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To Kill a Mockingbird byHarper Lee

‘Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s

a sin to kill a mockingbird’

Name: .........................................................................................................................

Tutor Group: ..............................................................................................................

English Teacher: .......................................................................................................

General Information.

← This unit for your GCSE Literature is Unit 1: Exploring Modern Texts.

← This unit is assessed by an exam, which is one hour & 35 minutes.

← You should spend 45 minutes on Section A and 45 minutes on Section B.

← There are many questions, you must choose the relevant question:

← Section A is Modern Prose & Drama

← Section B is Exploring Cultures – choose ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’

How to revise for the exam.

← Re-read the text.

← Re-read your notes and add new notes to existing ones. You could work in small groups to do this.

← Revise the themes of the text.

← Reinforce the links between the themes and the characters.

← Attempt the practice questions at the end of this booklet.

The examiners are looking for you to do the following:

← Respond to texts critically and imaginatively; to select and evaluate relevant textual detail to illustrate and support interpretations.

← Explore how language, structure and forms contribute to writer’s presentation of ideas, themes and settings.

← Relate texts to their social, cultural and historical contexts; explain how texts have been influential and significant to self and other readers in different contexts and at different times.

Themes.

What are the three most important themes of the novel? And why?

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Exam question:

Read the passage and then answer the questions below.

a. How does the description of the Radley Place reveal character?

b. What purpose does Boo Radley serve in the novel?

Courage.

‘Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.’ p. 118

How does Atticus’ definition of courage apply to the other characters in the novel?

Focus on:

- Miss Maudie during the fire.

- Jem’s visit to Mrs Dubose after he destroyed her flowers.

- The way in which Mrs Dubose dealt with her illness and death.

Below is a character tree showing the connections between some of the main characters.

Who else would you add on and how would they be connected?

Answer the following questions about chapters 1 – 6. Remember to use quotes from the novel to justify your answers.

Chapter One

1. Why does Lee start the novel with a detailed history of the Finch family?

2. Write down what you know about Boo Radley and the Radley Place in general.

Chapter Two

1. Describe Miss Caroline. Try to explain why she is not immediately popular with the children.

2. What do we learn about the Cunningham family?

3. What do we learn in this chapter about Harper Lee’s view of the education system of the time?

Chapter Three

1. What do we learn about Calpurnia’s attitude to other people in this chapter?

2. What do we learn about Burris in particular and the Ewells in general?

3. ‘You never really understand another person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it’ What does this mean? Is it an easy thing to do? How does this quote refer to the novel as a whole?

4. What does this tell us about Atticus?

Chapter Four

1. What do the children find in the tree? Why do you think these objects were placed there? And by whom?

2. What is the point of the Boo Radley game?

3. Why is Scout keen to stop the games associated with the Radley house?

Chapter Five

1. What do we learn about Miss Maudie Atkinson?

2. What is learnt about Boo in this chapter?

Chapter Six

1. Why do the children choose that night to look in the window of the Radley Place?

2. What do we learn about Atticus and his relationship with his children in this chapter?

The main concerns of the novel.

This activity outlines some of the main concerns in the novel. Complete the tasks that follow each stated key idea, remember to collect quotes for each idea.

‘Climb into a person’s skin’

• Look up the references to this idea (pp. 35, 163, 224, 285)

• How does this teach tolerance?

• How important is empathy for others to Harper Lee?

The importance of family

Makes notes on how family is important to the following characters:

• Atticus, Scout & Jem

• The Finches

• The Ewells

• Dolphus Raymond

• Dill.

Racism

Make notes on the following in relation to the presentation of racism in the novel:

• Black and white in the novel

• The verdict of the trial

• Lula

• Dolphus Raymond

• The Ewells and ‘white trash’

Class distinctions

Make notes on the following in relation to the presentation of class distinctions in the novel:

• Black

• White

• Mixed race

• ‘white trash’

• Old families

• The rural poor.

Other concerns in the novel that you might want to make notes on are:

• Moral justice and legal justice

• Prejudice

• Democracy and dictatorship

• The need for social reform

• The need for legal reform.

Dramatic tension.

There are many places in the novel where drama is created. Sometimes it is the suspense of not knowing what will happen; sometimes it’s an exciting event.

Look at the incident of the mad dog Tim Johnson (Chapter X, pp. 98 – 102). Identify some of the following techniques in this event and write a quote for each one:

• Description,

• Simile,

• Abrupt actions,

• Exclamations,

• Adjectives to indicate urgency,

• Suspense through apparently unnecessary description,

• Questions,

• Different points of view,

• Creation of atmosphere,

• Words like stage directions,

• Series of simple actions,

• Emotive language,

• Asides.

Extension:

Different techniques are used during Bob Ewell’s attack on Scout and Jem in Chapter XXVIII (pp. 266 – 269). Look closely at this section and explore how tension is raised. Present your ideas as a spider diagram.

Narrative perspective.

Answer the following questions about Scout as a narrator:

1. What sort of child is Scout? Make notes on her intelligence, thoughtfulness, confidence and conscience.

2. Scout has two older female role models who have contrasting ideas about how women should behave. How does this affect her ability to narrate the novel?

3. List the key aspects of Atticus’ parenting. How do you think these have affected Scout as a narrator?

Most events are told through Scout’s eyes, but there are passages where Harper Lee introduces material through one of a number of devices:

• Background material,

• A character providing information or ideas,

• An event narrated, e.g. Scout recalling Dill’s account of his visit to Helen Robinson,

• Material that forms the basis of some of Harper Lee’s ideas about law, society, families, social justice, moral justice, legal justice,

• A description of Maycomb from the Finch yard.

It is sometimes useful to identify some of the ways in which Harper Lee’s ideas can be seen coming through the situation or the speech of others. To see an example of this, look at Chapter XXIII. Find the different ideas about the way the law operates and the different views expressed about it. The material is firmly based in character and the situation of discussion, but many points are made about what the law is like, how it operates and the extent to which it can be seen as ‘fair’.

Answer the following questions about chapters 7 – 11. Remember to use quotes from the novel to justify your answers.

Chapter Seven

1. What does Jem reveal about his breeches? Who do you think is responsible?

2. What else do the children find in the tree? What significance to you think these objects have:

a) For the children?

b) For the giver?

3. Why do you think Nathan Radley fills the hole in the tree? Why is Jem upset by this?

Chapter Eight

1. Jem and Scout stand in front of the Radley place whilst Miss Maudie’s house is on fire. While outside a blanket appears on Scout’s shoulders. Who does Jem think is responsible for it?

2. What is the significance of the blanket being placed on Scout’s shoulders?

Chapter Nine

1. What is the cause of Scout’s outburst at the start of the chapter?

2. Why shouldn’t Atticus defend Tom Robinson?

3. Why, then, does he choose to do so?

4. Why does Scout have mixed feelings about Christmas?

5. What does Uncle Jack mean when he says that Scout is ‘growing out of [her] pants’?

6. What does Aunt Alexandra think of Atticus?

7. What does Scout reveal about her relationship with Atticus in this chapter?

8. Why do you think Atticus wants Scout to ‘hear every word he said’?

Chapter Ten

1. Why does Scout consider Atticus to be feeble? Does her view change at all?

2. Why does Atticus say that ‘it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’?

3. How does this quote relate to the novel?

Chapter Eleven

1. What do we learn about Mrs Dubose in this chapter?

2. Why does Jem ‘cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs Dubose owned’?

3. Why does Mrs Dubose make Jem read to her?

Setting and context.

To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the Deep South of the USA, in the state Alabama.

The novel is set in the fictional town of Maycomb it is based on Lee’s home town of Monroeville. The novel is set in the 1930s; at this time the USA was the ‘Great Depression’, a time of economic hardships.

In 1929 the ‘Wall Street Crash’ caused shares to suddenly become worthless. Thousands of people lost money, businesses were bankrupted and ordinary people were left unemployed.

The people hardest hit were the poor; they lost their jobs and their homes leaving many penniless and hungry.

Dorothea Lang’s ‘Migrant Mother’ depicts destitute pea pickers in California, centering on Florence Owens Thompson, a mother of seven children, age 32, in Nipomo, California, March 1936.

The Black Community

Slavery was practiced in the Deep South until the end of the American Civil War in 1865. After the Yankie North had beaten the Confederate South, they destroyed the southern economy and forced them to free their slaves. Sadly, this did not mean an improvement for black people living in this area.

Although they were free, the Black Community were not allowed to live in the same areas, attend the same schools, eat in the same restaurants or travel on the same trains or buses as white people. Several local laws were put in place to make sure they remained second class citizens. This resulted in many black people being forced to take poorly paid jobs which left them as badly off as when they were slaves.

The effect of the depression on the Black Community

When the depression hit the USA the farming community in the Deep South was hit very hard, in particular the black agricultural workers.

Racism was ingrained in the culture of the Deep South and the majority of crimes against black people were ignored by the police whilst it only took an accusation of a crime for a black person to be presumed guilty. During this time there was a rise of racist organisations such as the Ku Klux Klan.

The late 1950s.

It is also useful to consider the context of the time the book was written (1957).

Black people who had fought for their country during the Second World War were beginning to demand more rights, such as the right to vote and desegregation. The Black Civil Rights Movement grew in strength and publicity. Alabama was an important centre in the movement; home to events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Autherine Lucy’s attempt to desegregate the University of Alabama.

Mockingbird Pub Quiz.

“Right ladies and gentlemen, get your teams togeva and write your team name at the top of your answer paypa.

We ‘ave a literary feme to tonight’s quiz; a book some of you may ‘ave read, if not tough luck! Will tonight be the night that the Keenan Killas finally lose their crown? Will one of you finally beat ‘em?”

Team name: .................................................

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|1. What is this? | |

|Why is it in the book? | |

|2. What is this? |[pic] |

| |Source: |

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|3. What state is this? | |

|4. This is the flower Mrs Dubose gave Jem – what is it? | |

|5. Unscramble these letters for one of the novel’s themes: |IREDPCJUE |

Language

Harper Lee uses a variety of different styles of language within the novel.

What different types of language can you identify within the novel?

‘“Cal,” I asked, “why do you talk nigger – talk to the – to your folks when you know it’s not right?”

“Well in the first place I’m black –”

“That doesn’t mean you hafta talk that way when you know better.” Said Jem.

Calpurnia tilted her hat and scratched her head, then pressed her hat down carefully over her ears. “It’s right hard to say,” she said. “Suppose you and Scout talked coloured-folks’ talk at home – it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it? Now what if I talked white-folk’s talk at church, and with my neighbours? They’d think I was puttin’ on airs to beat Moses.”

“But Cal, you know better,” I said.

“It’s not necessary to tell all you know. It’s not ladylike – in the second place, folks don’t like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do. It aggravates ‘em. You’re not gonna change any of them by talkin’ right, they’ve got to want to learn themselves, and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.”’

Answer the following questions:

1. How does Harper Lee show, in this extract, that racial prejudice is ingrained in Maycomb society?

2. What further significance might the last sentence have?

Consider the following questions:

• How does the change in language in Scout and Jem reflect the changes in them?

• How does the use of language show us the difference between the characters?

Read the quote below, taken from page 199:

‘Tom was a black-velvet Negro, not shiny, but soft black velvet. The whites of his eyes shone in his face, and when he spoke we saw flashes of his teeth. If he had been whole, he would have been a fine specimen of a man.’

• What does this description suggest about Tom? And Scout’s opinion of Tom?

• Why has Lee used the word ‘velvet’ to describe Tom?

• Is there any significance to the words ‘shone’ and ‘flashes’?

• Look at the last sentence, what is the significance of this sentiment?

Answer the following questions about chapters 12 – 18. Remember to use quotes from the novel to justify your answers.

Chapter 12

1. What is the significance of the First Purpose Church?

2. What new things does Scout learn about how black people live?

Chapter 13

1. What does Atticus mean when he says ‘the summer’s going to be a hot one’?

2. What does Aunt Alexandra think about the importance of family and breeding?

3. What does Atticus think about this?

Chapter 14

1. Why does Aunt Alexandra think Atticus should sack Calpurnia? What response does Atticus give to this?

2. What more do we discover about Dill in this chapter?

Chapter 15

1. What is ‘the nightmare [that] was upon us’?

2. Where does Atticus go on Sunday night? Why?

3. What is the mob’s purpose in being there?

4. What effect does Scout have on events at the jail?

Chapter 16

1. What differences do you notice in Miss Maudie’s and Miss Stephanie’s attitudes to events?

2. What do you learn about Dolphus Raymond in this chapter?

3. What is significant about the arrangement of the courtroom? Why is it symbolic that the Finch children sit where they do?

4. Why has the author brought Dill back into the narrative at this point?

Chapter 17

1. Summarise Heck Tate’s evidence. You can use bullet points.

2. Summarise Bob Ewell’s evidence. You can use bullet points.

3. How might a) the white people and b) the coloured people respond to Bob Ewell’s statement ‘I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella’?

4. Why does Atticus make Bob write his name? What does this contribute to the trial?

Chapter 18

1. Summarise Mayella’s evidence. You can use bullet points.

2. How does Lee create and sustain tension in this chapter and the preceding one?

Symbolism

On page 282 Scout says that to expose Boo Radley would be ‘sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird’. Mockingbirds are a consistent symbol throughout the novel. Who are the metaphorical mockingbirds in the novel? (Remember to give reasons)

What other examples of symbolism are there in the novel?

Answer the following questions about chapters 19 – 25. Remember to use quotes from the novel to justify your answers.

Chapter 19

1. What was Tom Robinson’s relationship with Mayella?

2. Summarise Tom Robinson’s evidence. You can use bullet points.

3. Why does Mr. Gilmer call Tom ‘boy’? What does this tell us about them both?

4. What is Tom’s mistake in saying ‘I felt sorry for her’?

5. Why is Dill so upset?

Chapter 20

1. What has Dolphus Raymond got in his paper sack? Why?

2. What, according to Atticus, is the crime that has been committed?

3. Atticus says that there is only one way in which all men are equal in America. What is it?

Chapter 21

1. Why are a) Calpurnia and b) Aunt Alexandra upset?

2. What does Jem expect the verdict to be? Does Reverend Sykes agree with him? Why?

3. What is the significance of Scout’s comparison of the court to ‘a cold February morning, when the mockingbirds were still, and the carpenters had stopped hammering on Miss Maudie’s new house, and every wood door in the neighbourhood was shut’?

4. What happens as Atticus leaves the courtroom? Why?

Chapter 22

1. What does Atticus mean when he says ‘this is their home, sister. We’ve made it this way for them, they might as well learn to cope with it’?

2. What is Lee suggesting when she writes, ‘seems that only the children weep.’?

3. Why is their breakfast so large?

4. Why is Bob Ewell so angry with Atticus?

Chapter 23

1. Why does Atticus respond as he does to Bob Ewell?

2. What has Tom Robinson been sentenced to? Why is this important?

3. Why don’t people like Miss Maudie and other Maycomb residents serve on juries?

4. What do you think of Jem’s theory about why Boo Radley never comes out?

Chapter 24

1. What is the purpose of Aunt Alexandra’s tea party? What do you think of the Maycomb ladies?

2. Why does Atticus take Calpurnia with him?

3. What new insight do we get into Aunt Alexandra’s character?

4. When Scout says, ‘after all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I’, what do we learn about Scout’s attitude towards growing up, Maycomb society and Aunt Alexandra?

Chapter 25

1. How do the people of Maycomb react to the news of Tom’s death?

2. What does Scout mean when she says ‘in the secret courts of men’s hearts, Atticus has no case’?

Atticus Finch

Answer the following questions about Atticus:

1. List Atticus’s physical qualities. How do these link him with the underdog in the story?

2. Why does the incident with the mad dog gain Atticus new respect from the children?

3. Which characters call Atticus a ‘nigger-lover’? What does this show us about Maycomb?

4. How does Atticus demonstrate courage in defending Tom Robinson?

5. How does Atticus instruct the children to behave when they hear taunts about him?

6. Why does he let Scout listen to his conversation with Jack?

Exam question:

In what ways do Atticus Finch and Robert Ewell differ, and what do they have in common?

Gather evidence to help you answer this question.

Character Analysis.

Look at the sections below and note down:

• Any quotations you think are important in showing us something about the character,

• What the quotation shows us about the character,

• How Harper Lee uses language to portray the character,

• If the quotation links to any key ideas / themes in the novel, and if so, how it does,

• Your reaction to the quotation.

Atticus

PART ONE

• Background and Scout’s attitude to her father, pp. 10–11

• ‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’ p. 35

• Atticus and Miss Maudie’s burning house, pp. 75–78

• Atticus’s attitude to bringing up children, pp. 93–95

• Atticus shoots Tim Johnson, pp. 98–105

• His reaction to Mrs. Dubose’s death: pp. 116–118

PART TWO

• ‘This was not our father’ – Atticus tries to tell off children, pp. 138–140

• Crowd outside the house: pp. 150–153

• Lynch mob outside jail: pp. 157–161

• Atticus’s summing-up: pp. 209–212

• Bob Ewell spits at Atticus: pp. 223–225

• Talks about justice: pp. 225–229

Scout

PART ONE

• Scout as a narrator: p. 9 (first three paragraphs)

• Walter Cunningham incident, pp. 27–28

• Scout in the tyre: pp. 43–44

• Attack on cousin Francis: pp. 88–89

• Conversation with Uncle Jack: pp. 91–92

PART TWO

• Scout at the jail standoff: pp. 158 - 160

• ‘I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.’: p. 233

• At Aunt Alexandra’s tea party: pp. 234–241

• Scout wonders about prejudice in Maycomb: pp. 252–253

• Scout takes Boo home: pp. 284–286

Jem

PART ONE

• Jem touches the Radley house: p. 21

• Boo Radley game: pp. 45–47

• Attempt to peek in at Boo: p. 57–63; Jem’s trousers

• Incidents at Mrs. Dubose’s house: p. 107

• Jem reads to Mrs. Dubose: p. 112

• Jem’s reaction to Mrs. Dubose’s death: pp. 117–118

PART TWO

• Jem growing up: p. 121

• Jem’s concerns about Atticus, mob outside the jail, pp. 154–161

• Jem’s ideas about the trial, pp. 214–218

• Jem’s reaction to verdict, pp. 218–222

• Jem’s views on people, pp. 223

• Jem’s views on justice: pp. 225–227

• Jem’s violent reaction to Scout mentioning the courthouse, p. 253

• Attack on Jem and Scout: pp. 260–269

Structure.

The novel is divided into two different parts: part one (chapters 1 – 11) and part two (chapters 12 – 31). Consider how you would summarise the contents of each part. Then give each part a title.

Part One:

Part Two:

Why is the novel divided into two parts?

Is there a ‘main character’ in each part? And if so who is it and why?

The form of To Kill a Mockingbird is that of a novel. It is a well-developed story, within a frame. The frame is that the narrator, Scout, is retelling and explaining the events that led up to her brother breaking his arm when he was nearly thirteen. The reader is told this in the first sentence of the novel and he breaks his arm in Chapter XXVIII, just before the end. There is, however, a further frame. The novel starts with the children’s curiosity about Boo Radley, the ‘malevolent phantom’. At various points in the novel Scout meets Boo and recognises him. The events are told in chronological order and take place over three years.

There are several distinctive features of Harper Lee’s use of the novel form:

• She presents most events through the eyes of Scout,

• She divides the novel into Parts One and Two,

• She introduces background material about history, society and families which Scout could not have known at the stage when she is recounting the story,

• She uses irony, particularly when statements are made that come true later, but which the reader and the characters could not know about,

• She introduces each new character to the reader before an important event in which they are involved,

• She tends to have two or three important elements, aspects or events in each chapter.

Choose any chapter and identify as many of the features listed above as possible.

Speaking and listening activity.

Local radio broadcast

You are going to work in groups of 5 on competing radio stations to create a 5 – 10 minute broadcast. In your group you are going to broadcast the account of the shooting of Tim Johnson (chapter 10). You must inform your audience about the events leading up to the shooting, the shooting and the subsequent events. You are creating a factual news broadcast, so conjecture must be kept to a minimum.

You will be in role as:

• The presenter of the programme who introduces the news and links to the journalists and eye witnesses (don’t forget to make reference to the switchboard operator’s account) .Also finishes the programme.

• The journalist who arrived on the scene shortly after the shooting and who describes it for the listeners and interviews the Sheriff, Atticus Finch and Miss Maudie.

• The Sheriff who is interviewed by the journalist.

• Atticus Finch, being interviewed by the journalist

• Miss Maudie being interviewed by the journalist.

Practice Question

Read the passage and then answer the following questions.

a. How does Lee show attitudes towards race in this passage?

b. What is the significance of Calpurnia in the whole novel?

Answer the following questions about chapters 26 – 31. Remember to use quotes from the novel to justify your answers.

Chapter 26

1. Why does Lee make the comparison between Maycomb County and Nazi Germany?

2. Miss Gates says of Americans ‘we don’t believe in persecuting anybody’. Why is this an odd claim for her to make?

3. Why does Lee remind us that Miss Gates said, ‘it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were gettin’ way above themselves’?

4. Why is Jem so upset at the end of the chapter?

Chapter 27

1. What three things happen that upset Aunt Alexandra?

2. Why does Bob Ewell bear grudges? Why against people in particular?

Chapter 28

1. Why does Lee bring our attention to the ‘solitary mocker’ as they walk to the pageant?

2. Why can’t Scout see what is going on as they walk home from the pageant?

3. How do they know that they’re being followed?

4. What happens to them?

5. How does Jem get home? What is the verdict on his health when he gets there?

Chapter 29

1. How was Scout’s life saved?

2. What reason does Atticus give for the attack?

3. What reason does Heck Tate give for the attack?

4. Which do you consider to be more likely to be true? Why?

5. How does Scout know that the man in the corner is Boo Radley?

Chapter 30

1. Who does Atticus think killed Bob Ewell?

2. Heck Tate disagrees. What is his explanation of events?

3. What does Tate mean when he says, ‘let the dead bury the dead’?

4. Why does Heck Tate want to protect Boo?

Chapter 31

1. Why does Scout escort Boo home?

2. Explain Scout’s thinking when she says:

“Neighbours bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbour. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbours give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad”

3. As she stands on the Radley porch, Scout finally understands something that Atticus said to her earlier. What is it? How has she come to understand it?

Exam Questions

Below are several exam questions which we will not be looking at together. Feel free to complete any of these in your own time, in exam conditions, and I will mark them for you.

1. Why does Harper Lee choose to tell the story from Scout’s point of view?

Write about:

• what Scout learns from her experiences and how she changes during the novel

• what effect Scout’s version of events has on the reader.

2. ‘Jem is the most courageous character in the book.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement and why?

Write about:

• any ways in which Jem is courageous in the novel

• any other characters who are courageous

• how Harper Lee uses language to show courage.

3. Read the passage and then answer the question which follows.

a. How does Lee create tension in this extract?

b. How is the importance on family shown throughout the novel?

4. Who do you think is being educated in To Kill a Mockingbird, and how?

5. Jem, Scout and Dill are all young people who learn from people and events around them. How does Harper Lee show them learning and developing?

6. ‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win’ (Atticus). Show the relevance of this statement to the actions and characters of To Kill a Mockingbird.

7. How far does Atticus put into practice his belief that ‘you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it’?

8. Read the passage and then answer the questions below.

a. How does Lee’s use of language present emotions in this passage?

b. How does Lee use the trial of Tom Robinson to explore the themes of social and racial prejudice in the town of Maycomb?

9. How does Harper Lee present ideas about justice in the novel?

Write about:

• Legal justice

• Social justice

• Moral justice.

10. How does Harper Lee bring out different aspects of Atticus?

Write about:

• How Atticus’ dealings with different characters bring out different aspects of his character

• How different events and situations bring out different aspects of Atticus

• What the writer wants you to think about Atticus.

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“The Radley Place jutted into a sharp curve beyond our house. Walking south, one faced its porch; the sidewalk turned and ran beside the lot. The house was low, was once white with a deep front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the colour of the slate-grey yard around it. Rain-rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the verandah; oak trees kept the sun away. The remains of a picket drunkenly guarded the front yard – a ‘swept’ yard that was never swept – where johnson grass and rabbit-tobacco grew abundance.

Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people’s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them. Any stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work. Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people’s chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, who eventually drowned himself in Barker’s Eddy, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions. A Negro would not pass the Radley Place at night, he would cut across to the sidewalk sidewalk opposite and whistle as he walked. The Maycomb school grounds adjoined the back of the Radley lot; from the Radley chickenyard tall pecan trees shook their fruit into the schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the children: Radley pecans would kill you. A baseball hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball and no questions asked.”

Round 1 – To Kill a Mockingbird

Round 2 – ‘Current’ events

Round 3 – General knowledge

Round 4 – Picture round

“The churchyard was brick-hard clay, as was the cemetery beside it. If someone died during a dry spell, the body was covered with chunks of ice until rain softened the earth. A few graves in the cemetery were marked with crumbling tombstones; newer ones were outlined with brightly coloured glass and broken Coca-Cola bottles. Lightning rods guarding some graves denoted dead who rested uneasily; stumps of burned-out candles stood at the heads of infant graves. It was a happy cemetery.

The warm bittersweet smell of clean Negro welcomed us as we entered the churchyard – Hearts of Love hairdressing mingled with asafoetida, snuff, Hoyt’s Cologne, Brown’s Mule, peppermint, and lilac talcum.

When they saw Jem and me with Calpurnia, the men stepped back and took off their hats; the women crossed their arms ay their waists, weekday gestures of respectful attention. They parted and made a small pathway to the church door for us. Calpurnia walked between Jem and me, responding to the greetings of her brightly clad neighbours.

‘What you up to, Miss Cal?’ said a voice behind us.

Calpurnia’s hands went to our shoulders and we stopped and looked around; standing in the path behind us was a tell Negro woman. Her weight was on one leg; she rested her left elbow in the curve of her hip, pointing at us with upturned palm. She was bullet-headed with strange almond-shaped eyes, straight nose, and an Indian-bow mouth. She seemed seven feet high.

I felt Calpurnia’s hand dig into my shoulder. ‘What you want, Lula?’ She asked, in tones I had never heard her use. She spoke quietly, contemptuously.

‘I wants to know why you bringin’ white chillun to nigger church.’

‘They’s my comp’ny,’ said Calpurnia. Again I thought her voice strange: she was talking like the rest of them.

‘Yeah, an’ I reckon you’s comp’ny at the Finch house durin’ the week.’

A murmur ran through the crowd. ‘Don’t you fret,’ Calpurnia whispered to me, but the roses on her hat trembled indignantly.

When Lula came up the pathway towards us Calpurnia said, ‘Stop right there, nigger.’

Lula stopped, but she said, ‘You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillum here – they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?’

Calpurnia said, ‘It’s the same God, ain’t it?’

Jem said, ‘Let’s go home, Cal, they don’t want us here – ’

I agreed: they did not want us here. I sensed, rather than saw, that we were being advanced upon. They seemed to be drawing closer to us, but when I looked up at Calpurnia there was amusement in her eyes. When I looked down the pathway again, Lula was gone. In her place was a solid mass of coloured people.

One of them stepped from the crowd. It was Zeebo, the garbage collector. ‘Mister Jem,’ he said, ‘we’re mighty glad to have you all here. Don’t pay no ‘tention to Lula, she’s contentious because Reverend Sykes threatened to church her. She’s a trouble-maker from way back, got fancy ideas an’ haughty ways – we’re mighty glad to have you all.’”

‘They’s my comp’ny,’ said Calpurnia. Again I thought her voice strange: she was talking like the rest of them.

‘Yeah, an’ I reckon you’s comp’ny at the Finch house durin’ the week.’

A murmur ran through the crowd. ‘Don’t you fret,’ Calpurnia whispered to me, but the roses on her hat trembled indignantly.

When Lula came up the pathway towards us Calpurnia said, ‘Stop right there, nigger.’

Lula stopped, but she said, ‘You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillum here – they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?’

Calpurnia said, ‘It’s the same God, ain’t it?’

Jem said, ‘Let’s go home, Cal, they don’t want us here – ’

I agreed: they did not want us here. I sensed, rather than saw, that we were being advanced upon. They seemed to be drawing closer to us, but when I looked up at Calpurnia there was amusement in her eyes. When I looked down the pathway again, Lula was gone. In her place was a solid mass of coloured people.

One of them stepped from the crowd. It was Zeebo, the garbage collector. ‘Mister Jem,’ he said, ‘we’re mighty glad to have you all here. Don’t pay no ‘tention to Lula, she’s contentious because Reverend Sykes threatened to church her. She’s a trouble-maker from way back, got fancy ideas an’ haughty ways – we’re mighty glad to have you all.’”

“Tim Johnson reached the side-street that ran in front of the Radley Place, and what remained of his poor mind made him pause and seem to consider which road he should take. He made a few hesitant steps and stopped in front of the Radley gate; then he tried to turn around, but was having difficulty.

Atticus said, ‘He’s within range, Heck. You better get him now before he goes down the side street – Lord knows who’s around the corner. Go inside Cal.’

Calpurnia opened the screen door, latched it behind her, then unlatched and held on to the hook. She tried to block Jem and me with her body, but we looked out from beneath her arms.

‘Take him, Mr. Finch.’ Mr Tate handed the rifle to Atticus; Jem and I nearly fainted.

‘Don’t waste time, Heck,’ said Atticus. ‘Go on.’

‘Mr Finch, this is a one-shot job.’

Atticus shook his hed vehemently: ‘Don’t just stand there, Heck! He won’t wait all day for you –’

‘For God’s sake, Mr Finch, look where he is! Miss and you’ll go straight into the Radley house! I can’t shoot that well and you know it!’

‘I haven’t shot a gun in thirty years – ’

Mr Tate almost threw the rifle at Atticus. ‘I’d feel mighty comfortable if you did now,’ he said.

In a fog, Jem and I watched our father take the gun and walk out into the middle of the street. He walked quickly, but I thought he moved like an underwater swimmer; time had slowed to a nauseating crawl.

When Atticus raised his glasses Calpurnia murmured, ‘Sweet Jesus hlp him,’ and put her hands to her cheeks.

Atticus put his glasses to his forehead; they slipped down, and he dropped them in the street. In the silence, I heard them crack. Atticus rubbed his eyes and chin; we saw him blink hard.

In front of the Radley gate, Tim Johnson had made up what was left of his mind. He had finally turned himself around, to pursue his original course up our street. He made two steps forward, then stopped and raised his head. We saw his body go rigid.

With movements so swift they seemed simultaneous, Atticus’s hand yanked a ball-tipped lever as he brought the gun to his shoulder.

The rifle cracked. Tim Johnson leaped, flopped over and crumpled on the sidewalk in a brown-and-white heap. He didn’t know what hit him.”

“But Mr Tate said, ‘This court will come to order,’ in a voice that rang with authority, and the heads below us jerked up. Mr Tate left the room and returned with Tom Robinson. He steered Tom to his place beside Atticus, and stood there. Judge Taylor had roused himself to sudden alertness and was sitting up straight looking at the empty jury box.

What happened after that had a dreamlike quality: in a dream I saw the jury return moving like underwater swimmers, and Judge Taylor’s voice came from far away, and was tiny. I saw something only a lawyer’s child could be expected to see, could be expected to watch for, and it was like watching Atticus walk into the street, raise a rifle to his shoulder and pull the trigger, but watching all the time knowing that the gun was empty.

A jury never looks at a defendant is has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson. The foreman handed a piece of paper to Mr Tate who handed it to the clerk who handed it to the judge ...

I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: ‘Guilty ... guilty ... guilty ... guilty...’ I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each ‘guilty’ was a separate stab between them.

Judge Taylor was saying something. His gavel was in his fist, but he wasn’t using it. Dimly, I saw Atticus pushing papers from the table into his briefcase. He snapped it shut, went to the court reporter and said something, nodded to Mr Gilmer, and then went to Tom Robinson and whispered something to him. Atticus put his hand on Tom’s shoulder as he whispered. Atticus took his coat off the back of his chair and pulled it over his shoulder. Then he left the courtroom, but not by his usual exit. He must have wanted to go home the short way, because he walked quickly down the middle aisle towards the south exit. I followed the top of his head as he made his way to the door. He did not look up.

Someone was punching me, but I was reluctant to take my eyes from the people below us, and from the image of Atticus’s lonely walk down the aisle.

‘Miss Jean Louise?’

I looked around. They were standing. All around us and in the balcony on the opposite wall, the Negroes were getting to their feet. Reverend Sykes’s voice was as distant as Judge Taylor’s.

‘Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’.’”

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