9th Grade English Study Guide Title: To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Background:
When To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960, it brought its young first-time author, Harper Lee, a startling amount of attention and notoriety. The novel replays three key years in the life of Scout Finch, the young daughter of an Alabama town's principled lawyer. The work was an instant sensation, becoming a best-seller and winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Scout's narrative relates how she and her elder brother Jem learn about fighting prejudice and upholding human dignity through the example of their father. Atticus Finch has taken on the legal defense of a black man who has been falsely charged with raping a white woman.
Lee's story of the events surrounding the trial has been admired for its portrayal of Southern life during the 1930s, not only for its piercing examination of the causes and effects of racism, but because it created a model of tolerance and courage in the character of Atticus Finch. Some early reviewers found Scout's narration unconvincing, its style and language too sophisticated for a young girl. Since then, however, critics have hailed Lee's rendering of a child's perspective—as told by an experienced adult—as one of the most technically proficient in modern fiction. A regional novel dealing with universal themes of tolerance, courage, compassion, and justice, To Kill a Mockingbird combined popular appeal with literary excellence to ensure itself an enduring place in modern American literature.
Directions: Each character must have at least six sentences written about them that in some way describes them to me (your teacher). You can write down their age, race, family or occupation. You can also tell me who their best friend is or write down a physical description of the character according to the author of the novel. The objective is to complete the characterizations according to the criteria above and give yourself enough information about each character that you can describe them to me in subsequent tests. If additional space is needed, add on lined notebook paper and attach to study guide.
Setting: (one sentence acceptable).
2 Characters:
Jean Louise Finch (Scout) -Scout is the main protagonist of the novel. The story takes place during her years of growing up and maturing. As it begins, she is six years old. (Now add 6 sentences of your own)
Jeremy Finch (Jem) - Jem is Scout's older brother. He is 10 as the story begins, and 13 at its end. (Now add 6 sentences of your own.)
Atticus Finch –
Arthur (Boo) Radley-
Calpurnia –
Tom Robinson –
Mayella Ewell –
Bob Ewell –
3 Aunt Alexandra –
Charles Baker “Dill” Harris –
Miss Maudie Atkinson –
Link Deas –
Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose -
Heck Tate –
Mr. Underwood –
4 Mr. Dolphus Raymond –
Mr. Walter Cunningham –
Major Conflicts
Example of how to complete a Major Conflicts category correctly:
Man vs. Society: The conflict of man vs. society is basically one that deals with the prejudices, and values that the society holds. The individual that poses a different view than the society, is discriminated against. That is because he/she is looked upon as not "flowing with the norm" or going against traditional practices.
Note: Using the above referenced example, please describe the following major conflicts in the novel. You must write three to four sentences to properly address each conflict.
Boo Radley vs. Society:
Robinson vs. White Society:
Man vs. Man –
The Ewells vs. Atticus Finch –
Key Issues
5 Example of how to complete Key Issues correctly below:
Tom Robinson’s innocence: although the evidence clearly proved his innocence (the one arm, his respectable personality, and his class difference) in the court case in which he was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the town would not allow Tom Robinson to be set free, due to the town's racist mentality. Tom Robinson was black. This is an example of racism in the book.
Note: Using the above referenced example, please describe the following major conflicts in the novel. You must write three to four sentences to properly address each key issue.
Atticus’ hidden courage:
Mob mentality:
Social classes: The County of Maycomb was divided into strict social classes, with each bearing animosity towards each one another. There were the black people, living in their own section of Maycomb, the Ewells, which were a class unto themselves, and the middle class of Maycomb County. Because of the great differences in the classes, Tom Robinson never had a chance of being set free, since he is of a "lower" class in the eyes of most of Maycomb county's citizens.
Jem’s Maturity:
Jem and Scout's experiences with Boo Radley
Themes:
Example of how to complete Themes correctly:
Prejudice: Prejudice runs rampant in Maycomb county. ex1. The town has prejudice against blacks. This is seen in the case against Tom Robinson. It is obvious that he is innocent through evidence presented by Atticus (Bob
6 Ewell is left handed, Tom's left hand is useless, etc.) but since the jury "cannot" find a black man innocent over a white family they find him guilty. There was also prejudice against boo Radley. No one bothers to find out about the real Arthur "boo" Radley. He may seem a little scary but the town ridicules him and shuns him from society. All the children have been raised to fear him as the town freak. If they took the time to see the world from his eyes they might not be so prejudiced to his situation.
Note: Using the above referenced example, please describe the following major themes in the novel. You must write three to four sentences to properly address each theme.
Maturity: Different degrees of maturity are displayed by the characters of the novel. For example . . .
Friendship: This is an influential theme in the novel. ex1. with Dill. The friendship with Dill opens Scout and Jem up to a new world. He talks of experiences outside of their small closed community. He also introduces them to the stories of boo Radley. ex2. Atticus. .
Boo with Jem and Scout. . .
Sacrifice: When someone sacrifices something for the benefit of others it is usually well praised. But in this novel not all sacrificial acts are given their recognition. Now state example of Sacrifice in To Kill a Mockingbird below:
Key Facts
Author of the Novel:
·
Type of Work
7 · Novel/Historical Fiction
Directions: Answer each literary term as it relates to the novel. Your responses should be two to three sentences each. DO NOT JUST PUT ONE WORD ANSWERS!
Narrator -
Point of View -
Tone -
Setting (Time) -
Setting (Place) -
Protagonist -
The Plot is the structure of the story. Where does each plot structure occur in the novel? Describe each in three or four sentences. For example, what scene(s) or confrontation(s) indicates the Rising Action in the novel?
Exposition -
Rising Action -
8 Climax -
Plot Continued:
Falling Action –
Resolution -
Directions: Answer each question, statement, and analysis response in two to five sentences each. ANSWERS MUST BE AT LEAST TWO SENTENCES TO RECEIVE FULL CREDIT!
Chapters 1
1. What is Finch’s Landing? Why is it important to the Finch family?
2. What happened to the first 2 clients Atticus ever had?
3. In what town and state does Atticus practice law?
4. Who are Alexandra and Jack to Scout? (How are they related to her?)
9 5. What were the summertime boundaries when Scout was six and Jem was ten?
6. Is Dill older or younger than Jem? What is the age difference?
7. Who comes up with the idea of making Boo come out? Why?
8. What had Boo done which got him intro trouble with the law and would have sent him to a state industrial school?
9. What happened which caused Mrs. Radley to run screaming into the street?
10. Who was Calpurnia referring to when she said, "There goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into…"?
10 Chapters 3 & 4
1. How does Scout solve her problem with Walter Cunningham?
2. How does Jem solve Scout's problem with Walter Cunningham?
3. Why can't Walter Cunningham pass the first grade?
4. What scared and shocked Miss Caroline? (Do you know another name for this creature?)
5. What’s the first gift that appears in the knothole of the oak tree? What other gifts do the
children find? How do they react to what they have found? (state all gifts)
6. What new information does Dill provide about his father?
7. How has the Boo Radley game changed?
Analysis Questions
11 1. Who do you think put the gifts in the tree? Why?
2. When Scout questions Walter's table manners, what do you learn about Calpurnia and
her place in the family? Why do you think this might surprise some of the citizens of
Maycomb?
Chapter 5
1. What does Scout admire about Miss Maudie? (a physical trait)
2. What do you learn about Uncle Jack? (relates to Miss Maudie)
3. What does Dill say that causes Scout to accuse him of lying?
4. What direct order does Atticus give the children?
Analysis Questions
12 1. Explain Miss Maudie’s statement: "… sometimes the Bible in the hands of one man is
worse than a whiskey bottle in the hands of – oh, your father." Can you imagine any time
this might be true? Describe it.
Chapter 6
1. How do the children plan to spend Dill’s last night in Maycomb?
2. What goes wrong with the children’s escape plan?
3. At whom does Mr. Nathan think he has fired his guns?
4. How do the children claim them have spent the evening?
5. What makes Jem decide to return to the Radley yard that night?
Analysis Questions
1. When the neighbors gather to discuss the gunshot many of the assumptions (and
prejudices) of the adult community in Maycomb are revealed. Reread the scene and list
several assumptions that you notice.
Chapter 7
1. What new information does Jem provide to Scout (and to us) about “that night” at Boo Radley’s?
13 2. Name the five gifts that the kids find in the knothole?
3. What event puts an end to the knothole gifts?
Analysis Questions
1. Why does Jem become interested in the content of the knothole, especially since the
items are not valuable?
Chapter 8
1. Who dies this winter?
2. What “aberration of nature” frightens Scout? (weather related)
3. What method does Jem devise to make a snowman? What was funny about the snowman?
4. When Maudie’s house begins to burn, what is the Finch family’s other concern? (hint: the houses were made of wood back then)
14 Analysis Questions
1. What do think would have happened if Scout had noticed who had put the blanket around
her?
Chapter 9
1. Who is Tom Robinson?
2. What gift does Uncle Jack give the children?
3. What new habit has Scout picked up that bothers Uncle Jack?
4. What does cousin Francis tell Scout about Dill’s home life?
Analysis Questions
1. (a) What reason does Atticus give Scout for defending Tom Robinson?
Chapter 10
1. What does Scout see as Atticus’s chief fault?
2. Why does Uncle Jack say Atticus is unwilling to teach the kids how to shoot?
3. What crisis shows the children a surprising skill their father possesses?
4. Who is Heck Tate? (you should also fill in his info in the front character section!)
5. What is Atticus’s old nickname?
15 Chapter 11
1. What makes the children hate and fear Mrs. Dubose?
2. What two comments specifically infuriate Jem to the point that he can’t control his temper?
3. What does Jem do to get revenge?
4. What is his punishment?
5. What did Mrs. Dubose vow to do before she died?
Chapter 12
1. Why doesn’t Dill plan to come to Maycomb this summer?
2. What is the purpose of this Sunday’s collection at First Purchase African Methodist
Episcopal Church?
3. Why are Jem and Scout so welcome in this church?
4. Why can’t Helen Robinson get work?
5. What do the children notice about Calpurnia’s behaviour in her church community?
Analysis Questions
1. What meaning of the cartoon in the Montgomery Advertiser doesn’t Scout understand? Why does Harper Lee keep inserting these incidents where Scout misses the full meaning of an event she witnesses or a remark she hears?
16 2. Why did Cal take extra care going over the children’s clothing before going to her church?
How were Jem and Scout treated there?
Chapter 13
1. Why has Aunt Alexandra come?
2. Why does Aunt Alexandra get angry with Atticus?
3. What does Atticus tell the children about being Finches?
Analysis Questions
1. In the paragraph beginning, “There was indeed a caste system in Maycomb…”, the
narrator describe the system of class division, which existed in Maycomb. Describe the
origins of such a saying. What types of problems does this system create?
2. Why didn’t Scout like having Aunt Alexandra live with them? How would you feel? Why
didn’t Scout admit how she felt to Atticus? What did she mean when she said that “I said that
I would like it (Aunty’s coming to visit) very much, which was a lie, but one must lie under
certain circumstances, and at all times when one can’t do anything about them.”
17 3. As in the incident with Uncle Jack, Scout teaches an adult something in this chapter. What
do you think Atticus learns when he talks to Scout in the end of the chapter?
Chapter 14
1. When Aunt Alexandra finds out that Jem and Scout have attended Cal’s church, what does she want Atticus to do about it?
2. “Then [Jem] rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood.” What new violation causes
Scout to make this comment? What earlier breach of the childhood code can you remember?
3. What solution does Atticus offer to the problem of Dill’s presence?
Analysis Questions
1. What do you think of Atticus’s rule: “You mind Jem whenever he can make you”? What problems might it cause? What advantages do such rules have?
2. Dill’s answer to the question, “Why do you reckon Boo Radley’s never run off?” is only partial.
Why do you think he’s never run off? Try for a more complete response than Dill’s; consider all
18 you know of Boo’s life.
3. How is Dill like a mockingbird?
4. Explain the purpose of Dill’s character in the novel.
Chapter 15
1. Why have the neighbors gathered in the Finches’ front yard?
2. Who is Mr. Underwood? (fill in his character section in the front of the packet also)
3. Where do the children find Atticus at ten o’clock on Sunday?
4. What is the mob’s intention?
5. How does Scout manage to end the danger? What effect does she have on the mob?
6. How does the author describe the Maycomb jail? Read the description a second time and try to visualize the jail.
7. At the end of the chapter, who do we hear from for the first time in the novel?
8. What has Mr. Underwood been doing during the mob scene?
Analysis Questions
1. Describe how the Mob Scene starts out…
a. What’s really happening when Atticus moves back toward the cell and the crowd draws in?
19 b. What is Jem thinking at this point?
c. What is Atticus thinking?
d. What is the crowd thinking?
Chapter 19
1. According to Tom’s story, when did he “bust up the chiffarobe”?
2. On the day of Tom’s “crime,” where were the seven Ewell children?
3. When Mr. Ewell arrived on the scene, what did he see through the window that infuriated him?
4. Who is Link Deas? What comment does he add to the proceedings?
5. What two points does Mr. Gilmer try to make in cross-examining Tom?
Analysis Questions
20 1. As Tom gives his testimony, Scout compares Mayella to several other people she has recently learned to understand. To whom does she compare Mayella and why?
a. Why does Dill start to cry in Chapter 19?
b. What similarities can you find between what’s happening in the courtroom and what Dill sees as cruelty to the turtles?
Chapter 20
1. Why does Mr. Dolphus Raymond pretend to be drunk?
2. Why isn’t he willing to let the children in on his secret?
3. What does Atticus say is the “worst thing you can do”?
4. What “crime” does Atticus say Mayella feels guilt for?
5. What “facts about Negroes” does Mr. Ewell rely on to make the jury bring in a guilty verdict?
21 Analysis Questions
1. Why is this chapter included in the novel?
2. Connect Atticus’s statement about “cheating a coloured man” with the title of the book.
3. Mayella has committed crimes against Tom and against the state (false accusation, lying under oath, even “murder” of an innocent man) because she is ashamed of breaking a “code” and
“tempting a Negro.” What’s the difference between a law and a code? In your opinion, which is more powerful?
4. What does Atticus find wrong with the idea that all men are created equal – and what does he think is right about it?
5. When Atticus says, “this is as simple as black and white,” what does he mean?
Chapter 21
22 1. Before the verdict, Reverend Sykes tells Jem not to be confident his father would win. Why didn’t the Reverend expect Atticus to win? (think of the time period)
2. Why has Cal come to court?
3. How long was the jury out? (how many hours?)
4. What is the significance of the length of the jury’s deliberation?
5. How does Scout know that Tom has not been acquitted even before the jury reports?
6. What happens as Atticus leaves the courtroom?
Analysis Questions
1. On the last page of Part I, Atticus tells the children that he wants them “to see what real
courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.” In
what way is courage, in this case, sometimes like a man with an empty gun?
Chapter 22
23 1. What does Atticus find in the kitchen on the morning after the trial?
2. After the trial, why did Miss Maudie bake a large cake and only two small ones? How did this make Jem feel?
3. What is the feeling among the white neighbors (Maudie excluded) on Atticus’s defeat?
4. What has Dill decided to be when he grows up? Why?
5. What is Bob Ewell’s response to the verdict?
Analysis Questions
1. Explain why “It’s not time to worry yet.”
Chapter 23
1. At the beginning of chapter 23, the children worried. What are they worried about?
2. Where is Tom Robinson in this chapter?
24 3. How does Atticus define “trash”? How does Aunt Alexandra?
Chapter 24
1. What happened to Tom?
2. What does the business part of the missionary society consist of?
3. At the tea, what was it that Aunty was silently thanking Miss Maudie for?
4. Why does Scout prefer the world of men to the world in which “fragrant ladies rocked
slowly, fanned gently, and drank cool water”?
5. Who are the “hypocrites” Mrs. Merriweather mentions? Why does she consider them
hypocrites?
6. What news does Atticus bring to Aunt Alexandra, Maudie, and Scout?
Analysis Questions
1. Would things have been different for Tom if Atticus had promised to get him off? Why didn’t
Atticus do so?
25 2. What irony is there in Mrs. Merriweather’s insistence that Helen Robinson be forgiven?
Chapter 25
1. What causes Scout to comment that Jem was acting more like a girl every day? What definition of “girl” does this imply?
2. Why didn’t Jem want Scout to kill the caterpillar?
3. How does Scout learn about Helen’s reaction to the news of her husband’s death?
4. How is the theme of hurting defenseless insects continued in the way Dill described
Tom’s wife, and Mr. Underwood’s description of Tom’s death?
5. Mr. Ewell said Tom’s death meant “one down and about two more to go.” What does he
mean?
Chapter 26
1. Although she thought it had escaped his notice, Scout learns in this chapter that Atticus
has known of one of her “crimes” for a long time. Which one?
26 2. At school, Scout’s class talks about Hitler. What is important about Miss Gates’ lesson
on democracy?
3. What has Scout overheard that confuses her about Miss Gates’ view of Hitler?
Analysis Questions
1. What is odd about the question, “What reasonable recluse wants children peeping
through his shutters?” Why do you think Lee chose the word reasonable?
2. Why is Hitler included in the story? What was going on in Germany in 1935? (how is it
similar to the American South?)
Chapter 27
1. Who does Bob Ewell blame for the loss of the WPA job?
2. What happened at Judge Taylor’s house?
3. What two services does Link Deas perform for Helen Robinson because he “felt right bad
about the way things turned out?”
4. What event has been added to the fall social calendar in Maycomb?
5. What is Scout’s Halloween costume? What are its chief drawbacks?
27 Analysis Questions
1. What is the purpose of Chapter 28, in the grand scheme of the novel?
2. What does Aunt Alexandra mean when she says, “Somebody just walked over my
grave?” Why is this included? (There are two reasons. One reason relates to the plot of
To Kill a Mockingbird, and the other relates to the theme of the story.)
Chapter 28
1. Who scares the Finch children on the way to the pageant?
2. How does Scout’s performance go?
3. Why does Scout walk home from the play in her costume?
4. What is the first clue the children have that they are not alone on their way home?
5. Who is the children’s attacker? How does he die?
Analysis Questions
28 1. Jem “gallantly” walks Scout to the pageant, carrying her costume. As they walk across the school-yard, they discuss Boo and comment that “Haints, Hot Steams… vanished with our years.” Above them a mockingbird sings. What is the effect of all these details on the reader?
2. “The man who brought Jem in … he was some countryman I did not know.” Why is it important that Scout doesn’t identify the rescuer?
Chapter 29
1. What unexpected advantages did the ham outfit supply?
2. What does Boo really look like? (Give direct quotes with page numbers.)
Analysis Questions
1. What character traits does Aunt Alexandra show in reaction to the crisis? List proof (quote and page numbers) for each one.
2. What character traits does Heck Tate show in reaction to crisis? List proof (quote and page numbers) for each one.
Chapter 30
1. Who killed Bob Ewell? How did it actually happen?
2. What was the murder weapon?
3. What does the switchblade Heck Tate uses for demonstration have to do with the entire situation?
29 1. [a] What does Atticus think happened out there in the dark?
[b] What does he think Heck Tate is trying to conceal by claiming Ewell fell on his knife?
[c] Who is Heck Tate really protecting?
[d] Do you think it’s right to “let the dead bury the dead”?
3. After Heck Tate leaves, Atticus must explain the lie to Scout.
[a] Why is it easier than he expects? (Think of the whole book when you answer this question.)
[b] What is the one word used by Heck Tate in the conversation on the porch that makes it easy for Scout to see the necessity of the lie? (think about the title of the novel)
Chapter 31
1. What do you learn about the plot of The Gray Ghost?
[b] How did Scout feel when she compared Boo to The Gray Ghost?
[c] How do you think Boo feels about everything?
2. (a) As Scout looked out from the Radley porch, she regretted the children never gave Boo anything in return for his gifts. Actually, they did give Boo something. What was it?
[b] If Atticus were your father, which of his qualities would you like most?
30