Final answer:
Atticus jokingly refers to the snowman as 'near libel' because it closely resembles their neighbor Mr. Avery, thus appearing like a real person. The correct answer is 1) a famous person.
Step-by-step explanation:
Atticus uses the word 'libel' in a figurative sense, suggesting that the snowman Scout and Jem created in To Kill a Mockingbird bears a strong resemblance to Mr. Avery, which is to say it is 'near libel' because it looked so much like a real person.
In this context, he is joking that the snowman could almost be considered a form of defamation because of how accurately it portrays their neighbor, almost to the point of making fun of his appearance.
Libel involves making false and damaging statements about someone, but in this case, Atticus is humorously applying the term to the innocent creation of a snowman.
Libel is the act of damaging someone's reputation through a written lie. In the context of Atticus's statement, he uses the word 'libel' figuratively to describe the snowman, which looked so much like a famous person that it could potentially damage their reputation. Therefore, the correct answer is 1) a famous person.