school for the first time and ended up loathing it. In the knothole of a tree on the Radley property, Scout and her brother find gifts. That summer, Dill is back and the three of them try to figure out Boo Radleys story. But their father puts a stop to it, trying to explain to them to try to see life from another person’s perspective before judging or thinking anything bad about them. The three sneak onto t...
In real life there are many different types of people, some of them are similar
Scout Finch, the youngest child of Atticus Finch, narrates the story. It is summer and her cousin Dill and brother Jem are her companions and playmates. They play all summer long until Dill has to go back home to Maridian and Scout and her brother start school. The Atticus’ maid, a black woman by the name of Calpurnia, is like a mother to the children. While playing, Scout and Jem discover small trinkets in a knothole in an old oak tree on the Radley property. Summer rolls around again and Dill comes back to visit. A sence of discrimination develops towards the Radley’s because of their race. Scout forms a friendship with her neighbor Miss Maudie, whose house is later burnt down. She tells Scout to respect Boo Radley and treat him like a person. Treasures keep appearing in the knothole until it is filled with cement to prevent decay. As winter comes it snows for the first time in a century. Boo gives scout a blanket and she finally understands her father’s and Miss Maudie’s point of view and treats him respectfully. Scout and Jem receive air guns for Christmas, and promise Atticus never to shoot a mockingbird, for they are peaceful and don’t deserve to die in that manner. Atticus then takes a case defending a black man accused of rape. He knows that such a case will bring trouble for his family but he takes it anyways. This is the sense of courage he tries to instill in his son Jem.
Symbolism. Why is it important in a novel? Why do authors incorporate symbols into their writing? Symbolism aids the reader in understanding what the author wants to portray. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, she writes about the racism in a small town in Alabama named Maycomb set in the 1930’s and about two children growing up and learning that their town is not as perfect as they thought. The theme topic appearance versus reality helps to get a better understanding of the symbols used in the novel and that you should not judge something by their appearance, you should judge by the reality of what it is. “As Atticus once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it.” (Scout page 77) In her novel, there are many symbols throughout the narrative that relate to the theme topic appearance versus reality. Harper Lee writes symbols into her novel, such as the snowman, Mrs. Dubose’s Camellia flower and Dolphus Raymond’s Coca-Cola bottle to help reinforce the theme topic of appearance versus reality throughout the novel.
...y analyzing a famous work of each, it can be said that not only did they lead very different lives, they were very different writers. To Kill a Mockingbird fluctuates in a tone which is inferred through the behavior of the characters for the narrator’s observations are basic. “A Christmas Memory” sets up each scene with an abundance of vivid imagery and thoughts, while drastically changing moods with simple syntax shifts. Yet with all the literary techniques and figurative language, the subtle theme of Capote’s story ended up making a much simpler tale. His best friend Lee’s one novel made history for the powerful way she set-up and presented a theme of prejudice and judgment. And that is the truest differentiation of the two friends’ writing, for if the very way they structure their pieces varies so greatly, how could one have slipped their style into the other’s?
The story “To kill a Mockingbird” takes place in an old tired town in Alabama during the Great Depression. In the story the main conflict involves a black crippled man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of Bob Ewell. The Ewells were the lowest of the low in Maycomb; they lived in the town dump and had no education. The Accusation of Tom Robinson was caused by the Ewell’s in an effort to better their lifestyle and increase their rank in the town. Although the story is told from Scout’s eyes, the whole story revolves around this questionable trial and shows that being vulnerable and innocent is a dangerous characteristic to have and can easily be taken advantage of.
She was able to do this by creating a loose character, and developing them more and more as the story went on. For example, Jem was a loose character, adventurous and curious, but with the times of Boo Radley hiding in the house and the trial, he developed during times of social commentary. With each of those events, Jem had to be brave. With Boo hiding in the house, he would run into the lawn, to prove his bravery for the children. Also with the trial, Jem used bravery to stand up to the crowd who was in front of the jail. All in all Harper Lee uses a developing character to show how the town reacts to the certain character, in a certain case. All in all, the social commentary surrounding the character all depends upon which character is at
Courage is valued in many ways. It is measured by bravery, heroism, physical strength, and morally correct behavior. The world mostly defines courage as having physical strength and being brave. Atticus, Scout, and Jem show many acts of courage through the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. They all have different views and opinions on courage. The novel is told from the point of view of Scout. She, and her brother Jem, live with their widowed father in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. Their father, Atticus, is also a lawyer who defends his black client, Tom Robinson, who is innocent of rape. The title To Kill A Mockingbird explains that “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” because they “make music for us to enjoy” (Lee 119). In other words, the mockingbirds are harmless and have never done anything wrong. It would be considered a sin to kill a harmless and peaceful mockingbird. Similarly, accusing an innocent and
“Lee, Harper 1926-.” Concise Major 21 Century Writers. Ed. Tracey L. Matthews. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 2136-2140. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.
Jill McCorkle's Ferris Beach, a contemporary novel, shares numerous characteristics with Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written in the 1960's. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, McCorkle's novel documents the life of a young girl in a small southern town. The two narrators, Kate Burns and Scout Finch, endure difficult encounters. A study of these main characters reveals the parallels and differences of the two novels. Jill McCorkle duplicates character similarities and rape from Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird to show the reader how young girls think and develop.
In To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee it is very evident that her life experiences when paired with the era in which she lived helped her develop this piece of iconic American literature. The themes and subtle critiques of the society she grew up in are reflected in To Kill a MockingBird, which is what made this book one of the greatest literary works of all time. She grew up in a time of great social inequality and prejudice towards African Americans.This is one of the many examples of her life that formed a major theme in this book, her foremost popular work.
To Kill A Mockingbird conveyed the philosophy of acceptance, courage and change using a variety of techniques that Harper Lee used in her only novel. She used metaphors, similes, imagery and contrast to highlight her themes of acceptance, courage and change.
To begin, one of the ways Harper Lee shows this to readers is through characterization. A good example of this is Mrs. Dubose, Scout’s neighbor. Mrs. Dubose is an old, racist, woman who always insults Atticus, a lawyer, for defending a black man in court. After getting mad of how Mrs. Dubose can be so evil towards Atticus, Jim rips up her treasured flower bed. As a punishment, Mrs. Dubose wants Jim to come down and read to her every day for a few weeks. When Jim reads to her though, after a while she begins to shake, then Jim and Scout are sent out of the house. After finishing reading to her, a few months later Mrs. Dubose dies. It turns out Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict, and Jim’s reading was helping her get over her addiction. Atticus then tells Jim that she “had real courage.” Jim cannot understand this, because she was such a...
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is an astounding portrayal of Southern tradition and human dignity, a novel whose themes and lessons transcend time and place. The book is narrated by a young girl named Scout who matures over the course of the story from an innocent child to a morally conscience young adult. The cover of the novel displays a knot-holed tree containing a pocket watch and a ball of yarn, accompanied by the silhouette of a mockingbird soaring over the trees through a twilight sky. The portrait on the cover is an emblem that signifies the nature of Scout's maturation and the underlying themes presented by Harper Lee. Lee's signified themes, ethically rich and profoundly humane, epitomize traditional Southern mentality.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper lee, there is a form of Southern dialect. It varies by certain characters and their families, according to their economic class and lack of education. They talk in a certain way depending on where they have grown up, or where they live at the moment. Mirroring the dialect of those who would actually speak that way in the past, and reality.