To Kill a Mockingbird

In-context Vocabulary

Chapters 19-20

Volition (p. 192)

• I found myself believing him in spite of his protesting too much. He seemed to be a respectable Negro, and a respectable Negro would never go up into somebody’s yard of his own volition.

Volition (p. 192)

• The act of willing, choosing, deciding

Expunge (p. 196)

• Judge Taylor told the reporter to expunge anything he happened to have written down after Mr. Finch if you were a…

Expunge (p. 196)

• To strike or blot out

• Erase

• Obliterate

Impudent (p. 198)

• Are you being impudent to me boy?

Impudent (p. 198)

• Characterized by offensive boldness

Aridity (p. 203)

• His voice had lost its aridity, its detachment, and he was talking to the jury as if they were folks on the post office corner.

Aridity (p. 203)

• Dryness

• Barrenness

• Lack of interest

Temerity (p. 204)

• And so a quiet, respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to “feel sorry” for a white woman has had to put his word against two white people’s.

Temerity (p. 204)

• Reckless boldness

• Rashness