To Kill a Mockingbird- figurative language

Anjalee Sadwani
English Coburn P.3.

Figurative language of To Kill A Mockingbird, book one

Figurative language
Chapter 1

Personification: “May comb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it” (5). “…and the house was still” (15).
Metaphor: “She was all angles and bones…” (6)
“Mrs. Dubose was plain hell” (6).
” Dill was a curiosity” (7).
” Mr Radley’s posture was ramrod straight” (12).
Hyperbole: “…the meanest man God ever blew breath into” (12).

Simile: “Her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard” (6). Personification-“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when i first knew it” (pg5) Simile-“…and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting of sweat and sweet talcum”(pg5) Metaphor-“MrsDubose was plain hell”(pg6)

“Inside the house lived a malevolent Phantom”(pg8)
Hyperbole-“…That’s why his hands were blood stained-if you ate an animal raw you could never wash the blood off”(pg13)

Chapter 2

by Minjung

Simile – ” She looked and smelled like a peppermint drop. ” (p16) ” By the time Mrs. Cat called the drugstore for an order of chocolate malted mice the class was wriggling like a bucketful of catawba worms. ” (p16) Hyperbole – ” A storm of laughter broke loose when it finally occurred to the class that
Miss caroline had whipped me. ” (p22)

Personification – ” Molasses buckets appeared from nowhere, and the ceiling danced with metallic light. “(p19) ” I saw a muscle jump in his skinny jaw. ” (p19)

Onomatopoeia – ” I heard an unfamiliar jingle in Jem’s pockets. ” (p16)

Metaphor – “She was a pretty little thing.” (p22)

Visual Imagery – “, following Jem’s RedJacket”

Page 16 “She looked and smelled like a peppermint drop” Simile

Page 17 “Let’s not let our imaginations run away with us, dear” Personification

Page 19 “Molasses buckets appeared from nowhere, and the ceiling danced with metallic light” Personification

Page 22 “If I hear another sound from this room I’ll burn everybody in it.” Hyperbole

Personification: “she looked and smelled like a pepermint drop.”pg 17. “the cats had long conversations with each other, they wore cunning little clothers and lived in a warm house beneath a kitchen stove.”pg 17. “lets not let our imaginations run away with us dear.”pg18.” the cieling danced with light.”pg20. ” i saw a muscle jump in his skinny jaw.”pg20. “the first grade exploded again.”pg 23.

Hyperbole: “molases buckets apear from nowhere.”pg20.

Chapter 3

Personification: “But he’s gone and drowned his dinner in syrup.”(pg 24)

“I hated Calpurnia steadily until a sudden shriek shattered my resentments”

“The boy’s condescension flashed to anger” Hyperbole

Chapter 4

Symbolism: “I could not help recieving the impression that i was being cheated out of something” (33) Hyperbole: “Don’t you know that you’re not suppose to even touch the trees over there? You’ll get killed if you do!” (33)

Figurative Language Chapter 4
“Some tinfoil was sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun” (pg 33) – Personification “I licked it and waited for a while. When I did not die I crammed it into my mouth” (pg 33) – Hyperbole “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to even touch the trees over there? You’ll get killed if you do!” (pg 33) – Hyperbole “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 thousand colors in a parched landscape; but most of all, summer was Dill (pg 34) – Metaphor “Mrs. Dubose was the meanest old woman who ever lived.” (pg 35) – Hyperbole “He was as good as his worst performance; his worst performance was gothic” (pg 39) – Simile/Metaphor “Jem was a born hero” (pg 39) – Metaphor

Chapter 5
Metaphor:
“Dill was becoming something of a trial anyway, following Jem about.” (41) “… a chameleon lady who worked in her flower beds in an old straw hat and men’s coveralls,…” “…, she had an acid tongue in her head,…” (44)

Simile:
“If she found a blade of nut grass in her yard it was like the Second Battle of the Marne…” (42) “You act like you grew ten inches in the night!’ (46)

Hyperbole:

“She swooped down upon it with a tin tub and subjected she said was so from beneath with a poisonous substance she said it so powerful it’d kill us all if we didn’t stand out of the way.” (42) “Miss Maudie’s benevolence extended to Jem and Dill, whenever they paused in their pursuits: we reaped the benefits of a talent Miss Maudie had hitherto kept hidden from us. She mad the best cakes in the neighborhood.” (43) “‘Call a little louder Jack Finch, and they’ll hear you at the post office, I haven’t heard you yet!’” (44)

Chapter 6
Figurative Language

Hyperbole: “You’ve got us in a box, Jem,” I muttered. (52)

Simile: ” Jem’s white shirt-tail dipped and bobbed like a small ghost dancing away to escape the coming morning” (57).

Chapter 7
Figurative Language

Metaphor- ” Jem waved my words away as if fanning gnats.” (58) ” I tried to climb into Jem’s skin.” (pg 57)

Hyperbole- ” Summer drifts into Autumn.” (pg 59)
” Jem Walked on eggs.” (pg 61)

Chapter 9

Metaphor
“I should be a rain of sunshine in my father’s lonely life” (81)

Simile
“One had to behave like a sunbeam” (81)

Hyperbole
“…gave me the sensation of settling slowly to the bottom of the ocean.” (81)