TKaM and Relative Clauses 4

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

English Literature & Grammar

Road map

• To Kill a Mockingbird, chapters 9 and 10
• Short Break
• Grammar - Relative Clauses
• Exercises on Learnbeat

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

inloggen.learnbeat.nl

Chapter 9

It's Christmas at Finch's landing, the old family home, and we first meet the rest of the Finch family, a.o. uncle Jack, aunt Alexandra and her grandson, the obnoxious Francis. When Francis tells Scout that his gran thinks Atticus' defence of Tom Robinson will ultimately ruin the family, Scout attacks him. This gets her into trouble with uncle Jack. 

Chapter 9-1

’Do all lawyers defend negroes, Atticus?’ ‘Of course they do Scout’ (p. 81)

Are we going to win? - No honey (p. 81)

Atticus feels it is his moral duty/obligation to defend Tom Robinson, Cal speaks well of the family : they’re clean-living folks (p. 81). He would not be able to look himself or his children in the eye if he had turned down the case.

There is a lot of bad blood in the community bc. Atticus will be Tom Robinson’s lawyer. He supposedly raped a whtie woman, which at that time was a major offence esp. bc of the difference in skin colour.

Chapter 9-2

Mixed feelings: both good and bad feelings. The good side was the tree and uncle Jack who would come to stay with them for a week (p. 82,83). The flipside of the coin showed aunt Alexandra and Francis who would also be part of the Christmas celebrations. They went to Finch’s landing every year at Christmas. This was the Finch’s family home. Scout compares aunt Alexandra to a mountain: she was cold and she was there (p. 83). Uncle Jack, on the other hand, is the cool uncle everyone would want to have.. He is a doctor, but not a terrifying one (p. 84).

Chapter 9-3

Scout’s growing out of her pants means that uncle Jack thinks she is growing into a woman or a lady, she will need to start wearing nice dresses and such. Scout has been behaving rather badly (cussing and fighting and whatnot) and that is not deemed to be very lady-like.

Chapter 9-4

Francis: 8 years old: the most boring child Scout’s ever met (p.87). 

Aunt Alexandra: wants Scout to behave more in a lady-like manner. She is also very hoity-toity: does not want Scout to associate with Dill (who, apparently gets passed around the family because he has no real home) and she detests the fact that Atticus is defending Tom Robinson (‘I guess it ain’ t your fault that Atticus is a nigger lover … but I’m here to tell you that it certainly mortifies the rest of the family’ p.88).

Chapter 9-5

Uncle Jack keeps his promise to Scout: he does not tell Atticus the real reason she attacked Francis.

Atticus sees she does her best to mind him

Atticus and Jack discuss the Tom Robinson case

Atticus sees all (he knows she’s listening in and sends her to bed at the end of the chapter).

Chapter 9-6

'But I never figured out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not until many years later that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he said' (p. 94).

What does this say about Atticus? Why is this relevant?

Chapter 10

Jem and Scout think their father is somewhat old and past his prime. In this chapter, Atticus proves them wrong. It turns out that he perfectly knows how to handle a gun and that he is an excellent shot when he takes down the rabid dog Tim Johnson. 

Chapter 10-1

Atticus is feeble because he is nearly 50. This is a child’s point of view. In Scout's eyes someone of nearly fifty would be old and has one foot in the grave. Jem cannot tackle him when playing football. He also wears glasses. He neither went hunting, played poker, drank or smoked as all the other fathers seemed to do. He simply sat in the living room and read. She changes her mind about the feebleness after what happens in chapter 10.

Chapter 10-2

'I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.

"Your father's right," she said. "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 corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird' (p. 96). 

Song of a mockingbird

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNNX3f3_svo

Chapter 10-3

Tim Johnson - a mad dog. Heck Tate: he can’t shoot that well and it is a one - shot job. This means that the dog has to be taken out in in one shot, otherwise there is the danger that he will go into the Radley home (p. 101). Atticus on the other hand is a very good shot.

Chapter 10-4

p. 103. ‘Don’t you know your daddy’s….’ - the best shot in the county? 

His nickname used to be ‘Ol’ One Shot and he was the ‘deadest shot in Maycomb county in his time’ (p. 103, 104). Atticus may have wanted to prevent it because he is a modest man. Additionally, he does not like shooting anymore, so it may also be the case that he does not want to have anything to do with shooting rifles (he wouldn’t shoot 'til he had to and he had to today ‘p. 104.)

Chapter 10-5

Jean Louise: wants to tell everyone in school, probably because she is extremely proud of her dad. In addition, her showing off her dad as some sort of hero might also improve his standing with others who are indignant that Atticus is representing Tom Robinson.

Jem: ‘don’t say anything about it ‘if he was proud of it, he’d have told us’ (p. 104) Jem thinks Atticus’ not bragging is a sign of him being a gentleman.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Chapter 17 to 20: do the assignments on Learnbeat

These chapters deal with Tom Robinson's trial

To Kill a Mockingbird Studyguide

https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/to-kill-a-mockingbird

Road map

• Check exercises G on Learnbeat
• Quick Quiz

inloggen.learnbeat.nl

Relative clauses describe or give extra information about something.

1. true
2. false

That's the house .... I was born .

1. that
2. who
3. where
4. which

My Auntie Ella,
... is a journalist, is coming to visit next week.

1. that
2. who
3. whom
4. which

We use relative pronouns like 'which', 'that', 'who' and 'where' at the beginning of relative clauses.

1. true
2. false

The early 1960s, ....
the Beatles first started, was a very exciting time in popular culture.

1. that
2. what
3. when
4. which

The information in relative clauses is always essential for understanding the sentence.

1. true
2. false

My essay on Shakespeare, ......
I found quite difficult, got a really good mark in the end.

1. that
2. what
3. who
4. which

The punctuation is different for restrictive and non-restrictive clauses.

1. true
2. false

That's the girl .......
brother is in your class.

1. whose
2. who
3. which
4. whom

The snake
.... was in the garden last week belongs to our next-door neighbour.

1. who
2. which
3. that
4. what

Looking ahead

7/12: Study keywords texts 1 &  2. In class: Alquin text 3: Me and my ‘she shed’

9/12: To Kill a Mockingbird. Finish reading chapters 17 to 20 and do their assignments. 

10/12: Alquin text 3: Me and my ‘she shed’, GRO: recap

14/12:Test Alquin keywords texts 1, 2, 3 & GRO Chapter 6