Chapter 11 - Mrs Dubose

"Her face was the colour of a dirty pillowcase"

                                                                  "the corners of her mouth glistened with wet, 

"Her hands were knobbly"                                                    which inched like a glacier down 

                                                          the deep groves enclosing her chin"

"the cuticles were grown up over her fingernails"                         

                                                            "Her bottom plate was not in, and her upper lip pertruded"

"Old-age liver spots dotted her cheeks"

"her pale eyes had black pinpoint pupils"

What methods does Lee use to present Scout's feelings about Aunt Alexandra and Francis?

It is clear right from the start of the passage that Scout does not like Francis. She described him as "the most boring child" she had ever met, and when Francis about what he received for Christmas, we almost see a hint of sarcasm as she replies with "that's nice" followed by "she lied".

Lee often makes Scout out like quite a mischievous, disobedient little girl in the way that she describes and looks upon other people like Francis, however it almost seems like she is a bit scared of Aunt Alexandra, as Aunt Alexandra greatly disapproves of Scout in "breeches" instead of a dress.

Despite this look of fear that Scout tries to hide, Lee still puts Scout across as being quite sarcastic towards Aunt Alexandra. She describes "Aunt Alexandra's vision" of Scout as "playing with small stoves, tea-sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me". Phrasing it in this rather arrogant and scornful tone of voice, Lee presents Scout as seeing Aunt Alexandra as quite a ridiculous character who doesn't know what she is talking about, because she has never a girl herself before.

Finally, at the dinner table, it is clear again that Scout doesn't appreciate where she stands with Aunt Alexandra by the fact that Scout still sat at the little dinner table, "long after Jem and Francis graduated to the big table". Once again Lee makes Scout use this to Aunt Alexandra's disadvantage by Scout claiming that "Aunty had continued to isolate me". The use of the word 'isolate' in this sentence suggests that Scout and Aunt Alexandra didn't get on, because Aunt Alexandra doesn't see Scout as the sophisticated little girl that she is portrayed as through the beginning of the book, and therefore Scout's disobedience shows that Scout is trying to prove her wrong.

Chapter 5

During Chapter 5, we realise that Jem and Dill friendship began to grow a lot more, and eventually Scout began to get left out of their games, and as a result, she began to spend a lot more time with Miss Maudie Atkinson, one of the Scout's neighbours.

Miss Maudie is a widow with a passion for gardening and cake making. Miss Maudie starts talking to Scout about Boo Radley, and Miss Maudie believes that Boo is the victim of a very harsh father, and says that Boo was a very nice, polite and friendly as a child. This makes the reader start to think that Boo Radley isn't evil after all, and that it is maybe Boo's father, that has influenced him or make Boo look worse than he really is.

Finally in the chapter, Dill and Jem plan to give Boo Radley a note to get him to come out of his house, but as the boys try to put it through Boo's window, Atticus catches them and their plan fails.

Chapter 4

In Chapter 4, the rest of the school year is a long one for Scout, as she doesn't enjoy it very much at all, and would just orefer to play out in their backyard.

After school, one day, she passes the Radley house on her way home and sees some tin foil stuck in a tree above her. Inside the tin foil was some chewing gum which she took, however when Jem finds out, he gets cross because she shouldn't be eating anything close to the Radley House, as he belives it will kill her.

On the last day of school, the two children look in the tree on their way home, and find two 'indian-heads', however this time, they keep them.

During the summer, Dill returns to Maycomb, and the three children play a new game in the backyard this summer, Boo Radley. However, Atticus soon finds out what they are up to and asks if it has anythin gto do with the Radleys.

Chapter 3

In Chapter 3, we return back at school and we meet our next character, Burris Ewell.

Miss Caroline panics when a 'cootie' crawls out of Burris Ewell's hair, and she immediately orders Burris to go home and wash, and then not come back until tomorrow. In Maycomb, the Ewell's are considered even poorer and less respectable than the Cunningham's.

Later on in the novel, we learn that Burris in fact, only comes into school for the first day at the start of every school year in order to avoid trouble with the law.

When Scout arrives back at home, she explains to Atticus about how she didn't like Miss Caroline because she told Scout not to read at home anymore, and Scout asks if she can stop going to school, and be home-schooled by her father instead. Atticus then replies that it is the law for her to go to school, and they continue reading to each other with Miss Caroline knowing.

Chapter 2

Duing Chapter 2, Dill has to leave Maycomb as September arrives and he has to return back to Meridian.

The main plot in this chapter, is Scout's frist day at school, and we learn that Scout is very excited about going to school and meeting her new teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher. However, when Scout arrives at school, she sees that MIss Caroline doesn't expect much of th first grade, and Scout gets in trouble for reading too many books at home, and knowing the alphabet. Miss Carolin makes Scout feel very guilty for being educated at this age.

Next we meet Walter Cunningham, a boy in Scout's year, and it is an ancient tale of Maycomb that the Cunningham's are a large family and are so poor, they can never afford to pay anyone back. For this reason, Walter comes home for lunch with Scout, before they go back to school.

Chapter 1

At the start of the novel we meet our first character, Jean Louise, or Scout, which she is often referred to throughout the novel. We learn that it is Scout that is the narrator of the novel. At the beginning of the novel, Scout is explaining to us the circumstances under which her brother, Jem, broke his arm many years ago, and begins by recalling her family history in the town of Maycomb County, where the story is set.

The first of Scout's ancestors that we meet on the first chapter is Simon Finch, who moved to America and ran a farm called Finch's Landing, however Atticus Finch, Scout's father, moved away from Finch's landing to live in Maycomb County.

Despite being set in the time of the Great Depression in America, we learn that Atticus earned a good life becoming a lawyer, and he supported his children while living with Scout and Jem on the main residential street in Maycomb. They have a cook, who is a black lady called Calpurnia, who lives with them in the house as Scout's mother died when she was 2.

We are then introduced to Dill, or Charles Baker Harris, who stays next door to Jem and Scout in the summer, and they become good friends as the novel progresses.

Finally, we are introduced to the Boo Radley household, which is on the corner of the main street, and the Arthur 'Boo' Radley, is portrayed as quite a mysterious, evil character at the beginning of the novel, who has never made an appearance in Maycomb, becuase he always stays locked up inside.