Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Discussion Questions for 2nd Goal

Hey bookies!

So I won't know if I can meet with you until the day of-- it depends on whether Mrs. Carter has to proctor any makeup TCAPs, and how busy it is in here, etc.  But why don't you guys plan on meeting in the library conference room regardless of my schedule?  That way you can move ahead with the book discussion, and I am sure I'll be able to poke my head in the room and give you my two cents.  :)

Let's start the discussion here on this thread.  I will expect you to reply here to at least a few of the questions as well as post any questions that you have about the reading.  If you have them, other people probably do, too!  So, for Thursday:

1.   What does Miss Maudie tell Scout about Boo?  How does this compare with what Scout already believes?
2.  Scout claims that “Dill could tell the biggest ones ” (lies) she ever heard. Why might Dill have told such lies? 
3.  Why does Dill’s explanation of Jem’s state of dress almost land him in trouble?
4.  When the children plan to send a letter to the person who leaves the gifts, they are prevented. How
     does this happen? Who does it, and why might he do so? 
5.  What is the “near libel” which Jem puts in the front yard? How do Miss Maudie and Atticus react to it?
6.  When Atticus asks Scout about the blanket around her shoulders, what does Jem realize? 
7.  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? 
8.  Does Scout learn anything from overhearing Atticus's conversation with Uncle Jack? What might this be?
9.   In this chapter Atticus tells his children that “it's a sin to kill a mockingbird”.
10.  In chapter 11, Jem and Scout have different views about telling people at school how well Atticus can shoot. Explain this difference. Which view is closer to your own?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey guys! I don't know if we had a meeting today or not, but I decided to answer a few of the discussion questions. (Umm what exactly is question 9?)

4.) When the children plan to send a thank you letter to the person who has been leaving the gifts, they find that the knot-hole, in which they had been finding the presents in, was filled with cement. Jem finds that Mr. Radley had filled the whole because the tree was dying, even though it didn't seem as if it were. My suspicion is that maybe either Mr Radley or Boo Radley were putting the presents there and somehow, they found out that the kids were writing a letter so the filled the hole with cement.

6.) When Atticus asks Scout about the blanket, Jem realizes, even though they were standing in front of Mr. Nathan's house, Mr. Nathan was out helping out in the fire, and couldn't have put the blanket over Scout's shoulders. My prediction is that sometime, during the commotion, Boo Radley came and placed the blanket on Scout's shoulders because she was cold.

Mrs. P said...

Thoughtful responses, Divya! About #9-- good question. Where is the question?! Oops. I'll post the full one for next time. :)

4. Do you think Mr. Radley seemed surprised that the knot hole had been filled with cement? And why would he or Boo fill the hole if they thought the kids were writing a thank-you note?

6. I agree with you on this one. :)

Anyone else have anything to add?

Unknown said...

Happy Break Mrs. Pulley!!:) and everyone else..

4.) I think that, maybe, Boo Radley is trying to attach himself with the kids, or just trying to be nice, and maybe Mr. Radley doesn't think that is a good idea so he fills the hole with cement. I don't know, the thought just came to me while I was reading.
I don't feel like Mr. Radley seemed that surprised.....