MOUNTAIN RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL
English Language Arts 1-2 Honors Summer
Reading Packet Due Mon., Aug. 10th
Ms. Moya, Mrs. Aspaas and Ms. Eberhart
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
Directions:
1. Obtain a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. We recommend purchasing your own
copy to read and then use during the unit beginning in August however, you may check one
out from a library as well.
2. Your answers must be TYPED in a 12 point, plain font and numbered to match the questions
in this packet.
3. Only hard copies of your answers will be accepted, so please remember to print out your
answers and bring them to school on Mon., Aug. 10th.
There will be a test during the first week of school!
Questions? Visit one of our websites which can be accessed from the Mountain Ridge High School Website.
Chapters 1-10
Directions: On separate paper, type your answers in at least one complete sentence. Remember to number all of your
answers.
1. Why does Scout admire Miss Maudie?
2. Why has Atticus accepted the job to defend Tom Robinson?
3. Why does Scout fight with Cecil Jacobs and Francis?
4. Why does Aunt Alexandra disapprove of Scout?
5. Why does Uncle Jack later regret punishing Scout?
6. Who scolds Scout for questioning Walter’s eating habits?
7. Who tells Scout to stop reading with her father?
8. Whose house catches on fire?
9. What was strange about Jem’s pants when he went back to the Radley house to get them?
10. What talent does Atticus have that the kids are shocked to learn?
Directions: On separate paper, type your answers in at least 8 sentences.
11. Read the last sentence of chapter 9. In a paragraph, explain in your own words what the sentence means and why it
might be important in the story.
12. Discuss Atticus’s parenting style. What is his relationship with his children like? How does he seek to instill
conscience in them?
13. Analyze the childhood world of Jem, Scout, and Dill and their relationship with Boo Radley in Part One.
14. What gifts are given in the knot-hole of the tree and what might they reveal in the unfolding of the plot?
15. Atticus tells Scout that she needs to walk in her teacher’s shoes before judging her after Scout’s terrible first day of
school. What role does this advice play in developing Scout’s compassion for others?
Chapters 11-20
Directions: On separate paper, type your answers in at least one complete sentence. Remember to number all of your
answers.
16. What does Jem do to Mrs. Dubose’s flowers? What is his punishment?
17. What reason does Dill give Scout for not coming back to Maycomb? What does this tell you about Dill’s personality?
18. Why does Aunt Alexandra come to stay with the Finch family?
19. How does Scout react to Aunt Alexandra’s demands that Scout must act like a lady?
20. What is the relationship between Calpurnia and Aunt Alexandra?
21. Why do Scout, Jem and Dill go to the jail?
22. How does Scout diffuse the tension at the jailhouse?
23. Who is Dolphus Raymond and what makes him a unique individual?
24. What is Mayella Ewell’s home life like?
25. How does Atticus prove that Tom Robinson is innocent?
Directions: On separate paper, type your answers in at least 8 sentences.
26. Explain the social consequences that Jem and Scout are facing because Atticus is representing Tom Robinson? How
does each of the children react to the taunting, and teasing?
27. What does Jem learn from visiting Mrs. Dubose? How does this contribute to Jem becoming more of a young adult
rather than a child?
28. What is the significance of Jem and Scout attending church with Calpurnia?
29. How does Dill’s sudden appearance in Maycomb for the summer affect Scout? How is this summer different than
the last one?
30. What is the significance of Scout and Jem sitting with Reverand Sykes at the trial?
Chapters 21-31
Directions: On separate paper, type your answers in at least one complete sentence. Remember to number all of your
answers.
31. What disturbing news does Atticus deliver to Helen Robinson?
32. What was the subject of Mr. Underwood’s editorial?
33. In what way was the teacher, Miss Gates, prejudiced?
34. Before making any attempt to get revenge on the Finches, who were two of Bob Ewell’s other targets?
35. What practical joke was played on the Barber sisters?
36. What role did Scout play in the pageant and how did she do while playing that role?
37. Why did Scout want to wear her costume home after the pageant?
38. Who saved the lives of Scout and Jem?
39. How did Heck Tate plan to explain how Ewell died? Why?
40. Give one example of Scout following Atticus’ advice to crawl into someone else’s skin in order to understand his/her
point of view.
Directions: On separate paper, type your answers in at least 8 sentences.
41. To Kill a Mockingbird has been described as both a “novel of strong contemporary national significance” and
“pleasant, undemanding reading.” With which description do you most agree and why? Give examples from the text to
support your answer.
42. Some readers think that Jem's broken arm symbolizes the wound that the system of segregation inflicted on white
southerners. What do you think of this idea? What evidence can you find in the story that the author might have
intended to make the broken arm a symbol?
43. In the last few lines of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout says, "he was real nice..." and Atticus replies, "most people are,
Scout, when you finally see them." Do you agree that most people in the novel are nice once you see them? How is
Atticus able to see the good side of people despite all he has experienced?
44. At the end of the book, Scout says that telling people Boo Radley committed the murder would have been "sort of
like shootin' a mockingbird." What does that mean? Do you agree that Boo is like a mockingbird?
45. From which three characters in the novel do you think Jem and Scout learned the most? Discuss with close reference
to the events of the novel.