To Kill a Mockingbird
Part I Test Review - KEY
 Characters – know their principal characteristics and roles in Part I
o Scout – narrator, girl, 6 yrs. old
o Jem – 10 yrs. old; Scout’s brother
o Atticus – lawyer, Jem and Scout’s dad
o Calpurnia – Finch family maid/cook
o Nathan Radley – Boo’s brother
o Boo Radley – never comes out of the
house
o Miss Maudie Atkinson – Finch neighbor,
nice to kids
o Ewells – poor white family
o Aunt Alexandra – Atticus sister, does
not get along with Scout
o Heck Tate – sheriff of Maycomb
o Uncle Jack – Atticus’ brother, doctor
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Mrs. Dubose – mean old lady who
taunts the children
Cunninghams – poor but honest family
Miss Rachel Haverford – Dill’s aunt;
Finch neighbor
Miss Caroline Fisher – Scout’s first
grade teacher
Miss Stephanie Crawford – town gossip
Dill Harris – Miss Rachel’s nephew,
friend of Jem and Scout
Tom Robinson – black man accused of
raping a white woman; Atticus is
defending him
 Major Events in Part I – know the details associated with each event
o Scout starts school – Miss Caroline is upset that she already knows how to read and write; Scout also
speaks out a lot at school, and this gets her into trouble
o The children’s encounters with the Radleys
 Tire incident – Jem’s way of getting back at Scout for contradicting him about hot steams; Scout
is scared when she rolls into the Radley yard and hears laughing
 Gifts in the oak tree – gum, Indian head pennies, 2 soap dolls, ball of twine, pocket watch
 Looking in the house at night – the kids try to give Boo a not by attaching it to the end of a
fishing pole, Nathan Radley fires a shotgun, Jem loses his pants on the barbed wire fence and
tells the adults it is from playing strip poker
 Filling the knothole with cement – Mr. Nathan Radley tells Jem he is filling it with cement
because the tree is dead, Atticus tells Jem it isn’t dead – Jem knows something is wrong
o The fire at Miss Maudie’s
 The encounter with Boo Radley/Scout’s reaction to it – Scout has no idea that he covers her
with a blanket, and when she finds out she wants to throw up
 Miss Maudie’s reaction to the fire – she reacts with optimism, her life will go on and be just fine
o The shooting of the rabid dog
 What the reader finds out about Atticus; change in children’s opinion about him – Atticus is the
best shot in Maycomb county, but he doesn’t take pride in his talent
 Difference in Scout and Jem’s reaction to talking to others about the incident – Scout wants to
tell everyone, but Jem understands why they shouldn’t tell everyone
o The beginnings of the trial
 Why Atticus feels he must defend Tom Robinson – because if he didn’t he couldn’t look his
children in the face, plus Judge Taylor appointed him to do it
 His fear for his children in relation to the trial – he fears that the children will catch Maycomb’s
“usual disease” (racial prejudice) during the trial
o Reading to Mrs. Dubose
 What the children thought about her/how she treated them – the children think she is the
meanest lady they’ve ever met
 Why Jem had to read to her – because he chopped off the heads of all of her camellia bushes
wit Scout’s baton
 What the children learned from her – what “real courage” is
o Christmas at the landing
 Francis – taunts Scout and calls Atticus names for defending Tom Robinson
 The fight-reason for it/other’s reactions – Scout doesn’t think Francis should be calling Atticus
names
 Scout’s discussion with Uncle Jack about the fight
 What Uncle Jack says he learns from Scout
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Atticus and Jack’s discussion about the upcoming trial – Atticus explains his fears about the trial
to Jack
Maycomb’s “usual disease” – racial prejudice
 Literary Elements
o Setting – Maycomb, Alabama; 1930s; Great Depression; small, rural, Southern town
o Point of view – 1st person (Scout is the narrator, and she is telling the story as a flashback)
o 2 plot strands – what are they? – getting Boo Radley to come out and the Tom Robinson trial
o Themes
 Prejudice – racial, social, and gender
 “climbing into another’s skin…” (point of view)
 Real courage
 Growing up
 Scout at the beginning of the novel/point of view…
 Differences between Jem’s point of view and Scout’s – Scout is not as mature as Jem
 Differences between children’s point of view and adults – children see things from a
more literal point of view
o Author’s purpose for:
 Scout – the author uses Scout to show the merits of “real world” education
 Jem – the author uses Jem to illustrate the theme of growing up
 Atticus – teaches the children about point of view, real courage
 Boo – during Part I he fits in with the “secrets” motif
 Miss Maudie – “reasonable” character; teaches children about point of view
 Miss Dubose – teaches the children what real courage is
o Be prepared to identify examples of imagery, symbolism, metaphor, etc.
 Reading Analysis – You will have to read a passage from Part I and answer close reading questions from it.