Reading Comprehension Template

1. Author

1.1. Harper Lee

1.2. April 28, 1926

1.3. American

1.4. 1) Harper Lee became a multimillionaire because of To Kill A Mockingbird, but the money did not change her lifestyle; she still lived simply. 2) Harper Lee wrote Go Set A Watchman before To Kill A Mockingbird, but it was not accepted when she submitted it in 1957. 3) She preferred a quiet life out of the spotlight, but she didn't mind being around people.

2. General Info

2.1. 1960

2.2. Fiction

2.3. English

2.4. Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930's

3. Plot

3.1. Scout and her brother, Jem, grow older, see things, experience things, do new things, and everything in-between. They look forward to summer, and dislike the school year. They just go about their lives.

3.2. The town of Maycomb, Alabama is a town full of different people that see things differently. That is not the only problem. Scout is a different sort of girl, and society believes that she should do things a certain way.

3.3. There are two main complications; the court case and Boo Radley.

3.4. The climax in this story is the result of the court case.

3.5. Most of the town goes against what Atticus said in the court case, but some people are on his side. The town goes about their lives, and Scout and Jem experience something that would change their views of things for a long, long time.

3.6. Scout and Jem see the town and its people for what they really are. They see good and bad people, and they learn the difference.

4. Themes, Allusions & Symbols

4.1. The world is a dangerous place; it may scare you, it may hurt you, it may confuse you-but you'll figure it you'll out in the end.

4.2. Atticus pushed his glasses to his forehead; they slipped down, and he dropped them in the street. In the silence, I heard them crack. Atticus rubbed his eyes and chin; we saw him blink hard. In front of the Radley gate, Tim Johnson had made up what was left of his mind. He had finally turned himself around, to pursue his original course up our street. He made two steps forward, then stopped and raised his head. We saw his body go rigid. With movements so swift they seemed simultaneous, Atticus's hand yanked a ball-tipped lever as he brought the gun to his shoulder. The rifle cracked. Tim Johnson leaped, flopped over and crumpled on the sidewalk in a brown-and-white heap. He didn't know what hit him.

4.3. If her [Mayella's right eye was blacked and she was beaten mostly on the right side of her face, it would tend to show that a left-handed person did it. Sherlock Holmes and Jem Finch would agree.

5. Characters

5.1. Scout Finch-She may not be the prettiest, but she is strong and vibrant. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/A_sunflower.jpg

5.2. Jim Finch-He loves football even though he is not allowed to play yet. He looks at all the possibilities of every situation. https://sports-images.vice.com/images/2015/12/01/six-man-football-how-small-texas-towns-hold-on-to-the-game-they-love-body-image-1448928037.jpg?resize=1220:*&output-quality=75

5.3. Society's expectations-particuarly the expectations of girls and women.

6. Vocabulary

6.1. Section 1

6.1.1. piety-a belief, religion, or point of view All we had was Simon Finch, a fur-trapping apothecary from Cornwall whose piety was exceeded only by his stinginess.

6.1.2. perpetual-never ending or occurring repeatedly He declared Egyptians walked that way; I said if they did I didn't see how they got anything done, but Jem said they accomplished more than the Americans ever did, they invented toilet paper and perpetual embalming, and asked where would we be today if they hadn't?

6.2. Section 2

6.2.1. vital-nessacary or very important Jem's mind was occupied mostly with the vital statistics of every college football player in the nation.

6.2.2. cantankerous-bad-tempered or uncooperative "As the mountain air," said Attiicus. "She was conscious to the last, almost. Conscious," he smiled, "and cantankerous."

6.3. Section 3

6.3.1. haughty-arrogant or disdainful Mr. Ewell backed up into the witness chair, settled himself, and regarded Atticus with haughty suspicion, an expression common to Maycomb County witnesses when confronted by opposing counsel.

6.3.2. arid-without interest or excitement Atticus's voice had lost its comfortableness; he was speaking in his arid, detached professional voice.

6.4. Section 4

6.4.1. credibility-the quality of being convincing "[...] I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with."

6.4.2. annals-a record of events The first thing was that Mr. Bob Ewell acquired and lost a job in a matter of days and probably made himself unique in the annals of the annals of the nineteen-thirties [...]

7. Summary

7.1. Maycomb, Alabama had strange characters that everyone knew-or knew about. Scout knows the tales of all these people-stories she heard from friends, family, and neighbors. Scout learned about these people before she started school. She had heard stories about many things, but school was something else. She is smart. She is advanced. But not in the way society wants her to be. She can read and write, but it seems that her teacher does not want her to be able to do so-in the first grade, that is. Her brother Jem tells her that this is because of a new way of teaching that would soon be school-wide. Scout made it through her first year of school, and was more than excited when summer rolled around. She and her brother Jem got to see their friend Dill that they had met the summer before. Both Jem and Dill had grown up somewhat, so they did not delight in the games they had the summer before. They found other games to play. Their fun and games brought them closer and closer to the Radley house. The Radley house was somewhat of a story to them. Mr. Radley lived in that house-a man who almost never stepped outside. Stories said that he came out in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep. The stories also said that if one was to step foot on the property, they were basically just killing themselves. Scout, Jem, and Dill dared to challenge these theories. Over the course of the summer, they found themselves coming closer and closer to Mr. Radley. They realized that maybe the stories had been wrong. The summer ended, and school started again. Then the seasons changed-a rarity for Alabama. They experienced some of the coldest temperatures in Alabama in a long while. Then their neighbor experiences something catastrophic. Jem and Scout have another experience with Mr. Radley, and they realize that he never hurt them-which proved some of the stories wrong.

7.2. Life goes on in Maycomb, Alabama for most of the people in that town. Scout and Jem keep on with their lives. But Scout has a hard time with not letting her fists fly. People yell hateful things at Scout and Jem. Then Christmas came around and it seemed to Scout that disaster had struck. Scout, Jem, and Atticus went to the Landing to celebrate Christmas with their family. Scout disliked visiting her family-especially her Aunt Alexandra. Her aunt thought that Scout was not behaving the way a girl was supposed to. Aunt Alexandra was one of the people that thought Scout should not be running around outside in overalls. Aunt Alexandra thought Scout should stay inside in dresses and skirts. Scout did not appreciate her aunt's company. So Scout lumbered her way through Christmas-but not without coming close to letting her fists fly on Francis-Aunt Alexandra's grandson. Scout made her way through Christmas. She went back to school and heard about all the other fathers of her peers. She started to think Atticus was not as interesting as them. She longed to find something interesting about Atticus. She found it one day-when she least expected it. Life went on for her and Jem. When they went into town, they would always pass Mrs. Dubose's house. She was an old woman. She would always yell hateful things about Atticus whenever Scout and Jem passed. Eventually, it got to be too much for Jem and he did something that landed him in the position of reading to Mrs. Dubose every day. Then that ends. Then Aunt Alexandra comes to visit. Summer rolls around, and Scout looks forward to Dill coming back. But he doesn't. And then he does.

7.3. Scout, Jem, and Dill go on with their summer life. They have fun. Then something comes up. Something that involves Scout's and Jem's dad. Atticus must defend someone who has the whole town against him. Atticus goes to court and Scout, Jem, and Dill want to go watch. So they find their way to the courthouse. They watch the trial. Witnesses are brought in and they are all going against Atticus. But Atticus brought everything. He asked and answered questions. He presented evidence that could have never been denied. Scout, Jem, and Dill watch, fascinated. Jem said that Scout was too young to understand what was happening. But she still listened. Atticus does everything right, but everyone still thinks that he can't win. He presents all of the evidence. His defendant is as honest as can be. Then it all comes down to the jury to decide. The trial took all day. When the jury leaves to decide how the trial will go, Scout, Jem, and Dill go home, have dinner, and debate the trial. They come back to the courthouse and find themselves waiting for the jury to decide. They are there late into the night. Then the jury makes their decision. Scout, Jem, and Dill all know that Atticus will win. They all know it. And then he doesn't. He doesn't win. He did everything right, but he didn't win.

7.4. As the summer comes to a close, Scout and Jem say goodbye to Dill. They look forward to the upcoming school year. The town goes about its normal routine. As the year commences, Aunt Alexandra teaches Scout more and more about becoming a lady. Scout keeps resisting until, finally, she acts like a lady for part of a day. Then something happens. Aunt Alexandra gives in and lets Scout do what she wants. Eventually, Halloween comes around and the school performs a play that Scout is a part of. She performs and then she and Jem head home. Jem suspects something is about to happen. And then it does, leaving Jem badly injured and Scout scared. They are taken care of, and they figure out what happened. Somehow, everything worked out just fine.