Question Description

CHAPTER 1
That was the summer Dill came to us:

1.  From whose point of view will the story be told?

Scout Finch

A)  How old do you think the narrator is when she tells the story? List phrases that helped you arrive at that decision.

2.  Who is Calpurnia and what does she teach Jem and Scout?

Calpurnia is the loyal housekeeper for Atticus Finch

A)  How is the town of Maycomb described?

The story takes place in the deep South in Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. (ch 1) “Nothing to buy and no money to buy it with.”

B)  How is the Radley family represented? Consider points of view from

1.  General Maycomb population

2.  Negroes

3.  Stephanie Crawford

4.  Calpurnia

5.  The children

CHAPTER 2
We’ll do like we always do at home,’ Jem said, ‘but you’ll see – school’s different.’

1.  How is Miss Caroline Fisher represented? Consider these incidents:

A)  Atticus teaches Scout to read

B)  Walter Cunningham doesn’t have lunch

2.  How is the Cunningham family represented?

CHAPTER 3
you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…’

1. In what way could Scout’s behaviour be deemed unbecoming for a girl?

2.  How does Jem resolve Scout’s problem with Walter Cunningham? How is the reader positioned to view Jem?

3.  When Scout questions Walter’s table manners, you learn something about Calpurnia and about her place in the family. What do you learn? Why might this surprise some citizens of Maycomb?

4.  Atticus teaches Jem and Scout some valuable lessons when Walter comes to lunch. What are these lessons?

5.  What character traits have you noticed that are likely to make  Scout’s life hard? Consider what you have learnt about Scout’s interactions with Atticus, Walter, Calpurnia and Miss Caroline.

6.   How is the Ewell family represented?

7. What is Atticus attempting to teach Scout when he says, ‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’

CHAPTER 4‘Grown folk don’t have hidin’ places’

1.Scout does not appreciate formal education. Write 2 phrases/sentences that demonstrate this.

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2.What incidents continue to keep the Boo Radley mystery alive for the children?

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3.Scout refers to her fear of Boo Radley by saying ‘..nothing would get me, with him (Jem) and Calpurnia there in the daytime and Atticus home at night’. What do you learn about children’s wants?

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4.When Atticus reacts to the Boo Radley game, what do you notice about the way he disciplines his children? List the principles in which he believes.

CHAPTER 5‘His name’s Arthur and he’s alive’

1.What does Scout admire about Miss Maudie?

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2.What comments does Miss Maudie make about Stephanie Crawford?

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3.Miss Maudie’s comment, ‘Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets’ is appreciated by Scout. Why?

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4.What do you know about Dill that might explain why he wants Boo to come out and ‘sit a spell with us’ in order to ‘feel better’. Why, too, is it understandable that Dill lies so often and so well?

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5.What direct order does Atticus give the children?

 

.CHAPTER 6‘It was then I suppose, that Jem and I first began to part company.’

What does Jem’s comment, ‘Scout, I’m telling you for the last time… you’re gettin’ more like a girl every day, ’ reveal about how boys think girls should behave?

2.Was Jem’s decision to return to the Radley house, a courageous one?

3.During the scene in which the neighbours gather to discuss the gunshot and in which Dill and Jem tell their cover story, many of the assumptions of the adult community are revealed? List the assumptions.

4.  What makes Jem and Scout begin to ‘part company’? Define their two separate ways of looking at the situation. What has Jem learned that Scout is too young to see?