TO
KILL A MOCKINGBIRD – QUESTIONS
Chapter 1
Exposition
1.
Describe the physical setting of the story.
2.
What was the name of Simon's homestead?
3.
How many people lived in the narrator's house?
4.
How many houses separated Atticus's residence from the Radley place?
5.
Who took Mr. Radley's place when he went
under?
Characters:
6.
What is the relationship between the narrator (identified later as
Scout or Jean Louise) and her brother Jem and their
father?
7.
Who is Dill and what is his full name?
8.
What kind of man did Alexandra marry?
9.
When the “routine” of Jem, Scout, and
Dill’s summer becomes tiresome, what idea does Dill have?
10. How had Mr. Radley seen to it that his younger son Arthur (Boo) caused
“no further trouble: in Maycomb?
11. After Mr. Radley
died, what changes occurred at the
12. What dare of Dill’s does Jem finally accept?
13. When Atticus went to
14. How did Jem's
mother die?
15. Who wanted to try and make
Boo come out?
Predict:
16. What events will take place
in Chapter 2?
17. Is Boo a good person or a bad
person?
18. Will we find out more about
Boo, or will we find out more about Scout, Jem and
Dill?
Chapter 2
19. How did Scout feel about the
idea of beginning school?
20. What “order” is given to
Scout on her first day of school and who gives it to her?
21. What did Miss Fisher accuse
Scout of being?
22. What did Calpurnia
teach Scout to do?
23. What is corporeal
punishment?
24. What two things does Miss
Caroline tell Scout that Atticus is not to do anymore?
25. When Scout tries to spare
Walter Cunningham any further humiliation, what does Miss Caroline do to her?
26.
What promise does Scout make in this chapter?
27.
Why hasn't Walter Cunningham passed the first grade?
28.
Why did Calpurnia request Scout's
presence in the kitchen?
29.
Where did Scout finish her dinner?
30.
Was Atticus swayed by Scout's petition to have Calpurnia
fired?
31.
What crawled out of Burris Ewell's hair?
32.
Who else besides Miss Caroline told Burris to go home?
33.
What did Calpurnia do to make up with
Scout?
34.
According to Atticus, when does one understand a person?
35.
Name two favors that
36.
State the bargain that
Atticus struck with Scout.
37.
At the Finch’s for lunch, what reason does Walter give Atticus for
not being able to pass the first grade?
38.
After Calpurnia makes Scout leave the
table, what “lecture” does she give Scout.
39.
How does Scout describe Burris Ewell’s
physical appearance? How does little
Charles Little describe Burris’s personality?
40.
After Scout’s first day of school, what is her assessment and what
is her plan?
41. After Scout begs Atticus not
to make her return to school, what advice does he give her for getting along
with people?
42. What did Scout think about the
43. What was in the knot-hole of one of the
oak trees?
44. Who was the meanest old woman who ever
lived?
45. Who was the president of the L & N
Railroad?
46. What new “game” do
Jem, Scout, and Dill play?
47. Who played the part of Boo?
48. Who had the more to say about the Radleys than anybody in Maycomb?
49. What was Scout's first reason for wanting
to quit the Boo-Radley game?
50. Explain why Scout goes back to the
51. What is their neighborhood’s opinion of
Mrs. Dubose?
52. After Atticus catches the children with
the scissors, what is Jem’s reaction? What is Scout’s and why?
53. Explain why Scout becomes annoyed with
Dill.
54. What does Miss Maudie
tell Scout about “some kind of men”?
55. What is Jem and
Dill’s plan to contact Boo Radley?
56. What order does Atticus give the children
regarding Boo?
Chapter
5
57. Jem decided they could continue playing
their game if they did what?
58. Who did Jem
send a note to and what did it say?
59. Who caught Jem
and Scout before they were able to leave the note?
60. What did Atticus tell them to stop doing?
61. Why did the kids spit themselves dry?
62. What sound shattered the neighborhood?
63. Why do Dill, Jem
and Scout run from the
64. How did Dill explain the loss of Jem's pants to the crowd in front of the Radley place?
65. How did Scout react to Jem going after his pants?
66. What was the outcome of Jem’s mission?
67. How does Dill explain Jem’s
missing pant?
68. What does Jem
finally tell Scout about his pants that he retrieved?
69. What, according to Scout, causes Jem and her to begin “to part company”?
70. What did Jem
find unusual about his britches?
71. How long did Jem
and Scout wait before they considered everything they found in the knot-hole to
be their property?
72. Why wasn't the letter delivered?
73. What was Nathan Radley's
ulterior motive for cementing the knot-hole?
74. Summarize Scout’s assessment of second
grade.
75. What do Jem and
Scout realize about the carved soap figures they find in the knot-hole?
76. When Jem and
Scout find the knot-hole filled with cement, what explanation does Nathan Radley give? What
does Atticus tell Jem about the tree?
77. How did Jem and
Scout feel about Mrs. Radley's death?
78. Why was school closed?
79. What was the "slushy
operation"?
80. The snowman was a caricature of which neighbour?
81. Whose house burnt down in this chapter?
82. Where did the owener
of the home stay after it burnt down?
83. Who put the brown woolen blanket around
Scout?
Chapter
9
84. What does Atticus warn Scout to hold and
keep from doing?
85. Which black man is Atticus defending?
86. How did Scout respond to Cecil’s name
calling?
87. How did Scout feel about how she handled
Cecil's name calling?
88. What words did Uncle Jack not want to
hear from Scout?
89. What did Jem
and Scout get for Christmas?
90. Talking to Francis gave Scout what kind
of sensation?
91. Why did Scout split her knuckle to the
bone on Francis's front teeth?
92. What topic is Atticus talking about while
Scout was eavesdropping?
93. Why was it a sin to kill a mockingbird?
94. Which neighbor spoke highly of Atticus's
legal talents?
95. How did Atticus do, in regards to Cecil
Jacobs's father, in the touch football game?
96. Who informed Atticus about Mr. Harry
Johnson's mad dog, old Tim Johnson?
97. Who informed Miss Rachel and Miss
Stephanie Crawford about the mad dog?
98. Who was the first to address Atticus by
his old nickname?
99. What didn’t Atticus want Scout bragging
about at school on Monday?
100.
How
do Scout and Jem feel about their father at the end
of he chapter?
101.
Why
did the Finch children dislike passing by Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose's house?
102.
Atticus
advised his son to act like a gentleman toward whom?
103.
What
did Atticus do that made Scout think he was the bravest man who had ever lived?
104.
TF Jem bought his sister a real baton.
105.
To
show his wrath for Mrs. Dubose, what did Jem do?
106.
What did Jeremy have to do for one month?
107.
As a
reward for completing their first day's session with Mrs. Dubose, what did
Atticus bring the kids?
108.
T/F:
Mrs. Dubose kicked the morphine habit.
109.
Atticus
would have insisted that Jem read to Mrs. Dubose
because he wanted his son to see an alternative view of what?
110.
Why
does Scout gravitate (lean) toward Calpurnia?
111.
Why was Scout temporarily crushed?
112.
Who
tried to intimidate Calpurnia at her own church?
113.
Who
would be the beneficiary of today's collection at First Purchase?
114.
What
did Jem and Scout think of Zeebo's
singing talents?
115.
What
had to happen for church to be over?
116.
Why
does Aunt Alexandra show up to stay a while?
117.
How
did the Maycomb people respond to her?
118.
What
did she want Jem and Scout to understand?
119.
What
do Atticus and Alexandra learn of?
120.
How
do they respond?
121.
What
advice does Jem give Scout about Aunt Alexandra?
122.
How
does Scout respond to Jem’s advice?
123.
Where
do Scout and Jem find Dill?
124.
Why
had he run away?
125.
What
is the lemon-drop plan?
126.
Where
did Mr. Heck Tate want to move Tom Robinson to avoid trouble from the “Old Sarum bunch?”
127.
Who
were the group of men who visited Atticus's house on Saturday?
128.
To
where was Tom moved?
129.
What
did Atticus do after supper that Jem and Scout
thought peculiar?
130.
Why
did Atticus need the extension cord?
131.
Who
hid Tom from Scout’s view?
132.
From
amongst the semi-circle, whom did Scout recognize?
133.
How
did Scout help disperse the crowd?
134.
Who
would have fired from above had the gang of men not shuffled off?
135.
Major
event takes place in this chapter?
136.
What
does atticus tell Jem and Scout not to do?
137.
What
do they do?
138.
Where
do the white and black people sit in the courthouse?
139.
Where
do Jem, Scout and Dill sit?
140.
Who
is presiding over the trial?
141.
What
two major points did Atticus score in his favor during Heck Tate's testimony?
142.
Where
did the Ewells live?
143.
What
was Mr. Gilmer's trademark?
144.
How
did Mr. Bob Ewell describe his daughter's screaming?
145.
What
happened that caused a stir in the courtroom?
146.
What
opinion of Mr. Ewell does Scout form based on
evidence?
147.
What
is this evidence?
148.
Describe
Mayella Violet Ewell.
149.
What
habit brought Mr. Ewell into suspicion?
150.
Judge
Taylor felt who was browbeating whom?
151.
What
kind of effort was Mr. Gilmer putting into the trial?
152.
What
is Atticus's perception of Judge Taylor?
153.
How
did Mr. Robinson injure his left arm?
154.
What
slipped off the Bible?
155.
Why
did Tom have to serve his 30 days for disorderly conduct?
156.
Scout
felt Mayella was lonelier than whom?
157.
What
about Tom’s voice was swaying Scout’s opinion of him?
158.
How
did Tom fix the old door?
159.
Who
initiated the kissing?
160.
Once
Mayella was blocking Tom's exit, what was Tom's basic
predicament?
161.
What
did Mr. Link Deas' outburst leave the door open for?
162.
Why
was Dill crying?
163.
What
does "thin-hided" mean?
164.
Why
did Mr. Raymond entrust the reason for his behavior to Scout and Dill?
165.
Who
did Jem think would win the trial?
166.
In
his closing argument, Atticus referred to a "time-honored code." What
is that unwritten law, that code that Mayella
violated?
167.
What
institution theoretically assures Thomas Jefferson's dictate?
168.
Find
a quote that explains why Adolphus Raymond’s drunken
behavior is ironic.
169.
Explain
why is it ironic that Tom Robinson feels sorry for Mayella?
170.
Calpurnia's
note was from whom, announcing what?
171.
What
had happened by the time the children returned to the courtroom?
172.
What
side did Reverend Sykes feel Judge Taylor was predisposed towards?
173.
What
was Scout's intuition telling her?
174.
Why
did Jem jerk repeatedly?
175.
How
did the blacks attending the trial respond to Atticus as he passed by?
176.
How
does Jem respond to the verdict?
177.
Explain
how Jem feels, and explain why you believe this.
178.
What
are the neighbors busy gossiping about?
179.
What
does Bob Ewell do to Atticus, and swear he’ll do?
180.
What
is ironic about Jem wanting to join the circus?
181.
Why
does Atticus begin carrying his old pistol?
182.
What
ugly facts of life does Atticus remind Jem about?
183.
According
to Atticus, what constitutes white trash?
184.
What
did Atticus forsee?
185.
What
made Scout indignant?
186.
How
can serving on a jury be unpleasant?
187.
From
Jem's perspective, why does Boo Radley
want to stay inside?
188.
What
is ironic about the jury at Tom Robinson’s hearing?
189.
Why couldn't Scout go to Barker's Eddy, the
swimming creek, with Jem and Dill?
190.
Why
was Atticus's face white?
191.
How
is Jem handling the verdict?
192.
What
doesn’t he want Scout to do?
193.
What
news does Atticus go to tell Helen?
194.
How
does she respond to the news?
195.
What
topic did Mr. Underwood write an editorial on in the newspaper?
196.
What
grades are Scout and Jem in?
197.
How
many years have passed?
198.
Who
is in power in
199.
What
does Scout’s teacher talk about?
200.
What
does Scout later hear the teacher say that is hypocritical?
201.
What
can’t Scout understand?
202.
Who
came to Mrs. Robinson's rescue?
203.
How
successful were the hounds in locating Tutti's and Frutti's furniture?
204.
What
was Jem disappointed about regarding the pageant?
205.
Why
was Scout nonchalant about Atticus', Aunt Alexandra's, or Calpurnia's
attendance at the pageant?
206.
Who
jumped in glee as he scared Jem and Scout?
207.
Cold
spaghetti was used to represent the innards of a what?
208.
What
characteristics do we know about the attacker?
209.
Who
carried Jem to the safety of his house?
210.
What
garment did Scout get to wear?
211.
Scout
asked what question repeatedly?
212.
What
did Aunt Alexandra have a premonition about?
213.
What
caused the "shiny clean line" on the dull wire of the remains of
Scout's costume?
214.
How
did Heck Tate describe a man like Bob Ewell's kind?
215.
Who
did Scout assume was responsible for yanking Bob down off of her?
216.
What
blurred Scout's image of Arthur Radley?
217.
What
saved Scout’s life?
218.
Who
rescued Jem and Scout?
219.
Whom does Atticus think killed Ewell and what does he plan to do about it?
220.
What
does Atticus think Heck Tate is trying to do when he says, “Jem
never stabbed Ewell”?
221.
What
does Atticus mean when he says, “I can’t live one way in town and another way
in my home”?
222.
Why
had Atticus suggested they talk on the porch instead of in the front room?
223.
What
does Heck Tate mean when he says, ”I’m not thinking of
Jem!”
224.
How
does this throw a new light on the conversation he just had with Atticus?
225.
Where
did Heck get the switchblade that he used to demonstrate how Ewell accidentally killed himself?
226.
Why
does Mr. Tate want to keep the identity of Ewell’s
killer a secret?
227.
What
does Scout mean when she says, “Well, it would be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”
228.
Analyze
Aunt Alexandra's influence upon Scout in this chapter.
229.
Explain
the curious contest of wills between Heck Tate and Atticus Finch.
230.
Explain
exactly how Bob Ewell died. Be sure to give an account of both knives and
all relevant parties.
231.
With
regard to returning to the
232.
While
standing on the Radley porch, what did Scout learn
from her reveries?
233.
In
"The Gray Ghost," Stoner's Boy symbolically represented whom?
234.
What
saddens Scout as she walked Boo home?
235.
What
is significant about Scout’s line, “ I never had seen
our neighborhood from this angle?”
236.
How
did Dr. Reynold’s greeting influence Scout’s
perception of Mr. Radley?