To Kill a Mockingbird Social Studies

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words only definitions & notes
  1. schoolyard
    the yard associated with a school
    The Maycomb school
    grounds adjoined the back of the Radley lot; from the Radley chickenyard tall
    pecan trees shook their fruit into the schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the
    children: Radley pecans would kill you.
  2. Reverend
    a title of respect for a clergyman
    Don’t pay no ‘tention to
    Lula, she’s contentious because Reverend Sykes threatened to church her.
  3. courthouse
    a building that houses judicial courts
    Atticus’s office in the courthouse contained little more
    than a hat rack, a spittoon, a checkerboard and an unsullied Code of Alabama.
  4. air rifle
    a gun that propels a projectile by compressed air
    He declined to let
    us take our air rifles to the Landing (I had already begun to think of shooting
    Francis) and said if we made one false move he’d take them away from us for
    good.
  5. jury
    a body of citizens sworn to give a verdict in a court of law
    The jury
    couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells’—
    are you acquainted with the Ewells?”
  6. courtroom
    a room in which a lawcourt sits
    It took Atticus’s courtroom voice to drag us away from the tree.
  7. double first
    a first-class honours degree in two subjects
    Double first cousin.”
  8. jury box
    an enclosure within a courtroom for the jury
    We were surprised to find that we had been
    gone nearly an hour, and were equally surprised to find the courtroom exactly as
    we had left it, with minor changes: the jury box was empty, the defendant was
    gone; Judge Taylor had been gone, but he reappeared as we were seating
    ourselves.
  9. disorderly conduct
    any act of molesting, interrupting, hindering, agitating, or arousing from a state of repose or otherwise depriving inhabitants of the peace and quiet to which they are entitled
    The town decided something had to
    be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he
    was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came
    before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace,
    assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and
    hearing of a female.
  10. group dynamics
    the branch of social psychology that studies the psychodynamics of interaction in social groups
    Indeed,
    they were an endless Project that slowly evolved into a Unit, in which miles of
    construction paper and wax crayon were expended by the State of Alabama in its
    well-meaning but fruitless efforts to teach me Group Dynamics.
  11. capital offense
    a crime so serious that it can result in the death penalty
    “You know rape’s a capital offense in Alabama,” said Atticus.
  12. Braxton Bragg
    Confederate general during the American Civil War who was defeated by Grant in the battle of Chattanooga (1817-1876)
    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.
  13. corroborating evidence
    a collection of facts that backs up someone's story
    All the spectators were as relaxed as Judge Taylor, except Jem. His mouth was
    twisted into a purposeful half-grin, and his eyes happy about, and he said
    something about corroborating evidence, which made me sure he was showing off.
  14. sheriff
    the principal law-enforcement officer in a county
    Mrs. Radley ran screaming into the street that Arthur was killing them all, but
    when the sheriff arrived he found Boo still sitting in the livingroom, cutting up the
    Tribune.
  15. jail
    a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence)
    His
    first two clients were the last two persons hanged in the Maycomb County jail.
  16. defendant
    someone against whom an action is brought in a court of law
    “Maybe he doesn’t have anywhere to run off to…”
    Contents - Prev / Next
    Chapter 15
    After many telephone calls, much pleading on behalf of the defendant, and a long
    forgiving letter from his mother, it was decided that Dill could stay.
  17. shotgun
    firearm that is a double-barreled smoothbore shoulder weapon for firing shot at short ranges
    Halfway through the collards I tripped; as I tripped the roar of a shotgun shattered
    the neighborhood.
  18. body English
    a motion of the body by a player as if to make an object already propelled go in the desired direction
    I was beginning to learn his body English.
  19. probate
    act or process of proving that a will was properly executed
    The town decided something had to
    be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he
    was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came
    before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace,
    assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and
    hearing of a female.
  20. schoolhouse
    a building where young people receive education
    Often as not, Miss Maudie and I
    would sit silently on her porch, watching the sky go from yellow to pink as the
    sun went down, watching flights of martins sweep low over the neighborhood and
    disappear behind the schoolhouse rooftops.
  21. Negro
    a person with dark skin who comes from Africa
    A Negro would not pass the Radley Place at night, he would cut
    across to the sidewalk opposite and whistle as he walked.
  22. Hitler
    German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945)
    When his turn came, he went to the
    front of the room and began, “Old Hitler—”
    “Adolf Hitler, Cecil,” said Miss Gates.
  23. burgle
    enter and rob a dwelling
    “But why should he try to burgle John Taylor’s house?
  24. reading
    written material intended to be read
    Miss Caroline began the day by reading us a story about cats.
  25. carnal knowledge
    the act of engaging in sexual intercourse
    He sighed, and said rape was carnal knowledge of a female by force and without
    consent.
  26. circumstantial evidence
    evidence providing only a basis for inference about the fact in dispute
    We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that
    Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with
    his left.
  27. gambling hell
    a public building in which a variety of games of chance can be played (operated as a business)
    They did little, but
    enough to be discussed by the town and publicly warned from three pulpits: they
    hung around the barbershop; they rode the bus to Abbottsville on Sundays and
    went to the picture show; they attended dances at the county’s riverside gambling
    hell    , the Dew-Drop Inn & Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole
    whiskey.
  28. lawyer
    a professional person authorized for legal practice
    1960
    TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
    by Harper Lee
    Copyright (C) 1960 by Harper Lee
    Copyright (C) renewed 1988 by Harper Lee
    Published by arrangement with McIntosh and Otis, Inc.
    CONTENTS
    l DEDICATION
    l PART ONE
    m Chapter 1
    m Chapter 2
    m Chapter 3
    m Chapter 4
    m Chapter 5
    m Chapter 6
    m Chapter 7
    m Chapter 8
    m Chapter 9
    m Chapter 10
    m Chapter 11
    l PART TWO
    m Chapter 12
    m Chapter 13
    m Chapter 14
    m Chapter 15
    m Chapter 16
    m Chapter 17
    m Chapter 18
    m Chapter 19
    m Chapter 20
    m Chapter 21
    m Chapter 22
    m Chap...
  29. hung jury
    a jury that is unable to agree on a verdict
    “If we’d had two of that crowd, we’d’ve had a hung jury.”
  30. Battle of the Marne
    a World War I battle in northwestern France where the Allies defeated the Germans in 1918
    If she found a blade of nut grass in her yard it was like the Second
    Battle of the Marne: she swooped down upon it with a tin tub and subjected it to
    blasts from beneath with a poisonous substance she said was so powerful it’d kill
    us all if we didn’t stand out of the way.
  31. jury system
    a legal system for determining the facts at issue in a law suit
    “I’m no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the jury
    system    —that is no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality.
  32. gouge
    an impression in a surface, as made by a blow
    “Don’t blame me when he gouges your
    eyes out.
  33. solicitor
    a British lawyer who gives legal advice
    To reach the courtroom, on the second floor, one passed sundry sunless county
    cubbyholes: the tax assessor, the tax collector, the county clerk, the county
    solicitor, the circuit clerk, the judge of probate lived in cool dim hutches that
    smelled of decaying record books mingled with old damp cement and stale urine.
  34. ex cathedra
    with the full authority of the office
    I remembered something he had
    said about Judge Taylor’s ex cathedra remarks sometimes exceeding his duty, but
    that few lawyers ever did anything about them.
  35. Lafayette
    a university town in west central Indiana on the Wabash River
    When I was almost six and Jem was nearly ten, our summertime boundaries
    (within calling distance of Calpurnia) were Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose’s house
    two doors to the north of us, and the Radley Place three doors to the south.
  36. cross-examination
    the questioning of a witness by an opposing attorney
    Never, never, never, on
    cross-examination ask a witness a question you don’t already know the answer to,
    was a tenet I absorbed with my baby-food.
  37. jailhouse
    a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence)
    He covered the courthouse and jailhouse news simply by looking out his
    upstairs window.
  38. perpetrate
    perform an act, usually with a negative connotation
    You’ve perpetrated a near libel here in the front yard.
  39. congregation
    the act of assembling
    It was dim inside, with a damp
    coolness slowly dispelled by the gathering congregation.
  40. flintlock
    an obsolete gunlock that has flint embedded in the hammer
    Said Cousin Joshua said he wasn’t anything but a sewerinspector
    and tried to shoot him with an old flintlock pistol, only it just blew up in
    his hand.
  41. near miss
    an accidental collision that is narrowly avoided
    Jem, who hadn’t been near Miss Maudie’s scuppernong arbor since last summer,
    and who knew Miss Maudie wouldn’t tell Atticus if he had, issued a general
    denial.
  42. secede
    withdraw from an organization or polity
    (When Alabama seceded from the Union
    on January 11, 1861, Winston County seceded from Alabama, and every child in
    Maycomb County knew it.)
  43. battle of Hastings
    the decisive battle in which William the Conqueror (duke of Normandy) defeated the Saxons under Harold II (1066) and thus left England open for the Norman Conquest
    Being Southerners, it was a source of shame to some members of the family that
    we had no recorded ancestors on either side of the Battle of Hastings.
  44. caste system
    social structure in which classes are determined by heredity
    There was indeed a caste system in Maycomb, but to my mind it worked this way:
    the older citizens, the present generation of people who had lived side by side for
    years and years, were utterly predictable to one another: they took for granted
    attitudes, character shadings, even gestures, as having been repeated in each
    generation and refined by time.
  45. secondary education
    education beyond the elementary grades
    The other boys attended the industrial school and received the best secondary
    education     to be had in the state; one of them eventually worked his way through
    engineering school at Auburn.
  46. circumstantial
    suggesting that something is true without proving it
    We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that
    Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with
    his left.
  47. hypnotize
    induce a state that resembles sleep in
    With one phrase he had turned happy picknickers
    into a sulky, tense, murmuring crowd, being slowly hypnotized by gavel taps
    lessening in intensity until the only sound in the courtroom was a dim pink-pinkpink:
    the judge might have been rapping the bench with a pencil.
  48. immaterial
    lacking importance; not mattering one way or the other
    “Can’t see what witness’s literacy
    has to do with the case, irrelevant’n‘immaterial.”
  49. back end
    the side of an object that is opposite its front
    Jem, somebody was-”
    “Yes you will, you’ll watch the back end of the lot and Dill’s gonna watch the
    front of the house an‘ up the street, an’ if anybody comes he’ll ring the bell.
  50. dictum
    an authoritative declaration
    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.
  51. tutorial
    a session of intensive instruction
    Jem, educated on a half-Decimal half-
    Duncecap basis, seemed to function effectively alone or in a group, but Jem was a
    poor example: no tutorial system devised by man could have stopped him from
    getting at books.
  52. reform school
    correctional institution for the detention and discipline and training of young or first offenders
    If you aren’t sent to the
    reform school before next week, my name’s not Dubose!”
  53. Andrew Jackson
    7th president of the US
    I said if he wanted to take a broad view of the thing, it really began with Andrew
    Jackson    .
  54. schooldays
    the time of life when you are going to school
    Contents - Prev / Next
    Chapter 4
    The remainder of my schooldays were no more auspicious than the first.
  55. delete
    cut or eliminate
    Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have
    the facts.
  56. contentious
    showing an inclination to disagree
    “Ain’t got no mother,” was the answer, “and their paw’s right contentious.”
  57. assault and battery
    an assault in which the assailant makes physical contact
    The town decided something had to
    be done; Mr. Conner said he knew who each and every one of them was, and he
    was bound and determined they wouldn’t get away with it, so the boys came
    before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace,
    assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and
    hearing of a female.
  58. pulpit
    a platform raised to give prominence to the person on it
    They did little, but
    enough to be discussed by the town and publicly warned from three pulpits: they
    hung around the barbershop; they rode the bus to Abbottsville on Sundays and
    went to the picture show; they attended dances at the county’s riverside gambling
    hell, the Dew-Drop Inn & Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole
    whiskey.
  59. real property
    property consisting of houses and land
    Contents - Prev / Next
    Chapter 11
    When we were small, Jem and I confined our activities to the southern
    neighborhood, but when I was well into the second grade at school and
    tormenting Boo Radley became passe, the business section of Maycomb drew us
    frequently up the street past the real property of Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose.
  60. school day
    any day on which school is in session
    Jem said he reckoned he wasn’t, he’d passed
    the Radley Place every school day of his life.
  61. papoose
    an American Indian infant
    Those unable to sit were strapped papoose-style on their mothers’ backs,
    or resided in extra cotton bags.
  62. classmate
    an acquaintance that you go to school with
    He was much older than the parents of our school contemporaries, and
    there was nothing Jem or I could say about him when our classmates said, “My
    father—”
    Jem was football crazy.
  63. churchgoer
    a religious person who goes to church regularly
    Judge Taylor was not a Sunday-night
    churchgoer: Mrs. Taylor was.
  64. duress
    compulsory force or threat
    Mr. Merriweather, a faithful Methodist under duress, apparently saw nothing
    personal in singing, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch
    like me…” It was the general opinion of Maycomb, however, that Mrs.
    Merriweather had sobered him up and made a reasonably useful citizen of him.
  65. edification
    uplifting enlightenment
    “No,” said Atticus, “putting his life’s history on display for the edification of the
    neighborhood.”
  66. devilry
    wicked and cruel behavior
    Dill was a villain’s villain: he could get into any character part assigned him, and
    appear tall if height was part of the devilry required.
  67. William Jennings Bryan
    United States lawyer and politician who advocated free silver and prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925)
    “Look at all those folks—you’d think William Jennings Bryan was
    speakin‘.”
  68. Confederate Army
    the southern army during the American Civil War
    For the life of me, I did not understand how he could sit there in cold
    blood and read a newspaper when his only son stood an excellent chance of being
    murdered with a Confederate Army relic.
  69. Spanish-American War
    a war between the United States and Spain in 1898
    Backstage, Cecil and I found the narrow hallway teeming with people: adults in
    homemade three-corner hats, Confederate caps, Spanish-American War hats, and
    World War helmets.
  70. impedimenta
    the baggage and equipment carried by an army
    There was no sign of piano, organ, hymn-books, church programs—the familiar
    ecclesiastical impedimenta we saw every Sunday.
  71. majority rule
    the doctrine that the numerical majority of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group
    The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s
    conscience.”
  72. connive
    form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner
    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, frankly I couldn’t meet his eye, and the day I
    can’t do that I’ll know I’ve lost him.
  73. misdemeanor
    a crime less serious than a felony
    In Maycomb County, hunting out of season was a
    misdemeanor at law, a capital felony in the eyes of the populace.
  74. wrongful
    not just or fair
    The
    Haverfords had dispatched Maycomb’s leading blacksmith in a misunderstanding
    arising from the alleged wrongful detention of a mare, were imprudent enough to
    do it in the presence of three witnesses, and insisted that the-son-of-a-bitch-had-itcoming-
    to-him was a good enough defense for anybody.
  75. acquittal
    a judgment of not guilty
    It was either a straight acquittal or nothing.”
  76. break camp
    leave a camp
    When Atticus returned he told me to break camp.
  77. trial
    the act of testing something
    Dill was becoming
    something of a trial anyway, following Jem about.
  78. law practice
    the practice of law
    Atticus’s office was in the courthouse when he began his law practice, but after
    several years of it he moved to quieter quarters in the Maycomb Bank building.
  79. ambrosia
    the food and drink of the gods
    But her cooking made up for everything: three kinds of meat, summer vegetables
    from her pantry shelves; peach pickles, two kinds of cake and ambrosia
    constituted a modest Christmas dinner.
  80. incestuous
    relating to or involving incest
    Would you say the Finches have an Incestuous Streak?”
  81. litigant
    a party to a lawsuit
    When asked upon what
    grounds, Judge Taylor said, “Champertous connivance,” and declared he hoped to
    God the litigants were satisfied by each having had their public say.
  82. pleading
    begging
    They persisted in
    pleading Not Guilty to first-degree murder, so there was nothing much Atticus
    could do for his clients except be present at their departure, an occasion that was
    probably the beginning of my father’s profound distaste for the practice of
    criminal law.
  83. Old Testament
    the collection of books comprising the sacred scripture of the Hebrews and recording their history as the chosen people; the first half of the Christian Bible
    Miss Maudie’s face likened such an
    occurrence unto an Old Testament pestilence.
  84. dipper
    a ladle that has a cup with a long handle
    An oppressive odor met us when we crossed the threshold, an odor I had met
    many times in rain-rotted gray houses where there are coal-oil lamps, water
    dippers, and unbleached domestic sheets.
  85. due process of law
    (law) the administration of justice according to established rules and principles; based on the principle that a person cannot be deprived of life or liberty or property without appropriate legal procedures and safeguards
    Senseless
    killing—Tom had been given due process of law to the day of his death; he had
    been tried openly and convicted by twelve good men and true; my father had
    fought for him all the way.
  86. ghoul
    an evil spirit or ghost
    We squandered our first nickels on the House of Horrors, which
    scared us not at all; we entered the black seventh-grade room and were led around
    by the temporary ghoul in residence and were made to touch several objects
    alleged to be component parts of a human being.
  87. unorganized
    not having or belonging to a structured whole
    Until then, Halloween in Maycomb was a completely unorganized
    affair.
  88. vacate
    leave behind empty; move out of
    Atticus picked up the Mobile Press and sat down in the rocking chair Jem had
    vacated.
  89. rounder
    a tool for rounding corners or edges
    In the glare from the streetlight, I could see Dill hatching one: his eyes widened,
    his fat cherub face grew rounder.
  90. legislature
    an assembly that makes, amends, or repeals laws
    She was a Graham
    from Montgomery; Atticus met her when he was first elected to the state
    legislature.
  91. bootlegger
    someone who makes or sells illegal goods
    Bootleggers caused enough trouble in the
    Quarters, but women were worse.
  92. Missouri Compromise
    an agreement in 1820 between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States concerning the extension of slavery into new territories
    “Tell you, Atticus,” Cousin
    Ike would say, “the Missouri Compromise was what licked us, but if I had to go
    through it agin I’d walk every step of the way there an‘ every step back jist like I
    did before an’ furthermore we’d whip ‘em this time… now in 1864, when
    Stonewall Jackson came around by—I beg your pardon, young folks.
  93. Supreme Court of the United States
    the highest federal court in the United States
    It can be the Supreme Court of
    the United States     or the humblest J.P. court in the land, or this honorable court
    which you serve.
  94. democracy
    the orientation of those who favor government by the people
    She printed DEMOCRACY in
    large letters.
  95. indigenous
    originating where it is found
    The class
    murmured apprehensively, should she prove to harbor her share of the
    peculiarities indigenous to that region.
  96. commute
    a regular journey to and from your place of work
    “He’ll go to the chair,” said Atticus, “unless the Governor commutes his sentence.
  97. school year
    the period of time each year when the school is open and people are studying
    If the remainder of the school year
    were as fraught with drama as the first day, perhaps it would be mildly
    entertaining, but the prospect of spending nine months refraining from reading
    and writing made me think of running away.
  98. Confederate
    of or having to do with the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War
    Cousin Ike Finch was Maycomb
    County’s sole surviving Confederate veteran.
Created on Thu Feb 17 20:01:31 EST 2011

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