Chapter 1 “That was the summer Dill came to us.”

1. How do the readers know that the story is told in flashback?

2. When Scout is narrating she hints at what the climax will be. What does she infer will be the turning point in the novel?

3. There are many rumors about Boo Radley. Name 3 physical characteristics about him. Are these attributes shared with us, the reader, through indirect or direct characterization?

Chapter 2 “We’ll do like we always do at home,” Jem said,

“but you’ll see - school’s different.”

4. Who is Miss Caroline Fisher? What is ironic about her comment to Scout, “Let’s not let our imaginations run away with us”? (Hint: Refer to what she just read them).

5. Scout gets in trouble 3 times with her teacher, Miss Fisher, on the first day of school. One time is the incident with Walter Cunningham. Tell about this conflict. What caused it, and why was her teacher upset with her?

Chapter 3

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…”

1. What motivates Jem to ask Walter over for dinner?

2. What lesson does Atticus teach Scout that could be a possible theme for this novel?

3. Tell about Burris Ewell and the conflict with him at school.

4. What are the 2 laws that the Ewells are allowed to break? What is the motivation behind allowing them to break these laws?

Chapter 4 “Grown folks don’t have hidin’ places.”

5. What is the first gift that appears in the hollow tree? What other gift do the children

find? What is the symbolic meaning of the presents the kids find in the tree?

Chapter 5 “His name is Arthur and he’s alive.”

1. Miss Maudie is introduced in Chapter 5. What is she like? Offer a few details about her to show that you have done the reading. Label each detail as either direct or indirect characterization.

2. The first contact with the Radley house is when Jem slaps it. The next contact is when Scout rolls into the yard in the tire. What is Jem and Dill’s next effort to contact Boo Radley? What is the motivation behind their latest attempt at contact?

Chapter 6

“It was then, I suppose, that Jem and I first began to part company.”

3. The kids come up with yet another plan regarding the Radley house. Describe this plan. What conflict does Jem face as a result of this new adventure?

4. What is the tone described in this scene from the novel: “The back of the Radley house was less inviting than the front: a ramshackle porch ran the width of the house; there were two doors and two dark windows between the doors” (52).

5. Jem goes back to the Radley house to get his pants even though it could be dangerous. What

does this symbolically show about Jem?

Chapter 7 “As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried

to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it.”

1. Jem stayed moody and silent for a week” (56). Is the quote an example of indirect or direct characterization?

2. Several new treasures were discovered in the knot hole in the tree. Name 2 of them. Explain why there will be no more treasures found in the tree. What does this symbolically represent for the children?

3. The condition Jem’s pants were in when he found them indirectly characterizes which character? What can we infer about this character based on this action?

Chapter 8 “… the coldest weather since 1885.”

4. What literary device does the author use to show a comparison between Miss Maudie’s burning house and another object? What does she compare her burning house to?

5. What is ironic about how Miss Maudie feels about her house burning down?

Chapter 9 “… the beginning of a rather thin time for Jem and me.”

1. Describe one of the conflicts Scout is involved in during this chapter. What type of conflict is it? Who was involved? Was the conflict resolved? If so, how?

2. “He was the most boring child I had ever met” (80). Is Scout’s description of Francis an example of direct or indirect characterization?

3. What is a theme that comes out of Scout’s argument with Francis?

Chapter 10 “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

4. Why do Jem and Scout think their father is useless? How does the children’s perceptions about Atticus change when he shoots the dog? What motivates Jem to not tell his friends about “One Shot Finch”?

5. What is the symbolic meaning of Atticus’ glasses? How does the meaning of this symbol change throughout this chapter?

Chapter 11

“I wanted you to see what courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but

you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.”

1. “She (Mrs. Dubose) was very old; she spent most of each day in bed and the rest of it in a wheelchair” (99). Is this an example of direct or indirect characterization? What makes the children hate and fear Mrs. Dubose?

2. Describe Jem’s conflict with Mrs. Dubose? What is it about? What is his punishment from

Atticus? 3. Atticus said about Mrs. Dubose, “She was the bravest person I ever knew.” What type of

characterization is this? Direct or Indirect? What was it about her that he admired so much?

Chapter 12 “It’s not necessary to tell all you know. It’s not

ladylike – in the second place, folks don’t like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do.”

4. “Jem was twelve. He was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody.” Is this an example of direct or indirect characterization? How does this change Jem and Scout’s relationship?

5. What was the motivation behind the Sunday collection at First Purchase African Methodist

Episcopal Church? Who was the money for?

Chapter 13 “For no reason I felt myself beginning to cry, but I could not stop. This was not my father.”

1. What is Atticus’ motivation for inviting Aunt Alexandra to stay with them? Name another

reason why Aunt Alexandra’s presence might be needed at this time.

Chapter 14 “From rape to riot to runaways.”

2. Describe Aunt Alexandra’s conflict with Atticus. What is it about? How is it resolved? 3. Scout says that Jem “broke the remaining code of our childhood.” What did he do to cause her to

make this comment? What does this action symbolize about Jem?

Chapter 15 “A nightmare was upon us.”

4. Explain the circumstances of the meeting outside the jail. What type of external conflict does

Atticus encounter? 5. Ironically, who saves the day? How is this accomplished?

Chapter 16 “Don’t talk like that in front of them.”

1. What theme emerges from the event at the jail?

2. Where do Jem, Scout, and Dill sit in the courtroom? What does this symbolize?

Chapter 17 “People generally see what they look for,

and hear what they listen for...”

3. What is Bob Ewell’s motivation for not calling a doctor for Mayella?

4. The Ewells’ living conditions are described. Give 2 specific details about these conditions. What can we infer about the Ewell family’s character based on their living conditions? •

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5. What is the one ironic item located in the Ewell’s yard? Explain why this item is so unexpected.

6. How does Harper Lee foreshadow that Bob Ewell could have been the one to commit the crime?

Chapter 18

“What on earth was her life like?”

1. What makes Mayella think Atticus is mocking her? What can you infer about Mayella’s character based on her reaction?

2. What is Tom Robinson’s deformity? What is Atticus’ motivation for pointing out his deformity to the jury?

Chapter 19 “Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me,

you’d be scared too.”

3. Tom told his version of the incident with Mayella. Compare and Contrast his version with Mayella’s. What is similar? What is different?

• Similarities: • Differences:

4. What is Tom’s motivation for helping Mayella? What is the courtroom’s response to his answer?

5. What motivates Dill to cry?

Chapter 20 “This case is as simple as black and white.”

1. Dolphus Raymond, like Calpurnia, has a double life. What motivates him to pretend to be a drunk?

Chapter 21 “Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’.”

2. What is the mood in the courtroom when the children returned to hear the verdict?

3. What action from the jury foreshadows to Scout that Tom has been found guilty even before the jury reports?

4. After the Jury delivers the verdict, what theme can the reader begin to formulate?

5. Reverend Syke’s tells Jean Louise to “…stand up. Your father’s passin’.” What does this action of standing up symbolize?

Chapter 22

“…only children weep.”

1. Jem cries over the injustice of the legal system. What was the motivation behind Atticus crying?

2. “Atticus Finch won’t win, he can’t win, but he’s the only man in these parts who can keep a jury out so long in a case like that” (216). Is this direct or indirect characterization? What does this quote tell us about Atticus and the type of person he is?

3. What conflict occurs between Bob Ewell and Atticus after the verdict? What is Atticus’s response?

Chapter 23 “We generally get the juries we deserve.”

4. Why is Bob Ewell so conflicted after the trial? After all, he won.

5. At the end of Chapter 23, Jem reaches a conclusion about why Boo Radley is a recluse. What does he figure is Boo’s motivation for staying inside?

Chapter 24

“I guess Tom was tired of white men’s chances and preferred to take his own.”

1. At the end of Chapter 24, Atticus asks Calpurnia to go with him to the Robinson’s.

Summarize the story of what happened to Tom.

2. What did Tom’s escape symbolize?

Chapter 25 “…in the secret courts of men’s

hearts Atticus had no case.”

3. In reference to the roly poly Scout has captured, Jem states, “Don’t do that Scout, set him out on the back steps” (238). What is Jem’s motivation for wanting to free the bug?

4. At the end of Chapter 25, Tom is compared to a mockingbird. Explain the simile.

5. “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (241). Summarize what this quote is saying.

Chapter 26

“So many things happened to us, Boo Radley was the least of our fears.”

1. “…but the events of the summer hung over us like smoke in a closed room”(243). What

type of figurative language is being used in this sentence? Explain what it means.

2. What is ironic about Mrs. Gates’ comments about Hitler?

3. Atticus says that Jem is conflicted and is trying hard to forget something. This is why Jem snaps at Scout. What is Jem trying to forget?

Chapter 27

“Thus began our longest journey together.”

4. “By the middle of October, only two small things out of the ordinary happened to two

Maycomb citizens” (247). What were the two external conflicts that happened that were “out of the ordinary?

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5. What two services does Link Deas perform for Helen Robinson? What is his motivation for performing these services?

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Name:

Teacher:

Class:

Date:

Chapter 28 “Run, Scout! Run! Run!”

1. What events in the chapter foreshadow the danger for Jem and Scout?

2. Summarize the conflict that Jem and Scout face on their way home from the pageant.

Chapter 29 “’Hey, Boo,’ I said.”

3. During Scout’s external conflict with Bob Ewell, her ham outfit offered an unexpected advantage. What was that advantage?

4. “His face was as white as his hands, but for a shadow on his jutting chin. His cheeks were thin to hollowness; his mouth was wide; there were shallow, almost delicate indentations at his temples, and his gray eyes were so colorless I thought he was blind. His hair was dead and thin, almost feathery on top of his head” (270). What type of characterization is this? What can we infer about Boo based on this description?

Chapter 30 “Thank you for my children, Arthur.”

1. What is Heck Tate’s motivation for saying that Bob Ewell fell on his knife and died?

Chapter 31 “I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle.”

2. “’Will you take me home?’ He (Boo) almost whispered it, in the voice of a child afraid of the dark.” What type of characterization is this? What can we infer about Boo based on this passage?

3. Scout says, “I would lead him (Boo) through our house, but I would never lead him home.” What does this quote symbolize about Boo’s influence on Scout’s life?

4. On page 279, Harper Lee uses parallelism (repeating words for effect). What phrase does she repeat over and over again? What would be her purpose for repeating this phrase?

5. In a lot of ways, To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming of age novel. Name a lesson that Scout learns.