Maycomb was an old and tired town, where in the rain the streets became muddy and grass grew on the sidewalks. It was a hot place where people and animals suffered, moving slowly with little urgency. There was not much to do in the town, within the boundaries of just Maycomb County, but some people were hopefully as they had been told the only thing to fear was fear itself. The narrator lived there with their family including their father Atticus who they found satisfactory as he spent time with them.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird – rewrite activity
[proper noun] was an [adjective] [noun], but it was a [adjective] [adjective] [noun]
when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to [adjective] [noun]; grass grew
on the [noun], the [noun] sagged in the [noun]. Somehow, it was [adjective] then: a
black [noun] [verb] on a summerʼs day; [adjective] [noun] [verb] to [noun] [verb]
[noun] in the [adjective] [noun] of the [adjective] [noun] on the [noun]. Menʼs
[adjective] [noun] [verb] by nine in the morning. Ladies [verb] before noon, after their
three-oʼclock [noun], and by nightfall were like [adjective] [noun] with [noun] of [noun]
and [adjective] [noun].
People moved [adjective] then. They [verb] across the [noun], [verb] in and out of the
[noun] around it, took their time about [indefinite pronoun]. A day was twenty-four hours
long but seemed [adjective]. There was no [noun], for there was [indefinite pronoun] to
go, nothing to [verb] and no [noun] to [verb] it with, nothing to see outside the [noun] of
[proper noun]. But it was a time of [adjective] [noun] for some of the people: [proper
noun] had recently been told that it had [aphorism]. We lived on the [adjective]
[adjective] [noun] in [noun]— [proper noun], [proper noun] and I, plus [proper noun],
our [noun]. [proper noun] and I found our [noun] satisfactory…
Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather
the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the
square. Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summerʼs day; bony mules
hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square.
Menʼs stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their
three-oʼclock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and
sweet talcum.
People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the
stores around it, took their time about everything. A day was twenty-four hours long but
seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no
money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was
a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told
that it had nothing to fear but fear itself. We lived on the main residential street in town—
Atticus, Jem and I, plus Calpurnia our cook. Jem and I found our father satisfactory: he
played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment.