1. To Kill a Mockingbird
Chapters 6-11

2. Chapter 6
Spying on Boo

3. Adventure at Night
It is Dill’s last night in Maycomb before he returns home to Mississippi
The kids decide to spy on Boo Radley
Why do they wait until this night?
No one could see them at night
Atticus was involved in reading a book
It was easier to see into a dark house in the dark
If Boo killed them, they’d miss school instead of summer vacation

4. Danger Awaits Scout warns Jem and Dill that it is too dangerous
Jem’s reply (page 52) “I declare to the Lord you’re getting’ more like a girl every day!”
Scout takes this statement as an insult
They go to the Radley backyard. The gate is stuck so they spit on the hinges to prevent it from squeaking
The yard is full of chickens—this poses a problem as they could set off an alarm

5. Behind the Radley House
There are two doors in the back and a window
Scout and Jem boost Dill up to look in the window. He can’t see anything
They go to the back step; it squeaks. They see a shadow of a man with a hat on
They run off and gun shots are fired over their heads

6. Stuck in the Fence
Jem’s pants get caught in the barbed wire fence. He ends up leaving them there
All the neighbors are out front. Nathan Radley (Boo’s older brother) is standing with his shot gun. He thinks he shot a Negro trying to steal collard greens from his garden
Jem has no pants on (Miss Rachel notices). Dill makes up a story that he won Jem’s pants in a game of strip poker
After everyone goes to bed, Jem gets up and goes back to get his pants

7. Chapter 7
Pants and Presents

8. Jem’s Pants
School begins. Scout is now in second grade. Not much has changed
Jem relates what happened when he went back to get his pants
They were mended, but like a child would have done.
They were folded over the fence like they were waiting for Jem to come and get them
Who fixed Jem’s pants?

9. Presents in the Tree
Jem and Scout find more presents in the knot hole in the tree: a ball of twine (string), a package of gum, a spelling medal, 2 soap dolls that look like Jem and Scout and a pocket watch that does not work with a pocket knife attached
Who is leaving things in the knot hole for Jem and Scout?
Scout and Jem decide to write a thank you note

10. Message Center Averted
When they go to leave it in the knot hole, the knot hole is filled with cement
Nathan Radley plugged up the knot hole with cement
Nathan Radley says he is filling up the knot hole because the tree is dying.
When Jem asks Atticus he tells her it is not because the branches have new shoots

12. Chapter 8
Fire and Ice

13. Snow in Maycomb Unusual occurrence in Alabama—it snows!
School is canceled and the kids make a snowman that looks like Mr. Avery (a large man who lives at Miss Maudie’s boarding house).
Atticus tells them to change it
They make it into a woman

14. Fire at Miss Maudie’s Miss Maudie’s house burns down that night
Atticus sends Jem and Scout to stand in front of the Radley house for safety
All the adults are helping out with the fire

15. A Blanket for Scout
Someone put a blanket around Scout as she stood looking at the fire—who?
Atticus says “. . . looks like all of Maycomb was out tonight in one way or another. “ (72)

16. Racial Slurs and Christmas
Chapter 9
Racial Slurs and Christmas

17. A Talk with Atticus
Scout fights with Cecil Jacobs at school because Cecil said Atticus defended Niggers (racial slur)
Atticus scolds Scout for fighting
He explains he is defending a Negro man named Tom Robinson

18. Working on the Case
Most of the town believe that Atticus should put no effort into defending Tom Robinson
The case has been postponed until the summer
Gives Atticus time to build a defense
Atticus is not prejudiced like the rest of the town
He tells Scout to back down from another fight with Cecil

19. Christmas
Christmas comes and Uncle Jack (Atticus’s brother, a doctor) comes to stay
Scout and Jem get air rifles for Christmas
The family goes to Finches Landing for Christmas

20. Finches Landing
Aunt Alexandra (Atticus’s sister) and her husband Jimmy are running the family farm
Their grandson Francis (a snotty little boy) stays with them
Aunt Alexandra believes that Scout needs to act and dress like a girl

21. Telling Her Side Francis calls Atticus a Nigger Lover
He and Scout get into a fight
Uncle Jack punishes Scout without getting the whole story.
She does get to tell her side once they get back to Maycomb.
Scout tells Uncle Jack he is unfair
Scout needs to learn to control her temper.
She is very proud
She has a strong love of family

22. Troubles Ahead Atticus and Jack talk about the case
Atticus knows he is going to lose because of the racial prejudice that exists in the town.
It is a black man’s word against a white woman’s word
He knows the jury will be prejudiced
Atticus also knows the case will affect Scout and Jem

23. Chapter 10
“One-shot Finch”

24. Boring Dad
Children’s perspective of their father is presented in this chapter:
Atticus is old (almost 50)
He wears glasses
He won’t play tackle football like the rest of the fathers
He works in an office (not exciting)
He doesn’t hunt or fish
He doesn’t play poker
He reads every night in the living room

25. Symbol and Theme
Atticus would not teach them to shoot their air rifles.
He wants them to shoot at tin cans
He tells them they can shoot blue jays but not mockingbirds
Symbol: mockingbird
Theme: “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird”
Who are the mockingbirds in the novel?

26. Theme
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Miss Maudie Atkinson

27. What Atticus Can Do
Miss Maudie tries to convince Scout that Atticus can do things:
He can make a will airtight (unbreakable)
He is the best checkers player
He is the best jew’s harp player

28. Waiting for the Kill
Incident with the rabid dog (Tim Johnson is the dog’s name)
The dog is twitching and walking slowly down the road
Calpurnia calls the neighbors and Atticus
Atticus and Sheriff Tate arrive

29. One-shot Finch Sheriff Tate tells Atticus to shoot the dog
Atticus shoots the dog in one shot
The children learn Atticus’s nickname when he was young was “One-shot Finch”
This impresses Jem and Scout. Jem states he wants to be just like Atticus when he grows up.

30. Chapter 11
Mrs. Dubose

31. Mrs. Dubose
Mrs. Dubose is the mean, old lady who lives on Jem and Scout’s street
She has a Negro housekeeper
She is very ill (dying)
She always taunts Jem and Scout
Tells them they will never amount to anything
Atticus tells them to ignore her

32. Taunted by Mrs. Dubose
Jem gets money for his twelfth birthday and decides to go to town to spend it.
As they pass by Mrs. Dubose’s house, she tells them that “they’ll never amount to anything except waiting on tables”
She taunts them further by telling them Atticus is “lawin’ for niggers”; this shows her prejudice

33. Trashing the Garden
On the way home, Jem takes the baton he bought for Scout and trashes the camellias in her garden
Jem knows he will get in trouble for his actions

34. Reading as a Punishment
As his punishment, he must go daily (except Sunday) for two hours/day for a month to read to Mrs. Dubose
At first she pays attention, but as the days go by, she begins to pay less attention.
At the end, she is back to paying attention again

35. Morphine Addict Mrs. Dubose finally dies
We learn she was a morphine addict and did not want to die addicted to the drug.
She was using the reading sessions to wean herself off the morphine
She wanted to die beholden to nothing or no one

36. Forgiveness She sends Jem a boxed camellia to tell him she forgave him
Atticus considers her one of the bravest people he knows