By Harper Lee Chapter Study Questions

Chapter One 1) What do you learn in this chapter about Maycomb, Atticus Finch and his family? 2) What do you learn about Dill's character? 3) What, briefly, has happened to Arthur “Boo” Radley. 4) Why does the Radley place fascinate Scout, Jem and Dill? 5) What do you notice about the narrative voice and viewpoint in the novel?

Scout and Jem Finch

Chapter Two Who is Scout’s teacher? Describe her. How does Scout get into trouble, before lunch, with her teacher on the first day of school? Who is Walter Cunningham? How do the Cunningham’s pay their debts?

Scout and Walter Cunningham

Chapter Three Why can’t Walter Cunningham “pass the first grade”? How does Scout get into trouble, at home, during lunchtime? Who is Calpurnia? Back in class, after lunch, what upsets Miss Caroline? What does Scout learn from Atticus about considering others’ points of view? Describe the Ewells.

Scout and Atticus

Chapter Four Where does Scout find the chewing gum? What is in the box that Jem and Scout find? Describe Dill’s father – according to Dill. What’s a “Hot Steam”? Explain the new “game” the children play. What does Scout hear coming from the house the day she “rolled into the Radley front yard”?

Chapter Five What is Miss Maudie’s opinion of Boo Radley? What are the kids going to give to Boo Radley? How? What makes the kids stop their effort to communicate with Boo Radley?

Chapter Six Why do the kids “wait till tonight” to peek into the Radley house? Why is Dill unable to see inside the Radley house? What does Jem do after Dill fails to see Boo Radley? Why do the kids run from the Radley yard? How does Jem really lose his pants? What excuse does Dill give for Jem losing his pants? Why does Jem return to get his pants?

Dill, Scout and Jem

Chapter Seven What happened when Jem went back for his “breeches”? Describe the “small images” the kids find in the knothole? Name 3 other items found in the knothole. Why don’t Jem and Scout put their thank you “letter” in the knothole?

Jem and Scout and two soap carvings

Chapter Eight Why does Scout think that “the world’s endin’”? How do Jem and Scout build a snowman? Who does Jem first make the snowman resemble? Why does Atticus awaken Scout in the middle of the night? Who puts a blanket on Scout’s shoulders? How does Miss Maudie react to losing her home?

Chapter Nine Why does Scout fight Cecil Jacobs? What are the personal reasons that Atticus is defending Tom Robinson? What does Atticus tell Scout to do if she hears “ugly talk” about the trial at school? According to Scout, what is “the good side” of Christmas? Who is Rose Aylmer? Describe her. What do Jem and Scout get for Christmas? Why does Uncle Jack spank Scout? How does Scout make Uncle Jack feel bad about spanking her?

Chapter Ten What is bothering the kids about Atticus? Who teaches Scout and Jem to shoot their air rifles? Why is it “a sin to kill a mockingbird”? Who is Tim Johnson and what is wrong with him? What do Jem and Scout learn about Atticus? What do Jem and Scout learn about pride and talent?

Atticus Finch

Chapter Eleven Describe Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose. What causes Scout to consider Atticus “the bravest man who ever lived”? Why does Jem destroy Mrs. Dubose’s flowers? What does Atticus make Jem do when he finds out about Mrs. Dubose’s flowers? How does Atticus feel about defending Tom Robinson? What does Mrs. Dubose want Jem to do for her as a consequence for destroying her flowers? How does Atticus explain the term “nigger-lover” to Scout? What is Mrs. Dubose’s sickness? What is in the box Mrs. Dubose leave for Jem? Why?

Jem, Scout and Mrs. Dubose

Chapter Twelve Why doesn’t Dill visit for the summer? Why is Calpurnia’s church called “First Purchase”? How do the members of Cal’s church (besides Lula) receive Jem and Scout? Why? Explain “linin”. Why is Helen Robinson “finding it hard to get work these days”? Even though Tom Robinson is a good man and Bob Ewell is “trash” why do most people in Maycomb side with Bob Ewell?

Chapter Thirteen & Fourteen Why does Aunt Alexandra come to live with the Finches? Describe Aunt Alexandra. What is the definition of “Fine Folks”? Who is hiding under Scout’s bed? Why has Dill “run off”? “Why do you reckon Boo Radley’s never run off?”

Chapter Fifteen Why does Heck Tate visit Atticus the Saturday before the trial? What is Atticus’ “dangerous question”? Where does Atticus go on Sunday night before the trial? Why do “four dusty cars” go to the jail the night before Tom Robinson’s trial? What finally breaks up the crowd in front of the jail?

Atticus and the Mob

Chapter Sixteen How does Atticus explain a mob? Where do Scout, Jem and Dill sit during the trial? Why do the people in the front row give up their seats for Scout, Jem and Dill?

Chapter Seventeen Why is Atticus so concerned that no one called a doctor for Mayella Ewell? Describe Mayella’s injuries as testified by Heck Tate. Describe Bob Ewell. Why does Atticus want to know if Bob Ewell can read or write?

Mayella and Bob Ewell

Chapter Eighteen Describe Mayella Ewell. How does Mayella respond to Atticus’ questions? Describe Tom Robinson’s left arm. While questioning Mayella, what alternative story does Atticus try to establish?

Chapter Nineteen Why does Scout consider Mayella Ewell “the loneliest person in the world”? Where were the other Ewell children on November 21 when Mayella asked Tom Robinson to help her? Why does Tom run if he wasn’t doing anything wrong? What does Tom mean when he says he was “scared I’d hafta face up to what I didn’t do”? Why does Dill start crying during Mr. Gilmer’s cross examination of Tom Robinson?

Atticus and Tom Robinson

Chapter Twenty What do Dill and Scout learn that could ruin Mr. Dolphus Raymond’s reputation? Why does Mr. Raymond pretend to be a drunk? What does Mr. Raymond mean when he says, “your pa’s not a run-of-the-mill man”? According to Atticus, why is “this case as simple as black and white”? What is the evidence of Mayella Ewell’s “guilt”? According to Atticus, what is the “one way in this country in which all men are created equal”?

Chapter Twenty-One What note does Calpurnia give to Atticus? Why does it take so long for the jury to convict Tom Robinson? Why does everyone in the “colored balcony” stand up as Atticus leaves the courtroom?

Atticus Finch

Atticus Finch To Kill A Mockingbird “One more thing, gentlemen, before I quit. Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the Yankees and the distaff side of the Executive branch in Washington are fond of hurling at us. There is a tendency in this year of grace, 1935, for certain people to use this phrase out of context, to satisfy all conditions. The most ridiculous example I can think of is that the people who run public education promote the stupid and idle along with the industrious – because all men are created equal, educators will gravely tell you, the children left behind suffer terrible feelings of inferiority. We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe – some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because they’re born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than others – some people are born gifted beyond the normal scope of most men.”

Chapter Twenty-Two What “was all ‘round the back steps when (Calpurnia) got here this morning”? What does Miss Maudie tell Jem his father was “born to do”? According to Jem, what “can’t any Christian judges and lawyers make up for”? What happens when “Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner”?

Chapter Twenty-Three How does Atticus respond to Bob Ewell spitting in his face? According to Atticus, why does Bob Ewell have “to have some kind of comeback”? What would happen if Jem “and eleven other boys like” him had been on the jury? “Why don’t people like (people from Maycomb) and Miss Maudie ever sit on juries”? Who does Atticus keep on the jury that causes the jury to take a few hours?

Chapter Twenty-Four What are Jem and Dill doing at Barker’s Eddy? Describe Aunt Alexandra’s meeting for the ladies of Maycomb. Are the ladies of Maycomb hypocritical? Explain. What would Scout do if she “was the Governor of Alabama for one day”? What news does Atticus bring home?

Chapter Twenty-Five & Twenty-Six How does Jem describe Helen Robinson’s response to Atticus’ news? How long is Maycomb interested in Tom’s death? What does Mr. Ewell say about Tom’s death? What is Jem’s role on the football team? What argument does Cecil Jacobs give against Hitler’s persecution of Jews? Why is Atticus “impatient with Hitler”? Why is Scout concerned about Miss Gates and her hatred of Hitler?

Chapter Twenty-Seven Why is Mr. Ewell “fired from the WPA”? What happens at Judge Taylor’s house? What becomes of Helen Robinson and who helps her? What do the Maycomb ladies do to organize Halloween? What is Scout’s role in the Maycomb County pageant?

Jem and Scout in “Ham” Costume

Chapter Twenty-Eight Why doesn’t Jem bring a flashlight with him on Halloween? Who scared Scout and Jem in the dark on the way to the pageant? How does Scout’s part in the pageant turn out? Why does Jem stop to listen while they are walking home? Describe the conflict under “the big oak” on the way home. What happens to Jem after the struggle is over? What is Heck Tate’s report of what he found at the scene of the struggle?

Jem being carried home.

Chapter Twenty-Nine How does Heck Tate describe men like Bob Ewell when Atticus says, “he was out of his mind”? How does Scout know they were under the tree if she couldn’t see? Describe Boo Radley as Scout first recognizes him. Why is Boo in Jem’s room?

Chapter Thirty Who does Atticus think killed Bob Ewell? What does Heck Tate say happened to Bob Ewell? Who is Heck Tate “thinking of” if he’s “not thinking of Jem”? Who really killed Bob Ewell? What is Scout talking about when she says, “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” What does Atticus say to Boo Radley?

Scout, Boo Radley, Atticus and Heck Tate

Chapter Thirty-One What does Boo Radley ask Scout to do? What does Atticus say when Scout tells him that Boo Radley “was real nice”?

Boo Radley, Scout and Jem