Chapter 1-4 Questions Flashcards
What do you learn in this chapter about Maycomb, Atticus Finch, and his family?
Maycomb is an old town in which everyone knows a lot about everyone else. It is often filled with gossip. Atticus Finch and his family have lived there for generation. He has a son named Jem, and a daughter named Scout. Jem and Scout Finch’s mother died.
What do you learn about Dill’s character?
Dill goes to Maycomb to live with his Aunt Rachel every summer. He pretends to be someone he isn’t.
What, briefly, has happened to Arthur “Boo” Radley?
When he was younger, he was always getting into trouble and his father decided to keep him in their house, instead of letting him go to a juvenile detention center. Stories have been told about him for years, and his reputation got worse as he was never seen in town.
Why does Radley’s place fascinate Scout, Jem and Dill?
The Radley house is full of mysteries. Boo Radley and his family have become major ghost stories. Everything in the house is a secret, and nobody knows if Boo is still alive or not. Scout, Dill and Jem are fascinated by the house, but also frightened.
What do you notice about the narrative voice and viewpoint in the novel?
The point of view in the novel is from Scout. She is an adult when telling the story, but most of the story is her looking back on the memories of her childhood. She is telling the story in 3rd person and since she is older, has a more mature view of what she did when she was younger.
Why is Scout so looking forward to starting school?
She’s excited to be with other kids, and she misses being with Jem all the time.
Why does Jem not want anything to do with Scout at school? Is his behavior typical of an older child?
He doesn’t want Scout following him around, and being in the way of him and his friends. It is typical because older kids usually don’t want their younger siblings tagging along.
What do you think of Miss Caroline Fisher as a teacher? Can you find any qualities which would maker her good or not so good at her job?
Miss Caroline thinks she has good intentions, and is helping everyone, however her actions aren’t doing that. Although she thinks she’s doing her job well, she is not a very good teacher. For example, because Scout was ahead of the class in reading and writing, Miss Caroline didn’t know what to do with her. Instead of encouraging Scout to keep learning at her own fast pace, she tried to slow down her progress.
Who is Calpurnia? What is her place in the Finch household?
Calpurnia is the maid and nanny for the Finch family. By staying with the Finch’s, she gets treated better than most African Americans in this time period. She acts as one of the motherly figures in Scout’s life, since she does not remember anything about her birth mother.
What is Walter Cunningham like? What does his behavior during lunch suggest about his home life?
Walter comes from a poor family that values honor and self-respect. His family is poor and he never has money for lunch, and his family has no food. When his teacher offered him a quarter, he refused knowing that he wouldn’t be able to pay his teacher back. This suggests pride and self-respect in his family and his home.
What do you think of the way Atticus treats Walter?
Atticus treats Walter with great respect, like he treats everyone else. Atticus talks to Walter like an adult and it makes him feel important and honoured.
Does Scout learn anything from Walter’s visit? What do you think this is?
Scout learns that you can’t judge someone based on their home life. She is no better than anyone else because she has more money than them.
Atticus says that you never really understand a person “until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. What does this mean? Is it an easy thing for Scout to learn? (In the last chapter of the novel, Scout repeats this, but she changes “skin” to “shoes” - this is probably not a mistake: Harper Lee suggests that Scout cannot clearly recall exactly what Atticus said and when, but the reader can check this!)
This means that you don’t know what someone else’s life is like unless you experience it yourself. Atticus is trying to get Scout to see things from another point of view. It’s not an easy thing to learn, especially for somebody so young.
What does Scout think of current fashions in education?
She thinks that school isn’t as challenging as she thought it would be.
What superstitions do the children have in connection with the Radley house?
They have a fear that Boo Radley comes out at night and haunts the town. They also believe that the house is haunted by “Hot Steams” and that even going near the house can get you killed.
