Thursday, April 18, 2019

What alliterative phrase was used in chapter 13?

There are two alliterative phrases in one sentence that can be found in chapter 13 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. This particular sentence is in the third paragraph:

She [Aunt Alexandra] owned a bright green square Buick and a black chauffeur, both kept in an unhealthy state of tidiness, but today they were nowhere to be seen.

In this sentence, there is the repetition of two consonant sounds at the beginning of words. These are b and t.
Alliteration is a literary element that serves to accelerate the pace of a sentence. This sentence fits in with the pace of Aunt Alexandra herself, who arrives and peremptorily commands Calpurnia to put her bag in the front bedroom. It is as though Aunt Alexandra has taken command of the house. That is, after ordering Calpurnia, she then informs Scout that she and Atticus have determined that it is an appropriate time for her to come and stay with Scout so that she would have "some feminine influence." Later Scout remarks that when Aunt Alexandra went to school, self-doubt could not be found in any textbook. Now Aunt Alexandra exerts "her royal prerogative." That is, she arranges, advises, cautions, and warns the children and her brother's home. 

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