Introduction
Chapters 17 & 18
1. Using four sticky notes, write down four questions or thoughts that come up as you read. Use the following titles and explain what you mean on the sticky note.
- Question
- Connection
- Laugh
- Cry
- Important *
- Don't Understand ?
2. If the question you asked is later answered, go back and write down the answer on the sticky note.
Content
After 17 and 18, keep your pants on I'm doing much better at keeping pace with mrs.
Brooke at recess.
She says, I, don't, look like I'm marching in step anymore.
So it's much more natural.
And she says that shows a lot of finesse I smile until she says, the next thing.
Your dad is worried that you might not understand that Devin isn't alive.
He tells me you say, Devin, says, this or Devin does that as if he's still alive I do say that, but it doesn't mean, I think he's still alive.
He was alive when he said, those things though your dad said, you want Devin to take you shopping.
Well, I do but Devon can't.
Take you shopping.
Do you understand that? Yes? But he asked what I want that's? What I want? I know, I can't have it I see when you're talking with your dad about Devin, you might want to make it clear that you understand he's now gone will that make that happy I think.
So yes, fine I'll.
Try mrs.
Brooks miles.
You know what you're starting to show empathy? I.
Am you feel for your dad? You know he's hurting.
And you want to make him happy that's wonderful I nod, even though I'm, not sure I completely understand.
She starts talking about friends again.
But I stopped her I already made.
One I tell her.
In fact I have seven little dwarf friends.
She tilts her head.
Then shakes it I'm talking about real people Kaitlyn well me too their first graders I think at least Michael is she does her turtleneck jerk Michael Schneider I know, does he wear a red Potomac? Nationals baseball hat.
He often does Kaitlyn.
Do you remember the name of the teacher who was killed at the middle school? Of course, it was mrs.
Roberta, al Schneider and then I think about Michael's last name Oh are they related mrs., Brooke, nods, Michael's, mother, I, knew his mother, was dead.
But I.
Didn't know, she was shot like Devon? Is that why he was at the memorial service? Yes, I think all of us were at the memorial service.
We're, small enough, town that were like one, big family, but still how odd for you two to find each other.
It's, not odd.
I say, I'm a little kid I'm at little kid recess now, remember and he was crying.
The first time I saw him.
So I was being nice to him.
And he knew about Devin.
He said, I was a weirdo who's, the what mrs.
Brooke jerks her neck again.
He didn't really mean, weirdo.
He said, he was sorry, he's nice and so am I so it's, not odd for us to be friends.
She smiles, you're, right, I think you and Michael have a very important friendship, me, too I'm, glad this I have I'm glad I have stickers and gummy worms for him.
When little kid recess starts I, give Michael Moore planet stickers.
And all the gummy worms in my pocket Thanks.
He looks at the worms.
What are their names? I start to name them, but then I stop.
You can name them.
He grins dangles, the orange one in front of me.
And then the red this is Henry.
And this is much like in the book I say, he nods.
And these two green ones are frog and toad.
Have you read those books? I have all of those books me too.
He says, hey, guess what what my teacher says we're, getting fifth grade reading buddies? Will you be my buddy, I haven't heard anything about fifth grade reading buddies, I, don't know if I'm doing it? Maybe they do it during first recess when I have mrs.
Brooke time.
He shakes his head, nope it's at the end of the day.
It starts Thursday.
Oh I wonder, if mrs.
Johnson told us and I just wasn't listening.
Sometimes that happens a lot.
Hey guess what? Michael says, it's Tyler's birthday, we got cookies with gummy bears on them lucky and he's having a skating party on Saturday.
What kind of party are you? Are you having what you said your birthday is next month? It is.
So what kind of party are you having I don't have parties Oh? What do you do I go to the mall with my brother, his Bambi eyes open wide, and he doesn't say anything for a few seconds, isn't, your brother, dead, yes, but I still want to do it? Mmm? He nods, slowly, I know, I still want to do stuff with my mom - I feel glowy and warm because Michael gets it.
My dad doesn't get it I, tell him my dad doesn't get it either does he still want to play football? Michael, sighs.
All the time you must really love football.
Yeah, I don't think, he's, very good at it though why not I heard my grandmother say that he's keeping his head up, but pretty soon he's gonna crash and burn I turn and look at the person.
You mean, in a car accident, Michael looks at the person - no.
It means he's going to be really bad at something.
My grandmother says that kind of stuff all the time.
She says, shake a leg when she wants you to hurry and pick up your ears when she wants you to listen and be a doll when she wants you to get her a glass of iced tea, I, can't, help giggling I tried to picture a doll holding a glass of iced tea.
Michael laughs - mmm want to know.
My favorite thing.
She says when she wants you to be patient.
She says, keep your pants on I laugh - why would you take your pants off I? Don't know, he how else that we both end up giggling until the bell rings when I get home I, remember? What mrs.
Brooks said about dad and Devon and I have a plan to make everything? Okay, I, sit on the sofa and start talking about Devon a lot, except I don't call him Devon anymore.
I call him Devon, who is dead I say it until dad asks me to stop, but that's his name.
No, his name is Devon.
No, his name was Devon.
Now it's Devon who is dead that's different from the other Devin that Devin was alive.
And you thought I was confused, but I'm, not because I know that Devon is dead and that's.
Why I'm calling him Devon who is dead so you'll get used to it.
No I, won't, I feel like crying every time you say it, even if I say it 50 times, yes, even a hundred times, yes, even a thousand times Caitlin I, get upset even thinking about it.
So I'll definitely feel like crying every time.
You say, it I'm only saying it because you're upset that I think Devon is still alive.
So I'm showing you I get it Devon is dead.
Dad shakes his head and leaves the living room I stare at the chest and wish for the millionth time that Devon were here.
Because even when I try to get it, I still don't, get it chapter.
18, a plan for healing.
Michael is right.
We are doing reading buddies when my class walks into the library Michaels class is already sitting in a circle on the floor, crisscross applesauce.
We open and close our hands.
Three times to each other it's, our special leave he's screening so much.
It reminds me to smile.
Mrs.
Brooke is there too and she's also smiling.
Hi Caitlin.
I.
Start shaking.
My hands it's, not mrs., Brooks I'm yet I have to read to Michael.
Her smile goes away - actually we're pairing Michael and Josh up I.
Look at the person.
Why he's evil Josh stands up in stares at me.
He blinks fast and sits down, Caitlin, mrs., Brooke, whispers that's, not nice I wasn't, talking about Michael I, tell her I realized that she's still whispering, you are making a mistake where she smiles we're working on closure here, I look around the room, where is it because that's what I'm working on and I'd like to see it? She takes me out into the hall and explains that josh is going through a lot right now - just like Michael and me, and that Josh needs to see that not everyone's mad at him and Michael needs to see that Josh can be a very nice.
Boy, I call it a plan for healing.
She says, I, look at the person.
A plan for hearing healing is a stupid plan because Josh cannot be a very nice.
Boy, haven't.
You seen him, push people off the monkey bars.
Do you know what he says to people I do and none of that is okay, but he has been getting counseling - and were working through his hurt.
So he can get to closure what about me I'm, the one who wants closure part of your plan for healing is to make friends right? I am making friends.
And now you're giving him to Josh.
You can both be friends with the same person.
She doesn't get it Michael is my friend I want to be the one who reads to him.
You can read to him during recess or other times.
But for our once-a-week reading buddies it's going to be Josh and Michael, the rest of our stupid reading buddies time is a blur, I know, I read really loud.
So Michael can hear me reading to him, even though I'm at the other end of the library I know that the stupid the stupid little girl I'm reading too starts crying, because she says, I'm yelling at her, which I'm, not if the book says, stop, then that's, how you should read it, especially if Michael is sitting next to Josh.
And especially if josh is giving Michael a high five, and especially if Michael and Josh are giggling together and I know, mrs.
Brooke takes me out of the library early.
But not before I see Michael looking at me with his big Bambi eyes and giving me our special wave at home I go to my hidey hole in Devin's room, I take his piece of I, take his piece of notebook paper with me, the one that says, Eagle Scout project, the one with the list of supplies for his chest.
The one that says he's going to teach me I stare at the list trying to find closure I, keep hoping that somehow the Devon miss of the list will give me the answer.
But it doesn't I look up at the Devin's carving of scout and wonder if I can still be Scout.
If the person who called me Scout is now gone I still wanted to be scout for him.
Devon said, if you want to be a scout, you have to work at it, I know, he was talking about Boy, Scouts and Eagle Scouts.
But he also said that about anything I had to do you have to work.
You have to work at it.
Scout, I know, I told him because he said it a lot lot lot and sometimes I don't want to hear the same thing over and over and over, especially if it's hard and work at it is very hard I work at it.
All the time my whole day is work at it.
Sometimes I don't want to work at it anymore.
Like when I finally get my own friend and mrs.
Brooke takes him away from me.
It's just too hard.
It's.
Not fair, I, hear dad calling my name, but I don't want to come out of my hidey hole I'm, busy stuck the carving of scout it's warm and soft and quiet and safe in here and I don't have to work at it.
I think, I'm staying here I'm thinking about staying here living here forever.
Finally, when dad says answer me, please Kaitlyn I answer because he asked nicely the door opens Kaitlyn.
His voice sounds funny are you in here, I'm under the dresser.
What are you doing in here thinking thinking about what thinking I'm going to stay here and make this my room? Now, oh, why I was always it was always supposed to be mine.
I asked Devin, if I could have it he's quiet for a minute.
Then he takes a deep breath when Devin was going to college.
He is gone I, hear the squishy breath sound of Devin's mattress squishing, but he's, not just gone to college he's gone forever.
I don't, tell Dad that I didn't ask Devin, if I could have his room when he was gone.
I asked him in a different way and Devin said, it was a weird way and I shouldn't say it like that and I asked why he said, people would get upset I, don't want dad to get upset.
So I don't say, what I really said can I have your room when you're dead I think maybe I understand what Devin meant because now I have a recess feeling in my stomach I slide out from my hidey hole and crawl past dodge shoes to my room, I get a clean piece of paper and make a sign.
It says, Devin's room and I, draw Devin's eyes in the top left corner in the top right corner.
I draw his mouth with his lips curled up to show he's happy, I draw his crooked nose in the bottom left corner.
His chest is in the bottom right corner.
It's still, not finish and I.
Guess it never will be.
FAQs
What happens in Chapter 17 18 To Kill a Mockingbird? ›
Mr Tate reveals that himself and Bob Ewell went back to the scene and found Mayella Ewell badly injured, lying on the floor and she confessed Tom Robinson had raped her.
What happened in Chapter 18 of To Kill a Mockingbird? ›There are two main events in Chapter 18. First, Mayella Ewell testifies. Second, Atticus Finch has Tom Robinson stand so that everyone can see his left arm. Tom's arm has been damaged in an accident and shows that he could not have struck Mayella on the right side of the face as she claims.
What is the main theme of Chapter 17 To Kill a Mockingbird? ›Themes. Some of the themes that were shown in this chapter were racism, growth/maturity, and courage. Racism was shown during the trial when Tom Robinson was supposedly falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell.
Why does Mayella cry in chapter 18? ›So in Chapter 18, Mayella Ewell is called to the stand. Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor, is only able to ask her a handful of questions before she bursts into tears because she's afraid of Atticus tricking her the way he tricked her dad.
What does Atticus do in Chapter 17? ›Summary: Chapter 17
Atticus cross-examines the witness, who admits that no doctor was summoned, and tells Atticus that Mayella's bruises were concentrated on the right side of her face. Tate leaves the stand, and Bob Ewell is called.
Next, it's Atticus's turn to question the witness. He asks (three times) if Mr. Tate called a doctor to tend to the Ewell girl's injuries, and (all three times) Tate says no. Then he asks Tate to describe those injuries, and he says she had bruises and a black eye.
What do we learn about the ewells in Chapter 17? ›Bob Ewell is called to the stand next. He is very poor and uneducated. He and his children live in a run down cabin behind the town garbage dump. Their yard is littered with trash and infested with rodents.
What is Mr Ewell's version of what happened in Chapter 17? ›Mr. Ewell gives his version: he came home to hear Mayella screaming inside the house, ran to the window and saw Tom Robinson raping her. At his last words the crowd explodes, and Judge Taylor has to bang his gavel for a full five minutes before they calm down.
What did Atticus do in Chapter 18? ›Atticus pleads with Mayella to admit that there was no rape, that her father beat her. She shouts at him and yells that the courtroom would have to be a bunch of cowards not to convict Tom Robinson; she then bursts into tears, refusing to answer any more questions.
What happens to tea cake in chapter 18? ›Seeing the ferocious dog, Tea Cake comes to Janie's rescue. Tea Cake kills the dog with his knife, but not before being bitten once on the cheekbone.
Who killed To Kill a Mockingbird? ›
The novel ends after Bob Ewell attacks Scout and Jem, and Boo Radley rescues them, killing Bob in the process.
Why did Atticus lose the case? ›In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch does not win the court case. Tom Robinson, an African-American man, is found guilty of raping a white woman, although Atticus clearly proved in the trial that Tom was innocent. The jury, which was composed of all white people, convicted him regardless of the evidence.
What symbol is in Chapter 17 of To Kill a Mockingbird? ›The geraniums that are described to be outside of the Ewell's house symbolizes that there is good in everyone. Mockingbirds symbolize the loss of innocence, the judge asks women and children to be warned, but it is not the topic of rape that sticks with Scout.
What happens in Chapter 17 to 21 of To Kill a Mockingbird? ›Summary of Chapters 17 to 21
As he cross-examines Mayella and Bob, his defense arguments pinpoint the physical disability of Robinson with the loss of a hand. As Mayella has accused Tom of beating and assaulting her, the facial injuries on her face indicate this action to be from someone who is left handed.
Answer and Explanation: Bob Ewell beat his daughter Mayella in To Kill a Mockingbird. Mayella said that her injuries were a result of her sexual assault that she falsely accused Tom Robinson of committing. However, it was Mayella who tried to kiss Tom and her father was angry that she was pursuing a married black man.
Did Mayella actually kiss Tom? ›Mayella had lied to hide the fact that she kissed Tom. We also see that she despises being called upon respectably (When Atticus addresses her as 'Miss' or 'Ma'am') because it's not what she is used to and thinks she's being made a mockery of.
Why did Mayella hate Atticus? ›Answer and Explanation:
The likely reason she is afraid of Atticus is that she knows he may make her look foolish and may expose the truth in the case. She is, of course, also afraid of her father, who knows the truth of the situation and is behind Mayella's accusing of Robinson.
Now, I have nothing but pity for Mayella Ewell, the victim of a horrendous crime but I do not condone her false accusations against Tom Robinson in an attempt to cover her guilt and sins. You see, Mayella has broken a strict time honored code of society- she tempted a young, strong black man.
Why does Atticus go to jail? ›Answer and Explanation: In Chapter 15 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus goes to the jail to sit guard outside the night before Tom Robinson's trial, in the hope of stopping a lynch mob coming for him.
Why does Atticus want Mr Ewell to write his name Chapter 17? ›Atticus has Bob Ewell write his name so the court can see. The jury sees that he is left-handed and a left-handed man would be more likely to leave bruises on the right side of a girl's face.
Who killed Mr Ewell according to Mr Tate? ›
As the men argue, Atticus realizes that Boo Radley killed Ewell, and it is Boo who Tate is trying to protect. They finally agree that Ewell did fall on his own knife, a decision Scout fully understands.
Who does Heck Tate think killed Mr Ewell? ›Heck Tate thinks … that Bob Ewell fell on his knife and killed himself. What really happened is … Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell in defense of Jem and Scout.
What injuries did Mayella have? ›Sheriff Heck Tate; he states that Mayella had a black eye on her right eye, that she had bruising all around her neck and on both arms, no one called a doctor.
What did Mr Ewell do to his daughter? ›It's clear that she was actually beaten by her father when he caught her forcibly touching Robinson, and was not raped at all—though it's heavily implied that Mr. Ewell has, in fact, sexually abused Mayella in the past.
How does Atticus prove Mayella is lying? ›Atticus, on the other hand, who is white, male, and of a higher class status than Mayella, can accuse her of lying when he suggests that it was really Mayella's father, not Tom, who beat her.
What chapter does Ewell get stabbed? ›While investigating, the sheriff, Mr. Heck Tate, found Bob Ewell stabbed to death with a kitchen knife under the tree where he attacked Jem and Scout. In Chapter 29, Mr.
What does Bob Ewell testify in Chapter 17? ›Mr. Ewell turned angrily to the judge and said he didn't see what his being lefthanded had to do with it, that he was a Christfearing man and Atticus Finch was taking advantage of him. Tricking lawyers like Atticus Finch took advantage of him all the time with their tricking ways.
Why was Mr Ewell fired? ›Mr. Ewell gets a job with the WPA, but gets fired for laziness—a feat Scout has never heard of before or since.
What did Mr Ewell do to Mayella? ›In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Bob Ewell is the main antagonist of the novel. Bob Ewell falsely accuses a black man, Tom Robinson, of raping his daughter, Mayella Violet Ewell. He then attacks the young children of Tom Robinson's defense attorney in an attempt to murder them.
How did Atticus lose his wife? ›Atticus' wife, Jean, died young from a heart attack, leaving Atticus to raise Jem and Jean Louise with the help of a cook named Calpurnia. During Jean Louise's childhood, Atticus defended a black man accused of rape. (In Go Set a Watchman, he won this trial, but in To Kill a Mockingbird, he lost.)
Who attacked Atticus kids? ›
In Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Bob Ewell, the father of accuser Mayella Ewell, attacks Scout and Jem, the children of Atticus Finch.
What did Atticus do after Tom died? ›After Tom Robinson was shot down in the prison yard, Atticus asked the cook, Calpurnia, to help him break the news to Tom's wife, Helen. No real show of the type of heroism you'd see from the traditional leading man. Atticus Finch was human; he simply chose to do the right thing.
Why was Tea Cake killed? ›He was her hero, but he is not treated with a hero's glorious death. Instead, he is reduced to insanity because of a rabies bite from a stray dog caught up in the hurricane. Because of this, Janie is forced to kill the man she loves to put him out of his rabies-induced misery.
Why is Tea Cake's death important? ›The moment of Tea Cake's death, though horrible for Janie to endure, reflects how much she has grown as a person and how secure she has become. Although Tea Cake means everything to her, she is able to kill him to save herself.
Who was flirting with Tea Cake? ›Summary: Chapter 15
After a while in the muck, Janie begins to grow jealous of Nunkie, a chunky girl who flirts with Tea Cake in the fields. As the season goes on, Nunkie grows bolder and bolder and is always falling over Tea Cake and playfully touching him.
Radley dies over the wintertime, and Scout and Jem can't help but theorize that Boo killed her. They are even somewhat disappointed when Atticus informs them that she died of natural causes.
Is Boo Radley autistic? ›Surprisingly, Boo's autism is his strength by the end of the novel, not only because he is highly-intelligent and hyperaware but because he impulsively saves Scout and Jem.
Why did Boo Radley kill Bob? ›Bob Ewell was murdered. Arthur “Boo” Radley was accused of stabbing Bob Ewell was a kitchen knife to protect the Finch children from Mr. Ewell's evil intentions.
What is Atticus famous quote? ›“Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
What does Jem finally reveal to Atticus? ›When Atticus later asks her about it, she has no idea who put it over her. Jem realizes that Boo Radley put it on her, and he reveals the whole story of the knothole, the presents, and the mended pants to Atticus.
What happens to Atticus at the end? ›
After the guilty verdict, Atticus leaves the courtroom alone, and the African-Americans in the balcony stand up to honor him. After the trial, Atticus is bitter, but he hopes to win the case on appeal.
Why is Boo Radley a mockingbird? ›Throughout the book, a number of characters (Jem, Tom Robinson, Dill, Boo Radley, Mr. Raymond) can be identified as mockingbirds—innocents who have been injured or destroyed through contact with evil.
What does Boo Radley symbolize? ›Symbolically, Boo represents both Scout's childish understanding of the lives of people around her, and also the genuine risks and dangers that face children as they grow up in the world. As a ghost-like figure, Boo also symbolizes aspects of the town's past, such as intolerance, inequality, and slavery.
How does Atticus prove that Tom is innocent? ›Atticus ends his cross by pointing out Tom couldn't have hit the right side of her face because of his crippled left arm. He pleads with Mayella, asking her to tell the truth: that Tom never raped her, and that it was her father who hit her.
What happens in Chapter 19 of To Kill a Mockingbird? ›Gilmer leads Tom to admit that he felt sorry for Mayella. They go through Mayella's testimony and Tom insists that Mayella is mistaken. He insists that he ran because he was scared, and now he's ended up in court for something he didn't do.
Why does Jem cry in Chapter 21? ›Jem is convinced that the jury will acquit Tom Robinson after the evidence Atticus presented. After the verdict, Jem leaves the courtroom stunned, angry, and crying.
How old is Mayella in chapter 18? ›Summary: Chapter 18
Mayella, who testifies next, is a reasonably clean—by the Ewells' standards—and obviously terrified nineteen-year-old girl.
Bob Ewell is called to the stand next. He is very poor and uneducated. He and his children live in a run down cabin behind the town garbage dump. Their yard is littered with trash and infested with rodents.
What happens in Chapter 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird? ›In Chapter 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird Scout and Dill meet Mr. Dolphus Raymond and find out that he only pretends to be intoxicated to give the white people in town a reason for why he would choose to live with the Black residents. Later, Atticus delivers his closing argument in the case of Tom Robinson.
Why did Dill cry in Chapter 19? ›While Tom Robinson is on the witness stand, Dill begins to cry, supposedly because he doesn't feel well. Once outside the courthouse, Dill indicates he was crying because he couldn't stand Mr. Gilmer, the prosecuting attorney, ''talking so hateful to Tom Robinson''.
What does Scout and Jem learn about Tom in Chapter 18? ›
Up in the balcony, Reverend Sykes tells Jem and Scout that Tom caught his hand in a cotton gin when he was a boy. Atticus asks how this man could have raped her, and she says she doesn't know how it happened but it did.
Who harmed Mayella? ›Tom Robinson beat and raped Mayella Ewell.
Who beat Mayella up? ›Bob Ewell beat his daughter Mayella in To Kill a Mockingbird. Mayella said that her injuries were a result of her sexual assault that she falsely accused Tom Robinson of committing. However, it was Mayella who tried to kiss Tom and her father was angry that she was pursuing a married black man.
Why did Mayella lied? ›Mayella Ewell lies on the witness stand because she is afraid of her father, Bob Ewell, and because she is humiliated by her own attraction to Tom Robinson. She tells the jury that Tom beat and raped her when, in fact, it was her father who beat her when he saw her hugging and kissing an African American.
Why does Mayella think Atticus is mocking her chapter 18? ›Answer and Explanation: In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella thinks Atticus is mocking her because of the way he addresses her in court while she is on the witness stand. When he addresses her in court, she says she will not answer his questions as long as he continues to mock her.
Why was Mayella scared of Atticus? ›The likely reason she is afraid of Atticus is that she knows he may make her look foolish and may expose the truth in the case. She is, of course, also afraid of her father, who knows the truth of the situation and is behind Mayella's accusing of Robinson.
Why is Scout nervous at the end of Chapter 17? ›Why is Scout nervous at the end of Chapter 17? Scout is nervous because she isn't sure her father's argument will be enough to prove Tom's innocence. She thinks that it could still be supposed that Tom hit Mayella with his own left hand.