Mysteries on the Radley Property Chapter 4 Presentation To Kill a Mockingbird May 7, 2015

Mysteries on the Radley Property Chapter 4 – Plot Events Mysteries on the Radley Property *Scout remains frustrated with the first year of school as the year goes on. *Scout finds two pieces of fresh chewing gum in the knot-hole of a tree on the Radley property. Later Scout and Jem find another item in the tree: two valuable Indian-head pennies. *Jem accidentally rolls Scout into the Radley yard when she is scrunched up inside a tire. Scout is extremely scared. *The kids make up the imaginary game called Boo Radley and take turns being different characters. *Scout soon wants to stop playing the game because Atticus warns them to stop AND because she heard laughter coming from the Radley house when she fell out of the tire.

Chapter 4 Important Message The children’s fascination with the mystery surrounding Boo Radley intensifies as Scout and Jem find mysterious “gifts” in the tree and Scout, Jem, and Dill use their imagination to keep the Radley story alive. Adults are not providing any answers about what Boo is really like, so the children are forced to come up with their own.

Chapter 4 Important Characters Scout – is bored by the remainder of the school year because she is so far ahead of the other students in her class; finds the first gift in the tree, but is really too young to even consider the items may be coming from inside the Radley house Jem – appears to be the biggest believer in superstition; is also old enough to begin considering all the places from where these gifts may have come

Chapter 4 – Passage #1 “As the summer progressed, so did our game. We polished and perfected it, added dialogue and plot until we had manufactured a small play upon which we rang changes every day” (Lee 52).

Chapter 4 - Passage #1 Explanation This passage shows how the imagination of the children keeps a simple game new and fresh almost every day. The children are so obsessed with knowing what really happened with Boo Radley and his family that they will do almost anything to keep the idea and story alive. They do not consider what they are doing to be “making fun” of the Radleys.

Chapter 4 – Passage #2 “Atticus’s arrival was the second reason I wanted to quit the game. The first reason happened the day I rolled into the Radley front yard. Through all the headshaking, quelling of nausea and Jem-yelling, I had heard another sound, so low I could not have heard it from the sidewalk. Someone inside the house was laughing” (Lee 54).

Chapter 4 – Passage #2 Explanation Scout knows somebody is in the Radley house watching them. They saw a shutter move earlier in the book; now she hears laughter coming from the house. The children are still very scared of what or who Boo might be. They create the games and diversions to help deal with the unknown.

Question A Reader Might Have Was there really laughter coming from the Radley house,or was it Scout’s imagination playing tricks on her?