To Kill a Mockingbird ​SIFT Analysis # 1

Part One Directions: ​Pay close attention to the imagery and figurative language and other literary
devices Jem uses to describe Arthur (Boo) Radley to Scout and Dill. Use the SIFT organizer to record
your analysis of the passage.

“Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his
tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained- if
you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across
his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time”
(Lee 13).

Symbol: Imagery:

Arthur Boo Radley is symbolic of:  Description of Arthur Boo Radley: 

● Feelings during the Great
depression and living in the rural
● Darkness and Evil
● Fear of the unknown
● When Jem is describing Boo he
uses very descriptive words for
example:
--- “Boo was about six-and-a-half
feet tall, judging from his tracks”
--- “His hands were bloodstained”
--- “There was a long jagged scar
that ran across his face”
--- What teeth he had were yellow
and rotten”

Figurative Language: Tone:

 
Personification:  ● Jem uses a demeaning and
--- “There was a long jagged scar that ran disparaging tone to describe Boo
across his face” Radley to Scout and Dill attempting
● The scar is given the ability to to scare them into never crossing
“run” paths with Boo because of the
rumors he had been told about
Hyperboles​: Boo.
--- “His eyes popped”
● This exaggerates their appearance
and the size of his eyes
--- “If you ate an animal raw, you could
never wash the blood off”
● This is an exaggeration of the truth.
Blood can easily be washed from
 hands.

Conclusions/Findings:
● Not many people known Boo Radley personally which makes it hard to
characterize
● He is the source of gossip in Maycomb
● Boo Radley is thought of as animalistic and inhumane
--- Viewed as a monster to outsiders
● He is a recluse/reclusive
--- Because of this he keeps to himself, is private, and therefore mysterious

Part Two Directions:​ Use the analysis recorded in your SIFT organizer to complete a 2-chunk body
paragraph discussing how Lee uses literary devices to characterize Boo. You may wish to consider any of
the following devices: simile, metaphor, symbolism and/or imagery. Be sure to support your assertions
with specific examples from the text and be sure to explain HOW the devices reveal Boo’s characteristics.

2-Chunk Body Paragraph Structure

(You may type your paragraph directly into this chart if you find it to be helpful. Otherwise, feel free
to delete the chart, or provide your response below it)

Topic In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the author, Harper Lee, uses literary
Sentence devices such as figurative language and imagery to characterize Boo Radley, a
man rumored to be scary and evil.

Lead into a In her story, Lee gives a lengthy description of Boo Radley through the
Concrete perspective of one of her younger characters Scout as she listens to her older
Detail brother Jem describe Boo, stating “There was a long jagged scar that ran
 across his face”, and “What teeth he had were yellow and rotten” (Lee 13).

Commentary Jem is giving his sister and their neighbor Dill a scary and bad image of Boo
Radley so they won’t choose to interact with him, due to the nasty rumors that
have been spread about Boo.

Commentary Lee uses imagery to help give the readers a better idea and understanding of
what people throughout the town believe Boo Radley looks like.

Lead into a Jem goes into further detail of his assumed appearance describing his eyes as
Concrete “popped”, and that he “drooled most of the time” (Lee 13).
Detail

Commentary The description of Boo that Lee provides also reflects on what everyone
believes his personality and character to be like, such as evil and monstrous.

Commentary Not only did Lee use imagery and symbolism, but she also used a hyperbole to
exaggerate the looks of Boo Radley and the monster he was presumed to be.

Concluding In conclusion, Harper Lee used many different examples of literary devices
Sentence such as imagery and figurative language to characterize the mysterious and
believed to be evil Boo Radley.