To Kill a Mockingbird Reading GuideChapters

1-8
Please answer the following questions with complete sentences.
Chapter 1
1. Chapter 1 introduces readers to the town of Maycomb, its
appearance, its inhabitants, and the particular attitudes of many of its
people. Find a sentence or a paragraph that illustrates each of the
following attitudes/ideas. Quote at least a portion of the sentence or
paragraph and gie the page number.
a. pride in ancestry and !tradition"
b. pride in conformity and distrust of those who are di#erent
c. awareness of di#erence in social classes
d. narrow span of interest and almost no interest in the world outside
of Maycomb.
$. %ppro&imately when 'what year( does the story begin) *ow do you
+now this)
,. -hat do we +now for certain about .oo /adley)
0. -hy is .oo fascinating to the children)
Chapter 2
1. 1cout ma+es three mista+es during her 2rst day at school. -hat
are they, and why to they ma+e Miss Caroline so angry)
$. -hy are the professional people in Maycomb poor at this time)
,. -hat is the -P%, and why won3t Mr. Cunningham wor+ for it)
Chapter 3
1. Calpurnia lectures 1cout on manners when 1cout critici4es -alter3s
manners and %tticus supports her. -hat does this tell you about how
both Calpurnia and %tticus feel about others)
$. .urris 5well, -alter Cunningham and Chuc+ 6ittle are all from
e&tremely poor families. *oweer, there are great di#erences both in
appearance and in attitudes, particularly between the Cunninghams
and the 5wells. -hat are those di#erences and why do you suppose
they e&ist)
,. %tticus tells 1cout, !7ou neer really understand a person until you
consider things from his point of iew8until you climb into his s+in and
wal+ around in it." -hat are some of the things that 1cout begins to
reali4e at this point)
0. -hy does %tticus say that the law is rigid for !common fol+," but it
is bent in certain ways for the 5wells)
9. -hat is the !compromise" which %tticus suggests)
Chapter 4
1. :n what speci2c ways does 1cout critici4e the school she is
attending)
$. -here do you suppose the gum and pennies are coming from)
-hat ma+es you thin+ so)
,. 1cout has two reasons for wanting to quit the !/adley ;ame."
-hat are they)
Chapter 5
1. .ased on the description of Miss Maudie and her conersations with
1cout, write a brief character analysis of Miss Maudie. ;ie your
eidence.
$. -hen Miss Maudie shows her disgust with !foot<washing .aptists,"
is she actually putting down all .aptists, or a particular point of iew)
5&plain.
,. 5&plain Miss Maudie3s statement= !8sometimes the .ible in the
hands of one man is worse than a whis+ey bottle in the hand of >oh, of
your father."
0. Paraphrase %tticus3 speech about the /adleys3 right to priacy. ?o
you agree with his point of iew) -hy or why not)
Chapter 6
1. -hat reasons do @em and dill gie for trying to pee+ into the /adley
window on this particular night)
$. -hat 2nal statement by @em ma+es 1cout 2nally go along with the
plan)
,. %fter the incident, @em3s real desire is not Aust to recoer his pants
but to +eep on good terms with %tticus. -hat does this tell you about
@em3s relationship with his father)
Chapter 7
1. -hat was the condition of @em3s pants when he found them) -hy
did their condition frighten him further)
$. -hat is the signi2cance of the gifts in the tree)
,. 5&plain why Mr. Bathan /adley 2lls the hole in the tree with cement.
-hy does @em cry about this)
Chapter 8
1. -hy do @em and 1cout ma+e the snowman such an obious replica
of Mr. %ery)
$. -hy does %tticus decide to +eep the blan+et incident a secret)
,. %fter the 2re is oer, how does Miss Maudie feel about the
destruction of her house) -hat does this tell you about her character
and her alues)