The Mysterious Boo
Radley
TKAM Ch. 4-6
DICTION
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Diction is the author’s choice of words.
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Denotation: the dictionary definition of a
word
Connotation: the feelings and images
associated with a word

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“Slim” and “Skinny” mean technically the same
thing, but each one has unique associations
Consider:

As for me, I knew nothing except what I
gathered from Time magazine and reading
everything I could lay my hands on at
home, but as I inched sluggishly along
the treadmill of the Maycomb County
school system, I could not help receiving
the impression that I was being cheated out
of something.
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-Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird (32-33)
Journal:
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1. What do you usually think of when you
hear the word “treadmill”? Why does Lee
describe Maycomb’s schools as a
treadmill?
2. Why does Lee choose the words “inch
sluggishly” to describe Scout’s progress?
Why is this an unusual choice of words
when describing progress on a treadmill?
Apply:

Write two sentences that describe your
experience in school. Both should include
a metaphor for the school (such as
treadmill) and a verb (such as inching) to
describe your progress.
Perspective
“First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a
simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot
better with all kinds of folks. You never
really understand a person until you
consider things from his point of view—”
“Sir?”
“—until you climb into his skin and walk
around in it.”
Rewriting History

As a pod, pick one of the following scenes:

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Each person in your pod needs to select a character:

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Finding Gifts in the Tree
The Tire Game
“Boo Radley”
The Pants Go Missing
Atticus
Boo Radley
Ms. Maudie
Mr. Nathan Radley
Rewrite the scene from their perspective.

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Consider what that character values
How he/she acts & thinks
How does that change Scout, Jem, and Dill’s ‘innocent’ games?
Literary Questions

In Chapter 5, how does the picture of small town
life in Scout and Ms. Maudie’s evenings create
tension with the other events that surround these
slow evenings?

Why does Harper Lee sandwich stories and come back to
stories like she does?

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(think about how often Boo Radley is mentioned)
How does Harper Lee use light and darkness to
create suspense in chapter 6?
How and why does Harper Lee humanize Boo
Radley?