CXC English

Hello there! It’s time for us to close off our studies in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, so this week we just look at a couple of minor characters. For your English A revision, we take a look at problematic constructions and the apostrophe. Read on now, and enjoy your CXC English page.

ENGLISH B— Narrative devices in To Kill a Mockingbird

We’ve come to the end of our studies in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. This week we look at a few characters we haven’t discussed already.

It’s useful to ask yourself WHY specific characters were introduced into the novel because that will help you understand what the main themes are. We are going to list a few characters here to give you an idea of what we mean—and you can continue the process for yourselves.

What’s the point of Mr Radley’s putting cement in the tree-knot? That shows us how cruel his treatment of Boo has been—denying him any communication with other people or any possibility of forming friendships.

What’s the point of including Aunt Alexandra in the story? Because she contrasts with Atticus, showing off his good points. She is full of class prejudice, and criticizes Atticus for allowing his children to associate with people from a ‘lower class’. She is full of racial prejudice, and would be glad to get rid of Calpurnia from Atticus’s home. She is self-righteous—thinking that she’s a fine Christian for entertaining the Missionary Society do-gooders, when there are social problems in her own community that she totally ignores. Her ‘mothering’ skills have produced a kid like Francis—not much of an advertisement for her! Yet even Aunt Alexandra has some good in her, as we see in the incident involving Miss Maudie and Mrs. Merriweather in Chapter 24. (Did you miss that one? Read it and check it out!). Can you think of other good points in Aunt Alexandra? And how does Atticus treat her, even though he often disagrees with her?

What’s the point of having Mr. Link Deas in the story? Remember that he gives Helen Robinson a job when Tom is killed. He’s a white man, but he has a heart, and he cares about Helen—even to the point of protecting her when Bob Ewell tries stalking her. Harper Lee is making the point that although horrendous racism is prevalent in Maycomb, not all the whites are part of it. Can you think of other whites in the novel, beside Atticus and Link Deas, who are clearly not racist?

Why is Dolphus Raymond in the novel? Dolphus Raymond is not racist at all; indeed, he lives with a black woman, and has children with her. He simply does not care about the opinion of his fellow whites—which is evident in the way he pretends to be forever drinking alcohol so that they will have something to gossip about! In the novel, we see that many of Maycomb’s residents are so concerned about public opinion that they are afraid to follow their conscience—but not Dolphus!

For You to Do

Make a list of the minor characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, and say what role each of them plays in conveying the message of the novel and/or in affecting us emotionally by their actions.

SPELLING

Here are 15 words that are frequently misspelt. Ask someone to test you and see if you can spell all of them correctly.

Address, occupation, negligent, subside, similarly, absorbent, apprehensive, commissioner, statue, treacherous, solemn, separate, tendency, marriage, challenge.

HARDLY…WHEN and NO SOONER…THAN

Let’s get some practice with these two constructions. Look at these sentences first, though. A. We had hardly settled down to sleep when we heard knocking at the door. B. Hardly had we settled down to sleep when we heard knocking at the door. (Inverted word order) A. We had no sooner settled down to sleep than we heard knocking at the door. B. No sooner had we settled down to sleep than we heard knocking at the door. (Inverted word order) Notice that the word order changes when you put HARDLY or NO SOONER at the beginning of the sentence. Change these sentences to follow the pattern AB/AB given above: 1. She had only just picked up the telephone when the doorbell rang. 2. He had only just turned onto the highway when he noticed the police car. 3. We found the key and then remembered we had left the children in the car. 4. Jim arrived at the airport and straight away heard his flight being called. 5. I had just slipped out of the classroom when I saw the headmaster heading towards the gate.

USING THE APOSTROPHE

We use the apostrophe a) for contracted forms b) to show possession. Here are some contracted forms with the apostrophe: he’ll, she’d, wouldn’t, hadn’t, where’s, they’re Notice that in each case, the apostrophe replaces the omitted letter or letters. To form the possessive, add ‘s to the noun: the boy’s cap, the teacher’s moustache, the announcer’s Spanish accent If the noun already ends in –s, simply add the apostrophe: ladies’ voices, babies’ diapers, immigrants’ belongings.

If the noun is a person’s name ending in –s, you may add ‘s or simply the apostrophe (either form is acceptable, though it is more usual to add –s) :

Mr. Williams’ book OR Mr. Williams’s book, Keats’ poetry OR Keats’s poetry. We also use the apostrophe in a few phrases like these: In an hour’s time, three weeks’ sick leave, two months’ notice.

WHEN NOT TO USE THE APOSTROPHE

With just a few exceptions, we use the apostrophe to indicate possession ONLY with human beings:

Jaden’s socks, the doctor’s waiting room, the actors’ changing room, the mechanic’s tools. For non-human nouns, we use OF: the handle of the knife, the sole of my shoe, the gradient of the hill, the roof of the house.

OVER TO YOU

To see how well you have mastered the principles regarding use of the apostrophe, work through these exercises (taken from Mastering Modern English by R.B. Etherton).

AUse an apostrophe or ‘s to combine the following words as in the examples: The girls—shoes; the girls’ shoes The man—voice; the man’s voice a) Peter—hands b) my friend—father c) the women—dresses d) my sister—school e) the policeman—hat f) the babies—food g) the lady—car h) Adeniyi—relatives i) James—brother j) Mr. Smith—car k) the employees—pay

BCombine the following by using an apostrophe or 1. the ruler—the end 2. the announcer—voice 3. the soldiers—weapons 4. my cousin—house 5. my cousins—bicycles 6. the bus—the back 7. the path—the width 8. the fight—the noise 9. the fire—the scene 10. the captain—decision 11. my parents—opinions 12. the workers—union

NB It is wrong to write something like this: The woman who lives over the river’s handbag…X Or this:

The woman’s handbag who lives over the river…X lives over the river)

Instead, write: ‘s (It’s not the river’s bag) (It’s not the handbag that

The handbag of the woman who lives over the river…

or of:

ANSWERS Over to you. Peter’s hands, my friend’s father, the women’s dresses, my sister’s school, the policeman’s hat, the babies’ food, the lady’s car, Adeniyi’ relatives, James’s brother, Mr. Smith’s car, the employees’ pay.

the end of the ruler, the announcer’s voice, the soldiers’ weapons, my cousin’s house, my cousins’ bicycles, the back of the bus, the width of the path, the noise of the fight, the scene of the fire, the captain’s decision, my parents’ opinions, the workers’ union.