Analysis of Style and Structure

Tiffany kuo - Analysis of style and structure

In to Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee used different styles in her writing to make to story sound more interesting and making the reader want to read more. Harper Lee wrote this book in first person, she used 
diction in her writing, and the theme made the reader want to read more.

When reading the book the first thing I noticed was that it was written in first person. Scout Finch is the narrator of the story. When the author writes in first person I feel like it makes a huge difference on how the reader would feel about the story. When the story is written in first person it brings a whole new vibe to the book. “People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything. A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer.” (Lee 6) when Scout says that it makes me as the reader think about how their town in was struggling  during the Great Depression.  SInce it was written in first person narrative it gives off a feeling how she felt during the Great depression.

This story is taking place in the south, so you can tell that Harper Lee wrote the text to fit more of the setting. Since they are in the south Lee wrote more southern. “Shoot no wonder then, said Jem, jerking his thumb at me. Scout yonder’s been readin ever since she was born, and she ain’t even started to school yet. You look right punny for goin’ on seven” (Lee 7) since the Finch’s are in the south Scout and Jem have a southern slang. Jem was talking about how Scout is smart for a kid who hasn’t gone to school yet. He uses words like readin, goin, and ain’t. When Lee writes the words in that certain way it makes the reader know that the character is speaking in a different way. I think that writing in diction make a difference on how the reader feels about the text and how they are reading it.

In this book there were a lot of themes that made the reader want to keep reading like fear and family. In the beginning of the book it quickly goes into the fact that Scout and Jem were afraid of the Radley’s house. “according to neighborhood legend, when the younger Radley buy was in his teens he became acquainted with some of the cunning hams from old sarum, an enormous and confusing tribe domiciled in the northern part of the country, and they formed the nearest thing to a gang ever seen in Maycomb.” when reading that line it gave me the impression that she was possibly afraid and thought that the legend was true. Fear plays a huge role in characters because fear is usually determines what they are going to do next. The Finch’s are a tight nit family. Their father like to be involved with his kids and he always make sures that his kids are doing better for the community instead of doing wrong.

The way that Harper Lee wrote the book brought a whole different dimension to the story. I thought her writing style was great for this story because it made the reader want to keep reading to find out what happens next. Overall I thought that the book was a great read and would recommend it to someone else.