1. Literary Terms Bootcamp: TKAM and Beyond
Please copy the following notes into the Class Notes section of your notebook.

2. Simile
A figure of speech that says that one thing is like another different thing. We can use similes to make descriptions more emphatic or vivid.

3. Similes in TKAM
“Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum” (Lee 6).
“The Radley place fascinated Dill. In spite of our warnings it drew him as the moon draws water…” (Lee 8).

4. Metaphor
A figure of speech that says that one thing is another different thing. This allows us to use fewer words and forces the reader or listener to find the similarities.

5. Metaphors in TKAM
“Then I heard Atticus cough. I held my breath. Sometimes when we made a midnight pilgrimage to the bathroom we would find him reading” (Lee 57).
“I had never thought about it, but summer was Dill by the fish pool smoking string, Dill’s eyes alive with complicated plans to make Boo Radley emerge; summer was the swiftness with which Dill would reach up and kiss me when Jem was not looking…(Lee 116).

6. Personification
Giving human traits (qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics) to non-living objects (things, colors, qualities, or ideas).

7. Personification in TKAM
“The warm bittersweet smell of clean Negro welcomed us as we entered the churchyard – Hearts of Love hairdressing mingled with asafoetida, snuff, Heart’s Cologne, Brown’s Mule, peppermint, and lilac talcum” (Lee 118).
“The house was the same, droopy and sick, but as we stared down the street we thought we saw an inside shutter move. Flick. A tiny, almost invisible movement and the house was still” (Lee 15).

8. Hyperbole
A figure of speech that uses an exaggerated or extravagant statement to create a strong emotional response. As a figure of speech it is not intended to be taken literally. Hyperbole is frequently used for humor.

9. Hyperbole in TKAM
“The world's endin', Atticus! Please do something-!” I dragged him to the window and pointed (Lee 86).
“Dill’s imagination offered an unrealistic passage of time, demands of an appetite, and growth of facial hair!”

10. Allusion
A figure of speech that makes a reference to, or a representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication.
M. H. Abrams defines allusion as "a brief reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place or event, or to another literary work or passage.”

11. Allusion in TKAM
“Dill had seen Dracula, a revelation that moved Jem to eye him with the beginning of respect” (Lee 9).
“Our first raid came to pass only because Dill bet Jem The Gray Ghost against two Tom Swifts that Jem wouldn’t get any farther than the Radley gate (Lee 16).
“Mr. Avery said it was written on the Rosetta Stone that when children disobeyed their parents, smoked cigarettes and made war on each other, the seasons would change…” (Lee 63).

12. Characterization
The representation in fiction or drama of human character or personality.

13. Characterization in TKAM
“She was horrible. Her face was the color of a dirty pillow case, and the corners of her mouth glistened with wet, which inched like a glacier down the deep grooves enclosing her chin. Old-age liver spots dotted her cheeks, and her pale eyes had black pinpoint pupils…” (Lee 106).

14. On your own… What follows are some more passages from TKAM.
Your job is to write (2) things:
Identify the literary device that is used.
Analyze it… What is Harper Lee trying to say? What does it ultimately mean?

15. What is used here?
“…the business part of the meeting was blood-curdling, the social hour was dreary…She said no more. When Miss Maudie was angry her brevity was icy. Something had made her deeply angry, and her gray eyes were as cold as her voice.”

16. What is used here?
“…the fruits of their industry (those that were not eaten) made the plot of ground around the cabin look like the playhouse of an insane child…” (Lee 170).

17. What is used here?
“There he was, returning to me. His white shirt bobbed over the back fence and slowly grew larger. He came up the back steps, latched the door behind him, and sat on his cot” (Lee 55).

18. What is used here?
“In answer to the clerk’s booming voice, a little bantam cock of a man rose and strutted to the stand, the back of his neck reddining at the sound of his name” (Lee ).

19. Scavenger Hunt!!! On your own…
Try to find examples of each of the literary devices below.
Simile (2)
Metaphor (2)
Personification (2)
Hyperbole (1)
Characterization (1)
Allusion (2)
Be sure to include the page number.
Ex. (Lee 147).
Briefly discuss Harper Lee’s intended effect by the use of that term. In other words, what meaning is Harper Lee trying to convey?

20. Harper Lee’s Usage and Effect
Literary Term
Page #
Example
Harper Lee’s Usage and Effect
Simile
(find 2 examples; one from Part I and one from Part II)
Metaphor
Personification
Characterization
(One example)
Allusion
Hyperbole