TKAM: Chapters 1-

5 discussion
questions
Chapter 1:
Family
Who is Scout? What’s her real
name?
◦ Who is Jem?
◦ Atticus?
◦ Calpurnia?

Where is her family from?

◦ Why are these details important?
◦ What is her family history like?
Chapter 1: Friends
and Neighbors
Who is Dill?
◦ What do you learn about Dill's character? 

Who is Boo Radley?

◦ What do the children believe about him?
◦ What are some legends they say?
Chapter 1:
Setting
Where does the story take
place?
◦ What is this town like?
◦ How does the time period
affect the setting?
◦ What impact does the
setting have on the
characters?
Chapter 1: Analyzing
Literature
This story is written as a reflective
narrative: Scout is an adult looking
back on her childhood.
◦ Why do you think Harper Lee chose a child
as a narrator rather than an adult?
◦ How does this affect the mood?
◦ How would it be different if narrated by an
adult?

The story starts with a flashback.

◦ Why do you think Harper Lee begins this
way? What affect does it have on the
reader?
Chapter 2:
School
Why is Scout so looking
forward to starting school? 
◦ What is different about
Scout from other
children?

Why does Jem not want

anything to do with Scout at
school?
◦ Is his behavior typical of
an older child? 
Chapter 2:
Miss
Caroline
How is North Alabama different
from Maycomb?
◦ Why is this significant?

What do you think of Miss Caroline

Fisher as a teacher?
◦ Can you find qualities that would
make her good or not so good at
her job? 
◦ Why does Miss Caroline get
upset with Scout?
◦ What inferences can we draw
about Macomb's education
system based on Miss Caroline
and other teachers?
Chapter 3: The Cunninghams
What is Walter Cunningham like?
◦ What does his behavior during lunch suggest about
his home life? 
◦ What do we know about Walter’s family from
Chapter 1?

What does Scout beat up Walter?

What do you think of the way Atticus treats Walter?

◦ Why does Scout get in trouble for the way she treats
Walter?  

Does Scout learn anything from Walter's visit? What do

you think this is? 
Chapter 3: The Ewells
Who is Burris Ewell?
◦ What is Burris like?
◦ What do we know about the Ewell family from
previous chapters?

What do Atticus’s comments about the Ewell

family suggest about his view of justice?
Chapter 3: Analysis
Atticus says that you never really understand a person “until
you climb into his skin and walk around in it”.
What does this mean?
◦ Sympathy vs. Empathy

Is it an easy thing for Scout to learn?

◦ (In the last chapter of the novel, Scout repeats this, but she changes
“skin” to “shoes” - this is probably not a mistake: Harper Lee suggests
that Scout cannot clearly recall exactly what Atticus said and when, but
the reader can check this!) 
Chapter 4:
The Boo
Radley Game
Why do the children make
Boo's story into a game? 

What do they do in this game?

◦ Do you think the game is an
accurate version of what
happens in the Radleys'
home? 
◦ What might be the cause of
the laughter from inside the
house? 
Chapter 4:
The Knothole
What do the children find in
the knothole in the tree?
◦ Who do you think left it
there?
Chapter 5: Neighbors
Describe Miss Maudie Atkinson?
◦ How typical is she of Maycomb's
women?
◦ What do the children think of her? 

What does Miss Maudie tell Scout

about Boo?
◦ How does this compare with what
Scout already believes? 
Chapter 5:
Friends
Scout claims that “Dill could tell the
biggest ones ” (lies) she ever heard.
◦ Why might Dill have told such lies? 

What reasons does Atticus give for

the children not to play the Boo
Radley game?
◦ Do you think he is right? Why?