To Kill A Mockingbird

Study Guide: Some of these questions will be used for daily quizzes.

Chapter One Questions (1)
1. What does the Radley house mean to the children? What was the first “dare” made concerning this house?
2. How does the author establish a feeling of mystery in this chapter?
3. How did the Finches get to Montgomery? What was the “disturbance” between the North and the South?
4. Contrast Dill’s family situation with the Finch’s.
5. Who is narrating this story? What do we know so far about the character from whom we will be hearing this tale?

Chapter Two and Three Questions (2, 3)
1. Who is Jean Louise?
2. What is the contrast between Jem and Scout’s reaction to school?
3. Why does Scout tell Miss Caroline about Walter Cunningham?
4. How does Atticus explain the Ewell family? According to Atticus, why must Scout attend school?
5. What advice does Atticus give Scout?
6. Describe Atticus’ personality and philosophy.
7. What aspect of life is satirized in chapters two and three?

Chapter Four, Five, and Six (4-6)
1. What is the importance of the Radley’s oak tree in these chapters? What happens the last day of school to heighten the mystery about the Radley house?
2. In your own words tell one of the stories about Boo Radley. Describe the children’s reaction and Atticus’ reaction to this story.
3. Who is Miss Maudie Atkinson? Why is she important in these chapters?
4. What is significant about the neighbor’s conclusions about the identity of the person in the collard patch?
5. What plot is hatched by the boys before Dill returns to Mississippi? What is the result of these actions?

Chapter Seven (7)
1. How does Scout feel about school this term?
2. What happened to Jem’s pants? Who is responsible?
3. What is found in the Radley Oak in this chapter? Why do the children think the trinkets are for them?
4. The children suspect various characters. Cite each “suspicious” character and the reason why Jem and Scout eliminate each possibility.
5. Compare the reactions of Scout and Jem when the tree is doctored up by Nathan Radley. Why do you think Jem reacts the way he does to the end of the post office service in the trees?

Chapter Eight (8)
1. Why does Scout react to the snow by yelling, “The world’s endin’, Atticus…!”?
2. What is the significance of the reference point of the Appomattox in Mr. Avery’s remark, “It hasn’t snowed in Maycomb since Appomattox.”?
3. Why do you think Boo Radley covered Scout as she watched the fire? How did she react when she learned the identity of her benefactor?
4. What character traits were manifest by Miss Maudie in her reaction to the burning of her house? How did she explain her attitude to Jem and Scout?

Chapters Nine, Ten, and Eleven (9-11)
1. What is “Maycomb’s usual disease”?
2. Who is Tom Robinson? Why is Atticus defending him? Why does Judge Taylor appoint him?
3. Why does Scout receive a spanking from Uncle Jack? For what reason did Atticus believe she deserved this punishment even after Jack admitted his error?
4. What has Scout learned about injustice from Miss Caroline and the townspeople of Maycomb?
5. What is the children’s perception of Atticus as described at the beginning of chapter 10? What event occurs in this chapter that changes the children’s concept of their father?
6. Who is Mrs. Dubose, and what is her relationship to Jem and Scout? Why does Jem destroy Mrs. Dubose’s flower garden? Do you think this punishment is appropriate? Explain.
7. What actions of Mrs. Dubose frighten Jem? What is the explanation given to Jem regarding these actions? Why does Atticus feel that Mrs. Dubose is “the bravest person I ever knew.”?

Chapters Twelve, Thirteen, and Fourteen (12-14)
1. In what ways does Calpurnia’s church differ from the white people’s church? Why do you think the author presents us with this contrast at this point in the novel?
2. What do Jem and Scout learn about the injustice of white people during their visit to Calpurnia’s church?
3. What did Scout mean when she commented that Calpurnia “had a separate existence outside our household” and that she even had a “command of two languages.”?
4. Why has Aunt Alexandra moved in for the summer? How does Atticus feel about this? How do the children feel about this?
5. Why can it be said that “Aunt Alexandra fitted into the world of Maycomb like a hand into a glove, but never into the world of Jem and me [Scout].”? What sense of values did Aunt Alexandra try to impart to the children?
6. What is Scout referring to when she says at the end of Chapter 12, “I know now what he was trying to do, but Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work.”?
7. Why did Dill run away from home? What is the difference between the way he perceives his relationship with his mother and the way Scout perceives his relationship with his father?
8. What evidence do we have that Jem is starting to grow up and is beginning to identify with the adult world? Be specific.

Chapters Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, and Eighteen (15-18)
1. Why do you think Heck Tate and the men accompanying him paid a visit to Atticus? How did Jem and Scout react to this visit?
2. How did the second gang that met Atticus as the jail compare with the first group that came to Atticus’ home? What was the result of Scout’s combination of innocence and straightforwardness when she addressed Mr. Cunningham?
3. How is the author slowly building a web of tension leading up to the trail?
4. How would you characterize the crowd that has come to the trial? Why do you think the author has described them in such detail?
5. What did the men in the Idler’s Club mean as they echoed town sentiment saying, “the court appointed him [Atticus] to defend this nigger… but Atticus plans to defend him. That’s what I don’t like about it.”?
6. Why do you think the author has slowed up the action of the novel during the trial scene by paying meticulous attention to every aspect of the courtroom?
7. On what single key issue does Atticus build his case? What kinds of strategies does he use to elicit the truth? Why do you think Mayella resents Atticus?

Chapters Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty One, and Twenty Two (19-22)
1. For what reasons did Scout come to pity Mayella even though she was testifying against Tom?
2. What was the “subtlety of Tom’s predicament” on the day Mayella tried to seduce him?
3. Compare Scout and Dill’s reactions to Mr. Gilmer’s prosecution. Why do you think Dill becomes so upset when Mr. Gilmer cross-examines Tom? Why does Dolphus Raymond believe that Dill won’t be affected like that in a few years?]
4. Why had Dolphus Raymond made himself into a town outcast? What commentary is he making about the town and its values?
5. What techniques of persuasion did Atticus use during his summation speech to the jury?
6. Why did the author make it seem like an airtight case in Atticus’ favor just prior to the jury’s decision?
7. Why were the spectators at the trial so appalled when Tom said that he felt sorry for Mayella? What does this reveal about class structure in the Maycomb County?
8. What were the many things that Scout learned about injustice during her day as a spectator in court?
9. What did Atticus mean when he said to Aunt Alexandra, “This is their home… they might as ell learn to cope with it…It’s just as Maycomb County as missionary teas.”?
10. Why did Miss Maudie invite the children in for cake of the day after the trial and tell them, “It’s just a baby step, but it’s a step.”

Chapters Twenty Three, Twenty Four, and Twenty Five (23-25)
1. How does Atticus justify Bob Ewell’s provocative behavior in order to mollify the children?
2. How did Atticus’ remark that “It’s all adding up and one of these days we’re going to pay the bill for it,” foreshadow the Civil Rights struggles of the late 1950’s and 60’s when this book was written?
3. What is the difference between the Cunnighams and the Ewells? Why did Atticus select a Cunningham for the jury?
4. As a result of the conviction, what conclusion does Jem draw about Boo Radley’s seclusion?
5. What was the implicit irony in the Maycomb ladies’ concern for the poverty of the Mrunas?
6. Why do you think the author juxtaposes the meeting of the Missionary Circle and the trial scene? What is the real significance of Mrs. Merriweather’s statement to Scout, “You are a fortunate girl. You live in a Christian home with Christian folks in a Christian town.”?
7. During her afternoon with the ladies, what was Scout coming to realize about herself when she mused, “There was no doubt about it, I must soon enter this world…”? However, which world did Scout prefer? Why?
8. Why do you think it was important for Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie to hide their sorrow at Tom’s death?
9. Was Tom justified in losing faith in “white man’s justice”? Explain your answer.
10. What was the reaction of the majority of Maycomb County to Tom’s death? What was Mr. Underwood’s opinion as stated in his newspaper? What analogy did he use to describe Tom’s killing? Why do you think the author presented opposing points of view on the subject of Tom’s death?

Chapters Twenty Six, Twenty Seven, Twenty Eight, Twenty Nine, and Thirty (26-30)
1. Why was Scout upset by her teacher’s indictment of Hitler? Why did Jem react so violently when Scout tried to talk to him about it?
2. According to Atticus, why did Bob Ewell continue to hold a grudge against everyone connected with the Robinson case even though he had won in court?
3. What misconception did Atticus have about the way Bob Ewell was killed? Why did Sheriff Tate want people to think Ewell fell on his knife?
4. What do you think Scout meant when she said that to reveal Boo Radley’s part in Bob Ewell’s death would be “like shootin’ a mockingbird.”?
5. What insights came to Scout as she stood on Boo Radley’s porch after taking him home?
6. What message is Atticus trying to convey to his daughter at the end of the book when he says, “Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”?