Harper Lee (1926-2016) Tribute List

Famed author Harper Lee died on February 19, 2016, at the age of 89. For most of her life Lee was famous for having written one extraordinary novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, never having written another book. In recent years, however, Lee emerged from her well-guarded privacy, with the release of an earlier prequel to Mockingbird, Go Set A Watchman. Released among accusations that Lee's agent was trying to steal her royalties Watchman complicated the portrayal of one of the heroes of Mockingbird, Atticus Finch. Here are 15 vocabulary words from To Kill A Mockingbird and from two of the rare interviews Lee granted over the course of her life.

Here are links to our lists for Lee's works: To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abide
    put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.
    -To Kill a Mockingbird
  2. evasion
    a statement that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth
    When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness sake. But don't make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion faster than adults, and evasion simply muddles 'em.
    -To Kill A Mockingbird
  3. kin
    a person related to another or others
    You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.
    - To Kill a Mockingbird
  4. sound
    in good condition; free from defect, damage, or decay
    A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up.
    - To Kill a Mockingbird
  5. resentment
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
    The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box.
    - To Kill a Mockingbird
  6. merciful
    showing or giving forgiveness
    I didn't expect the book to sell in the first place. I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of reviewers but at the same time I sort of hoped that maybe someone would like it enough to give me encouragement. Public encouragement. I hoped for a little, as I said, but I got rather a whole lot, and in some ways this was just about as frightening as the quick, merciful death I'd expected.
    - Interview, 1964
  7. compulsion
    an urge to do something that might be better left undone
    You know, many writers really don't like to write. I think this the chief complaint of so many. They hate to write; they do it under the compulsion that makes any artist the victim he is, but they loathe the process of sitting down trying to turn thoughts into reasonable sentences.
    - Interview, 1964
  8. loathe
    dislike intensely; feel disgust toward
    You know, many writers really don't like to write. I think this the chief complaint of so many. They hate to write; they do it under the compulsion that makes any artist the victim he is, but they loathe the process of sitting down trying to turn thoughts into reasonable sentences.
    - Interview, 1964
  9. aura
    distinctive but intangible quality around a person or thing
    I'm no judge, and the only film I've ever seen made was Mockingbird, but there seemed to be an aura of good feeling on the set. I went out and looked at them filming a little of it, and there seemed to be such a general kindness, perhaps even respect, for the material they were working with. I was delighted, touched, happy, and exceedingly grateful.
    - Interview, 1964
  10. humility
    a lack of arrogance or false pride
    My father is one of the few men I've known who has genuine humility, and it lends him a natural dignity. He has absolutely no ego drive, and so he is one of the most beloved men in this part of the state.
    - Interview, 1961
  11. dignity
    the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect
    My father is one of the few men I've known who has genuine humility, and it lends him a natural dignity. He has absolutely no ego drive, and so he is one of the most beloved men in this part of the state.
    - Interview, 1961
  12. pauper
    a person who is very poor
    But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal -- there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court.
    - To Kill A Mockingbird
  13. sweltering
    excessively hot and humid; marked by sweating and faintness
    Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer's day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning.
    - To Kill A Mockingbird
  14. trudge
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    A boy trudged down the sidewalk dragging a fishing pole behind him. A man stood waiting with his hands on his hips. Summertime, and his children played in the front yard with their friend, enacting a strange little drama of their own invention. It was fall, and his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Dubose's....
    - To Kill A Mockingbird
  15. apprehensive
    in fear or dread of possible evil or harm
    Fall, and his children trotted to and fro around the corner, the day's woes and triumphs on their faces. They stopped at an oak tree, delighted, puzzled, apprehensive.
    - To Kill A Mockingbird
Created on Fri Feb 19 10:45:59 EST 2016 (updated Thu Mar 03 14:46:29 EST 2016)

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