To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter 1 Think Aloud

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Visualization • “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.” (pg. 3; para. 1)

Analyzing Author’s Purpose • Para. 2 tells the book’s purpose = this book will address all of the events that led to Jem’s injury. • Scout believes “…the Ewells started it all….” • Jem believes it began “…the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.”

Characters to Note • Jem (Jeremy Atticus) Finch is four years older than his sister Scout (Jean Louise) Finch. • Atticus Finch is their father.

Analyzing the Narration • Who is narrating the novel? • If Jem and Scout are too old to settle things with a fist-fight AND if they are recalling previous times related to Jem’s injury, how old is the narrator approximately?

Summarizing - Finch Ancestry • No family on either side of the Battle of Hastings • Simon Finch • From Cornwall, England • Fur-trapping = hobby • Apothecary (practiced medicine) • Very pious = very religious • As a Methodist, he left England because of persecution • Methodist leader = John Wesley • Very stingy = “tight with his money” • Bought “human chattel” (slaves) and established a homestead 40 miles above the city of Saint Stephens • Married a woman from Saint Stephens • Had a big family of mostly daughters

Summarizing - Finch’s Landing • The Finch family earned money by growing cotton until the Civil War (“disturbance between the North and the South”). • The men of the family always ran the Landing until… • Atticus (Jem and Scout’s father) went to study law and Atticus’s younger brother went to study medicine. • Their sister Alexandra became the first female Finch to stay at the Landing.

Visualization pgs. 5 & 6

Character to Note • Calpurnia (Cal) • cook and nanny for the Finch family • she’s “all angles and bones” = skinny • nearsighted • would reprimand the children physically, if needed • Scout argues more with Cal than Jem does. • Atticus always sides with Cal.

Analyzing • Cal is the only permanent female figure in Jem and Scout’s life because their mother died of a heart attack when Scout was two. • Their mother was very young when she died. After all, she was fifteen years younger than Atticus. • Stop & Think: Why is it not really as cruel as it first seems when Scout expresses that she does not miss her mother? (pg. 6)

Visualization • page 6 – Scout (age 5) and Jem (age 9) were too scared to break their summertime boundaries • Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose’s house (two doors to the north) • She was “plain hell.” • The Radley place (three doors to the south) • An unknown entity (a ghost-like person – Boo Radley) lived there.

Tracking Plot • The Boo Radley plot officially begins with the line “That was the summer Dill came to us” (Lee 6). • Notice the plot begins with the event that Jem believed began the story of his broken arm.

Character to Note • Dill (Charles Baker) Harris • six years old • wore blue shorts buttoned to shirt • snow white hair, like duck fluff • has blue eyes • can read and is excited to share this skill with others • from Meridian, Mississippi • mother = assists a photographer in Meridian • no father?!? • will be staying every summer with his aunt, Rachel Haverford • won a Beautiful Child contest and won five dollars, using the money to see picture shows (movies), like Dracula

Characters to Note • The Radleys • description of house (pg. 8) • a “malevolent phantom” (Boo) lived inside • he was blamed for crimes in the community even though someone else had been caught • there were superstitions about the house / about the family • an African American would not walk by the house on the same side of the sidewalk; they would cross and whistle • the Radley pecans would fall into the school yard and would not be eaten because the children believed they would kill you • a baseball hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball; no one would go to get it

Mr. and Mrs. Radley and two sons – Nathan and Arthur • They kept to themselves. • They did not go to church, but worshipped at home. • Mr. Radley was only seen walking to town and returning with a brown paper bag. He “bought cotton” – did nothing for a living. • Mrs. Radley seldom visited neighbors and never joined a missionary circle. • The shutters and doors were always closed, even on Sundays.

Checking Understanding • What events led to the youngest Radley boy becoming “Boo”?

Quote to Note • “Nobody knew what form of intimidation Mr. Radley employed to keep Boo out of sight, but Jem figured that Mr. Radley kept him chained to the bed most of the time. Atticus said no, it wasn't that sort of thing, that there were other ways of making people into ghosts” (Lee 11). • What does the underlined portion of this quote mean?

Characters to Note • Mr. Radley (Boo’s father) • He dies on page 12. • Calpurnia comments, “There goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into” (Lee 12). • Mr. Nathan Radley (Boo’s older brother) • He took over the household, returning to Maycomb from Pensacola, Florida. • He was like his father except he would speak to Jem and Scout when they said good morning and sometimes he would be seen carrying a magazine home from town.

Analyzing Narration • Scout’s misunderstanding of what others say will occur throughout the book. • “I told Jem if he set fire to the Radley house I was going to tell Atticus on him” (Lee 14).

Summarizing - The Dare “Dill bet Jem The Gray Ghost against two Tom Swifts that Jem wouldn’t get any farther than the Radley gate” (Lee 13). The dare keeps changing as Jem keeps delaying until finally Dill says, “…I’ll swap you The Gray Ghost if you just go up and touch the house” (Lee 14).

Quote to Note • After Jem touches the house, “…we thought we saw an inside shutter move. Flick. A tiny, almost invisible movement, and the house was still” (Lee 15). The children’s relationship with Boo begins…

Finch Family Tree SIMON FINCH Miss Atticus John Hale Alexandra Jimmy Graham Finch Finch (Uncle Jack)Finch Hancock Henry Hancock Jeremy (Jem) and Jean Francis (Aunt Alexandra’s Grandson) Louise (Scout)

To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter 2

Purpose for Reading Chapters 2 and 3 • These chapters are the schoolhouse chapters, featuring Scout’s first day of school. • Focus on: • What Maycomb’s school system is like… • How are students taught • What are they learning • How are they punished • What are they punished for • How are the main families in town represented through their children… • The Finches (Jem and Scout) • The Cunninghams (Walter Jr.) • The Ewells (Burris)

Character Check-In • Miss Caroline Fisher • She is 21 years old and a first grade teacher • Scout describes her as “a pretty little thing” • She is from Winston County (Northern Alabama) • She has a new way of teaching • Jem calls it the Dewey Decimal System, but that is not accurate • She pats Scout’s hand with a ruler and puts Scout in a corner • She very much wants to BE THE TEACHER (and tells Scout not to let Atticus teach her anymore) • She lives with Miss Maudie Atkinson (she’s a boarder, renting a room) • She does not know the town or the town families very well and that causes misunderstandings

Quote to Note • “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing” (Lee 18).

Dewey Decimal System?!? • The Dewey Decimal System is a system we use to classify books by grouping them in 10 categories. • Melvil Dewey created this system of classification. • John Dewey is the educator who inspired Miss Caroline Fisher’s teaching. John Dewey led education reform during the first half of the century.

Character Check-In • Walter Cunningham Jr. • He is in Scout’s first grade class • He has hookworms • He has no shoes (a sign of his poverty) • He refuses Miss Caroline Fisher’s quarter for lunch • Scout explains to her teacher that the Cunninghams do not take anything that they cannot pay back • He is from a farming family and the 1929 Stock Market Crash hit his family hard • Atticus once acted as a lawyer for Walter Cunningham Sr. who had trouble with his land (due to an entailment) • Walter Cunningham Sr. could have taken on a WPA job and had money, but then he would’ve had to give up his land

What’s the WPA? • The Works Progress Administration (later called the Work Projects Administration) was the largest New Deal agency, employing millions of people during the Great Depression.

Quote to Note • “That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?” (Lee 24). This quotes shows Calpurnia also teaches morals to the children. She is telling Scout here that just because she is a Finch, she is NOT better than a Cunningham.

Character Check-In • Burris Ewell • He has cooties (lice) which alarms Miss Caroline Fisher • He is filthy! • He and his many siblings only come on the first day of school • He’s been in first grade for the past three years • He has no mother • He calls Miss Caroline Fisher a very cruel and inappropriate name before he leaves the school • Atticus calls his family (the Ewells) “the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations” and says “they lived like animals” • His father (Bob Ewell) has never done an honest day’s work • His father is allowed to hunt and trap out of season • His father spends his relief checks on whiskey while his children cry of hunger pains

Quote to Note • “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” (Lee 30).

Team Name!!! • Brainstorm a list of every name/term we have learned so far. Consider the historical context information as well as chapter 1-3 of the novel • Create your team name! • Team Leader (or a teammate you designate) introduce your team to the class and explain your metacognition. What went into creating your name?

Quiz Ch 1-3 • By what name is Charles Baker Harris more commonly referred? Basically, what is his nickname? • What is Boo's real name? • What does Atticus do for a living? • At the start of Chapter 2, Scout is excited to begin what? • Who is Scout's teacher? • What is the name of the boy who is filthy and has a bug crawl from his hair? FULL NAME • What is the name of the boy who does not have lunch and refuses the 25 cents the teacher offers? FULL NAME • How does Mr. Cunningham pay off his debt to Atticus? • Who scolds Scout for making rude comments about Walter's eating habits when they are all having lunch at the Finch's house? • Burris Ewell only comes to school on what day? • How do Scout and Atticus compromise at the end of Chapter 3? Scout agrees to do what as long as Atticus continues to do what? • What family has been the disgrace of Maycomb for 3 generations? • Who tells Jem, Scout, and Dill to leave the Radleys alone? He states that the Radleys don't bother anyone, so don't bother them.

Purpose for Reading Chapter 4 • Chapter 4 will feature the end of the school year and Dill’s return to Maycomb. • Focus on: • What is significant about a tree • What is a Hot Steam according to the children • What “game” do the children create using a pair of scissors • What happens involving a tire

Hot Steams? • Another childish superstition • They’re hot spots in the road when you are walking by • Jem says that the spots are hot though because a spirit is caught there (unable to go to heaven) • The spirit will suck your breath and you will become one when you die if you don’t say a rhyme as you are going through the hot spot

Quotes to Note • “I swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a girl, it’s mortifying’” (Lee 38). • “…Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with” (Lee 41).

Chapter 4 Quiz! What are the two reasons Scout does not want to play the Boo Radley game? • Reason #2– Atticus’s ______________________ • Reason #1 – “The first reason happened the day ___________________________________________”

To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter 5 and 6

Chapter 5 will feature more antics with the children and their attempt to interact with Arthur “Boo” Radley. • Focus on: • What characterizes Miss Maudie • What does Scout learn about the Radleys from Miss Maudie • What act do the children attempt with a fishing pole • What upsets Atticus • Chapter 6 will feature the end of the summer and a bit of trouble for the children. • Focus on: • What the children decide to do on the last day of the summer • What happens involving a pair of pants

Quote to Note • “Why, one sprig of nut grass can ruin a whole yard. Look here. When it comes fall this dries up and the wind blows it all over Maycomb County!” (Lee 42). Look for nut grass to become a symbol later on in the novel…

Character Check-In • Miss Maudie Atkinson • She lived across the street from the Finches, one door down • She loved the outdoors more than her house and was always gardening • She wore both coveralls and dresses • She loved everything that grew in God’s earth, except nut grass • She made the best cakes in the neighborhood • She had grown up with Scout’s Uncle Jack Finch at Finch’s Landing • She was the daughter of Dr. Frank Buford who lived next door to Finch’s Landing • She never married although Jack Finch would tease her, calling out for her to marry him • She is a Baptist • She was trusted by the children; Scout even says that she is “the best lady” she knows

Quote to Note • “There are some kind of men who—who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results” (Lee 45).

Quote to Note • “I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but I ain’t so sure now” (Lee 50).

Analyzing Text • Paragraph (pgs. 50 & 51) – the “contest”

To Kill a Mockingbird