To Kill A Mockingbird (AACT)

He had discarded the abominable blue shorts that were buttoned to his shirts and wore real short pants with a belt; he was somewhat heavier, no taller, and said he had seen his father.

em and I were burdened with the guilt of contributing to the aberrations of nature, thereby causing unhappiness to our neighbors and discomfort to ourselves.

"You think they'll acquit him that fast?" asked Jem.

We could tell, however, when debate became more acrimonious than professional, but this was from watching lawyers other than our father.

She was now standing arms akimbo, her shoulders drooping a little, her head cocked to one side, her glasses winking in the sunlight.

But I kept aloof from their more foolhardy schemes for a while, and on pain of being called a girl, I spent most of the remaining twilights that summer sitting with Miss Maudie Atkinson on her front porch.

Once she heard Jem refer to our father as "Atticus" and her reaction was apoplectic.

All we had was Simon Finch, a fur-trapping apothecary from Cornwall whose piety was exceeded only by his stinginess.

All we had was Simon Finch, a fur-trapping apothecary from Cornwall whose piety was exceeded only by his stinginess.

Jem arbitrated, awarded me first push with an extra time for Dill, and I folded myself inside the tire.

The remainder of my schooldays were no more auspicious than the first.

His sermon was a forthright denunciation of sin, an austere declaration of the motto on the wall behind him: he warned his flock against the evils of heady brews, gambling, and strange women.

His sermon was a forthright denunciation of sin, an austere declaration of the motto on the wall behind him: he warned his flock against the evils of heady brews, gambling, and strange women.

You can't go around making caricatures of the neighbors.

No truant officers could keep their numerous offspring in school; no public health officer could free them from congenital defects, various worms, and the diseases indigenous to filthy surroundings.

No truant officers could keep their numerous offspring in school; no public health officer could free them from congenital defects, various worms, and the diseases indigenous to filthy surroundings.

Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I've tried to live so I can look squarely back at him […] if I connived at something like this (30.37)

Definition: adjective. skeptical

In context: So Simon, having forgotten his teacher's dictum on the possession of human chattels, bought three slaves and with their aid established a homestead on the banks of the Alabama River some forty miles above Saint Stephens.

Definition: adjective. conscientious and careful not to offend, to appear to break rules, or to betray

In context: He declared Egyptians walked that way; I said if they did I didn't see how they got anything done, but Jem said they accomplished more than the Americans ever did, they invented toilet paper and perpetual embalming, and asked where would we be today if they hadn't?

In context: Its fantasy was heightened by its red brick façade and the thick steel bars at its ecclesiastical windows.

In context: One Sunday night, lost in fruity metaphors and florid diction, Judge Taylor's attention was wrenched from the page by an irritating scratching noise.

In context: The internal arrangements of the Finch house were indicative of Simon's guilelessness and the absolute trust with which he regarded his offspring.

In context: Jem's free dispensation of my pledge irked me, but precious noontime minutes were ticking away.

Definition: adjective. ornate, flowery in style

In context: It showed Atticus barefooted and in short pants, chained to a desk: he was diligently writing on a slate while some frivolous looking girls yelled, "Yoo-hoo!" at him.

Definition: adjective. gaudy, flashy

Definition: adjective. naïve, innocent

In context: Lastly, we were to stay away from that house until we were invited there, we were not to play an asinine game he had seen us playing or make fun of anybody on this street or in this town.

Definition: noun. prohibition, restraint

In context: plunging from the shrill kee, kee of the sunflower bird to the irascible qua-ack of a bluejay, to the sad lament of Poor Will, Poor Will, Poor Will.

In context: Still in wrist manacles, he wandered two miles out of Meridian where he discovered a small animal show and was immediately engaged to wash the camel.

In context: But I must say Providence was kind enough to burn down that old mausoleum of mine, I'm too old to keep it up—maybe you're right, Jean Louise, this is a settled neighborhood.

In context: Mayella's hostility, which had subsided to grudging neutrality, flared again.

Definition: adjective. irreverent or disrespectful

In context: Local opinion held Mr. Underwood to be an intense, profane little man, whose father in a fey fit of humor christened Braxton Bragg, a name Mr. Underwood had done his best to live down.

In context: Jem grinned ruefully.

Definition: noun. contemplation; trying to figure something out

Definition: adjective. fake; fraudulent; false

In context: "And so a quiet, respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to 'feel sorry' for a white woman has had to put his word against two white people's."

Definition: adjective. boorish, ill-mannered, slovenly

Definition: adjective. boorish, ill-mannered, slovenly