Quick Quiz

http://www.gradesaver.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/study-guide/quiz1/

Found a quiz about to kill a mocking bird, I found it quite useful.

Tension during the trial

The outcome of the trial seems inevitable to the reader, Tom Robinson is black and in the eyes of the racist jury he is guilty no matter what the evidence says. However Harper Lee creates tension during the trial by presenting Atticus' questioning in a way so that you believe he has a chance. He slowly picks apart the prosecution's case in such a way that you begin to believe he could win.

Harper Lee also presents Atticus' defence in a mysterious way, he seems to be asking random questions and you don't know how he will link this to the trial or how it will help Tom Robinson so it intrigues the reader because they are interested as to how he will use this to defend Tom Robinson.

She also uses a lot of imagery, when Scout and Jem arrive at the trial she spends a long time setting the scene so you can imagine you're there. When Heck Tate and Bob Ewell take the stand they describe the incident in a way that seems so real which helps to build tension.

Courage and Assumptions

What did Jem and Scout learn from their experience with Mrs Dubose?
They've learnt never to make assumptions before 'you climb into his skin and walk around in it'. They believed that Mrs Dubose was bitter and heartless because she was rude about Atticus, however after she died Atticus revealed that she was the 'bravest person I ever knew'.
Scout in particular also learnt what true courage was, when Jem and Scout went to her house to read to her everyday, Mrs Dubose set the alarm clock later each time. Therefore each day she avoided taking her morphine for a longer length of time. Atticus wanted Jem and Scout to learn that courage was not somebody waving around a gun, but somebody who never gave up even if it seemed hopeless. Mrs Dubose was very ill and knew that she only had a few months to live, however she promised herself that she would stop taking morphine before she died even if it would have made dying much easier and painless

Chapter 3: Burris Ewell

At lunch, Scout begins to argue with Walter Cunningham because he got her in trouble, Jem intervenes and invites Walter to their house for lunch. Walter covers his food in syrup, this disgusts Scout but Calpurnia feels that Scout is acting very rude and scolds her. When they return to school, Miss Caroline becomes terrified when a bug crawls out of a boy's hair. This boy was Burris Ewell. The Ewells are very poor and unrespected in Maycomb. When she tells him to go home and wash, Scout explains to Miss Caroline that Burris Ewell only goes to the first day of school. The Ewells only turn up to the first day of school to avoid trouble with the law. On his way out of the classroom he screams vicious insults at Miss Caroline, causing her to cry.

Methods that Lee uses to build up a sense of danger in chapter 10

In this passage, Lee builds up a sense of danger by using short sentences which increases the pace of the chapter. The short sentences are also quite threatening, 'Take him, Mr Finch' and 'Go on'. These are both sentences that encourage Atticus to shoot Tim Johnson and therefore add to the sense of danger. Another method that Lee uses effectively in this passage is the personification of time which 'slowed to a nauseating crawl'. This demonstrates the tension of the situation and the use of 'nauseating' seems to make the narrator feel sick making the danger seem greater. Lee also incorporates a lot of mystery in this passage. For example, the greatest mystery in this chapter is whether or not Atticus can still shoot. The tension grows as the reader realises that Atticus is planning on taking the shot and that he hasn't 'shot a gun in thirty years'. As Atticus's uneasiness grows, so does the reader's and this all adds to the sense of danger in this passage.

Chapter 2: Scout's first day at school

Scout starts her first day at school, something she has eagerly been waiting for her whole life. For a young child, she is very intelligent, this is shown by the language she uses as the narrator. Unfortunately for her, there is a new teacher at school, Miss Caroline Fisher, who is horrified to discover that Scout is already very advanced in her education. Miss Caroline instructs Scout to stop reading at home because it could interfere with Miss Caroline's teaching. Jem informs Scout that Miss Caroline has just come from college and has lots of new ideas to improve the school. The teaching method is called the Dewey Decimal System, which is actually a way of categorising books in a library. On Scout's first day of school she stands up for Walter Cunningham and explains to Miss Caroline that Walter will not except the money because his family cannot afford to pay it back. Miss Caroline however does not view this as helpful and tells Scout off.

chapter 1: The Radley Place

Scout Finch, the narrator of the book, recounts how her brother, Jem Finch, broke his arm. She gives a brief description of the county of Maycomb, Alabama and we meet a few of it's inhabitants. We meet Atticus Finch, Scout's father, who is an attorney and state-legislator and Calpurnia, the 'negro' cook. Scout also gives a detailed description of the Radley House and Boo Radley. The Radley Place is presented as a haunted house and all the people of Maycomb do everything they can in order to avoid it. We meet Dill who comes to Maycomb for the Summer holidays, Scout and Jem often play with him and one day he dares Jem to run up and touch the Radley Place.