To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 28-31 Notes
Use a dictionary
and context clues
to define the
vocabulary words
in chapters 28-31.
Choose the
definition that
best applies to
how the word is
used in the
sentence and
paragraph.
Vocabulary
 Squandered – 344
 Mortification – 347
 Reprimand – 362
 Garishly – 362
 Acquiescence – 375
Notes – Answer these questions IN COMPLETE SENTENCES. Embed text in your answer.
 Jem “gallantly” walks Scout to the pageant, carrying her costume. As they walk across the schoolyard, they discuss Boo and comment that “Haints, Hot Steams… vanished with our years.” Above
them a mockingbird sings. What is the effect of all these details on the reader?
 Why does Scout wear her costume home?
 What happens on the way to the pageant?
 What is the first clue to the children that they are not alone on their way home? How do they
respond?
a)
b)
 Who are the “four people under the tree”?
a)
b)
c)
d)
 How does Jem get home?
 What unexpected advantages did the ham costume supply?
 What does Boo really look like? Use a bubble map and textual evidence to describe him.
To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 28-31 Notes
 What happened to Bob Ewell?
 How does Sheriff Heck Tate say Bob died? How did he really die?
a)
b)
 What does Atticus think happened out there in the dark? What does he think Heck Tate is
trying to conceal by claiming Ewell fell on his knife? Who is Heck Tate really protecting?
Do you think it is right to “let the dead bury the dead”?
a)
b)
c)
d)
 After Heck Tate leaves, Atticus must explain the lie to Scout. Why is it easier than he
expects? (Think of the whole book when you answer this question.)
 What is the one word used by Heck Tate in the conversation on the porch that makes it
easy for Scout to see the necessity of the lie? Explain.
 In Chapter 5, Miss Maudie says, “Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the
public streets.” Later in the novel, Atticus says, “I can’t live one way in town and another
way in my house.” What does he say and do in this chapter to prove that he was not a
hypocrite?