To Kill A Mockingbird

Novel Packet

CyberEnglish 9 Name ______________________________

Hogue/2003 Class _______________________________

Due Date __________________

Reading Schedule: See separate calendar

Pre reading:

Fill in the blanks

The author of this novel is _____________________________. To Kill a Mockingbird, published in ____________, is the only book she has written; it won the ___________________________________ for fiction. The novel is set in ____________________, AL during the _______________________, when millions lost their jobs and more than 750,000 farmers lost their land. Even professionals, like lawyers, had a hard time because the people who hired them could often not afford to pay. Even though ___________________________________ freed the slaves in 1863, Blacks were still not treated equally. Typical jobs for African Americans were ___________________________, ______________________________, and ____________________________. To Kill a Mockingbird is a ___________________ ________________ novel in which the main character matures. She will change from having a child-like view of the world to one more adult-like, and in this change she will lose some of her ___________________________. The plot covers ___________ years in the lives of Scout and her brother Jem. ________________ narrates the novel in _______________ point of view through adult eyes, that is she tells the story of her childhood experiences after she’s grown up. Through _______________________ we hear her child’s voice. The title comes from a passage in the novel in which Miss Maudie explains that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird because they do nothing harmful themselves; they only give us joy. This idea becomes a ______________________ in the novel, and we see many examples of “mockingbirds” and witness the world’s cruel behavior against their innocence.

Some of the themes in the novel are

è Growing up is hard and children lose their innocence

è Racism makes people act cruelly towards others

è People can act in courageous ways, especially in hard times

è Loneliness can make people make foolish choices

Characters: Complete the chart for each of the characters listed.

	Age & social relationships or job	Personal qualities & character traits	Problems he/she faces
Atticus
Scout
Jem
Arthur Radley (Boo)
Mayella Ewell
Calpurnia
Tom Robinson
Dill
Mrs. Dubose
Aunt Alexandra
Miss Maudie

Chronolog:

Complete the sentence to create a plot summary of the novel. Your answers need to make grammatically correct sentences.

Part I

1) Jem and Scout meet ___________________________________________________

2) Jem raids ___________________________________________________________

3) Scout starts __________________________________________________________

4) Jem and Scout find ____________________________________________________

5) Nathan Radley shoots _________________________________________________

6) Nathan Radley seals ___________________________________________________

7) Fire destroys _________________________________________________________

8) The community criticizes ______________________________________________

9) Atticus shoots _______________________________________________________

10) Mrs. Dubose teaches __________________________________________________

Part II

11) Aunt Alexandra comes ________________________________________________

12) Scout’s innocence prevents _____________________________________________

13) Jem, Scout, and Dill attend _____________________________________________

14) Atticus cross-examines _________________________________________________

15) Tom Robinson reveals _________________________________________________

16) The jury decides ______________________________________________________

17) Bob Ewell threatens ___________________________________________________

18) Atticus reports ________________________________________________________

19) Mr. Underwood compares _____________________________________________

20) Bob Ewell harasses ____________________________________________________

21) Bob Ewell attacks _____________________________________________________

22) Boo Radley kills ______________________________________________________

23) Scout meets __________________________________________________________

24) Heck, Atticus and Scout decide _________________________________________

25) Scout views __________________________________________________________

Reading questions:

Answer these after you read and before the class discussion of the corresponding chapters. These will be stamped to show that you were done. Your answers don’t have to be complete sentences, but they do have to be complete ideas. One word is never a complete idea. You can only get full credit if you are done at the beginning of class. Complete questions for each chapter assigned for a particular day.

Chapter 1

1) When the routine of Jem, Scout, and Dill’s summer becomes tiresome, what idea does Dill have?

2) How had Mr. Radley seen to it that his younger son Arthur (Boo) caused “no further trouble” in Maycomb?

Chapters 2 & 3

3) When Scout tries to spare Walter Cunningham any further humiliation, what does Miss Caroline do to her?

4) At the Finch’s for lunch, what reason does Walter give Atticus for not being able to pass the first grade?

5) After Calpurnia makes Scout leave the table, what “lecture” does she give Scout? What social role is Calpurnia serving in for Scout?

6) After Scout begs Atticus not to make her return to school, what advice does he give her for getting along with people?

Chapters 4 & 5

7) What is the neighborhood’s opinion of Mrs. Dubose?

8) What does Jem say about the “Indianheads” they find in the knothole of the tree?

9) What does Miss Maudie tell Scout about some kind of men?

10) What is Jem and Dill’s plan to contact Boo Radley?

Chapters 6 & 7

11) How does Dill explain Jem’s missing pants?

12) Summarize Scout’s assessment of second grade.

13) What does Jem finally tell Scout about his pants that he retrieved?

14) What do Jem and Scout realize about the carved soap figures they find in the knothole of the tree?

Chapter 8

15) Describe how Jem constructs his “snowman.” What compliment does Atticus pay Jem?

16) Why does Atticus wake the children in the middle of the night?

17) What is Scout wearing? How does Atticus explain the presence of what Scout is wearing?

18) What is Miss Maudie’s reaction to the loss of her house?

Chapter 9

19) What does Atticus tell Scout to do when she hears “ugly talk” at school?

20) Why does Scout fight Francis?

21) What does Atticus tell Jack he hopes Jem and Scout will do instead of listening to the town?

Chapter 10

22) Atticus tells the children they’re not to kill mockingbirds because doing so is a sin. How does Miss Maudie explain Atticus’ reasoning to Scout?

23) Why does the sheriff ask Atticus to shoot Tim Johnson? (Who/what is Tim Johnson)?

24) What explanation does Miss Maudie offer for “Ol One-Shot” (Atticus) putting his gun down thirty years ago?

Chapter 11

25) What does Jem to do Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bushes? Explain why he does this.

26) What does Mrs. Dubose want from Jem as payment for his “crime?”

27) How does Atticus explain the term “nigger-lover” to Scout?

28) How does Atticus explain “courage” to Jem?

Chapter 12

29) Explain what Scout finds unusual about Calpurnia’s manner of speaking at the Negro church.

30) Why does Reverend Sykes order the doors of the church shut?

31) Why does the congregation sing hymns by “lining?”

Chapters 13 & 14

32) How does Atticus explain Aunt Alexandra’s arrival?

33) What does Aunt Alexandra request that Atticus try to convey to the children?

34) How does Atticus respond to Alexandra’s suggestion that they don’t need Calpurnia anymore?

Chapter 15

35) After Atticus leaves the house at night, where do the children find him? What is he doing?

36) After Scout talks to Mr. Cunningham about Walter and the entailment of his farm, what does he do?

37) What had Mr. Underwood been doing at this time?

Chapter 16

38) How does Atticus explain “mobs” to the children?

39) What is Maudie’s reaction to everyone wanting to go to the trial?

40) What news does Scout overhear about Atticus defending Tom Robinson? Does it give her any comfort? Why or why not?

41) With whom do the children sit in the courtroom?

Chapters 17 & 18

42) What question does Atticus ask the sheriff three times?

43) What does Atticus lead Sheriff Tate to remember about Mayella Ewell’s black eye?

44) Explain what Atticus is attempting to show by asking Mr. Ewell to write something.

45) Why does Mayella think Atticus is mocking her?

Chapters 19 & 20

46) Identify what Tom says Mayella did to him while he was 1. standing on the chair, 2. after he got off the chair, and 3. afterward.

47) What mistake does Tom make when Mr. Gilmer is asking him to explain why he helped Mayella? Why is this a mistake?

48) How does Mr. Raymond explain his pretense about drinking?

49) What, according to Atticus, is the one thing in the country that makes everyone equal.

Chapters 21 & 22

50) What is Reverend Sykes’ response to Jem’s certainty that the jury will find Tom innocent?

51) What is Atticus’s response to Alexandra’s attempt to say the children shouldn’t have witnessed the trial?

52) What does Miss Maudie say about Atticus’s ability to have kept the jury out for so long?

53) What had Bob Ewell done to Atticus?

Chapter 23-24

54) How does Atticus explain the fact that women can’t serve on juries in Alabama?

55) How does Atticus explain his decision to have allowed Mr. Cunningham to sit on the jury?

56) What conclusion does Jem come to about Boo Radley?

57) What is Miss Stephanie’s advice to Scout about becoming a lady?

58) What news does Atticus bring about Tom Robinson?

59) How does Atticus explain what Tom did?

Chapters 25-27

60) What does Mr. Underwood say in his editorial?

61) What conclusion does Scout come to about Tom after reading Mr. Underwood’s article?

62) What historical figure does Miss Gates condemn? Why does her condemnation confuse Scout?

63) Why does Judge Taylor have a shotgun on his lap when his wife comes home from church?

64) Why was Helen Robinson walking a mile out of her way to get to her job?

Chapter 28

65) How does Scout know the body she touches is not Jem’s?

66) What, according to Dr. Reynolds, is Jem’s condition?

67) Who is in Jem’s room besides Scout, Atticus, and Alexandra?

68) What news does Sheriff Tate give Atticus?

Chapter 29-31

69) According to the Sheriff, what kind of man was Bob Ewell?

70) When Scout points to the man who saved Jem and looks at him closely, what does she realize? What does she do and say?

71) Who does Atticus think killed Bob Ewell?

72) What does the Sheriff say about Bob Ewell’s death?

73) After Scout takes Boo home, what makes her sad?

74) As Scout tells Atticus the story of the Gray Ghost, what does she say about Stoner’s Boy? What is Atticus’s response?

Personal response: Write about 150-200 words regarding your favorite character in the novel. Who is your favorite character and why? Give several reasons why you like him or her. What is your favorite scene in the novel in which your character has a prominent role. Why do you like him or her in that scene? Finally, end with some kind of personal connection to this character. Are you like him or her in anyway? Explain.

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