Literature Analysis Essay

-Sample Lit Analysis


TKAM Review Sheet:


TKAM Quiz Questions


Reading Quiz ch. 1-2

Reading Quiz ch. 3-5

Reading Quiz ch. 6-8

Reading Quiz ch. 9-10

Reading Quiz ch. 11-14

Reading Quiz ch. 15-17

Reading Quiz ch. 21-26

Reading Quiz ch. 27-31

TKAM Summary


Chapter 1
1933 Early Summer
-We find out that Jem breaks his arm when he was nearly 13; we learn that story will be flashback
-Narrator is Scout (Jean Louise Finch)
-We learn about Maycomb- it’s a small, sleepy Southern town
-Scout (5)and Jem (9) meet Dill (6), who is staying with his Aunt Rachel
-Dill dares Jem to go to Boo Radley’s house and to touch it
-Jem touches the Radley house

Chapter 2
1933 beginning of school
  • First day of school for Jem and Scout
  • Ms. Caroline tells Scout that he father needs to stop teaching her things
  • At recess time Scout tells Jem about what happened
  • Ms. Caroline offers Walter a quarter but he cant except it
  • Ms. Caroline hits Scout because she gets frustrated because she doesn’t understand why Walter can just pay her back

Chapter 3
1933 early fall
  • Scout beats up Walter because he gets her in trouble
  • Jem helps Walter out
  • Jem invites him to dinner
  • Walter pours molasses all over his dinner
  • Scout learns to not judge people till you walk around in there skin
  • At school a bug comes out of Burris’s hair
  • Burris is rude to Ms. Caroline and she cries
  • Everyone consoles her and asks her to read

Chapter 4
1934 early summer
  • School was ending, and Scout thought it was pointless year.
  • Scout finds gum in the knothole of the tree in the Radley yard. Jem made Scout spit the gum out.
  • Scout and Jem are walking home from school and find Indian Heads in the knothole.
  • Dill comes back and they have skits about the Radleys.
  • Scout gets rolled in a tire and hits the Radley house, and hears a laugh coming from the house.

Chapter 5
1934 summer
  • Dill told Scout he wants to marry her. But then he started neglecting her.
  • Ms. Maudie tells Scout about Boo, and that he was nice as a boy.
  • The Radleys were strict Baptists.
  • They plan how to give Boo a note.
  • They attempted to get the note in the window, but Atticus came.

Chapters-6
1934 late summer
-Jem, Sout, and Dill ask to go sit by Ms. Rachel’s fish pool.
-Jem and Dill tell Scout about their other plans.
-They tell Scout that they wanted to go to Boo Radley’s house.
-Scout joins Jem and Dill and they go into Boo Radley’s yard.
-While they were in the yard they heard/saw someone in the house.
-They quickly got out of the yard, but Jem lost his pants.
-Mr. Nathan saw a black person in his yard and tried to shoot him.
-When Jem goes back at 2 A.M. to get his pants, they are sewn up and folded.


Chapter 7
1934 early fall
-Jem was being quiet and was acting strange
-Jem tells Scout that he found his pants waiting for him.
-They were finding presents in the tree hole.
-Scout didn’t like 2nd grade.
-there aren’t really any seasons
-They try to figure out who would be putting these things in the hole.
-Jem and Scout try to write a letter to the person who put the gifts there.
-When they go to put the letter in the hole, Mr. Nathan Radley was filling it with cement.
-Jem and Scout ask Mr. Nathan why he filled the hole.
-He told them he did it because the tree was dying.
-they ask Atticus if that is what people do when trees are dying
-Jem stays outside leaning on the pillar
-When Scout goes inside she sees that Atticus has been crying.

Chapter 8
1994 Mid Winter
  • Maycomb has a real winter
  • The kids make a snowman
  • Atticus wakes up Scout and Jem
  • Ms. Maudie’s house caught on fire
  • Boo put a blanket on Scout

Chapter 9
1995 Mid Summer
  • Scout brings up the trial
  • Aunt Alexandria and Uncle Jimmy come to visit
  • Her cousin teases her so she punches him
  • Uncle Jack whips her, before finding out the whole story
  • Scout and Uncle Jack forgive each other and Jack talks to Atticus


Chapter 10
Winter of 1935
  • Jem and Scout thought Atticus was old and boring
  • Atticus tells Scout that it is a sin to kill a Mockingbird
  • They see a dog that is acting funny and find out it has mad dog disease (rabies)
  • Cal calls all the neighbors and Atticus
  • Atticus shoots the dog above the eye


Chapter 11
Spring of 1935
  • Get to know a little about Mrs. Dubose 9like how she is an old, grumpy, lady)
  • Day after Jem’s twelfth birthday, Jem was going to town to buy scout a baton and him a miniature steam engine
  • Jem took scouts baton and tears up Mrs. Dubose’s flowers. (camellias)
  • Had to go apologize
  • As his punishment he has to read to Mrs. Dubose for a month, they go and read to her

Chapters 12-14 setting is summer of 1935
Chapter 12
  • Jem is growing up, he becomes more mature
  • Dill doesn’t come to Maycomb because he has a new father
  • Atticus has to go to the state capital everyday for two weeks
  • Calpurnia takes the kids the Church, first purchase
  • Scout learns that Tom Robinson was accused by Bob Ewell
  • When they get home aunt Alexandra is waiting for them

Chapter 13
  • Aunt Alexandra explains that she is there for feminine influence
  • Alexandra is extremely proud of the finches
  • Jem and Scout lack the pride that Aunt Alexandra assumes they have
  • She orders Atticus to lecture them on there ancestry
  • He try’s but only makes Scout cry

Chapter 14
  • Because of the trial Scout and Jem are being bullied
  • Scout asks Atticus what rape is
  • The topic of going to the first purchase church comes up
  • Alexandra says they cant go back and that Calpurnia should be fired but Atticus says no
  • Scout and Jem get into a fight so Atticus sends them to bed
  • They discover Dill has run away from home and is hiding under there bed
  • Jem tells Atticus about Dill and they get him some food
  • They tell Miss Rachel about him and he stays with them

Chapter 15
Summer 1935
- Dill comes and gets to stay with the Finch’s. Tom Robinson trail is coming up.
- Jem and Scout find Atticus outside the Maycomb jail. He is asked to leave the jail, but refuses and asks the men to leave.
- Scout runs up to Atticus and he asks them to leave. Jem refuses to go home.
- All of the men leave after, Scout comes in and tries to talk to Mr. Cunningham.
- They walk home with Atticus and although Scout thinks that Jem is in trouble, Atticus is actually proud of him.

Chapter 16
Summer 1935
- Tom Robinson’s trial has come. Jem, Scout, and Dill all go to see the trail at the courthouse.
- They go to the upstairs of the courthouse and sit by Reverent Sykes.
- Everyone from Maycomb county is coming to see the trail.
- Judge Taylor is the judge of the trail.
-Mr. Dolphus Raymond has a bag of coke in a brown paper bag.

Chapter 17
late fall 1935
- Mr. Gilmore questions Mr. Tate. Tate is testifying against Tom Robinson.
- Atticus then questions Mr. Tate about how bad Maybella was beat up.
- After Mr. Tate is done being questioned, Mr. Ewall is called to the stand.
- Atticus questions Mr. Ewall on how bad Maybella was beat up and why they didn’t call doctor.
- We learn that Mr. Ewall writes with his left hand, and Maybella was hit in the right eye.


Chapters 18-20
Setting: Late Fall in 1935

Chapters 18 through 20 are about the trial. In chapter 18 Mayella Ewell testifies that Tom Robinson took advantage of her and beat her up, but Atticus tried to prove that all the witnesses testimonies didn’t really match and that they weren’t sure of what really happened.

In chapter 19 the chapter talks about Atticus put Tom Robinson on the stand to share his side of the story. Tom explained how he’d helped Mayella before and saw her everyday, but the day of the incident he was telling the court how something was weird in the Ewells’ house because he was called in to do work, but there was nothing for him to do. Then he told everyone how Mayella mad moves towards him and was caught by Mr. Ewell causing him to run away in fear. Dill had to be taken out of the courtroom because he was crying saying that it wasn’t right how they were treating Tom on the stand and scout was trying to explain that that was the prosecutors’ job.

Chapter 20 Mr. Raymond was outside with scout and dill and telling them why he lived his life the way he, Scout not really able to understand told him that was just plain wrong and he should stop. When the jury came back with the verdict tom Robinson was found guilty. All the white were happy that justice had been served, but Jem, Scout, Dill and the African Americans thought otherwise. Atticus told Tom that he would do all he could to get an appeal and set him free.

Chapters 21-23
Setting 1935
21. Cal go to courthouse to give Atticus note that the children were missing.
Tom is found guilty
African Americans stand up while Atticus passes
Kids are at courthouse
Children sit with the African Americans

22. Jem Cries because of injustice verdict
Blacks give avalanche of food to the Finch Family
Miss Stephanie gossips about the trial
Bob Ewell spits on Atticus
Jem complains that his perception of Maycomb has been ruined

23. Bobs threats are worrisome to everyone except Atticus
Jem and Atticus discuss the justice of executing men for rape
Scout says that she wants to invite young Walter Cunningham to dinner
Jen and Scout discuss the class system

Chapter 24
Summer of 1935
. Scout wants to help with Aunt Alexandria’s group
. Scout talks to the ladies in the group
. The group talks Helen Robinson
. Aticus comes home
. Calpurnia and Atticus go to tell Helen Tom had been Shot 17 times

Chapter 25
Summer of 1935
. A bug enters Scouts area and she wants to kill it
. Jem tells her not to because it doesn’t bother her
. Jem teaches Dill to swim
. She is reading the Maycomb Tribune

Chapter 26
Fall of 1935
. School Started
. Jem went out for football but was too slim
. Talk about Adolf Hitler in school
. Scout asked Jem how could people hate Hitler but do the same thing to people in their town
.Jem grabbed Scout by the collar and told her to never talk about that again

Chapter 27
Fall of 1935
. Scout talks about weird things that are happening
. Halloween came around
. Scout was asked to be in the pageant
. She was to dress up as a ham
. Jem said he wouldn’t take scout

Chapter 28
October, 1935
  • Jem and Scout walk to a pageant.
  • They talk about things they were scared about when they were young.
  • Cecil Jacobs scares Jem and Scout by jumping out of a tree.
  • Jem gives Scout 30 cents from Atticus to play games.
  • Scout takes her costume backstage.
  • Scout and Cecil spend their money on candy and games
  • They went backstage and got ready. She dresses as a ham
  • Scout misses her cue at the pageant, and comes on late.
  • Scout forgets her shoes and they keep going
  • They think Cecil is trying to scare them.\
  • Jem fights bob Ewell.
  • Scout sees someone carry him.

Chapter 29
October, 1935
  • Everyone in the house see if Jem is okay.
  • Scout tells what happens.
  • They find out that Boo Radley saves them.
  • Scout talks to Boo Radley.
  • Mr. Tate comes.

Chapter 30
October, 1935
  • The doctor comes to look at Jem.
  • Atticus and Heck Tate talk.
  • Tate tells Atticus that Mr. Ewell fell on his knife.
  • He says it is really Boo who stabbed Mr. Ewell but doesn’t want people to know.
  • Atticus thanks Arthur for saving his kids.

Chapter 31
October 1935
Atticus Reads grey ghost
talks about Boo Radley
Flashback on how boo saw the world
Go over what he gave them
Atticus stay in jems room all night