To Kill a Mockingbird
Literary Road Map: CHAPTERS 1-4
Getting It Straight: Use these questions as a guide as you complete the reading.
You don’t need complete sentences. J
Chapter 1
· This chapter gives the reader a great deal of background information. Record notes on important background details here.
· Summarize Boo Radley’s past. What happened to him when he was a boy?
· Who replaced Boo Radley’s father when he died?
· What does Dill want to make Boo do?
· How does Jem feel about this?
· What does Dill dare Jem to do?
· How does the chapter end?
Chapter 2
Dill leaves and school begins.
· Where was Miss Caroline from?
· How did Miss Caroline begin the day?
· Why does Miss Caroline get upset with Scout?
· What does she tell her to tell her father?
· What happens when it is time to go to lunch?
· What does Scout try to explain to Mrs. Cunningham?
· Who are the Cunninghams? What were they like?
· How does Atticus know the Cunninghams?
· What does Miss Caroline do to Scout?
Chapter 3
School continues.
· What is Scout doing to Walter at the opening of this chapter?
· Where do the kids go?
· What does Walter do to his food?
· How does Scout react?
· What does Calpurnia do?
· Summarize what happens when they return to school
· How does Burris treat Miss Caroline?
· That evening Scout tells Atticus that she does not think she wants to return to school. She tells him about her day. What advice does he give her?
· What does Atticus tell Scout that she had learned that day?
· What does Atticus say about the Ewells?
· What does Atticus teach Scout about compromise?
Chapter 4
The knothole.
· What does Scout find in the knothole of the oak tree?
· What does she do with it?
· What does Jem make her do when he hears about it?
· On the way home from school on the last day of school what do Jem and Scout find in the oak tree?
· Who arrives?
· What is a Hot Steam?
· What does Jem do to Scout?
· What game do the kids play?
· Who gets angry? Why?
· What did Scout hear when she rolled into the Radley yard?
Essay – Answer each of these questions. Use a quote or example to support your answer.
Chapters 1-8
1. Discuss the setting (place and time) of the novel. What is Maycomb County like? How does the setting affect the plot?
2. Discuss the narration of the novel. How is this story being told?
3. What is the importance of the conversation on page 14 that Dill and Jem have about a turtle. What do we learn about Dill? What is empathy?
4. Discuss the myths and legends of the Radley family. What do you think is the truth about the Radley family?
5. Explain how and why Scout was rude to Walter Cunningham at lunch and describe Calpurnia’s reaction. What does this incident reveal about Calpurnia’s character? What role does she play in this family?
6. Discuss how the kids react to the cement in the knothole. What are they beginning to realize?
Analyzing Quotes – SPEAKER (or who they are about), context, and SiGNiFicAnCe!
1. “Now you tell your father not to teach you any more. It’s best to begin reading with a fresh mind. You tell him I’ll take over from here and try to undo the damage--” (17)
2. “You, Miss Scout Finch, are of the common folk. You must obey the law.” He said the Ewells were members of an exclusive society made up of Ewells. (30)
Character Study: Atticus Finch
Find examples from the text that support the following statements. Find specific things that Atticus does and says. Also, find things that others say about him. (Keep this list going throughout the book!)
Atticus is kind.
Atticus is wise.
Atticus is brave.
Atticus is a good father.