To Kill a Mockingbird s10

To Kill a Mockingbird Reading Questions

Chapter 1 1. Where does this novel take place?

2. What is the relationship between the narrator and her brother Jem and their father?

3. Who is Dill?

4. When the “routine” of Jem, Scout, and Dill’s summer becomes tiresome, what idea does Dill have?

5. How had Mr. Radley seen to it that his younger son Arthur caused “no further trouble” in Maycomb?

6. After Mr. Radley died, what changes occurred at the Radley Pace?

7. What dare of Dill’s does Jem finally accept?

8. Scout says that her father Atticus was related to almost every family in the town. In addition, she states that the Radleys, unlike other residents, kept to themselves. What conclusions can you draw about the people of Maycomb from these comments? Would you have liked to have live in Maycomb? Explain

Chapters 2-3 1. When Jem takes Scout to school for her first day, what “order” does he give her?

2. What two things does Miss Caroline tell Scout that Atticus is no longer to do?

3. When Scout tries to spare Walter Cunningham any further humiliation, what does Miss Caroline do to her?

4. At the Finch’s for lunch, what reason does Walter give Atticus for not being able to pass the first grade?

5. After Calpurnia makes Scout leave the table what “lecture” does she give Scout?

6. How does Scout describe Burris Ewell’s physical appearance? How does Little Charles Little describe Burris’ personality?

7. After Scout’s first day of school, what is her assessment and what is her plan?

8. After Scout begs Atticus not to make her return to school, what advice does he give her for getting along with people?

9. The adult Scout frequently includes in her narrative humorous examples of children’s misinformation. Jem’s information about the Dewy decimal system is in accurate. He confuses Melvil Dewey with John Dewey, an educator. Can you think of any words you confused as a child or any misconceptions of meaning you held?

10. Comment on Burris Ewell’s behavior in the classroom. Who is to blame for his being the way he is?

Chapters 4-5 1. Why does Scout go back to the Radley place one afternoon?

2. What is the neighborhood’s opinion of Mrs. Dubose?

3. What does Jem say about the “Indianheads” they find in the knothole of the tree?

4. What new “game” do Jem, Scout, and Dill play?

5. After Atticus catches the children with the scissors, what is Jem’s reaction? What is Scout’s and why?

6. Explain why Scout becomes annoyed with Dill.

7. What does Miss Maudie tell Scout about “some kind of men”? Chapters 4-5 ctd

8. What is Jem and Dill’s plan to contact Boo Radley?

9. What order does Atticus give the children regarding Boo?

10. Miss Maudie tells Scout that “Mr. Radley was a foot-washing Baptist” and goes on to say that some men worry so much “about the next world” they never learned to live in this one.” What is Maudie suggesting about Mr. Radley and his treatment of Boo? Was Mr. Radley, in your opinion, a “Christian”? Explain.

Chapters 6-7 1. Why do Dill, Jem, and Scout run from the Radley Place?

2. How does Dill explain Jem’s missing pants?

3. What, according to Scout, causes Jem and her to begin “to part company”?

4. Summarize Scout’s assessment of second grade.

5. Why does Jem go back for the pants and “risk his life”?

6. What does Jem finally tell Scout about his pants that he retrieved?

7. What do Jem and Scout realize about the carved soap figures they find in the knothole?

8. When Jem and Scout find the knothole filled with cement, what explanation does Nathan Radley give? What does Atticus tell Jem about the tree?

9. The evening after Jem and Scout find the knothole filled with cement, Scout discovers that Jem, who had ordered her not to cry, had been crying himself. Why do you think Jem is upset?

Chapter 8 1. Describe how Jem constructs his “snowman”. What compliment does Atticus pay Jem?

2. What does Atticus criticize Jem for?

3. Why does Atticus wake the children in the middle of the night?

4. What is Scout wearing? How does Atticus explain the presence of what Scout is wearing?

5. Describe Scout’s reaction to the news she receives.

6. What is Miss Maudie’s reaction to the loss of her home? What does Miss Maudie’s attitude reveal about her character?

Chapter 9 1. Why does Scout forget what Atticus told her about fighting?

2. What does Atticus tell Scout to do when she hears “ugly talk” at school?

3. What comparison does Scout use to describe her relationship with Aunt Alexandra?

4. Explain Scout’s reasoning regarding her cussing fluently.

5. Why does Scout fight Francis?

6. What does Scout make her Uncle Jack promise not to tell Atticus the truth about?

7. What does Atticus tell Jack he hopes Jem and Scout will do instead of listening to the town? 8. Atticus tells Jack he hopes his children get through Tom Robinson’s trial without bitterness and without “catching Maycomb’s disease.” What is Atticus referring to? What is Maycomb’s disease? Chapter 10 1. Explain why Scout is upset over Atticus being so “old.”

2. Atticus tells the children they’re not to kill mockingbirds because doing so is a sin. How does Miss Maudie explain Atticus’ reasoning to Scout?

3. Why does the sheriff ask Atticus to shoot Tim Johnson?

4. What explanation does Miss Maudie offer for “Ol’ One Shot” putting his gun down thirty years ago?

5. What does Jem tell Scout to do about their father’s shooting of the dog?

6. In this chapter it is explained that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Comment on the idea. Is there more to this statement than simply the idea that harmless creatures shouldn’t be killed? How do you think the statement might apply to the novel thus far? Discuss.

Chapter 11 1. What does Atticus do that causes Scout to say she felt he was the “bravest man who ever lived”?

2. What does Jem do to Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bushes? Explain why he does this.

3. What does Mrs. Dubose want from Jem as payment for his crime?

4. How does Atticus explain the term “niggerlover” to Scout?

5. What changes had occurred in Mrs. Dubose by the last week Scout and Jem went to her home?

6. How does Atticus explain “courage” to Jem?

Chapter 12 1. List the three things that are perplexing Scout at the beginning of the summer.

2. Explain what Scout finds unusual about Calpurnia’s manner of speaking at the Negro church.

3. Why does Reverend Sykes order the doors of the church shut?

4. Why does the congregation sing the hymns by “lining”?

5. What explanation does Cal give for the way she talks at her church?

6. Who is sitting on the Finches’ front porch when the kids and Calpurnia arrive home after church?

7. Lula challenges Cal for bringing the children to the Negro church. Zeebo explains that Lula’s a “trouble-maker”. What other explanation might there be for Lula’s reaction?

Chapters 13-14 1. How does Atticus explain Aunt Alexandra’s arrival?

2. What does Aunt Alexandra request that Atticus try to convey to the children?

3. Explain why Scout cries.

4. What does Atticus tell the children to do concerning the conversation about the family pride?

5. How does Atticus respond to Alexandra’s suggestion that they don’t need Cal anymore?

6. What does Scout say she had never heard of or seen before, and how does it make her feel?

7. How does Atticus deal with Scout’s question about whether she has to mind Jem? 8. How does Atticus deal with finding Dill in Scout’s room?

Chapters 13-14 ctd

9. Why does Dill run away from home?

10. What question does Scout ask Dill about Boo Radley? What is Dill’s response?

Chapter 15 1. Even though Dill gets permission to stay in Maycomb, why does Scout say their peace ended after a week?

2. Describe Dill’s latest plan to get Boo Radley to come out.

3. When Jem asks Atticus if the men who came to the house were a “gang,” what is Atticus’ response?

4. What does Jem tell Scout he fears?

5. After Atticus leaves the house late at night, where do the children find him? What is he doing?

6. Explain why the men have come to the jail.

7. After Scout talks to Mr. Cunningham about Walter and the entailment of his farm, what does he do?

8. What had Mr. Underwood been doing?

9. When he is asked whether he can get a change of venue for Tom Robinson, the sheriff says, “not much point in that, now is it?” What is the sheriff implying?

10. Jem defies Atticus and does not go home when he tells him to. Why do you think Atticus is not angry with him?

Chapter 16 1. What connection does Scout make that causes her to cry?

2. What subtle change does Scout notice in Atticus?

3. How does Atticus explain “mobs” to the children?

4. What is Miss Maudie’s reaction to everyone wanting to go to the trial?

5. Why does Jem say the “mixed children” are sad?

6. What news does Scout overhear about Atticus defending Tom Robinson? Does is give her any comfort?

7. With whom do the children sit in the courtroom?

Chapters 17-18 1. What question does Atticus ask the sheriff three times?

2. What does Atticus lead Sheriff Tate to remember about Mayella Ewell’s black eye?

3. Explain why Jem tells Reverend Sykes that it’s okay for Scout to stay in the courtroom.

4. What excuse does Mr. Ewell give for not running after Tom Robinson?

5. Explain what Atticus is attempting to show by asking Mr. Ewell to write something. 6. Why does Mayella think Atticus is mocking her?

7. What is Mayella’s response to Atticus’ question about her having friends?

8. Explain why Atticus has Tom Robinson stand up.

Chapters 17-18 ct’d 9. Scout comments on Bob Ewell, “All the little man on the witness stand had that made him any better than his nearest neighbors was, that if scrubbed with lye soap in very hot water, his skin was white.” What is she really trying to say?

10. What is strange about Mayella’s response to the question Atticus asks about loving her father?

Chapters 19-20 1. According to Tom, where had Mayella’s brothers and sister gone on the evening in question?

2. Identify what Tom says Mayella did to him while he was 1) standing on the chair, 2) after he got off the chair, and 3) afterward.

3. When Atticus asks Tom why he ran, what did he reply?

4. What mistake does Tom make when Mr. Gilmer is asking him to explain why he helped Mayella? Why was his statement a “mistake”?

5. What explanation does Dill give Scout for his becoming sick?

6. How does Mr. Raymond explain his pretense about drinking?

7. When Scout and Dill return to the courtroom, what prediction does Jem make?

8. What, according to Atticus, is the one thing in the country that truly makes everyone equal?

9. Mr. Raymond tells Scout that when Dill grows up “he won’t cry about the simple hell people give other people—without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks without even stopping to think that they’re people, too.” What is Mr. Raymond implying about the difference between children and adults? Why does a child cry about an obvious injustice that an adult can ignore?

Chapters 21-22 1. What does Jem think when Atticus calls them from the balcony?

2. Describe Cal’s reaction to the children having been at the trial. What is Alexandra’s reaction?

3. What is Reverend Sykes’ response to Jem’s certainty the jury will find Tom innocent?

4. When the jury returns, what does Scout observe about them?

5. What is Atticus’ response to Jem’s question about how the jury could have convicted Tom?

6. What causes Atticus’ eyes to fill with tears?

7. What does Miss Maudie say about Atticus’ ability to have kept the jury out for so long?

8. What had Bob Ewell done to Atticus?

9. Scout notices Miss Maudie has made only two little cakes instead of three. When Miss Maudie cuts a piece for Jem from the big cake, she says they understood. What does Miss Maudie’s action signify?

Chapter 23 1. What had Atticus told Jem about having a gun around?

2. What is Atticus’ conclusion about Bob Ewell’s behavior that morning?

3. Explain what will happen to Tom if he loses his appeal. 4. When Jem suggest juries should be done away with, what does Atticus suggest should be done instead?

5. How does Atticus explain the fact that women can’t serve on juries in Alabama?

6. How does Atticus explain his decision to have allowed Mr. Cunningham to sit on the jury?

Chapter 23 ct’d

7. What is Aunt Alexandra’s decision about Walter Cunningham? What is her reasoning?

8. What conclusion does Jem come to about Boo Radley?

Chapter 24 1. After their discussion of the Mrunas, what do the ladies of the missionary society do?

2. What is Miss Stephanie’s advice to Scout about becoming a lady?

3. What does Mrs. Merriweather say the cooks and field hands did after the trial? Why?

4. What does Mrs. Merriweather say she told her “Sophy”?

5. Describe Mrs. Merriweather’s view of Northerners. Why does she hold this view?

6. What news does Atticus bring about Tom Robinson?

7. How does Atticus explain what Tom did?

8. Mrs. Merriweather had great compassion for the poor Mrunas. She then criticizes the cooks and field hands of Maycomb for being dissatisfied about the verdict of Tom’s trial and accuses “her Sophy” of “not being Christian.” Assuming the Mrunas are an African tribe, how can you account for the difference in Mrs. Merriweather’s attitude about “foreign” blacks and those who are “neighbors”?

Chapters 25-27 1. What is Scout’s assessment of Jem’s change in behavior after he won’t let her kill the roly-poly?

2. Why is Maycomb only interested in the news about Tom’s death for two days?

3. What does Mr. Underwood say in his editorial?

4. What conclusion does Scout come to about Tom after reading Mr. Underwood’s article?

5. What does Bob Ewell mean by “one down, two to go”?

6. What does Scout fantasize about?

7. What historical figure does Miss Gates condemn? Why does her condemnation confuse Scout?

8. Why does Bob Ewell lose his WPA job? Whom does he blame?

9. Why does Judge Taylor have a shotgun in his lap when his wife comes home from church?

10. Why was Helen Robinson walking a mile out of her way to get to her job?

11. Describe how Atticus explains Bob Ewell’s dislike of John Taylor.

12. What are the discomforts of Scout’s “ham” costume she is to wear in the Halloween pageant?

13. How does Mr. Underwood compare Tom to killing a mockingbird? Why does Atticus find Mr. Underwood’s editorial surprising? Chapter 28 1. As Scout and Jem walk toward the school, what happens to them?

2. After Jem tries to comfort Scout for coming on stage at the wrong time, what does Scout realize about Jem?

Chapter 28 ct’d

3. When Jem hears someone following him and Scout, who does he conclude it is?

4. How does Scout know the body she touches is not Jem’s?

5. When Scout reaches the street, what does she see in the light?

6. What, according to Dr. Reynolds, is Jem’s condition?

7. Who is in Jem’s room besides Scout, Atticus, and Alexandra?

8. What news does Sheriff Tate give Atticus?

9. Scout’s conclusion about the man who brought Jem homes is that he was some countryman she didn’t know who must have been at the pageant and responded to their screams. Who do you think it is?

Chapters 29-31 1. Why hadn’t Atticus or any of the neighbors heard the children yelling?

2. What conclusion does Sheriff Tate come to about Scout’s costume?

3. According to the Sheriff, what kind of man was Bob Ewell?

4. When Scout points to the man who saved Jem and looks at him closely, what does she realize? What does she say and do?

5. Why does Atticus suggest they go to the porch instead of the living room?

6. Who does Atticus think killed Bob Ewell?

7. What does Sheriff Tate say about Bob Ewell’s death?

8. When Atticus continues to argue with the sheriff about protecting Jem, what does the sheriff yell?

9. What does the sheriff say the townspeople, including his wife, would do if they knew the truth about who killed Bob Ewell?

What does the sheriff say would be a “sin”?

10. What is Scout’s response when Atticus asks her if she can understand that “Mr. Ewell fell on his knife”?

11. After Scout takes Boo home, what makes her sad?

12. As Scout tells Atticus the story of The Gray Ghost, what does she say about Stoner’s Boy? What is Atticus’s response?

13. Scout states that Boo Radley, their neighbor, had given them things, including their lives. Scout is sad that she and Jem had not been a neighbor to Boo that they had given him nothing in return. Is Scout’s assessment accurate? Explain.