The Trial Begins
Before the trial: True or False- Atticus thinks Mr. Cunningham is a terrible person.
False, he thinks Mr. Cunningham is a good man with his own flaws.
Who is Bob Ewell?
Mayella's father, Mayella's brother, Mayella's uncle, Mayella's son?
Mayella's father
How does Mayella react to Atticus calling her “Miss Mayella”?
She thinks he’s mocking her.
True or False: Tom Robinson's story was exactly like Mayella's story.
False, he says that Mayella kissed him and he ran away to save himself from being falsely accused.
True or False: Scout can't quite explain it, but she feels awful about the conclusion of the trial.
True, Scout knows that the trial was not fair and that Tom should have been deemed innocent.
Before the Trial: Scout stops an angry mob from hurting Atticus by trying to be friendly to whom?
Boo Radley, Mr. Cunningham, Mrs. Dubose, or Nathan Radley?
Mr. Cunningham
True or False: Mayella sends a secret message to Atticus during the trial that her father was actually the one who beat her up.
False, though Atticus does allude to the idea that her father may be the one at fault.
Why did Mayella invite Tom into the house?
To help her fix a door. (Would also accept "To help her with fix items around the house")
What is unusual about Tom’s left arm?
It is shorter and useless from an accident with a cotton gin.
What does Atticus say is the only thing Tom Robinson is guilty of?
Stealing from white folks, doing good deeds, feeling sorry for a white woman, having an unusable arm?
Feeling sorry for a white woman.
Who is Mr. Dolphus Raymond, and what’s unusual about him?
A lawyer defending Mayella, a white man who enjoys Black company, a new judge in town, or a mean relative of the Finches?
He’s a white man with mixed kids who prefers to live with Black people and pretends to drink alcohol from a paper bag.
What is Bob Ewell’s claim about what happened to Mayella?
He says he saw Tom Robinson attacking and beating her.
What does Mayella say she asked Tom to do inside the house?
To reach a box up high, to grab something under the bed, to unplug the sink drain, to watch her siblings while she goes out?
To reach up high and get a box from the top of a chiffarobe. Would also accept "Chop up a chiffarobe."
Why does Tom say he helped Mayella so often?
He felt sorry for her.
What evidence does Atticus remind the jury about that points to Tom being innocent?
No doctor was called, and Tom’s arm couldn’t have inflicted the injuries.
It reveals the normalcy of racial segregation in Maycomb.
What key detail about Mayella’s injuries makes Atticus suspicious?
She was beaten on the right side of her face which suggests a left-handed attacker.
How do we know that Mayella is lonely and isolated.
She has no friends. She likes a black man. She is only seen with her siblings.
How does the jury react to Tom saying he felt sorry for Mayella?
They cheered, they were offended, they threw things at Tom, they comforted Mayella?
They don’t like it. A Black man “feeling sorry” for a white woman offends them.
What does Atticus ask the jury to do when thinking about whether Tom Robinson is guilty or not?
To judge Tom Robinson fairly, without racial bias.
What does Atticus’s calm and respectful behavior in the courtroom show about his character?
It shows that he believes in treating everyone equally.
What trick does Atticus use to show that Bob Ewell might have hurt Mayella?
He has Bob write with his left hand, he has Bob hop on one leg, he has Bob shake Atticus' hand, he does not trick anyone?
He asks Bob to write his name, showing he’s left-handed.
What does Atticus suggest is the real reason Mayella accused Tom Robinson?
She felt guilty for kissing Tom Robinson and accused him to cover her shame.
Though Tom seems to be an honest man, why does the court not lean in his favor?
Maycomb gives his word less value than Mayella’s simply because he’s Black.
People can be good and well respected, but when they are in a group, they can be more inclined to evil inclinations.
Even good people can succumb to peer pressure even if what they succumb to is wrong.