Ms.

Muzaurieta – To Kill a Mockingbird

Help with Chapters 9-11

 For Key Quote: Know who says it, to whom, about what. Be able to explain the meaning of the quote.
 For Analysis question: Read the question carefully. Look up and review the related text. Then think
about the question yourself. Read my thoughts to check your answer and to help you answer fully.

Chapter 9
 Key quote: Scout as narrator, to reader, about fighting in school. Atticus has asked her to stop fighting,
but she finds this to be difficult. You should be able to explain why. Hint: see #2 below.
 #1: When Scout uses the n-word, Atticus tells her not to do so because “That’s common.” He does not
mean regular, ordinary or customary. Common can also mean vulgar, coarse, ill-mannered, rough, low-
class, and unrefined. That’s what Atticus means: using the n-word is low-class and ill-mannered. With
that information, you should be able to answer #1.
 #2: Don’t worry about memorizing quotes. Instead, review the facts of Atticus’s new case, what you
learn about his character, and how different people in town might feel about his plans to defend an
African American man against these charges.
 #3: Review why Scout walks away from a fight and why Jem sneaks back for his pants. You should be
able to find evidence that both kids have really absorbed what Atticus has been teaching them, and they
care about his opinion.
 #5: Scout overhears her father talking with his brother, Scout’s Uncle Jack. The conversation has
several important ideas in it.
o Atticus is discussing how his kids are growing up, and how his new court case will require them
to grow up more because other people’s commentary will just get worse. Next, he fills Jack in
about the case, so readers learn more, too.
o There’s an exchange that might be confusing. When Atticus tells Jack how he got the case, Jack
says, “Let this cup pass from you, eh?” Jack is referring to a quote from a Bible story in which,
before he was crucified, Jesus prayed to God and asked, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me.” In other words, Jesus was asking whether the “cup” holding his future difficulty
could be taken away. Jack is saying that Atticus wishes the case would go away, and Atticus
shows he agrees by saying, “Right.”
o Atticus then goes on to explain why it is important that he do this job well. Atticus predicts that
people who are usually “reasonable” will “go stark raving mad” because the case involves “a
Negro” (88). He wants to protect his kids from “catching Maycomb’s usual disease.” You need
to figure out what that disease is.
 #6: Jack regrets punishing Scout without being fair. As long as you know the facts of that event and you
can write a journal entry that shows knowledge of Uncle Jack, you are good. There is more than one
right answer.

Chapter 10
 Key quote: Atticus, to Jem, about his present. Atticus gives Jem permission to shoot blue jays, which
are considered to be pests, but reminds his son never to “kill a mockingbird” because that is “a sin.”
You should think about why killing a mockingbird is considered to be wrong. Hint: what do
mockingbirds do?
  #7: Compare = tell what is the same. Contrast = tell what is different. Look up the kids’ opinions at the
start and end of the chapter – before and after the incident with the rabid dog.
 #8: The crisis is the rabid dog. Right now, the foreshadowing question is really just asking you to guess.
If you have a good idea, that’s fine. There is more than one right answer.
 #9: Miss Maudie implies that a person who takes too much pride in a natural talent is behaving poorly.
In other words, he should not brag or show off if he is good at something that is easy for him.

Chapter 11
 Key quote: Atticus, to Jem, about Mrs. Dubose. Atticus wants Jem to understand that courage is more
than shooting a gun – referring back to the time Atticus shot the rabid dog. He says courage is
something different: “It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you
see it through no matter what” 112). “Licked” here means beaten. In other words, Atticus says, courage
is when you know you’re going to lose, and you fight anyway, and you actually put real effort in, too.
You should think about how this lesson might actually be useful for Jem as he watches his father deal
with his new case. Hint: can you predict what will happen in this trial?
 #10: See key quote.
 #11: Scout asks Atticus about the word “n-lover” (108-9). Re-read it; Atticus’s words are pretty clear.
Still, he is trying to explain things to a 7 year old child, so he has to simplify the ideas. Some people in
town – the ones who like the Jim Crow system – really do judge him for taking on this case, and for
defending an African American man against a white woman’s accusation. To those people, Atticus’s
behavior truly is wrong because he is breaking the etiquette rules so completely. Atticus knows this –
but doesn’t try to explain it to Scout. Spend some time thinking about the prompt questions and imagine
what Atticus might write in that journal entry. Of course, there is more than one right answer.