To Kill a Mockingbird - Ch. 20 à 25

Devoirs pour mardi 18 février: Answer questions for chapters 24 and 25

Devoirs pour vendredi 14 février: Read Chapter 24-25 - You will answer questions in class.

 1- On page 263, Mrs. Merriweather says, “‘Oh child, those poor Mrunas’... Mrs. Merriweather’s large brown eyes always filled with tears when she considered the oppressed.” How does this line of text reveal her to be a hypocrite on the subject of race and oppression? Provide at least one piece of evidence from the text that helps develop this idea.

2- On page 263, Mrs. Merriweather says of having a “sullen” black servant working for her, “Sophy, you simply are not being a true Christian today. Jesus Christ never went around grumbling and complaining.” How does this statement reveal her to be a hypocrite? Provide at least one piece of evidence from the text that helps develop this idea.

3- How does the news of Tom Robinson’s death change Atticus’s perspective on the world? Provide at least two pieces of evidence from the text that reveal this change.

4- What does Tom Robinson’s decision to try and escape prison reveal about his character and the social context in which he lived? Provide at least one piece of evidence from the text to support your answer.

5-  Why do you think Harper Lee includes the scene where Jem tells Scout not to kill the roly-poly bug?

6- Show how deep rooted racism is in most Maycomb's folks.
7- What is surprising about Mr. Underwood?

Devoirs pour jeudi 13 février: Read Chapter 23 - Work on these questions, we will go over them in class as well.

1. How is Atticus true to himself regarding Bob Ewell’s action and threats?

2. Why are his children all worked up? What do they want Atticus to do?

3. On pages 251-252 Atticus explains “blind spots” to Jem. What is it? Does it fit what you said in your answers of chapter 16 p.179

4. On page 252, Atticus says, “Don’t fool yourselves—it’s all adding up and one of these days we’re going to pay the bill for it.” What is Atticus comparing in this metaphor? What does this reveal about Atticus’s beliefs about the future? Was he right? Have we paid the bill?

5. Why couldn’t women serve on a jury? (252) (FYI: The Civil Rights Act of 1957 gave women the right to serve on federal juries, but it wasn’t until 1973 that all 50 states passed similar legislation) - Interesting article on ACLU : lien

6. What is Atticus’s tone when he says, on page 253, that “this may be the shadow of a beginning.” What does he mean by this metaphor?

7. What do we learn about the jury of Tom Robinson? (253-254)

8. Read carefully the conversation between Jem and Scout on pages 258–259. What does their conversation reveal about social hierarchies in Maycomb? How do their perspectives differ? How does this reveal changes in Jem and Scout?

Devoirs pour mercredi 12 février: Read this article from CNN : lien

Link to Mitt Romney's speech regarding his decision to vote against the president.
Questions :

1. Find 2 facts about Diane Nash 

2. Throught the reading, find the parallels between Trump's trial and Tom's trial 

3. What is ironic about Trump's trial

4. What is the black people's answer to white people who are frustrated about the verdict of Trump?

5. Find 2 facts about Emmett Till's case + 3 facts outside this article

6. Walton says, "The President's trial is not an outlier. The American legal system today also still favors white men", what evidences does he present?

In-class discussion:

7. What would Atticus say about Walton's last words? "What we're actually seeing is the system at work...It's blatant, and it's out there and it's working the way it's always supposed to be working."

8. Do you think Judge Taylor was just a prop, overtly bias, or was he a fair judge? (The role of a judge is to make sure the trial goes according to the law, that the demeanor and questions of the lawyers are in accord with the established procedures (not leading, clear, etc...). A judge doesn't decide on the verdict, the jury does. Also, in some states, the jury decides on the penalty). 

• Devoirs pour mardi 11 février : Read Chapter 21 + 22 + answer the following questions

Chapter 21 - Questions

1.What does Jem think the outcome of the jury will be? Find 2 evidences from the text.

2. Does Atticus shares Jem’s views about the outcome of the jury? How do we know? Justify with the text.

3. Why, do you think, was Jem “chuckling” and “grinning” while Calpurnia was threatening to “wear him out” (spank him) (237). What does it say about his mood?

4. On page 237 the author writes “we were equally surprised to find the courtroom exactly as we had left it” “Nobody’s moved, hardly”. Could this refer to the situation of the verdict to come? How?

5. Why is the Reverend less confident than Jem regarding the verdict? (238)

6. What comment is the author inserting regarding what constitutes a rape in Alabama in this era?

7. What mood is the author creating to build up the coming of the verdict? Find some evidences to support your answer.

8. How does Scout react about the verdict and how is it expressed in the novel? What is different about her narration?

9. Why are all the black people standing up when Atticus comes out of the courtroom?

Chapter 22 - Questions

1. Why does Atticus insist that it was right for his children to attend the trial? And how does this confirm his parenting style? (243)

2. What does Atticus mean when he says, “It’s as much Maycomb County as missionary teas” (243).

3. Explain Atticus’ emotion when he sees all the food brought by the black community (244).

4. On page 244, Miss Rachel says, “if a man like Atticus Finch wants to butt his head against a stone wall it’s his head.” What does this metaphor mean? What does this reveal about Miss Rachel’s perspective? Now contrast this attitude with Miss Maudie's speech (question 5).

5. What is Miss Maudie trying to show to Jem? (246), and is it working?

6. On page 246, Jem says, “It’s like bein’ a caterpillar in a cocoon, that’s what it is.” What is he comparing? What is he trying to communicate with this simile? Provide evidence from the text to support your answer.

7. What happened to Atticus? (247)

• Devoirs pour lundi 10 février: Lire chapitre 20 + answer the following questions

1. Explain what “crime” Atticus accuses Mayella of having committed (231-232), and why she “had to” accuse Tom Robinson. (remember the documentary on Jim Crow we watched)

2. When Atticus says, “This case is as simple as black and white” (231), what does he mean? But what does the author really want to say?

3.  Showing that Tom R. had not committed the crime is easy, yet, Atticus seems to be all worked up (find the few things he does that are unusual according to Scout and Jem). What values is Atticus asking the jury to draw on to reach their final decision?

4.  If you haven’t read the rest of the book, what do you think will be the jury’s final decision? Why?