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Examples Of Punctuation In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Harper Lee effectively utilizes punctuation to show the characterization and character development in this passage. In the first conversation between Atticus Finch, Scout, and Jem, Atticus is shown to be stern and in charge in the conversation, “‘I thought I told you and Jem to stay put,’ he said. ‘Why, we did. We stayed —’... ‘Atticus, I don’t know, sir…I—’”, In this part of the passage, Atticus is clearly in charge of the conversation in the beginning, by interrupting Scout in the middle of her sentence. However, as the conversation progresses, Atticus realizes that his children do not know what happened, so he changes to being kinder instead of stern. Then Scout ending her thought with an ellipsis and an em dash shows how she does not really

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