To Kill a Mockingbird s9

To Kill a Mockingbird

Chapter 11

In this chapter Jem learns a lesson about courage and perseverance. He judged Mrs Dubose but when he got to know her she was extremely brave. She could be pitied (because she was caught in an addiction) and admired (she kicked the addiction). Jem would not have learned this valuable lesson if he had not been forced.

Mrs Henry Lafayette Dubose

 Lived alone ______for a Negro girl that looked after her constantly.  Lived two doors up the ______from the Finches.  Very old, spend ______of the day in bed and the rest in a ______-chair.  ______she kept C.S.A pistol concealed under her ______and wraps.  Asked Jem and Scout ______questions.  She was ______.  Said Atticus let the ______run wild.  Said Jem broke Miss Maudie’s scuppernongs. Jem ______it.  Said Scout would become a ______or would be ______for niggers in the courthouse  Said Atticus was no ______than the niggers he ______for.  Mrs Dubose ______Jem by ______him to read for her 2 hours in the afternoon for a month.  Mrs Dubose ______for a while then drifted off.  After a while Mrs Dubose remained awake longer and the ______was set to go off a little later.  One afternoon she stayed ______until Atticus returned from work,  Mrs Dubose was ______to morphine and wanted to kick her addiction ______she died. She used Jem to help her.  She succeeded. She died owing ______to nobody. Jem

 Could not take the ______Mrs Dubose threw at him.  He destroyed all Mrs Dubose’s flowers with the ______he had bought for Scout.  He accepted his punishment to read to Mrs Dubose and took Scout with him.  He learned to form an expression of ______whenever Mrs Dubose said something good or bad.  Jem was ______when she died and when he discovered why he had to read to her. Atticus

 Would have ______Jem to read to Mrs Dubose anyway.  Atticus ______Jem to learn about real courage, ______of allowing Jem to think courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  Courage is when you have ______before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no ______what. You rarely win but sometimes you do.  Tells Scout they will still experience many more ______from the people of Maycomb. Vocabulary apoplectic (adj.): Apoplexy is a condition of sudden paralysis; a stroke. To be apoplectic, in this case, is to behave as if on the verge of having a stroke. arbor (n): an outdoor area shaded by trees or, in this case, scuppernong vines on a lattice. See a picture of an arbor from an outdoor café in Greece. bedecked (adj.): adorned; covered (with decorations) calomel (n.): a laxative; often used as a cure for intestinal worms camellia (n.): a shrub with glossy evergreen leaves and waxy, rose-like flowers. Find out more about camellias and see a picture of a camellia. camisole (n.) a woman's sleeveless undergarment, usually worn under a sheer blouse commence (vb.): begin decreed (vb): A decree is an official order. As her older brother, Jem decreed what he and Scout would do. degradation (n.): a state of low honor or moral character dog-trot hall (adj.): a covered passageway between two parts of a building escapade (n.): reckless prank essence (n.): fundamental nature; most important quality infuriated (vb.): angered greatly interdict (n.): prohibition; restraint livid (adj.): pale; lead-colored. Livid can also mean red, as in the color someone's face gets when that person becomes angry. oppressive (adj.): overbearing; hard to put up with palliation (n.): to palliate is to lessen the pain, or, in this case, fear and anxiety, of something without actually making the fear and anxiety go away. Calpurnia is not a great source of palliation; that is, she doesn't make the children feel any less anxious or fearful. passé (adj.): old-fashioned philippic (n.): a bitter verbal attack plate (n.): dentures; dental plate propensities (n.): inclinations or tendencies reconnaissance (n.): examination rectitude (n.): uprightness of character relic (n): something of historic interest that has survived from the past. In this case, Scout is referring to a gun that would have been used in the Civil War. skulked (vb.): to move or slink about in a sinister manner. The children are skulking in the kitchen because they are fearful of Atticus's reaction when he returns home. syringe (n.): a device with a rubber bulb on one end and a narrow tube on the other: used to inject or extract fluids from body cavities. See a picture of a syringe. tirade (n.): a long angry speech tranquil (adj.): calm umbrage (n.): offense undulate (vb.): to move in waves or in a wavy manner viscous (adj.): sticky

Questions and Answers 1. What exactly is a "nigger-lover?" Does it really not mean anything, as Atticus claims? According to Maycomb, why is it such a sin? (This is a hard question; remember the historical time and place.)

 It suggests that you prefer the company of negroes and you prefer their lifestyle.

 In a way Atticus is correct. It is used as an insult.

 Maycomb people took part in the civil war and they still see the negroes as slaves, people who had no rights and who were treated like animals. You can not take the side of a negro, when there are white people also involved. It does not matter how terrible and low class that white person is. Negroes had no rights and were less than human.

2. Explain Mrs. Dubose's use of the alarm clock.

 Mrs Dubose needed to get her morphine injection at a certain time or she would go into a fit. The fit was a withdrawal symptom of being without morphine.

 Each day she would set the alarm clock a little later so that her body could learn to stay without morphine a little longer.

 In the end the alarm clock was set so late, that her body did not even crave morphine anymore.

3. What type of courage does Mrs. Dubose teach the children? What other events in the novel can you compare and/or contrast to this act of courage? .

 You must persevere with something even when all the odds are against you.

 Atticus knows he will lose the Tom Robinson case but he still does his best.

 Mayella Ewell accuses Tom Robinson falsely and perseveres with her false story to protect her own reputation. This is the opposite of what Mrs Dubose and Atticus did.

4. Why doesn't Atticus tell the children about Mrs. Dubose's motives before her death? How might Jem have behaved had he known - and what would he have failed to learn as a result?

 Mrs Dubose really showed courage because Jem did not do his utmost best to take her mind off the morphine.  He would have helped her and he would have taken credit for her achievement.  Jem would have said his courage helped her and Mrs Dubose had no courage.  Don’t judge a person at all. Be kind no matter what.