Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 1 Questions

1. What do we learn about the town of Maycomb?

2. What do we learn about Atticus Finch?

3. What do we learn about the Finch family?

4. What do we learn about Dill?

5. Briefly describe what happened to Arthur “Boo” Radley.

6. Describe the point-of-view from which this story is told. Be specific.


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Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 2 Questions

1. Why is Scout looking forward to starting school?

2. Why does Jem not want anything to do with Scout when they are school? Is his behavior typical of an older child? Explain.

3. What do you think of Miss Caroline Fisher as a teacher? Locate AND discuss qualities which would make her good or not so good at her job.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 3 Questions

1. Who is Calpurnia? What is her place in the Finch household?

2. What is Walter Cunningham like? What does his behavior during lunch suggest about his home life?

3. What do we learn about Atticus by the way he treats Walter? Be specific.

4. What does Scout learn from Walter’s visit?

5. Atticus says that you never really understand a person “until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. In your own words, explain what Atticus means.

6. What do we learn about the Ewell family?


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Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 4 Questions

1. What superstitions do the children have in connection with the Radley house? Be specific.

2. Why do the children make Boo's story into a game? Be specific and explain.

3. What do the children do in the Boo Radley game? Be specific.

4. Do you think that the Boo Radley game is an accurate version of what really happens in the Radley home? Be specific and explain.

5. The first time the n-word appears in the novel is in reference to Hot Steams. Scout tells Dill not to pay any attention to what Jem says about them because “‘Calpurnia says that n****r-talk’” (37). It is, therefore, Calpurnia – a black woman who, according to Atticus, has “more education than most colored folks” (24) – that first uses this word in the novel, and she does so in describing people who believe in a ridiculous superstition. What might this suggest about what that word meant and how it was used in 1930s America? Explain.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 5 Questions

1. Describe Miss Maudie Atkinson. Is she a typical Maycomb woman? Explain.

2. What does Miss Maudie tell Scout about Boo? How does this compare with what she believed?

3. Scout claims that “Dill could tell the biggest ones” she ever heard. Why do you think Dill tells the children such lies?

4. What reasons does Atticus give for the children not to play the Boo Radley game?

5. Do you agree with Atticus’ reasons for why the children can no longer play the Boo Radley game? Explain why or why not.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 6 Questions

1. Why does Scout disapprove of Jem's and Dill's plan to look in one of the Radleys' windows?

2. What does Mr. Nathan Radley know about the intruders in his garden? Be specific.

3. Why does Dill's explanation of Jem's state of clothing almost land him in trouble? Explain.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 7 Questions

1. What evidence is there that Jem is beginning to understand more about Boo Radley than Scout is?

2. Does Jem still fear the gifts in the tree? Give reasons to support your answer.

3. When the children plan to send a letter to the person who leaves the gifts, they are prevented from doing so. How are they prevented? Why do you think the person who stops them does that? Be specific and explain.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 8 Questions

1. Why does Scout quiz Atticus about his visit to the Radley house? How much does Atticus tell her?

2. Why does Atticus save Miss Maudie's oak rocking chair?

3. When Atticus asks Scout about the blanket around her shoulders, what does Jem realize?

4. Explain what Atticus means by telling Jem not to let his discovery “inspire” him to “further glory”?


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 9 Questions

1. Does Atticus believe he should defend Tom Robinson? What does this prove about Atticus as a man?

2. Uncle Jack tells Scout she is growing out of her pants. What does this mean AND why might he say it?

3. What does Scout learn from overhearing Atticus's conversation with Uncle Jack?

4. Read the final sentence of this chapter. Why do you think Atticus actually wanted Scout to overhear his conversation with Uncle Jack? Explain.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 10 Questions

1. Scout says that “Atticus was feeble.” Do you think that this is her view as she tells the story as an adult or her view when she was younger? Explain.

2. Does Scout still think he is feeble by the end of the chapter? Explain why or why not.

3. Atticus tells his children that “it's a sin to kill a mockingbird,” which is the inspiration for the book’s title. In your own words, explain what Atticus means. Be specific.

4. Who is Tim Johnson? Why doesn’t Heck Tate want to shoot him? Be specific.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 11 Questions

1. What request does Mrs. Dubose make of Jem? Is this a fair punishment for his “crime”?

2. Explain, in your own words, how Atticus feels about insults like “nigger-lover.” Be specific.

3. How does Atticus’ opinion about racist insults compare with the way other people in Maycomb feel about those sorts of attacks? Be specific.

4. Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose is a model of real courage rather than “a man with a gun in his hand.” What does he mean? Be specific.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 12 Questions

1. What is your personal reaction to Jem and Scout's visit to First Purchase Church? Be specific.

2. What does Scout learn at First Purchase Church about how the black people live? Be specific.

3. What does Scout learn from Calpurnia's explanation of Zeebo's education? Be specific.

4. Explain why Calpurnia speaks differently in the Finch house than when she’s among friends at church.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 13 Questions

1. Why does Aunt Alexandra come to stay with Atticus and his family? What is she like?

2. Alexandra thinks Scout is “dull”, meaning not clever. Why does she think this AND is she right?

3. How does Aunt Alexandra involve herself in Maycomb's social life? Be specific.

4. Explain Aunt Alexandra's ideas about breeding and family. Why does Atticus tell Jem and Scout to forget them? Be specific.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 14 Questions

1. Why does Alexandra think Atticus should dismiss Calpurnia? Be specific and explain.

2. How does Atticus feel about getting rid of Cal? Be specific and explain.

3. Why is Scout pleased when Jem fights her? Why is she less pleased when he tells Atticus about Dill?

4. What do we learn from Dill's story about how and why he ran away from home?


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 15 Questions

1. What is the “nightmare” that now surrounds the children?

2. What is the Ku Klux Klan? What do you think of Atticus’s comment about it?

3. How does Jem react when Atticus tells him to go home? Why does he react this way?

4. What persuades the lynching-party to give up their attempt on Tom's life? Be specific and explain why it causes them to leave.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 16 Questions

1. Explain the “subtle change” that Scout notices in her father.

2. In your own words, describe Dolphus Raymond?

3. How does Reverend Sykes help the children see and hear the trial? Is he right to do?

4. Comment on Judge Taylor's attitude toward his job. Does he take the trial seriously or not? Explain.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 17 Questions

1. What are the main points in Heck Tate's evidence? What does Atticus demonstrate in his cross-examination of Sheriff Tate? Be specific.

2. What do we learn about concerning the home life of the Ewell family? Be specific.

3. What do we learn from Bob Ewell's evidence? Be specific.

4. Why does Atticus ask Bob Ewell to write out his name? What does the jury see when he does this? Be specific and explain.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 18 Questions

1. Is Mayella like her father or different from him? Be specific and explain.

2. What might be the reason for Mayella's crying in the court?

3. How does Mayella react to Atticus's politeness? Why do you think she reacts that way? Explain.

4. How well does Mr. Gilmer prove Tom's guilt for those of us reading the novel? How well does he prove Tom’s guilt for those in the jury? Explain.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 19 Questions

1. What made Tom visit the Ewell's house in the first place?

2. Why does Scout think that Mayella Ewell was “the loneliest person in the world”? Explain.

3. In your own words, explain Mayella's relationship with her father.

4. How does Dill react to this part of the trial? Why do you think he reacts the way he does? Explain.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 20 Questions

1. Scout says that “Mr. Dolphus Raymond was an evil man.” Is she right? Explain.

2. In many American states, people who drank alcohol in public places were required to hide their bottles in a paper bag. Why does Dolphus Raymond instead hide Coca-Cola in a bag?

3. What, according to Atticus, is the thing that Mayella has done wrong?

4. Explain, in your own words, Atticus's views on people being equal.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 21 Questions

1. What does Jem expect the verdict to be? Does Atticus think the same? Explain.

2. What is unusual about how long it takes for the jury to reach a verdict? Is the verdict predictable or not? Explain.

3. As Scout waits for the verdict, she remembers “a cold February morning, when the mockingbirds were still, and the carpenters and stopped hammering on Miss. Maudie’s new house, and every wood door in the neighborhood was shut as tight as the doors of the Radley place.” How might that memory relate to the events taking place at this point in the story? Explain.

4. Why do all of the Negroes stand as Atticus leaves the courtroom after Tom is found guilty?


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 22 Questions

1. Although Atticus does not want his children in court, he defends Jem's right to know what has happened. Explain Atticus's reasons for this.

2. Why does Dill say that he will be a clown when he grows up?

3. This story is set in the 1930s, but was published in 1960. Do you think attitudes about racism have remained the same over the years, or have there been any changes? Be specific and explain.

4. Why is Bob Ewell angry with Atticus? Do you think he will follow through with this threat? Explain.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 23 Questions

1. What is “circumstantial evidence”? How does it relate to Tom's conviction?

2. Why does Aunt Alexandra accept that the Cunninghams may be good but are not “our kind of folks”? Do you agree that people should mix only with others of the same social class? Explain.

3. At the end of this chapter, Jem forms a new theory about why Boo Radley has never left his house in years. What is his theory? In your opinion, how likely is it to be true? Explain.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 24 Questions

1. Do you think the missionary ladies are sincere in worrying about the “Mrunas” in Africa? Explain.

2. What is your opinion of the Maycomb ladies as they are seen in this chapter? Be specific and explain.

3. Explain briefly how Tom was killed. What is Atticus's explanation for Tom's attempted escape?


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 25 Questions

1. How does Maycomb react to the news of Tom's death? Be specific.

2. How does Jem’s reaction to Scout’s killing a roly-poly relate to an important theme in the novel? Be specific and explain.

3. Explain the difference Scout draws between the real court where Tom was tried and “the secret courts of men's hearts.”

4. Why did Jem not want Scout to tell Atticus about Bob Ewell's comment? Was this a wise thing to ask her to do? Explain.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 26 Questions

1. In her lesson on Hitler, Miss Gates says that “‘[American people] don't believe in persecuting anyone.’” Why might it seem odd for Miss. Gates to say that? Explain.

2. Why is Scout puzzled by Miss Gates' disapproval of Hitler?

3. Scout asks Jem, “‘How can you hate Hitler an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home?’” Why does Scout's question upset Jem? What do you think is the answer to her question?


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 27 Questions

1. What three things does Bob Ewell do that alarm Aunt Alexandra?

2. Why, according to Atticus, does Bob Ewell bear a grudge?

3. Which people does Ewell see as his enemies? Why?

4. In your own words, explain the purpose of the Halloween pageant.


Name: ____________________________

Date: _______________________

Class: ____________________________

To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 28 Questions

1. The novel begins by focusing on Boo Radley and then turns toward the story of Tom Robinson. How do those two plots merge in this chapter? Be specific.

2. Scout decides to keep her costume on while walking home. How does this affect her understanding of what happens on the way?