TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Vocabulary
2/21
 “She was only another lady in the neighborhood but a
relatively benign presence….[W]e could play on her lawn”
(42).
 “Miss Maudie’s benevolence extended to Jem and
Dill…[E]very time she baked she made a big cake and three
little ones” (43).
ROOT: BEN=GOOD
 benign (adjective)= harmless
benevolence (noun)= goodwill; desire to do good
to/for others
(other words from root: beneficial, beneficiary, benefit,
benefactor)
BEN=GOOD
 Although pit bulls have a bad reputation, most of them are
benign and sweet and love to cuddle.
 Her benevolence was shown when she volunteered to help clean
the park even though she would not receive community service credit
for her actions.
-NAME SOME PEOPLE/THINGS THAT ARE BENIGN
-NAME A PERSON WHO SHOWS BENEVOLENCE
2/26
“The night-crawlers had retired…and the
darkness was desolate with the barking of
distant dogs” (57).
“Dill and I were halfway to the shelter of the
schoolyard’s solitary oak…” (53).
ROOT: SOLI=ONE
desolate (adjective)= without people; empty; abandoned;
destroyed
solitary (adjective)= alone; isolated
(other words from root: solo, soliloquy, solitude, sole)
SOLI=ONE
 On a Saturday night, the hallways of Penncrest are desolate.
 After he broke up with his girlfriend, Bob took a solitary walk on the beach.
-NAME SOME PLACES THAT ARE DESOLATE
-NAME A TIME WHEN SOMEONE WOULD BE SOLITARY
2/28
Both sentences refer to the Radley family and their house
 “The chinaberry trees were malignant, hovering, alive”
 “Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom”
MAL=BAD
 Malignant: causing harm; harmful; cancerous
 Malevolent: evil
Other words from root “MAL”=malodor, malicious, maltreatment,
malefactor
MAL=BAD
 We were happy to hear the tumor was not malignant.
 Because he assigns a lot of homework and gives impossible tests, students view
Mr. Hanrahan as malevolent when he is just trying to be a good teacher.
 Name some things malignant to one’s health
 Name a malevolent cartoon character
3/4
“I was proceeding on the dim theory, aside from the innate
attractiveness of such words, that if Atticus had discovered I
had picked them up at school, he wouldn’t make me go” (79).
“I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover
besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the
rest of the family-” (83).
ROOT: NAT=TO BE FROM
innate (adjective)= to be born with, natural
(other words from root: natal, native, natural,
renaissance)
ROOT: MORT=MORTAL, DEATH
mortify (verb)= embarrass, humiliate
(other words from root: mortal, immortal, mortality,
mortician, mortuary )
MORT=DEATH,
NAT=TO BE FROM
 Kayla was mortified when her mom took her phone and read all her text
messages!
 Some athletes have an innate ability to jump high and run fast!
 -NAME A TIME YOU (OR A FRIEND) FELT MORTIFIED
 -NAME A PERSON WHO HAS AN INNATE TALENT
3-5
Her use of bathroom invective leaves nothing to the imagination,
but she doesn’t know the meaning of half of what she says—she
asked me what a whore lady was”
“Did you tell her?”
“No, I told her (a story) about Lord Melbourne (instead).”
“When a child asks you something, answer him. They can spot
an evasion quicker than adults and evasion simply muddles
‘em.”
VA S / VA D = T O G O / WA L K
“E” (PREFIX)=OUT OR WITHOUT
 evasion (noun): avoidance; the act of dodging others or an
issue
evade (verb): to avoid or dodge; to cleverly escape
 other words with “vas/vad”: invade, invasion, invasive,
 other words with prefix “e”:exit, eject, emit, explode,
emigrate
VAS / VA D = T O
G O / WA L K
“E” (PREFIX)=OUT OR WITHOUT
 Lying is simply an evasion of the truth.
 To evade the enemy army, the troops trudged through the swamp
rather than walk through the woods where the enemy lay hiding.
 Name something you have tried to evade
3/7
“Jem became vaguely articulate: “ ‘d you see
him, Scout? ‘d you see him just standin’ there?
…’n’ all of a sudden he just relaxed all over, an’ it
looked like that gun was a part of him…” (97).
ROOT: VAG=TO WANDER
vague (adjective)= to be unclear, not detailed
(other words from root: vagabond, vagrant)
VAG= TO WANDER
 Mrs. Kirk’s directions for the paper were very vague. They were: “Write a
paper about a topic.”
 After Jessica got home at 2 AM and her mom asked her where she was,
Jessica gave the vague response, “I was…out…somewhere.”
 NAME A TIME WHERE YOU WERE CONFUSED BY VAGUE
DIRECTIONS
 NAME A TIME WHEN SOMEONE GAVE YOU A VAGUE
EXPLANATION