To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 1-3

1. To Kill a MockingbirdChapters 1-3 Dr. Good English 10

2. The Setting of the Novel • The novel is set in Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression • The author begins her description of the town with the history of her family • The town is described as “a tired old town.” (6)

3. Diction: the words the author chooses • Harper Lee chooses words such as “old,” “tired,” “sagged,” “sweltering,” and “wilted.” (6) • This word choice creates a feeling of old age, tiredness, slowness, and heat

4. Narrator: Scout Finch • At the beginning of the novel, Scout is an adult recalling the events of her childhood • She describes her brother, Jem, and says that she will be telling the story of how he broke his arm when he was nearly 13 • Although she is an adult when she is narrating the story, Scout’s memories are those of a young girl; therefore, we have to decide if everything she says is RELIABLE – do children always remember events accurately?

5. The Finch Family • Atticus Finch: the father. He works as an attorney in town and is also a state legislator. He is well-respected in the town. His children call him Atticus instead of “Dad” or “Father.” • Jem Finch: the son. He is curious and intelligent. • Scout Finch: the daughter. She is a tomboy who is also the narrator of the story.

6. Calpurnia • Calpurnia is the housekeeper for the Finch family. • Jem and Scout’s mother died when Scout was two. She does not really remember her mother. • Calpurnia is a mother figure to Jem and Scout. She loves and disciplines them. • Atticus treats her with respect. • “Calpurnia was something else again…She was always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking me why I couldn’t behave as well as Jem.” (6-7)

7. Dill • Dill is the nephew of a neighbor, Miss Rachel. He arrives in Maycomb the year that Jem is almost ten and Scout is almost six. • His real name is Charles Baker Harris. He tells wild stories about his parents to Jem and Scout. • “…his hair was snow white and stuck to his head like duckfluff; he was a year my senior but I towered over him.” (9) • Dill, Jem, and Scout become great friends, and spend every summer together.

8. The Radley House • The Radley place is down the street from Jem and Scout. • They consider the house “haunted.” • The Radleys keep to themselves and are not very friendly. • The youngest Radley son, Boo, has not been seen in years. When he was young, he was arrested, and his father was so angry that he locked him in the house. He hasn’t left it since. • The children make up wild stories about him, and dare each other to approach the house. • “The house was low, was once white with a deep front porch…” (10)

9. Scout Goes to School • Both Jem and Scout attend their local school. • Her teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, punishes Scout for knowing how to read already. • Miss Caroline has conflicts with two students: Burris Ewell and Walter Cunningham • Burris Ewell will not obey and leaves school • Walter Cunningham has no lunch, and will not accept Miss Caroline’s money to buy lunch.

10. A Visitor for Lunch • When Jem learns that Walter has no lunch, he invites him to eat with them. • At the table, Walter pours syrup all over his dinner. Scout loudly criticizes him, and Walter is embarrasssed. • Calpurnia punishes Scout for criticizing Walter. • “He ain’t company, Cal --he’s just a Cunningham.” (33)

11. Burris Ewell • Miss Caroline screams when she sees lice (cooties) in Burris Ewell’s hair. • “He was the filthiest human I had ever seen. His neck was all gray, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his fingernails were black deep into the quick.” (35) • “Atticus said the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day’s work in his recollection.” (40)

12. An Agreement • After her first day of school, Scout tells Atticus that she doesn’t want to go anymore. • Atticus agrees to keep reading with Scout, but that Scout should not tell her teacher.

13. Write Like • You will now write a paragraph in the STYLE of Harper Lee’s description of the town of Maycomb. • Model your paragraph on the following excerpt from the text: • “Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather, the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then; a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.” (6)

14. How to start a WriteLike • Begin by identifying the parts of speech in the sentence. • “Maycomb was an old town.” • Maycomb = place name, proper noun • Was • A/an adjective + noun Ex: Los Angeles was a smoggy city. Note how the PATTERN in each sentence is the same. Follow the pattern for the remaining sentences. You should have five sentences minimum.