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Copywork
About This Passage
Harper Lee writes one sentence comparing Mayella's rising confidence with her father's loud bluster. The cat simile — steady-eyed but twitchy-tailed — captures Mayella's caginess perfectly: outwardly composed, inwardly nervous. Lee is signalling that Mayella's testimony is something she is choosing word by word, not something she is honestly remembering.
Apparently Mayella’s recital had given her confidence, but it was not her father’s brash kind: there was something stealthy about hers, like a steady-eyed cat with a twitchy tail.
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell the major moments of Mayella's testimony in order: her opening fragility, the chiffarobe story, the friends question, the doctor question, the demonstration of Tom Robinson's crippled left arm, and the final outburst against the 'fine fancy gentlemen.'
Discussion Questions
- Mayella seems 'fragile-looking' when she raises her hand to swear, but Scout immediately revises that to 'a thick-bodied girl accustomed to strenuous labor.' What is Lee revealing about Mayella through that small correction?
- Atticus walks slowly to the windows and stares out before asking each question of Mayella, calling it his 'slow pilgrimage to the windows.' Why does this slow pacing make Mayella more uncomfortable than a quick, sharp style of cross-examination would?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Based on what a person can see or has reason to believe.
Item 2
A spoken account of events told in order, often as if rehearsed.
Item 3
Done secretly and quietly to avoid being noticed.
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Critical Thinking
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