Literature Analysis #1 : To Kill A Mocking Bird

1.  The plot of this story is told by six year old Jean, nicknamed "Scout".  She is very adventurous, curious, rebellious and is a "tom-boy".  This story is set in a small town named Maycomb, a small town in Alabama in the 1930's.  So around this time is when segregation was still out and existed.  Scout lives with her older brother Jem and their widowed father Atticus, who is a Lawyer here in Maycomb.  Jem, Jean and their summer friend, Dil, are very curious of a mysterious man who lives across the street, Boo Radley. 

2.  The theme in this book is kind of like exploring the nature of human being.  Close to like the difference between evil and good.  Atticus is defending a case  with a case with an African American and of course, all the whites are against him and claiming him guilty of what he had done.  Atticus and the kids are on his side, but Jem is sort of victimized after discovering the evil behind racism during and after the trial.

3.  In the beginning of the novel, Scout describes anecdotes growing up in a small town and the tone is light and sentimental.  Most of this focuses a lot on times when Atticus scolds the kids for bothering their mysterious neighbor across the street, Boo Radley.  Another example is when Jem invites a poorer classmate for lunch, this comes back to a sentimental tone expressing the depression era of the south.  I would think the author drinks tea and has oatmeal in the morning for breakfast.  She gets up early and probably meditates outside in the meadow.

4. 

1. "Punk, punk, punk, her needle broke the taught circle."  This is an onomatopoeia, the bold words helped me almost feel Aunt Alexandra's anger when she was knitting.
2. "Your name's longer'n you are.  Bet it's a foot longer."  Jem is comparing Dil's long last name to his height, this is a metaphor, this helped me understand the break down of the comparison.
3. "The events of the summer hung over us like smoke in a closed room."  This expanded my thoughts on how Scout expresses her heavy feelings as to trapped smoke.
4. Allusion : Helped me understand all the context and references in an event.
5. Personification : Helped me understand the depth of the figurative language used in the book.