To Kill a Mockingbird Study Guide
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Chapter One
1. With whom does Scout claim the “accident” was started? When does Jem
claim it began?
2. Who is Atticus Finch? What does he do for a living? Who were his first
clients?
3. Scout says that, “Maycomb had recently been told that it had nothing to fear
but fear itself.”(6) What is the underlined portion in reference to?
4. What were the two summertime boundaries, and why did Scout and Jem
never break them?
5. What is Scout’s, Jem’s, and Dill’s big plan?
6. Who is Boo Radley?
7. How does Jem describe Boo Radley?
8. What does Dill bet Jem? What does Jem do?
Chapter Two
9. What happens to Scout on the first day of school that demonstrates to her that
it is going to be different?
10. What is Miss Caroline surprised that Scout can do?
11. Why does Scout’s pronouncement, “He’s a Cunningham,” seem clear to her.
What is she trying to tell Miss Caroline about Walter and his family?
12. How does Walter Cunningham Sr. pay for Atticus’s legal advice?
13. On page 21, Harper Lee writes about the WPA. What does WPA stand for,
and what was its intended purpose?
14. What is the time honored method of sealing oral contracts in Maycomb
county?
Chapter Three
15. What does Scout do to Walter in the schoolyard?
16. What does Jem ask Walter to do?
17. What does Walter do at the table that drives Scout crazy?
18. What does Cal’s discipline of Scout show about her relationship to the Finch
family?
19. What makes Miss Caroline scream?
20. After reading the interaction between Miss Caroline and Burris Ewell, predict
what kind of family Burris comes from.
21. Besides not having to attend school, what other things set the Ewells apart
from the rest of society?
Chapter Four
22. Where does Scout find a treasure at the beginning of this chapter? What
does she find?
23. What is a “scuppernong?”
24. What is a “Hot Steam?”
25. What is the new game that Jem devises?
26. What sound does Scout hear after rolling into the Radley yard?
Chapter Five
27. Describe Miss Maudie Atkinson.
28. How does Miss Maudie “cement” her friendship with Scout?
29. Describe the difference between a Baptist and a, “foot-washing’ Baptist.”
30. Explain the quote, “sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse
than a whiskey bottle in the hand of another.” (p. 45)
Chapter Six
31. What do the three children decide to do in Chapter 6?
32. What happens to Jem as they run away from the Radley house?
33. Explain the reason why Jem must go get his pants in the middle of the night.
Chapter Seven
34. How are Jem’s pants different from when he left them at the Radley fence?
35. List all of the items found in the knothole of the tree.
36. What happens to the knothole in the tree?
Chapter Eight
37. What makes Scout scream and think the world ending?
38. What reason does Mr. Avery give for the snow falling.
39. Why does Atticus wake up Jem and Scout at one in the morning?
40. How does Scout get the brown blanket she wore the next morning?
Chapter Nine
41. What reasons does Atticus give for defending Tom Robinson?
42. What does Atticus mean when he says, “Simply because we were licked a
hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” (76)
43. What do Scout and Jem get for Christmas?
44. What is a “trousseau?”
45. Explain why Scout finally discovers that Atticus wanted her, “to hear every
word he said.” (89)
Chapter Ten
46. Why is it a sin to kill a Mockingbird?
47. At the beginning of the chapter, what reasons does Scout give to be ashamed
of Atticus?
48. Describe Tim Johnson.
49. Explain how Atticus gains the respect of Jem and Scout.
Chapter Eleven
50. Who do Jem and Scout go out of their way to avoid?
51. Define philippic.
52. What does Jem do to Mrs. Dubose?
53. What does Atticus mean when he say, “we can’t always have our druthers.”
(105)
54. What must Jem do as punishment for what he did to Mrs. Dubose?
55. How does Scout describe Mrs. Dubose?
56. Explain all of the reasons why Atticus made Jem read to Mrs. Dubose.
Part 2
Chapter Twelve
57. Describe the First Purchase African M.E. Church.
58. What two reasons does Cal give for talking two different ways?
Chapter Thirteen
59. On page 128, Atticus says the summer is going to be a hot one. Predict what
he means by this and why it coincides with Aunt Alexandra’s arrival.
60. Describe Atticus’s conversation with Jem and Scout at the end of the chapter.
Explain why you think the author included this passage?
Chapter Fourteen
61. Explain Aunt Alexandra’s motive for wanting Atticus to fire Calpurnia.
62. Why did Dill run away from home?
Chapter Fifteen
63. “Link, that boy might go to the chair, but he’s not going till the truth’s told.”
Atticus’s voice was even. “And you know what the truth is.” (146) Using some of
the clues you have learned about, predict what you think the truth is.
64. Explain why the arrival of the children, and Scout’s speaking to Mr.
Cunningham cause the group of men to disperse?
Chapter Sixteen
65. Explain the significance of Jem and Scout sitting in the “Negro” section.
Chapter Seventeen
66. Explain Mr. Ewell’s testimony.
Chapter Eighteen
67. What does Atticus try to prove really happened to Mayella?
Chapter Nineteen
68. What is Tom Robinson’s account of what happened?
69. What “mistake” does Tom make during his testimony?
Chapter Twenty
70. What does Scout discover about Mr. Raymond?
71. According to Mr. Raymond, what won’t make Dill cry anymore?
72. According to Atticus, all men are not created equally, except for where?
Chapter Twenty One
73. What is the verdict?
74. What does Rev. Sykes tell Scout to do, and for what reason.
Chapter Twenty Two
75. What surprises Atticus at breakfast, and how did this surprise arrive?
76. What is Miss Maudie telling the kids by giving them the cake?
77. What is the news Miss Stephanie tells the children?
Chapter Twenty Three
78. What does Atticus say about what Bob Ewell did to him?
79. According to Atticus, what does a jury force a man to do?
80. What conclusion does Jem come up with concerning Boo Radley?
Chapter Twenty Four
81. What does Jem claim he must teach Dill?
82. Why does Atticus ask Cal to go to Tom Robinson’s house?
Chapter Twenty Five
83. How does Helen Robinson react to the news?
84. Explain what Mr. Underwood wrote in the paper and how it parallels the title
of the book.
85. Explain when, according to Mr. Underwood, was Tom’s fate sealed.
Chapter Twenty Six
86. What does Scout overhear Miss Gates say as she was leaving the courthouse?
87. What is Jem’s reaction to Scout’s story of Miss Gates?
Chapter Twenty Seven
88. What are the three things that happen to Maycomb citizens?
89. Why did all of the children in Maycomb wear shoes after Tutti and Frutti’s
furniture was hidden?
Chapter Twenty Eight
90. For what reason is Scout dressed like a Ham?
91. Describe what happens to Scout and Jem on the way back from the pageant.
92. Explain what happens to Jem.
93. What happened to Bob Ewell?
Chapter Twenty Nine
94. Why was it fortunate that Scout was wearing the Ham costume?
95. Who was it that saved Scout and Jem?
Chapter Thirty
96. How does Heck Tate describe what happened to Bob Ewell?
97. Why doesn’t Heck want to give Boo credit for saving Scout and Jem?
Chapter Thirty One
98. Explain the title and its relevance to the story.