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Why does Dill run away from home?

To Kill a Mockingbird - Understanding the Text

This Literature quiz is called 'To Kill a Mockingbird - Understanding the Text' and it has been written by teachers to help you if you are studying the subject at senior high school. Playing educational quizzes is one of the most efficienct ways to learn if you are in the 11th or 12th grade - aged 16 to 18.

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This senior high school English Literature quiz focusses on understanding the text in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Understanding a text is a basic precondition of analyzing or writing about it. And yet it is not always an easy task. After all, if authors had a simple message to convey, it would not take them hundreds of pages and thousands of words in which to do so! Reading a text from long ago, or from another country, or even just written in a strong dialect can make the task slightly more difficult. Occasionally it takes a little time to get used to how a particular author writes.

Authors use a variety of methods in order to convey meaning. They do not often state what they mean directly.

Instead, character, setting, plot, theme and dialog are the means through which authors communicate with the reader. Consider each of these elements closely and try to understand the text as you read. Sometimes re-reading can be a big help, especially if you realize that you might not have understood everything the first time. If this becomes necessary, don’t worry! This happens to everyone and just proves that you are paying attention!

When you read a text, your comprehension works on several levels simultaneously. Consider how context and setting relate to events. Think about the way in which events relate to each other. Create a timeline of events: it can be one very useful method for understanding a text. Remember that events are not always revealed in the order in which they occur chronologically. Chapter summaries can be a useful aid to your revision, helping you to visualize the structure of the text, especially when that differs from the chronological timeline.

Think about the way in which actions reveal the characters’ motivations. Does the text offer clues to explain their behavior? Should readers take their words at face value, or should the subtext of those words be examined more closely? Do the actions and beliefs of the characters match the words which they say? Try to answer why or why not, justifying your views by referring in detail to the text.

Analyzing beginnings and endings is a great method of revision. Why do you think the text begins as it does? How do you find out about the characters’ pasts? Is there a distance between the narrator and the time when reported events took place? Are future events foreshadowed? How? Analyze individual chapters in the same way, considering the significance of their beginnings and endings. Undertaking careful and detailed analysis of this sort will really improve your knowledge and understanding of the text!

Read the questions below on To Kill a Mockingbird and test your knowledge and understanding of the text.

1 .

Tom Robinson has many reasons to be afraid of telling the truth when he is on trial. One of these reasons is that his testimony will cause shame to those accusing him. Which of the following is a source of shame for the Ewells?

Mayella ordered Tom to help her with chores

Tom frequently passed by the Ewell's home on his way to work

Mayella kissed Tom

Mayella could not cope with looking after all her brothers and sisters

Black men and boys were very often accused, as Tom is, of raping white women. That a white woman could have thrown herself at a black man would be deeply shaming to the racists of the town. Telling the truth further endangers Tom's life

2 .

Which of the following is NOT true?

Many rumors circulate Maycomb concerning Boo Radley

Boo Radley has never left his house before he begins leaving gifts in the knot-hole

Boo Radley was once in danger of going to prison

When Mr Radley dies, his son Nathan takes his place staying in the house with Boo

According to local gossip, Boo Radley was rather wild as a teenager

3 .

Why doesn't Scout like school?

She misses Calpurnia

She is constantly in trouble for bullying

She is bullied by the other children

She feels she doesn't learn anything

Jem tells Scout she won't learn anything until sixth grade

4 .

How old is Scout at the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Nearly six years old

Eight years old

Twenty years old

She does not tell us her age

This is a trick question! Scout narrates the tale as an adult, although she doesn't tell us her age or how long ago the events happened. She begins her story, however, with events which took place when she was nearly six years old

5 .

How are the professionals of Maycomb county often paid, according to Atticus?

By being given practical items such as food or firewood

By check

By monthly payments of cash

Never

Many of Atticus's clients are poor and are only able to pay in kind. Over the course of a year, Mr Cunningham pays Atticus with firewood, hickory nuts, Christmas holly and turnip greens

6 .

How does Atticus prove that Tom Robinson could not have caused Mayella's black eye?

He proves that Tom was not present at the Ewell's on the date of the incident

He strongly implies that the assailant must be left-handed

He proves that Mr Ewell is right-handed

He strongly implies that the assailant must be right-handed

Atticus first proves that Mr Ewell is left-handed before revealing the uselessness of Tom's left arm. He then leads Mayella and the jury to realize that only a left-handed assailant could have blackened Mayella's right eye

7 .

What is Atticus's profession?

Doctor

Farmer

Lawyer

Journalist

Atticus's profession is integral to the plot

8 .

After Scout walks Boo Radley home, she tries to put herself in his place to imagine why he came to help her and Jem. She refers to herself and her brother as...

Boo's friends

Boo's children

Boo's neighbors

All of the above

Scout realizes how attached Boo Radley had become to her and her brother over the years

9 .

Why does the sheriff, Mr Tate, insist that Mr Ewell fell on his own knife?

It is the truth

He is trying to protect Jem

He is trying to protect Boo Radley

He is trying to protect Scout

Mr Tate says that all of the ladies of Maycomb would be knocking on the Radley door and offering him cake in gratitude, if they knew he had saved the children's lives

10 .

Why does Dill run away from home?

He doesn't feel wanted or needed

His parents abandoned him

He is physically neglected

His parents are cruel

Dill feels that he has everything he could want except attention

Author: Sheri Smith