English 10: Harris
To Kill a Mockingbird Part 1 Study Guide
Name ______Period _____
Chapters 1-3 Study Guide
Directions: Answer each question in a complete sentence.
Chapter 1, pages 3-19
1. What point of view is the novel written in?
2. What is the setting?
3. Who is the narrator’s father? What does the narrator’s father do for a living?
4. Who is the narrator’s brother?
5. Who is Calpurnia?
6. What happened to the narrator’s mother?
7. What is Dill’s real name? Where did Dill come from?
8. What lives inside the Radley place? What do people say about him?
9. Why are the Radleys considered strange?
10. Who is Mr. Radley’s son? Why is he in trouble?
11. How did his father handle his punishment?
12. What is the town’s nickname for him?
13. What would we call Miss Stephanie Crawford?
Chapter 2, pages 20-29
1. What time of year is it?
2. What grades are Scout and Jem in?
3. Describe Miss Caroline Fisher.
4. How did Scout learn to read? Who taught her penmanship?
5. What are the Cunninghams like?
6. How did Mr. Cunningham pay back Atticus for legal work?
7. What did Scout think Miss Caroline was going to do to her hand?
8. Why did Scout get in trouble?
Chapter 3, pages 30-42
1. Who does Jem invite to lunch?
2. Why does Calpurnia scold Scout?
3. What horrifies Miss Caroline?
4. What does she ask of Burris Ewell?
5. What are the Ewells known for?
6. What advice does Atticus give Scout?
7. What compromise do Atticus and Scout agree on?
Journal #1 (Chapters 1-3)
Topic: Childhood
Directions: Choose one of the topics below. Write at least two (2) paragraphs in response on a separate sheet of paper.
1. In Chapter 1, Scout, Jem, and Dill are fascinated by the Radley house. When you were a child, was there a neighbor, family member, or place that scared you? Describe that person/place as you remember them and think about how your experience parallels the children in the novel.
2. The children enjoy their summer experiences. What kinds of experiences did you enjoy when you were a young child? Describe one of these experiences and think about how that experience was similar/different to those of the children in the novel.
3. In chapters 2 and 3, Scout begins her public school career. What were your "first days" of school like? Think about your earliest school experiences and how they compare to Scout's.
Name ______Period _____
Chapters 4-6 Study Guide
Directions: Answer each question in a complete sentence.
Chapter 4, pages 43-54
1. To what does Scout compare the rest of her school days?
2. What does Scout do when she reaches the Radley place? Why does she do this?
3. What does Scout discover in the oak trees?
4. What does Jem make Scout do?
5. Why are Scout and Jem excited about the summer?
6. What is the second present they find?
7. Describe Dill’s return to Maycomb.
8. What happens when Scout is being rolled in the tire?
9. What game do the children invent?
10. What two reasons does Scout give for wanting to stop the game?
Chapter 5, pages 55-66
1. What does Scout begin doing “upon pain of being called a girl”?
2. What does Miss Maudie think about “foot-washing Baptists”?
3. What does Miss Maudie care about?
4. What does Miss Maudie say about the Bible in the hands of one man? Explain what she means.
5. What do Jem and Dill want to give Boo? How do Jem and Dill plan on getting it to Boo?
6. Who catches the boys?
Chapter 6, pages 67-76
1. What did Jem decide to do with Dill on this last night? Why did he choose this particular night?
2. Why did Scout decide to stay with the boys rather than go home?
3. Why did they spit themselves dry?
4. Describe the shadow. What did the shadow do?
5. Why does Mr. Radley fire a gun?
6. What explanation does Dill give for Jem not having his pants?
7. Why does Jem say they were playing with matches?
8. What does Jem decide to do in the middle of the night? What is Scout’s reaction?
Journal #2 (Chapters 4-6)
Topic: Labels
Directions: Choose one of the topics below. Write at least two (2) paragraphs in response on a separate sheet of paper.
1. On p. 39, the narrator says that "Jem was a born hero." What is a hero? Are they born or made? How is Jem a hero?
2. In Chapter 5, Miss Maudie is described as "a reasonable creature." What makes her "reasonable"? How would you define a "reasonable creature" in your own life?
3. On p. 52, Jem tells Scout that she is "gettin' more like a girl everyday." What does he mean? What is his definition of "girl"? How has that changed from then to now?
Name ______Period _____
Chapters 7-9 Study Guide
Directions: Answer each question in a complete sentence.
Chapter 7, pages 77-84
1. Why was Jem silent and moody for a week?
2. What did Jem find unusual about his britches?
3. After a three-day waiting period, Jem and Scout considered everything they found in the knot hole to be what?
4. What other items do they find?
5. Why do they write the letter?
6. What does Mr. Radley do to the tree? What does he tell Jem about why he filled the tree?
7. What do you think Nathan Radley’s ulterior motive was for cementing the knot hole?
Chapter 8, pages 85-98
1. What is the reaction when Mrs. Radley dies?
2. Why does Scout scream when she wakes up the next morning? When was the last night this event occurred?
3. What happens when the children are woken up in the middle of the night?
4. What do the men do while they wait for the fire truck to come? Why did it take so long for the fire truck to come?
5. Why does Atticus decide to keep the blanket incident a secret?
6. Where did the blanket come from?
7. After the fire, how does Miss Maudie feel about the destruction of her house? Why does this perplex the children?
Chapter 9, pages 99-117
1. What does Scout find out about her father’s case for Tom Robinson?
2. Why does Atticus say he is defending him even though some people in town don’t want him to?
3. What does Atticus tell Scout to do if she hears some “ugly talk”?
4. What does Scout do at school for Atticus?
5. Describe Aunt Alexandria.
6. How does Uncle Jack handle Scout trying out cussing on him?
7. What did the children get on Christmas from Atticus?
8. What does Francis tell Scout about Dill?
9. Why does Scout hit Francis?
10. What does Scout explain to Uncle Jack about provocation?
11. What does Atticus tell Uncle Jack about his case?
Journal #3 (Chapters 7-9)
Topic: Symbols/Metaphors
Directions: Write three (3) paragraphs in response to the topic below.
1. In Chapter 9, Atticus expresses his desire that Scout not catch "Maycomb's usual disease." What is this disease? How might she catch it? What "diseases" do we have in society today?
Name ______Period _____
Chapters 10-11 Study Guide
Directions: Answer each question in a complete sentence.
Chapter 10, pages 118-131
1. Why do the children say Atticus is feeble?
2. What do the children think of their father compared to other fathers?
3. What does Atticus say is a sin? How does Miss Maudie explain to the children why it is a sin?
4. What attribute does she point out to the children about their father so they can be proud of him?
5. What does Calpurnia realize immediately about Tim Johnson?
6. Describe Heck Tate. What is his occupation?
7. What nickname does Miss Maudie call Atticus? Why is this a shock to the children?
8. What does Jem proclaim about his father at the end of this chapter?
Chapter 11, pages 132-149
1. Why did the Finch children dislike passing by Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose’s house?
2. What did Atticus do that made Scout think he was the bravest man who ever lived?
3. To show his wrath for Mrs. Dubose, what did Jem do?
4. What did Jem have to do for one month?
5. Why does Atticus say Jem’s act of rage was inexcusable?
6. Although Scout doesn’t have to go with him, she does. What does this say about her?
7. As a reward for completing their first day’s session with Mrs. Dubose, what did Atticus bring for the children?
8. Atticus would have insisted that Jem read to Mrs. Dubose because he wanted his son to see what?
9. What does Mrs. Dubose send to Jem after her death?
10. What was the real reason she was having Jem read to her?
11. What does Jem do with his gift?
12. How has this changed Jem?
Journal #4 (Chapters 10-11)
Topic: Perspective
Directions: Choose one of the topics below. Write at least two (2) paragraphs in response on a separate sheet of paper.
1. The children's view of Atticus changes from the beginning to the end of Chapter 10. Why does this happen? Think about your views of your own parents; has your perspective ever changed? Why?
2. Note how Mrs. Dubose is described in Chapter 11. How does the children's perspective on her change? What lesson do they learn? Have you ever learned a similar lesson?