Skip to main content

What are examples of anaphora in chapters 1-15 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

Anaphora is a literary device in which the writer or speaker deliberately repeats the first part of a sentence in order to create artistic emphasis. The Literary Devices dictionary gives us the following example of anaphora found in a biblical psalm:


O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me... (Psalms 6:1-2, King James Version)



Here, the repetition of "O LORD" creates anaphora.

In the early chapters Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, one example of anaphora can be found in Scout's early description of Calpurnia, the Finches' cook:



Calpurnia was something else again. She was all angles and bones; she was nearsighted; she squinted; her hand was as wide as a bed slat and twice as hard. She was always ordering me out of the kitchen (Ch. 1).



Since Scout dislikes Calpurnia at the beginning of the novel, Scout uses anaphora to emphasize Calpurnia's negative qualities in an effort to elicit empathy from the reader, in order to help the reader see Calpurnia as the tyrant Scout perceives her to be.

A second example of anaphora can be found in Chapter 4. Scout's very first school year is just about to end, and she expresses her elation at the thought of approaching summer vacation in the following:



Summer was on the way; Jem and I awaited it with impatience. Summer was our best season: it was sleeping on the back screened porch in cots, or trying to sleep in the treehouse; summer was everything good to eat; it was a thousand colors in a parched landscape; but most of all, summer was Dill (Ch. 4).



Here, Scout creates anaphora through her repetition of both "summer was" and "it was" to describe summer as a wonderful time and thereby make the reader empathize with her anticipatory, happy emotions.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How and why does James Gatz become Jay Gatsby? Describe the young Gatsby/Gatz.

James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune,... James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune, whereas they arose from well-to-do families. Gatz became Gatsby through determination and discipline. At the end of the novel, the narr...

In chapter one of The Great Gatsby, what advice does Nick's father give him? How does this make him a good person to tell this story?

Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches... Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches into a discussion of how pe...

What are the cobra's physical features in Rikki-Tikki-Tavi?

There are two cobras that Rikki-tikki faces off against.  Nag is the male cobra and Nagaina is the female cobra.  The first snake that Rikki-tikki sees is Nag, and he is a rather imposing figure. Then inch by inch out of the grass rose up the head and spread hood of Nag, the big black cobra, and he was five feet long from tongue to tail. … he looked at Rikki-tikki with the wicked snake's eyes that never change their expression, whatever the snake may be thinking of. Nag raises himself up and shows off his great hood.  On his hood there is a “spectacle-mark on the back of it that looks exactly like the eye part of a hook-and-eye fastening.”  Rikki-tikki is only intimidated for a moment, and is not tricked when Nagaina tries to come up behind him. Nag and Nagaina know that a mongoose is very bad news for them.  As the new house mongoose, it is Rikki-tikki’s job to kill all of the snakes.  The cobras would definitely be on his hit-list, and this worries them because they have a family...