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Studying To Kill a Mockingbird
This guide is written for teachers and students in Key Stages 3 and 4
...
This book is a set text for GCSE exams in English literature
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About the novel
To Kill a Mockingbird was first published in 1960
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Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama, which may be the model for the fictional Maycomb
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Some people believe that he is the original for Dill in To
Kill a Mockingbird
...
These terms are
explained below, and some pointers given as to how to study them in To Kill a Mockingbird
...
You can answer them on your own, but they are suitable for discussion work
...
A class of
students could share this task, and paste the results together
...
Some teachers and examiners will use the past tense to refer to events
in a work of fiction, but the convention for scholars and critics is to use the present tense
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Chapter 1
•
•
•
•
•

What do you learn in this chapter about Maycomb, Atticus Finch and his family?
What do you learn about Dill's character?
What, briefly, has happened to Arthur “Boo” Radley
...
What does this mean? 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!)
What do you learn in this chapter about the Ewells?

Chapter 4
•
•
•
•
•

What does Scout think of current fashions in education?
What superstitions do the children have in connection with the Radley house?
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?

© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Chapter 5
•
•
•
•

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?
Scout claims that “Dill could tell the biggest ones ” (lies) she ever heard
...
Nathan Radley know about the intruders in his garden? Why does Miss Stephanie
refer to a “negro” over whose head Mr
...
What is
this?
Can you find any evidence that Jem is beginning to understand more than Scout about Boo
Radley? What do you think this is?
Does Jem still fear the gifts in the tree? Give reasons for your answer
...

How does this happen? Who does it, and why might he do so?

Chapter 8
•
•
•
•
•

Why does Scout quiz Atticus about his visit to the Radley house? How much does Atticus tell
her?
What is the “near libel” which Jem puts in the front yard? How do Miss Maudie and Atticus react
to it?
Why does Atticus save Miss Maudie's oak rocking chair?
When Atticus asks Scout about the blanket around her shoulders, what does Jem realize?
Explain what Atticus means by telling Jem not to let his discovery “inspire ” him to “further glory”?
Is there any reason why Jem might now do as his father says?

Chapter 9
•
•
•
•
•
•

How well does Atticus feel he should defend Tom Robinson? Is it usual for (white) lawyers to do
their best for black clients in Alabama at this time?
Scout and Jem have “mixed feelings” about Christmas? What are these feelings and why?
Uncle Jack Finch tells Scout that she is growing out of her pants
...
What is this?
Does Scout learn anything from overhearing Atticus's conversation with Uncle Jack? What might
this be?
Read the final sentence of this chapter
...


© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Chapter 10
•
•
•
•
•

Scout says that “Atticus was feeble”
...
What reason does he
give for saying this?
Why does Heck Tate not want to shoot Tim Johnson?
Near the end of this chapter Atticus cuts off Heck Tate as he is speaking to Jem
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Explain this difference
...
Dubose's taunts?
What does Mrs
...
Dubose make of Jem? Is this a fair punishment for his “crime”?
Explain in your own words what Atticus thinks of insults like “nigger-lover”
...
Dubose “a great lady”?
Atticus says that Mrs
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What does he mean? Do you think he is right?
Chapters ten and eleven are the last two chapters in the first part of the book
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Chapter 12
•
•
•
•

Comment on Jem's and Scout's visit to First Purchase church
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Chapter 13
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•
•
•
•

Why does Aunt Alexandra come to stay with Atticus and his family? What is she like?
Read the first two things Alexandra says when she comes to the Finch house
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Why does she think this, and is she right? Are all
adults good at knowing how clever young people are?
How does Aunt Alexandra involve herself in Maycomb's social life?
Comment on Aunt Alexandra's ideas about breeding and family
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How suitable is this as an answer to Scout
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Chapter 16
•
•
•
•

What “subtle change” does Scout notice in her father?
What sort of person is Dolphus Raymond?
How does Reverend Sykes help the children see and hear the trial? Is he right to do?
Comment on Judge Taylor's attitude to his job
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Gilmer prove Tom's guilt in the eyes of the reader (you) and in the eyes of the
jury? Can you suggest why these might be different?

Chapter 19
•
•
•
•

What made Tom visit the Ewell's house in the first place?
Why does Scout think that Mayella Ewell was “the loneliest person in the world”?
In your own words explain Mayella's relationship with her father
...
Dolphus Raymond was an evil man”
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Why does Dolphus Raymond hide Coca-Cola in a bag?
What, according to Atticus, is the thing that Mayella has done wrong?
Explain, in your own words, Atticus's views on people's being equal
...
What are these and how do they
remind us of the novel's central themes?

Chapter 22
•
•
•
•
•

Although Atticus did not want his children in court, he defends Jem's right to know what has
happened
...
(Look at the speech beginning,
“This is their home, sister”
...
What reasons does she give
for this view?
Why does Dill say that he will be a clown when he grows up? Do you think he would keep this
ambition for long?
This story is set in the 1930s but was published in 1960
...
What is this? How likely is it to be true, in your opinion?

© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Chapter 24
•
•
•
•
•

Do you think the missionary ladies are sincere in worrying about the “Mrunas” (a tribe in Africa)?
Give reasons for your answer
...

What is your opinion of the Maycomb ladies, as depicted in this chapter?
Explain briefly how Tom was killed
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Do
you think agree with Atticus?
How, in this chapter, do we see Aunt Alexandra in a new light? How does Miss Maudie support
her?

Chapter 25
•
•
•
•

How does Maycomb react to the news of Tom's death?
Comment on the idea that Tom's death was “typical”?
Explain the contrast Scout draws between the court where Tom was tried and “the secret courts
of men's hearts”
...
What seems odd to the reader about this claim?
Why is Scout puzzled by Miss Gates' disapproval of Hitler?
Why does Scout's question upset Jem? Is there a simple answer, or any answer, to the question
(“How can you hate Hitler an’ then turn around an be ugly about folks right at home?”

Chapter 27
•
•
•

What three things does Bob Ewell do that alarm Aunt Alexandra?
Why, according to Atticus, does Bob Ewell bear a grudge? Which people does Ewell see as his
enemies, and why?
What was the purpose of the Halloween pageant? What practical joke had persuaded the grown
ups to have an organized event?

Chapter 28
•
•
•
•

Comment on the way this chapter reminds the reader of earlier events in the novel
...
How does this affect her
understanding of what happens on the way?
Why had Atticus not brought a chair for the man in the corner? Who might this stranger be?

© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Chapter 29
•
•
•
•

What causes the “shiny clean line” on the otherwise “dull wire” of Scout's costume?
What explanation does Atticus give for Bob Ewell's attack?
What does Heck Tate give as the reason for the attack?
Do you think the sheriff's explanation or Atticus's is the more likely to be true?

Chapter 30
•
•
•
•

Who does Atticus think caused Bob Ewell's death?
Why does Heck Tate insist that Bob Ewell's death was self-inflicted? In what way is this partly
true?
Is Heck Tate right to spare Boo then publicity of an inquest? Give reasons for your answer
...

How does Scout make sense of an earlier remark of Atticus's as she stands on the Radley
porch?
How much of a surprise is it fo find what Boo Radley is really like? Has the story before this point
prepared the reader for this discovery?
At the end of the novel, Atticus reads to Scout
...
Does it have any
connection with themes earlier in the novel and in its ending?

© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Activities for responding to the text
The activities listed below are intended to help you develop a good understanding of the novel
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Chapters 1 and 2
In small groups or pairs, talk about your first day at primary or infant school
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Chapters 3 and 4
Make a list of all the superstitions you remember from when you were young
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You could also explore superstitions in other
books you have read (such as Tom Sawyer)
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Chapter 5
Speak or write about a dare that went wrong
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Chapter 6
Write out, as a script for a play, the conversation in which Mr
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Decide who says what, and try to give them speeches which are
in character
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You
may wish to include lines for Miss Rachel and Mr
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Chapters 7 and 8
Make a story (written or scripted for speaking) out of your recollection of any minor disaster (like a fire, or
a flood, or some other domestic accident)
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You may wish to
alter things or exaggerate for dramatic or comic effects
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Atticus says, “We were licked a hundred years before we started” Imagine that
you are a young lawyer helping Atticus prepare his case
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Chapters 10 and 11
Models of bravery
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Think of real world examples perhaps famous people or maybe someone less well-known - and explain why you think they are brave
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You can follow it up with discussion
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Speak or write about your experiences of meeting people whose way of life was
different from your own - perhaps people from another country, or ethnic group, or people whose first
language is not ther same as yours
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Atticus did not
want his children to be in court, but they manage to see most of the trial
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(You can choose the age range for the discussion
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You will need some
speakers to propose and oppose the motion, and someone to chair the debate
...

Here are some suggestions:
•

•
•
•
•

Write an account of the events of a chosen day, or a summary of the trial after the verdict for a
local or regional newspaper, such as the Maycomb Tribune, the Montgomery Advertiser or the
Mobile Register
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While Maycomb is a small
[fictitious] town, Montgomery is the state capital of Alabama and Mobile is another large city in the
same state
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Write a scene for a play (stage or TV) or cinema screenplay of some part of the trial
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Prepare a list of bullet points for Atticus to use in presenting his appeal against Tom's conviction
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These could be participants or observers
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Gilmer, Heck Tate, Dill
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Chapters 22 to 25
Mr
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We are given quite a lot of information about Mr
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For example, that he “likened it to the senseless slaughter of
songbirds by hunters and children”
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Using all the clues you can find, try to write the editorial as you think
Mr
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Chapters 26 to 31
The secret diary of Arthur Radley
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Imagine that Arthur keeps a diary, in which he writes about what he has seen and
how he makes sure that the chidren are safe
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Write a series of entries for such a diary, to
cover the main events of the final chapters of the novel
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Examiners will expect you to be able to write clearly where and when things happen - this table should
help
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Arrival of Dill
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September

2

Scout starts school:
Cunningham family
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Ewells described
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Dill comes back to Mayvcomb
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Late summer

6

Children try to spy on Boo
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Hole is filled with cement
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Winter

8

Cold winter
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Miss Maudie's house burnt
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Scout fights Cousin
Francis
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11

Jem beheads Mrs
...
She
overcomes her morphine addiction and dies
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Description

of

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Year Time of year Chapter

What happens
Part 2

Summer

12

Children go to First Purchase with Calpurnia
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Summer

13

Aunt Alexandra entertains Maycomb's ladies
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Summer

15

A mob tries to lynch Tom
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Summer

16

The trial begins
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Summer

17

Heck Tate (sheriff) testifies, followed by Bob Ewell
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Summer

19

Tom Robinson testifies
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Summer

20

Scout and Dill meet Dolphus Raymond outside
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The children are found to be in the court
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Summer

22

Jem cries at the verdict
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Bob Ewell spits at Atticus and vows revenge
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August

24

The missionary circle meets for tea
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September

25

School starts again
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September

26

B
...
Underwood writes an editorial on Tom's death
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Atticus
is not worried
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October

28

Jem and Scout go to the pageant
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Bob is found dead at the scene
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October

30

Atticus thinks Jem has killed Bob Ewell
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October

31

Boo and Scout go to see Jem
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© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Character
We can study what characters (note the spelling!) are like in themselves, but we see them best in their
relations with other people and the wider society of which they are (or fail to be) a part
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Do not, however, merely retell narrative (the story) without comment
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This is rather mechanical, but if you do it, you will not
go far wrong
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As you
study or revise you should find and list this evidence
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You should certainly, in any case, be making your own revision guides, and marking your copy of the
book
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Atticus Finch
What people say about him
One way to begin looking at Atticus's character is to read what other people say about him or to him
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These may be mild and partly well-meant (like the things his sister, Alexandra, says) or harsher, like
the things Mrs
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One character in the novel earns Scout's trust (and the reader's) by her clear sightedness and honesty
...
Study these things she says about Atticus, and try to decide how far you
agree with them, and, if you do, what they tell you:
“He's the same in the courtroom as he is on the public streets”

Chapter 19

“There are some men in the world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us
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Below are some headings with suggested
comments - you can use these to organize your writing
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Atticus as a father
•
•
•
•
•

Atticus treats his children as intelligent young adults - he speaks in a clear matter-of-fact way, and
answers questions directly (including technical points of law and defintions of rape)
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He does not beat his children, but is firm in some matters - as when he insists that Jem read to
Mrs
...

He does not stereotype people - he is quite happy for Scout to be a tomboy
...


© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Atticus's diplomacy
•
•

•

Atticus is frequently criticized by others people
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Atticus remains calm when provoked directly - look, for example, at how he handles Bob Ewell's
challenge: “Too proud to fight?” “No,” says Atticus, “too old” (Think about the ambiguity - on the
surface it seems to mean that Atticus is no longer strong and fit enough to fight; but also it might
mean that fighting is not something that adults should do - which could imply that Bob has not
grown up)
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Atticus's sympathy
•
•
•
•

Atticus shows an interest in Walter Cunningham's home life, and asks him about farming - he
allows Walter, who may not be very good at school work, to speak as an expert
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Dubose - even though she abuses him and is a racist
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When he learns of Bob Ewell's attack, he thinks it must be caused by a loss of sanity (like
“diminished responsibility” in English law)
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Atticus's integrity
•
•

Atticus tries always to do what he sees is right: he does not WANT to take Tom's case, but sees
this as his duty
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Atticus will not try to spare his own family from the consequences of their actions
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Atticus's lack of prejudice
•
•
•

Today we might not see this as remarkable, but Atticus lives in a racist and sexist society, yet
shares neither prejudice
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Atticus respects women - he extends this respect to Mayella Ewell, whom Scout depicts as
pathetic and friendless
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Atticus shows courage in keeping guard outside the jail (Chapter 15), and stays calm outwardly
when the lynch mob arrives
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Atticus's ideal is Mrs
...
when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin
anyway and you see it through no matter what”
...
Below are a few selected quotations from Atticus
...
Use this as a way to learn things, if you need to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

You never really understand a person until…
Before I can live with other folks, I’ve got to…
I wanted you to see what real courage is…
She (Mayella) has committed no crime…
I wish Bob Ewell…
Don’t fool yourselves – it’s all adding up
Thank you for my…

Boo Radley
Overview
Arthur Radley does not appear to Scout directly until the final chapters of the novel, but his presence is
felt throughout the narrative
...
He is always vigilant and he
sees the danger Atticus has overlooked when he saves the lives of Scout and Jem
...
Jem maintains that "it began
...
What began then we do not fully learn until the end of the novel, though we will soon
learn more about Boo - much of it misleading or inaccurate
...

At the start of the novel the brief reference to Boo arouses the reader's interest
...
Most of this information comes from Jem, who has heard it, in turn, from Miss
Stephanie Crawford - and she is known to exaggerate or invent things
...
In his
teens he joined with some of the Cunninghams in joyriding around Maycomb's square and locking an
elderly official (Mr
...
While the other boys went to a state industrial school,
Arthur was shut up at home by his parents
...
His father ("the meanest man ever God blew breath into", according to
Calpurnia) opposed sending him to a psychiatric hospital, and eventually took him home
...
Though less severe than his father, he still
kept Arthur more or less imprisoned in the family home
...


What some people say about Arthur
To form your own idea of what Arthur is like you might consider what other people say about him, and
decide how reliable their opinions are:
•
•
•

Jem says he is "six and a half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any
cats he could catch
...
scar that ran across his face
...
She also explains that Arthur's family hold very severe
religious beliefs, which have affected the way they treat Boo
...

Early in the story, the children try to persuade Boo to come out, but it seems that they miss the occasions
when he does do this
...
Are these random gifts, or
do they tell you anything about the giver?
When Jem snags his trousers on the fence wire, he leaves them
...
What do you suppose is the explanation?
When Miss Maudie's house is burned, someone places a blanket over Scout's shoulders
...
Comment on what you think is the explanation
...
When Nathan Radley stops up the knot-hole, it is a fairly clear sign that he knows what Arthur
has been doing and wants to stop it
...


© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Boo in the final chapters of the novel
Arthur's saving of the children's lives is presented in an unusual way
...
She also does not recognize the stranger in her house until Atticus makes this clear
to her
...
Heck Tate works out what has happened, and conceals Bob Ewell's flick-knife,
in order to maintain that the kitchen knife was Ewell's weapon, on which he fell
...

Although Arthur is shy, he forgets about himself while he attends to Jem's injury and takes him home
...
We see this shyness as he stands out of the
light, as he hesitates before stroking Jem's hair, and as he speaks, in a whisper, only to ask Scout to see
him home
...
We see this in Beauty and the Beast (with a happy ending) or the Hunchback of Notre
Dame (with a tragic ending)
...
This portrayal is notable for the way in which the author presents Arthur Radley
sensitively and with dignity
...
climb into his skin and walk around in it") before you can really know him or her
...
It comes from an old proverb that “it's a sin
to kill a mockingbird”
...
He tells them they should shoot only at tin-cans but, seeing that they may well
shoot birds, allows them to shoot the very common bluejay (regarded in the USA rather as pigeons are in
the UK) but not mockingbirds
...
In the 1930s most children would have seen it as normal to hunt animals and
birds
...
Miss Maudie says that:
“Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy
...
That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird
...
(Perhaps hunters with a sense of sport would avoid the
bird, as being too easy a target
...


© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird
In the novel, while we associate the mockingbird generally with weak and defenceless people, there are
two characters who are more explicitly likened to the bird
...

Why are these two like the mockingbird?
•
•

Tom is physically disabled, but his real weakness is his social position - he is a black man, to
whom a white woman has made sexual advances, so he must be destroyed
...


The author makes the comparison clearer in Chapter 25
...
B
...
was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting or escaping
...
”
Scout notes that Mr
...
She is a child and she
understands
...
(You should be aware, though, that it was
written for adult readers
...
)
As the children set off for the pageant (Chapter 28), Jem hears a mockingbird and jokes that Boo must
not be at home
...
Not only is Boo out of doors (or
just about to leave) but his doing so is what delivers the children from real and very human danger, not
the gothic fantasies of Halloween
...
draggin' him and his shy ways into the limelight
...
a sin
...
”
Scout shows that she understands Mr
...


© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

A note on the N-word
Depicting racism through dialogue
The novel is set in the 1930s but was written in the late 1950s (published in 1960)
...
This is a convenient way to indicate to the reader the racist
attitudes of various characters
...
It is not only racist whites who say this, however – at First Purchase church, Calpurnia
addresses Lula as “nigger”
...
In the trial of O
...
Simpson, the word "nigger" was considered too offensive to repeat
in court, and was described as the "N-word"
...
Use quotation marks to show that it is someone else's
words that you are writing
...
Most speakers (racist or not) would assume that
"nigger", as well as expressing racial hatred or prejudice, identified someone as black
...
This causes
uproar in the court for five minutes, after which Judge Taylor instructs Bob Ewell to keep his testimony
"within the confines of Christian English usage, if that is possible"
...
It is not always true that people who swear
or use racist language do so because they are not able to express themselves in other ways, but in Bob
Ewell's case it may be true
...

The "white nigger" is Jem
...
Nathan Radley (Chapter 6) is not, like Bob Ewell, giving vent to his hatred,
but rather showing his prejudice in stereotyping all intruders as black people
...
He relies on Miss Stephanie, the
Maycomb gossip, to pass on his message that he "scared him pale" and if anyone "sees a white nigger
around, that's the one"
...
The novel
challenges both of these attitudes, but it is really the ordinary people of Maycomb who seal Tom
Robinson's fate
...
okay, we''ll convict
this Negro but get back to your dump" says Atticus
...
It is written in the first person
...
She does not confine the narrative to
things that she has directly experienced – for example she recounts stories from the history of Simon
Finch, and repeats what other people tell her
...
) The
events of the novel take place over several years, and Scout indicates the changes that she and Jem
experience in this time
...
She also learns, mostly from Miss Maudie, that
this does not mean she has to give up her independence – that she can compromise in unimportant
matters without betraying what she really values
...

The novel gives a huge range of such opinions, too many to list here
...
Dolphus Raymond)
...
In her account of Mayella’s testimony
Scout refers to “a Mr
...
This is Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers – it
may be hard for modern readers in the UK to believe that an eight-year old would not only read a novel by
Dickens, and make such a comparison, but not recall the title of the novel
...
This does not mean that it is full of sensational or extreme situations, but
that it has some of the qualities of a play – which also explains why it was successfully adapted for
cinema
...
Even when
Scout uses indirect (reported) speech, she makes sure she includes distinctive vocabulary that tells you
about the character and attitude of the speaker
...
Jem typically addresses
Atticus as “sir” (in Chapter 4, Atticus insists on this)
...
Bob
Ewell addresses Mr
...

There are long passages of dialogue in a variety of contexts
...
There are the
set pieces at Scout’s school – lessons with Miss Caroline and Miss Gates, and situations where Scout is
a silent observer – for example, of the missionary ladies
...
This means, among other things that it:
•
•
•

is written in a form of standard English which has a wide-ranging lexicon (vocabulary),
includes references to art and culture which the author expects the reader to know (or find out)
relates principal events mostly in the past tense

The narrative contains some distinctively American lexis (vocabulary) so, to take one chapter (11) as a
random example, we find “sassiest”, “mutts” and “playing hooky”
...
In some
cases you will find a form which is standard in both UK and US English, but with a different meaning
...
On the other hand, when he stands “in his shorts (underpants or boxer shorts) before
God and everybody”, this is perhaps more alarming
...


Structure
A long episodic novel can easily lose its way, but Harper Lee has a very organic sense of a single story
with a unifying or central theme (the mockingbird theme) which is illustrated by the examples of Arthur
Radley and Tom Robinson
...

The first part of the novel is an account of Scout’s early years, taking her first days at school as a starting
point
...
The second part shows Scout
becoming more able to understand the adult world, which is mirrored by the more serious events that
occur at this point in her life
...

While Scout and Jem have been thinking more about the trial and less about Boo Radley, Arthur has not
forgotten them
...
There is no direct account of Arthur Radley’s attack on Bob Ewell
...

For a more detailed account of what happens in each chapter, use the Outline of the Novel above
...


© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Stereotyping
To Kill a Mockingbird sets out to challenge some stereotypes but it may also reinforce some alternative
stereotypes
...
Lula is an
exception, objecting to the appearance at First Purchase of the Finch children
...
In the USA there are many people who
disapprove of dependency on the state, and on welfare payments – both the poor Cunninghams and the
wealthy (but emotionally poor) Radleys are proud of their self-reliance
...
Scout wants to be like a boy, because she likes to
be active
...
Perhaps only a woman can be so tough in
depicting her own sex (in this respect, Harper Lee writes rather in the manner of Jane Austen)
...

There are plenty of characters, from Atticus to Dolphus Raymond, from Miss Maudie to Boo Radley, who
do not conform to any stereotype
...
Can you find examples of
some things that each of these thinks or believes
...
Dolphus Raymond
Jem
Miss Maudie Atkinson
Dill
Mrs
...

What are these attitudes or assumptions? If you find this question hard to answer, try this test
...
The first one should be the one you think most likely to
be true
...
At the end will be the statements you think least likely to be true
...


Attitudes in the reader
As you read this story, how far do you think the author has understood what you like to read?
You may be surprised to find that the story was written for adult readers
...
To Kill a Mockingbird is not “grown-up” in the
sense of being full of sex scenes, swearing and violence
...
The teachers and examiners who chose the texts for the
NEAB/AQA Anthology decided that To Kill a Mockingbird is suitable for younger readers
...


The author
As you read this story, how conscious are you of the author? What are her purposes, in your view?
Is this story written to entertain, to earn money, to warn, to frighten, to teach, to amuse, none of these, all
of these? What do you think is the author's reason for writing?

© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Comparison
This story is full of comparisons and contrasts
...
Choose the five most important areas of comparison
or contrast and explain how they work
...
It is always rather
ambiguous, and it is possible to miss much of what is going on
...
Look
at details of imagery, language and symbolism
...
In doing this you should
refer to her narrative methods
...


© Copyright: Andrew Moore, 2001

Studying To Kill a Mockingbird

Specimen exam questions
The questions below are taken from recent GCSE examination papers for English literature
...
How does Harper Lee show this?
Write about:
•
•
•
•

what he is like at the start and at the end of the novel
events that have an effect on him
people who have an effect on him
how the writer uses particular moments to show change

Higher tier - example question 1
How does Harper Lee use minor characters in To Kill a Mockingbird to explore some of the main
concerns of the novel?
Choose three of the following: Mrs
...

How does Harper Lee show them learning and developing?
The copyright in this guide belongs to Andrew Moore
...
You may not distribute it in any form other
than the original, without the express permission of the author
...
moore@eril

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