SHORT ANSWER STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS - To Kill A Mockingbird
1. Identify Atticus Finch, Jean Louise (Scout) Finch, Jem Finch, Maycomb, Calpurnia, Charles Baker (Dill) Harris, The Radley Place, Stephanie Crawford, Arthur (Boo) Radley, Miss Caroline Fisher, Walter Cunningham, and Burris Ewell.
2. What did Dill dare Jem to do?
3. What was Scout's first "crime" at school?
4. What was Calpurnia's fault?
5. Why did Scout rub Walter Cunningham's nose in the dirt?
6. Scout said, " He ain't company, Cal, he's just a Cunningham." What did she mean by
that, and what was Cal's answer?
7. What two mistakes did Miss Caroline make on the first day of school?
8. Why didn't the Ewells have to go to school?
1. What did Scout and Jem find in the Radleys' tree?
2. Identify Mrs. Dubose.
3. How did Jem get even with Scout for contradicting him about "Hot Steams?"
4. What was the Boo Radley game?
5. Identify Miss Maudie.
6. What does Miss Maudie think of the Radleys?
7. Why do Dill and Jem want to give Boo Radley a note? What does Atticus say when he
finds out about their plan?
8. How did Jem lose his pants? What did he find when he went back for them?
9. What else did Jem and Scout find in the Radleys' tree?
10. Why would there be no more surprises in the tree?
1. What happened to Miss Maudie's house? What was her reaction?
2. Identify Cecil Jacobs.
3. What "disaster" happened at Christmas between Scout and Francis?
1. What did Scout's Uncle Jack learn from Scout and Atticus?
2. What brave thing does Atticus do in Chapter 10? Why are Scout and Jem shocked?
3. What did Jem do when Mrs. Dubose said Atticus "lawed for niggers?"
4. What was Jem's punishment?
5. What did Jem learn from his encounter with Mrs. Dubose and following her death?
1. How does Jem change?
2. Identify Lula, Zeebo and Reverend Sykes.
3. What does Scout learn about Calpurnia?
4. Who was waiting for the children when they came home from the church service? Why
had she come?
5. "Aunt Alexandra fitted into the world of Maycomb like a hand in a glove, but never into the
world of Jem and me." Explain.
6. Atticus and Alexandra disagree about how to deal with the children. How does Atticus
handle the situation?
7. Describe Jem and Scout's relationship through these chapters as Jem matures.
8. Why did Dill run away from home back to Maycomb?
1. What did Mr. Heck Tate's mob want?
2. What was the purpose of Walter Cunningham's mob?
3. Why did Mr. Cunningham's mob leave?
4. Identify Mr. Dolphus Raymond.
5. Identify Tom Robinson, Mr. Gilmer, Bob Ewell, Mayella Ewell, and Judge Taylor.
6. What was the importance of Mayella's bruises being primarily on the right-hand side of
1. What was Mayella's account of the incident with Tom Robinson?
2. What was Tom's side of the story?
3. What was Tom's handicap? Why was it important to his case?
4. What do Dill and Scout learn from Mr. Raymond?
5. What were Atticus' closing remarks to the jury?
6. What was the jury's verdict?
1. Why did Jem cry?
2. What was "'round the back steps" when Calpurnia came in on Monday morning?
3. What was the significance of Maudie's two little cakes and one large one?
4. Describe Bob Ewell's meeting with Atticus at the post office.
5. What is Atticus' reaction to Ewell's threats?
6. Alexandra doesn't want Scout playing with Walter Cunningham. Why not?
7. Jem said. "I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the
house all this time . . . it's because he wants to stay inside." Why does he say that?
8. Mrs. Merriweather of the missionary circle complains about her cooks and field hands.
What does that tell us about her?
9. What happened to Tom Robinson?
10. What more do we learn about Alexandra after Atticus and Calpurnia leave?
11. What did Mr. Underwood's editorial say?
1. What was Scout's fantasy regarding Arthur (Boo) Radley?
2. What did Scout hear Miss Gates say at the courthouse? In class, Miss Gates said,
"That's the difference between America and Germany. We are a democracy and
Germany is a dictatorship. . . . We don't believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution
comes from people who are prejudiced." What does this tell us about Miss Gates?
3. What happened to Judge Taylor?
4. What happened to Helen Robinson?
5. What was Scout's part in the pageant?
6. Why did Scout and Jem not leave the school until almost everyone else had gone?
7. What happened to Jem and Scout on the way home from the pageant?
8. Who saved Jem and Scout? Who killed Bob Ewell?
9. Why did Heck Tate insist that Bob Ewell fell on his own knife?
10. Scout arranged things so that "if Miss Stephanie Crawford was watching from her
upstairs window, she would see Arthur Radley escorting [her] down the sidewalk, as
any gentleman would do." Why did she do that?
11. As Scout leaves the Radley porch, she looks out at the neighborhood and recounts the
events of the last few years from the Radleys' perspective. Why is that important?