Quiz-- Analysis Compare these answers to your own and try to learn from them.

The quiz was graded in two parts. Part I: Reading comprehension– out of four points. Each question was worth two. Part II: The responses were graded overall– plus (A+), check-plus (A-), check (B), check-minus (C), and then lower than that.

Sample Strong Response This idea of unfair advantages is not just about the gun and the mad dog. In fact, this book is all about unfair advantages that some people have over others—because of money, because of gender, because of skin color-- and how Atticus is trying to make certain situations more equal. He explains how it’s an unfair advantage that white people win trials, regardless of the truth, but he is not going to sit back and watch that happen.

Some people said– Mockingbirds don’t ever hurt anyone (there aren’t any people like this). Some people said— Mockingbirds are perfect. (Perfect?!)

Sample Strong Response: Mockingbirds sing to us. They bring more goodness and beauty to the world than the average person and do so in ways that really stand out. At this point in the book, the only person that I can say for sure is a mockingbird is Boo. He leaves gifts, he covers a freezing girl, he sews up pants. He seems to be trying harder than most to make his little world better. That’s why it would be a sin to hurt him.

This question asked to analyze the quote about “real courage.” The strongest responses in this question showed an understanding that when Atticus is talking about Mrs. Dubose and the important of fighting the tough battles, he is also talking about his own battle with the trial. He is making a point about moral courage being more important than physical courage.