To Kill a Mockingbird English 9 Part One Reading Guide Mr. Castellano

To Kill a Mockingbird English 9 Part One – Reading Guide Mr. Castellano

I have written below a general guide to the chapters in Part One. I don’t give anything away, and I hope I have not ruined anything. My goal is that these notes will help you navigate your way through the novel. As I have said in class, this is a great book – one of my favorites. Scout uses a sophisticated vocabulary. Please don’t be put off by it. Her adventures with Dill and Jem are great: they will remind you, I hope, of your own growing up. As much as Scout sounds like an adult, she is narrating the novel from the perspective of a 6-year-old child (and, later, at 7 and 8 years of age.). Enjoy her innocence and perspective. The best thing to do is to throw yourself into the novel and enjoy the ride. Try reading a chapter at a time. The chapters are short, and each one details one of Scout’s various episodes in growing up. Remember to written in your journal after every chapter or two. This will help you remember details and formulate your own ideas and questions. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: We talked about this in class. We get a lot of background information all at once. Don’t let this put you off. Some of it is important; some of it is not. You will know pretty quickly who is important to remember. We meet Dill in this chapter, and we learn all about the neighborhood rumors about Arthur “Boo” Radley. As a good reader, you will start to formulate theories: file these away and bring them out as you read on.

Chapter 2: Scout goes to school (the first grade) for the first time. She has troubles with her teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, for a variety of reasons. Part of her problems stem from her attempt to explain the poverty of Walter Cunnignham, one of her classmates who is the son of one of Atticus’s clients. Remember: Atticus is Scout and Jem’s father.

Chapter 3: Scout and Jem bring Walter home for lunch. They go home for lunch and then return to school; they call lunch “dinner.” In the afternoon, there is trouble again at school, but this time it is not focused on Scout. It is focused on Burris Ewell.

Chapter 4: Near the end of her school year, Scout finds some chewing gum in the knot hole of a tree by the Radley property. This is the first of many things Scout and Jem find in the tree: keep track of them; think about what these items might mean and who might be putting them there. Dill comes back for the Summer. The children play a game based on what they think is Boo Radley’s life events.

Chapter 5: Scout gets some more information about Boo Radley from Miss Maudie Atkinson, one of her neighbors. The children continue in their attempt to contact Boo. There is always a twist in these attempts, with Scout learning something new.

Chapter 6: This chapter comes at the end of the Summer; Dill is about to go back home. The children sneak around the Radley house at night – with some scary consequences. Chapter 7: Scout goes back to school in the 2nd grade. The children find many more things in the tree. Then there is a problem with the tree.

Chapter 8: We are now in the winter of 2nd grade. It gets unusually cold for Maycomb; it even snows. There is a fire at Miss Maudie’s at night – with more unusual occurrences.

Chapter 9: The Finches go to Aunt Alexandra’s for Christmas. She is Atticus’s sister. Atticus’s brother Uncle Jack also comes to visit. Scout gets in trouble for fighting with her cousin, Francis.

In this Chapter, we begin to hear about a trial that Atticus will have in the coming Summer. He is defending an African-American named Tom Robinson. You don’t get much information about the case in Part One; it will dominate and be the focus of Part Two. You just need to know that most white people in Maycomb think that Atticus should not be defending Tom Robinson.

Chapter 10: There is a “mad” dog on Scout and Jem’s block; this is a dog with rabies. Everyone is scared. Atticus and the town sheriff, Heck Tate, come to solve the problem.

Chapter 11: The children have several nasty encounters with Mrs. Dubose, an older woman who lives down the block from them. Jem gets in trouble with her and has to read to her every day for a month. The novel begins to take a more serious turn in this Chapter. Scout may not understand everything that is happening, but she reports it faithfully. I think you will understand the significant things that are happening.

And that’s the end of Part One. I hope you are loving it. We will talk a lot in class. Bring your questions and ideas.