To Kill a Mockingbird Quiz

http://www.gradesaver.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/study-guide

This is a really good website with study guides and quizzes on different sections of the novel that test your knowledge of the book, and also how different things link together.

The start of Tom Robinson's trial

The trial in To Kill a Mockingbird is what all the previous events in the book have been leading up to. Harper Lee builds up the tension throughout the book as well. It starts off as the children insulting Atticus in front of Scout & Jem. The adults of Maycomb also gossip about Atticus and a lot of them takes sides for or against Atticus' decision to take the court case. the tension really starts building in Chapter 15, where Jem, Scout and Dill find Atticus outside the jailhouse and a large group of men appear and the conversation gives the reader the impression that they would commit murder if they could.

By the time we reach the day of the trial, there is already a lot of tension about it. Before Scout, Jem and Dill go up to the court, they see Miss Maudie who says she isn't going to the trial. This in itself helps to add to the tension of the trial, because it implies she knows it is not going to be pleasant. She goes on to say "it's like a Roman carnival." This is a particularly interesting quote because the use of the word 'carnival' suggests that the town are going to watch the trial for entertainment purposes. Also 'Roman' makes me personally think of the Colosseum. The Romans would go to the Colosseum and watch animals and people fight, often to the death, again for entertainment purposes. This adds a very morbid aspect to the reader's view of the trial.

This idea of the townsfolk watching the trial for enjoyment continues when the children reach the town square. The square is full of people having picnics, which is the sort of thing you might do on a day trip out somewhere. This continues to illustrate the point that they like watching trials, particularly this one.

The picnic scene also has the common theme of segregation, which adds to the tension. The 'negroes' are eating in one corner of the square, away from the white people, which is another thing that makes it clear that the black people are treated completely differently to the white people. This is also present when the people enter the courthouse. Jem, Scout, Dill and Reverend Sykes end up sitting on the upper layer of the room, which is where all the black people are sitting. There are also 4 black people that give up seats for the children and Reverend Sykes which also shows how the blacks treat the white people.

Discrimination Information

In To Kill A Mockingbird  there is a lot about the discrimination against blacks that was around in the 1930s. This link has a lot of information about the discrimination going from Africa before slavery until after civil rights:
http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/timeline.htm

The Court Case in Part 1

The Court Case in To Kill A Mockingbird is the basis of the book, and most of the action about it happens in part two. However there are lots of hints about it in part one of the book:


Why does Atticus take the case?

• "If I didn't, I couldn't hold up my head in town"- Atticus is a good person and doesn't discriminate  This means that if he didn't take the court case then he would be going against his own personal beliefs and he would be a hypocrite.
• "I couldn't go to church and worship God if I didn't help that man" -Atticus has faith and a conscience. If he didn't take the case then he would feel guilty and embarassed
• Courage is "when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what"- Atticus is brave and this helps with the fact that he knows that he has got to take the case
• "I think we'll have a reasonable chance on appeal"- Atticus has determination and won't give up
• "He's a member of Calpurnia's church"- Atticus has a personal connection with Tom Robinson and he treats Calpurnia well, so he feels he ought to do the same to Tom.

What hints are there that the case is going to be hard?

• "Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for"-The case will be hard because most of Maycomb are prejudiced and discriminate against black people, including Tom Robinson and look down on Atticus for trying to help him
• "Scout's got to keep her head and learn soon with what's in store for her these next few months" - This implies that there is going to be a lot of talk about the Scout, a lot of which will insult Scout and make her angry.
• "When summer comes you'll have to keep your head about far worse things"- This implies that the insults is only going to get worse

A story when I disappointed an adult

In Primary School I really liked my year 5/6 teacher and I also helped her out in the mornings, before school when my mum came into work at the school.

One day she was on a training course, so we had a supply teacher. At break time me and a friend of mine found some letters on her desk, so we thought we would be helpful and hand them out, thus saving her a job when she got back. We went round the classrooms handing out the letters, which were for people who had auditioned for a dance show, and told them whether they had got in or not.

The next day when the teacher discovered the letters had been handed out, she was very cross with us. This was because some people had had a 'yes' letter and a 'no' letter because she hadn't decided yet. We were in big trouble and I still remember this now because I was ashamed as I had let her down and disappointed her. This also sticks out because I have a lot of good memories with this teacher as she was one of my favourites.

To Kill A Mockingbird -Chapter 1

In this chapter:

-Jem and Scout get in an argument as to who caused Jem's accident

-We get a brief family history of the Finches

-Scout and Jem meet Dill for the first time

-Scout and Jem tell Dill about the Radley place and the story of Boo radley

-Dill dares Jem to touch the Radley house and he does

This is the opening chapter to the book which, in any good book, will draw the reader in and make them want to read on. In my opinion, Harper Lee doesn't do this as successfully as many other authors that I like, such as the opening of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which is intriguing and the reader becomes curious.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, I was not intrigued by the opening. On page 1, a long family history of Jem and Scout starts, which I think is not appropriate for the start of a book.  When i read it, I found myself switching off and I didn’t really take in the words on the page.

The action gets going when Dill is mentioned for the first time (excluding the brief mention on the first page). My first impression of Dill is that he is quite confident and that he wants to show off. In his first introductions to Jem and Scout he says “I can read”, without any mention of the subject. This shows that he wants them to know that he is clever, possibly under the impression that this is how to make friends.

Dill, Jem and Scout get talking and get on the topic of Boo Radley, a “malevolent phantom” that lives in a house near where Jem and Scout live. The description of the Radley house is, in my opinion, an excellent. Lee describes the house in a way that makes it really easy to picture and with just the right amount of detail.

At the end of the chapter, Dill dares Jem to touch the Radley House, which he does. For me, this is the turning point in a change of Jem’s character. My initial opinions of him were that he was a loving brother and a child who loves to play outdoors in the countryside. I think after the dare, he starts to become more like Dill, and starts to treat Scout differently, claiming that she is “gettin’ more like a girl every day”

Sunrise

A golden orb emerges from the depths of the horizon with the promise of eternal hope, after an everlasting night of choking darkness, with only the stars piercing the sky. It is as quiet as a butterfly beating its delicate wings, with only the sounds of far off trees crackling and the gentle waves lapping at the pale cliffs echoing about my ears. The audience of this sensational scene is dormant, unaware of the flawless beauty and infrequent stillness that surrounds them. The melody of a lone bird fills the air, breaking the peace that envelops the world at this time. Soon the business of life will aid this bird in its mission. Soon the tranquility of this silence will cease to exist, defeated by the ignorance of man.