To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
A STEP BEYOND
GLOSSARY
AD ASTRA PER ASPERA - Latin
for to the stars through difficulties. An ironic choice as a motto for
Maycomb County, a place progress has left behind.
DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM - A system
for organizing books in libraries devised by Melvil Dewey. Contrary
to what Jem tells Scout, this Dewey has nothing to do with John Dewey,
a theorist of progressive education.
MORPHODITE - This is what Scout
thinks she hears Miss Maudie calling the snowman. Actually, the word Miss
Maudie used was probably "hermaphrodite," a person with both
male and female characteristics.
NOME - A contraction for "No,
Ma'am." Harper Lee uses this spelling because it approximated the
pronunciation of Southerners.
NRA- WE DO OUR PART
The motto of the National Recovery Administration,
whose programs were intended to help the nation recover from the effects
of the Great Depression. NRA programs were ruled unconstitutional in
1935 by the U.S. Supreme Court- the "nine old men" Atticus
refers to in explaining why the NRA is dead.
"ONE MAN'S FAMILY"
- A popular radio serial of the 1930s.
SCUPPERNONGS - A sweet table grape
common in the southeastern U.S.
SHINNY A slang name for whiskey.
SMILAX - A vine with glossy leaves,
often used for decoration.
SOLICITOR - Another term for
a lawyer. The "circuit solicitor" mentioned in the book is a
government lawyer who travels from town to town prosecuting cases.
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