Name ___________________________________________________ Date ________________ Class ________________
To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 9-13
Answer the following questions thoroughly and to the best of your ability using complete sentences. Feel free to
answer them out of order, beginning with those you can answer most readily.
1. The scene where Atticus shoots the mad dog out of necessity is arguably an allegory for something – for what? What
does the mad dog symbolize, why does Atticus shoot it, and how does Atticus feel about it? Remember, the dog could
be a symbol for more than one thing.
2. What does the mockingbird symbolize, why is the title of the book To Kill a Mockingbird, and who might therefore
either die or be saved later in the story?
3. The children’s relationship with Mrs. Dubose takes a turn, and after her death the children are told to respect her
heroism rather than fear her wrath. What was so heroic about Mrs. Dubose?
4. What does Mrs. Dubose’s longtime addiction to morphine symbolize?
5. What did the camellia in the candy-box symbolize? Describe several possibilities.
6. Why did Jem throw the candy box in the fire but keep the camellia?
7. The character of Scout is a tomboy. Why do you think the author made that choice?
8. Aunt Alexandra and Maudie Atkinson both function as foils for Atticus. What attributes do they each bring out?
9. Atticus teaches his own children to not become victims of their own foolish pride and to instead be strategic about
how and when to argue/fight/kill. List at least two situations where they really learn this lesson.
10. Why does the author create the characters Boo Radley and Mrs. Dubose? What lessons are the children meant to
learn through their interactions with them?
BONUS – When Scout asks Calpurnia very deliberately and with great specificity why Calpurnia speaks differently with
her own people, whose point of view (outside the story) does Scout’s point of view represent? Who among us is the
character Scout asking this question for?
BONUS – Choose at least three characters, and from the point of view of each one, define the word “sin.”