Preview

To Kill a Mockingbird Research Allusion

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
300 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
To Kill a Mockingbird Research Allusion
To Kill a Mockingbird Research Allusion

In To Kill a Mockingbird allusions are used throughout the book. An allusion is a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication. In chapter 11 Scout uses the allusion, “this looks like you,” to try to cheer Jem up. It was referring to Dixie Hall. He was an American Football player. He played college football as a halfback at the University of Alabama from 1932 to 1934 and with the Washington Redskins of the NFL in 1937. Howell was also the head football coach at Arizona State Teachers College, from 1938 to 1941 and at the University of Idaho from 1947 to 1950, compiling a career coaching record of 36–35–5 in American college football. Dixie Howell was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1970. Howell was one of the best punters. Howell also had an uncredited role in the movie, The Adventures of Frank Merriwell as a football player. Scout’s allusion to Dixie Howell is to comfort Jem since he loves football. By telling him that Dixie Howell looks like him, she is telling him that he comes first and takes precedence over Dixie Howell who was a famous NFL football player and coach. This also shows Scout's deep understanding of Jem. although saying "This looks like you" may seem like a meaningless compliment, Scout knows that because of his love for football and how he is associated with it, this would be a major honor for him to have anything similar to one of the greatest football players at that time. That’s how the allusion is used in the book.

Howell, Dixie. "Dixie Howell - ENotes.com Reference." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    English 3 Honnors

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Allusion: An allusion is a reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture. Puritan writing makes allusions or references to specific passages from the Bible. As you read the sermon, locate the allusions to biblical verses and figures.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The use of allusion by authors is to put an idea in the reader's head. Authors also utilize allusions to refer to an important theme or idea. Mary is delivering meat for her dad to Weylyn in the woods. Weylyn however lives with wolves much to Mary’s surprise. As Mary is talking to Weylyn, he expresses that he likes to read. Mary starts talking about her favorite book, stating, “‘It’s called To Kill a Mockingbird,’ I told Weylyn as I pulled it out of my backpack to show him. ‘Why would you want to kill a mockingbird?’” (Lang 34-35). Lang’s purpose of using an allusion is to bring attention to the similarities between the two novels. In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are a lot of innocent characters throughout the novel, and Lang alludes…

    • 214 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    She uses the symbol of the mockbird to represent two of the main characters. Atticus says, “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” The author uses this quote to introduce Tom Robinson. Tom represents the mockingbird because he was falsely accused of assault and put away in jail. Tom was a kind innocent person that only brought good to the world, and when he was prosecuted it was as if they killed a mockingbird. Miss Maudie then explains the phrase said by Atticus, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except for make music for us to enjoy, they don’t eat up people's gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. Thats why its a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Harper Lee also uses Boo radley as a symbol of the mockingbird because Boo has been secluded in his home for most of his life, the town folks made rumors that Boo was crazy, mental,and psycho. Boo is a mockingbird because when he killed Bob Ewell it was to protect the children and telling the town of what he did would only add ges to the fire. The author used the symbol of the mocking bird to introduce…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many different allusions that define what something or someone is being compared to. An allusion is a reference to a well known person, event, object, or work. In the story, Their Eyes Are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character, Janie, found out what love is and the true meanings of it through many relationships. There were numerous amounts of allusions that related to other novels or bible verses. Janie was put through bad, been jealous of, and told what was best for her.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “He’s nothin’ but a nigger-lover!” is one of the many so called inappropriate texts from one of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The use of the ‘N’ word should remain in the book because it describes the setting of an important period of time, and shows mind set of racist characters. It is simply used for historical recognition and not as an insult.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Johnathon Edwards

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    c. Allusion: An allusion is a reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture. Puritan writing makes allusions or references to specific passages from the Bible. As you read the sermon, locate the allusions to biblical verses and figures.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In a span of a child’s lifetime there are a variety of adults who reflect on child’s maturity. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” the author, Harper Lee provides countless examples of grown –ups that expose the adolescents to mature life morals. She explains how the loss of innocence between the youth makes them recognize the problems that lie within society. Several of the characters are faced with the racial discrimination. Near the end of the book the author shows the children finally accepting others as they are not for whom they want them to be. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, there are many influential figures that help Scout and Jem mature…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Atticus- "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." He is a noble character in search of justice. Connections- Piggy, similar in law and smarts, Simon- Conscience uninfluenced by society. Ralph- Good under pressure.…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    As most people have read the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, many have wondered, what contributes most to the story’s themes? Well, throughout the novel, there are three main literary elements that come into play. In the passage “‘It ain’t right, Atticus…”’(pg.284) to “I looked up, and his face was vehement”(pg.296), Harper Lee uses the literary element character, setting, and tone to develop the theme that recognizing perspectives contributes to coming of age. As many other themes in the novel, the theme will show a change in how Jem starts to view the world, and the major roles included in it, such as racism. But his perspective comes mostly from the kind of character he is.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    did not understand Boo, he was not seen outside of his house and people did not…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Intro Paragraph: “... they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.” (119) Said Miss Maudie to Jem. “That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (119) Lately, there has been a lot of discussions deciding if To Kill A Mockingbird should be taught in school. Based on its incredible morality and true life stories the book should still be taught in schools. For 56 years Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird has been an inescapable fixture of America’s civic religion. Critics Stephen Metcalf and Thomas Fallon continues to argue with traditional views of this beloved novel, arguing that is pompous, irrational, and abhorrent. While Metcalf and Fallon contribute valid criticisms,…

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The loss of human dignity affects people in different ways, but how they procure it defines them. It is a factor that represents how strong or weak they are. This self-worth brings prestige and purpose, without it one can lose himself. In Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” the characters learn about how different people handle redeeming dignity. Through Bob Ewell and Mrs. Dubose, they see the contrast of the strong and the weak, and how they seek it.…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many significant symbols used to represent the different themes in To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the book Harper Lee transmits a message to the reader using examples and symbols to get her point across. Some of these symbols include the dresses, Tim Johnson, and dependencies.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine owning someone. Imagine being able to control every movement of their fragile bones. Imagine making a marionette out of an innocent person. Now consider someone owning you. How would it feel, having to perform every task asked of you and being unable to say no? Perhaps that is how blacks felt in the when slavery began. Long since 1619, when the first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, an American colony, whites were deemed to be privileged.…

    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee took the world by storm in 1960s with a story about southern racism and discrimination. Although the novel focused on small town life in southern Alabama, it influenced the future and success of the Civil Rights Movement. Harper Lee wrote this novel in a childs point of view at the beginning of the Civil Rights Era when events such as the murder of Emmett Till, the lunch counter sit-ins, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott put Alabama at the center of the movement. Throughout this era there was a great deal of racial discrimination and the expectation that no one would try to argue with the whites assumed authority. In Lees book, the focus is centered on the conviction of Tom Robinson, a poor black man. He was convicted of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a notoriously poor white family in a small town called Maycomb. The protagonists father, Atticus, took on the case but only did so because otherwise, I couldnt hold up my head in town, I couldnt represent this county in the legislature, and I couldnt even tell you or Jem not to do something again. Atticus also struggled with the fact that he had no hope of winning due to the race of his client. Ts morbid, watching a poor devil on trial for his life. Look at all those folks, its like a Roman carnival. At the end of the trial, Tom was convicted and sentenced to death, despite undeniable evidence that he was innocent. These results shocked readers and reminded many of the Scottsboro trials and how unfair they were. In addition, the childs point of view on To Kill a Mockingbird allowed many white southerners to question the way the system was if even a child could point out its flaws. After these realizations, the famous novel was quickly made into a movie, expanding its audience even further. After the movies big debut, several significant events occurred, which shaped the Civil Rights Movement and America as we know it today. For example, within a few years,…

    • 543 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics