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| This is the edition that I have been reading, picture thanks to the Goodreads! |
Harper Lee has a very unique writing style..and I like to point a couple of quotes that highlight this style. This first quote comes from chapter six when Dill and Jem decide to sneak up to the Radley place and peek in the shutters. When the story starts....you notice the writing to this has slowed down. She used specific words and punctuation to slow down the reading.
Dill stopped and let Jem go ahead. When Jem put his foot on the bottom step, the step squeaked. He stood still, then tried his weight by degrees. The step was silent. Jem skipped two steps, put his foot on the porch, heaved himself to it, and teetered a long moment. He regained his balance and dropped to his knees. He crawled to the window, raised his head and looked in (71) .And then as you keep reading....we learn that there is a shadow moving towards them. You notice here that the reading starts to speed up.
Dill saw [the shadow] next. He put his hands to his face. When it crossed Jem, Jem saw it. He put his arms over his head and went rigid. The shadow stopped about a foot beyond Jem. Its arm came out from its side, dropped , and was still. Then it turned and moved back across Jem, walked along the porch and off the side of the house, returning as it had come. Jem leaped off the porch and galloped toward us. He flung open the gate, danced Dill and me through, and shooed us between two rows of swishing collards (71).If you pick up on the verbs that they are more urgent. The words come a lot faster too. It is a great technique! There are other moments in the book too that really point out her writing style...but this is one of my favorites.
