TKAM REVISION NOTES
CHAPTER SUMMARIES
Ch What happens in What else happens? Key Quotes
this chapter
1 Dill arrives THE NARRATOR, Scout, reveals Jem’s injury (the broken “Jem threw open the gate, sped
arm) and recounts her family history, introducing their up the side of the house, slapped
ancestor Simon Finch and father Atticus Finch. Atticus is a it with his palm, and sped back to
lawyer in Maycomb and, after their mother passes, us”
Calpurnia helps raise Jem and Scout. The siblings befriend
Dill (who arrives only during summer) and he suggests that “Let’s try to make him come out,
they lure Boo Radley out of the Radley house. Dill convinces said Dill. I’d like to see what he
Jem to touch the Radley house. Scout thinks she saw the looks like”
shutter move, as if someone was peeking out of the window.
“Jem gave a reasonable
description of Boo…Six and a half
feet tall, judging from his tracks…
He dined on raw squirrels and
any cats he could catch.”
“Inside the house lived a
malevolent phantom”
“Stabbed in the leg with scissors”
2 Scout’s first day at SCOUT begins her first day at school, which she has been “Miss Caroline, he’s a
school eagerly awaiting for a long time. When she arrives, however, Cunningham”
Miss Caroline (her teacher) is awful with children. After
concluding that Atticus has been teaching Scout to read, she “You tell him [Atticus] I’ll take
is displeased and makes Scout feel guilty for being more over from here and try to undo
educated than her peers. At recess, Jem explains that Miss the damage”
Caroline is trying a new teaching method. Walter
Cunningham, Scout's classmate, reveals that he doesn't
have lunch and Miss Caroline offers to give him money,
, telling him he can repay her the next day. The Cunninghams
are a large and poor family, as Scout explains to Miss
Caroline, and Walter will never be able to repay Miss
Caroline. Miss Caroline fails to understand and grows
frustrated, ultimately slapping Scout's hand with a ruler.
3 Walter comes for JEM invites Walter for dinner (lunch). At the Finch house, “He ain’t comp’ny Cal, he’s just a
dinner. Atticus Walter and Atticus discuss farming conditions and Walter, to Cunningham”
persuades Scout Scout's horror, puts molasses all over her meat and “Don’t matter who they are,
to go back to vegetables. When Scout criticises this, Calpurnia orders anybody sets foot in this house’s
school. Scout to go to the kitchen, scolding and slapping her hand. yo’ comp’ny”
Calpurnia tells Scout to be a better hostess. At school, Miss
Caroline is terrified when a tiny bug crawls out of Burris “Until to climb into his skin and
Ewell (an even poorer and less respected family than the walk around in it”
Cunninghams). Burris is revealed to only go to the first day
of school to avoid trouble with the law. He then exits the
class with enough vicious remarks to make the teacher cry.
At night, Scout tells Atticus she doesn't want to go to school
anymore. They make a compromise that Scout will continue
her education and Atticus will continue to read to her.
4 Gifts start to AFTER SCHOOL ONE DAY, Scout finds two pieces of Finds ‘chewing gum” in the
appear in the tree. chewing gum in the knothole of one of the Radley's oak ‘knothole’ of the Radley oak tree
trees. She chews it and tells Jem, who freaks out and tells
her to spit it out. On the last day of school, the siblings find “It was a melancholy little drama
two old pennies hidden in the same knothole, and they woven from bits and scraps of
decide to keep them. Summer begins and Dill returns to gossip and neighbourhood
Maycomb. The three play with an old tire and, on Scout's legend”
turn, she ends up in front of the Radley's house. Jem and Dill
panic, however, this incident inspires a new game called “Sometimes you act so much like
'Boo Radley'. Overtime, the game becomes progressively a girl, it’s mortifyin’.”
more complicated until they create a Radley melodrama.
Atticus catches and questions them, where Jem lies and the
three wonder if they can play this game anymore.
,5 Children caught JEM AND DILL grow closer which makes Scout begin to “I thought I wanted to be a
with note to Boo feel left out of their friendship. As a result she starts lawyer, but I ain’t so sure now!”`
spending her time with Miss Maudie. Scout questions Miss
Maudie about Boo Radley where Miss Maudie reveals that
Boo Radley is still alive, her theory being Boo is the victim of
a harsh father (now deceased) and a “foot-washing” Baptist
who believed that most people are going to hell. It is also
revealed that Boo was always polite and friendly as a child,
and she says that most of the rumours about him are false.
Meanwhile, Jem and Dill plan to give a note to Boo, inviting
him out for ice cream. They try to stick the note in a window
of the Radley Place with a fishing pole but Atticus catches
than and orders them to stop tormenting Boo.
6 Jem loses pants in ON DILL’S LAST DAY IN MAYCOMB, Jem and Dill plan to
Radley yard sneak over to the Radley Place and peek in through a loose
shutter (Scout accompanies them). They creep around the
house, peering through various windows, when suddenly
they see a shadow of a man with a hat on and flee. They
hear a shotgun go off behind them and escape under the
fence by the schoolyard where Jem’s pants get caught on
the fence. The children return home (Jem without his pants)
and encounter a collection of neighbourhood adults. Miss
Maudie informs them that Nathan Radley shot at (what he
thought to be) a black man in his yard and is waiting outside
with his gun so he can shoot at the next sound he hears.
Atticus asks Jem where his pants are and Dill lies saying he
won Jem’s pants in a game of strip poker. Late that night,
Jem sneaks out to the Radley Place and finds his pants
neatly folded by the fence.
7 Mr Radley puts Jem tells Scout that he found his pants mysteriously “Shock of straight hair fell to his
cement in knot mended and hung out neatly over the fence. When returning eyebrows”... “I had never noticed i
hole home, the siblings find a ball of grey twine in the knothole. before” → shows Boo Radley’s
After leaving it for a few days only to see that it is still there, attentiveness and perceptiveness
they claim it as theirs. Scout is still unhappy with school but
Jem promises her that school gets better the farther along
one goes. Later on, they find two figures carved in soap to
resemble Scout and Jem in the knothole, followed by
chewing gum, a spelling bee medal, and an old pocket
watch. The day after, Jem and Scout find the knothole filled
, with cement. Jem asks Nathan Radley about the knothole
where Mr Radley replies that he filled the hole since the tree
was dying.
8 Miss Maudie’s Maycomb experiences a real winter with snowfall. Jem and “Someday, maybe, Scout can
house burns down Scout haul as much snow as possible from Miss Maudie’s thank him” - Atticus
yard to their own. They build a snowman by building a
small figure of dirt and covering it with snow. The snowman Boo is described as a “guardian
looks like Mr Avery, an unpleasant man that lives down the angel”
street. The likeness is so strong that Atticus demands they
disguise it. That night, Scout is woken by Atticus and is
instructed to head outside. They witness Miss Maudie’s
house on fire and the neighbours help her save her furniture,
and the firetruck arrives in time to stop the fire from
spreading to other houses. Miss Maudie’s house burns to the
ground and, in the confusion, someone drapes a blanket
over Scout. It is later revealed (by Jem) that it was Boo
Radley, Jem explains to Atticus about the knothole, the
presents and the mended pants. Atticus tells them to keep
to themselves. The next day, Miss Maudie is cheerful, telling
the children about her new plans to build a smaller house
and how she hated her old one. She says that she wishes
she had been there when Boo put the blanket on Scout to
catch him in the act.
9 Scout has fight. Scout starts a fight with classmate Cecil Jacobs after Cecil “My folks said your daddy’s a
Atticus tells Scout uses an offensive racial slur to declare Atticus defends black disgrace an’ that n**** oughta
to keep her fists people. Atticus tells scout that, although he cannot hope to hang from the water tank!” - Ceci
down. Uncle Jack win, he must argue to uphold his sense of Justice and Jacobs
arrives. self-respect. At Christmas, Uncle Jack comes to stay and is
unimpressed when Scout continues to curse in his presence. “It was the first time I’d ever
On Christmas day, the siblings go to Finch’s Landing to see walked away from a fight.”
Aunt Alexandra. Aunt Alexandra insists that Scout dress like
a lady instead of wearing pants. One night, Francis insults “Be a ray of sunshine in [her]
Dill and Atticus in front of Scout, who curses at him and father’s lonely life” → “Can be a
beats him up. Frances tells Alexandra and Uncle Jack that ray of sunshine in pants just as
Scout hit him, and Uncle Jack punishes Scout. Later on, in well”
Maycomb, Scout explains her side to Uncle Jack, who
becomes furious but doesn’t tell Atticus upon Scout’s “I was born good but had grown
request. Later, Scout overhears Atticus telling Jack that Tom progressively worse every year.”
CHAPTER SUMMARIES
Ch What happens in What else happens? Key Quotes
this chapter
1 Dill arrives THE NARRATOR, Scout, reveals Jem’s injury (the broken “Jem threw open the gate, sped
arm) and recounts her family history, introducing their up the side of the house, slapped
ancestor Simon Finch and father Atticus Finch. Atticus is a it with his palm, and sped back to
lawyer in Maycomb and, after their mother passes, us”
Calpurnia helps raise Jem and Scout. The siblings befriend
Dill (who arrives only during summer) and he suggests that “Let’s try to make him come out,
they lure Boo Radley out of the Radley house. Dill convinces said Dill. I’d like to see what he
Jem to touch the Radley house. Scout thinks she saw the looks like”
shutter move, as if someone was peeking out of the window.
“Jem gave a reasonable
description of Boo…Six and a half
feet tall, judging from his tracks…
He dined on raw squirrels and
any cats he could catch.”
“Inside the house lived a
malevolent phantom”
“Stabbed in the leg with scissors”
2 Scout’s first day at SCOUT begins her first day at school, which she has been “Miss Caroline, he’s a
school eagerly awaiting for a long time. When she arrives, however, Cunningham”
Miss Caroline (her teacher) is awful with children. After
concluding that Atticus has been teaching Scout to read, she “You tell him [Atticus] I’ll take
is displeased and makes Scout feel guilty for being more over from here and try to undo
educated than her peers. At recess, Jem explains that Miss the damage”
Caroline is trying a new teaching method. Walter
Cunningham, Scout's classmate, reveals that he doesn't
have lunch and Miss Caroline offers to give him money,
, telling him he can repay her the next day. The Cunninghams
are a large and poor family, as Scout explains to Miss
Caroline, and Walter will never be able to repay Miss
Caroline. Miss Caroline fails to understand and grows
frustrated, ultimately slapping Scout's hand with a ruler.
3 Walter comes for JEM invites Walter for dinner (lunch). At the Finch house, “He ain’t comp’ny Cal, he’s just a
dinner. Atticus Walter and Atticus discuss farming conditions and Walter, to Cunningham”
persuades Scout Scout's horror, puts molasses all over her meat and “Don’t matter who they are,
to go back to vegetables. When Scout criticises this, Calpurnia orders anybody sets foot in this house’s
school. Scout to go to the kitchen, scolding and slapping her hand. yo’ comp’ny”
Calpurnia tells Scout to be a better hostess. At school, Miss
Caroline is terrified when a tiny bug crawls out of Burris “Until to climb into his skin and
Ewell (an even poorer and less respected family than the walk around in it”
Cunninghams). Burris is revealed to only go to the first day
of school to avoid trouble with the law. He then exits the
class with enough vicious remarks to make the teacher cry.
At night, Scout tells Atticus she doesn't want to go to school
anymore. They make a compromise that Scout will continue
her education and Atticus will continue to read to her.
4 Gifts start to AFTER SCHOOL ONE DAY, Scout finds two pieces of Finds ‘chewing gum” in the
appear in the tree. chewing gum in the knothole of one of the Radley's oak ‘knothole’ of the Radley oak tree
trees. She chews it and tells Jem, who freaks out and tells
her to spit it out. On the last day of school, the siblings find “It was a melancholy little drama
two old pennies hidden in the same knothole, and they woven from bits and scraps of
decide to keep them. Summer begins and Dill returns to gossip and neighbourhood
Maycomb. The three play with an old tire and, on Scout's legend”
turn, she ends up in front of the Radley's house. Jem and Dill
panic, however, this incident inspires a new game called “Sometimes you act so much like
'Boo Radley'. Overtime, the game becomes progressively a girl, it’s mortifyin’.”
more complicated until they create a Radley melodrama.
Atticus catches and questions them, where Jem lies and the
three wonder if they can play this game anymore.
,5 Children caught JEM AND DILL grow closer which makes Scout begin to “I thought I wanted to be a
with note to Boo feel left out of their friendship. As a result she starts lawyer, but I ain’t so sure now!”`
spending her time with Miss Maudie. Scout questions Miss
Maudie about Boo Radley where Miss Maudie reveals that
Boo Radley is still alive, her theory being Boo is the victim of
a harsh father (now deceased) and a “foot-washing” Baptist
who believed that most people are going to hell. It is also
revealed that Boo was always polite and friendly as a child,
and she says that most of the rumours about him are false.
Meanwhile, Jem and Dill plan to give a note to Boo, inviting
him out for ice cream. They try to stick the note in a window
of the Radley Place with a fishing pole but Atticus catches
than and orders them to stop tormenting Boo.
6 Jem loses pants in ON DILL’S LAST DAY IN MAYCOMB, Jem and Dill plan to
Radley yard sneak over to the Radley Place and peek in through a loose
shutter (Scout accompanies them). They creep around the
house, peering through various windows, when suddenly
they see a shadow of a man with a hat on and flee. They
hear a shotgun go off behind them and escape under the
fence by the schoolyard where Jem’s pants get caught on
the fence. The children return home (Jem without his pants)
and encounter a collection of neighbourhood adults. Miss
Maudie informs them that Nathan Radley shot at (what he
thought to be) a black man in his yard and is waiting outside
with his gun so he can shoot at the next sound he hears.
Atticus asks Jem where his pants are and Dill lies saying he
won Jem’s pants in a game of strip poker. Late that night,
Jem sneaks out to the Radley Place and finds his pants
neatly folded by the fence.
7 Mr Radley puts Jem tells Scout that he found his pants mysteriously “Shock of straight hair fell to his
cement in knot mended and hung out neatly over the fence. When returning eyebrows”... “I had never noticed i
hole home, the siblings find a ball of grey twine in the knothole. before” → shows Boo Radley’s
After leaving it for a few days only to see that it is still there, attentiveness and perceptiveness
they claim it as theirs. Scout is still unhappy with school but
Jem promises her that school gets better the farther along
one goes. Later on, they find two figures carved in soap to
resemble Scout and Jem in the knothole, followed by
chewing gum, a spelling bee medal, and an old pocket
watch. The day after, Jem and Scout find the knothole filled
, with cement. Jem asks Nathan Radley about the knothole
where Mr Radley replies that he filled the hole since the tree
was dying.
8 Miss Maudie’s Maycomb experiences a real winter with snowfall. Jem and “Someday, maybe, Scout can
house burns down Scout haul as much snow as possible from Miss Maudie’s thank him” - Atticus
yard to their own. They build a snowman by building a
small figure of dirt and covering it with snow. The snowman Boo is described as a “guardian
looks like Mr Avery, an unpleasant man that lives down the angel”
street. The likeness is so strong that Atticus demands they
disguise it. That night, Scout is woken by Atticus and is
instructed to head outside. They witness Miss Maudie’s
house on fire and the neighbours help her save her furniture,
and the firetruck arrives in time to stop the fire from
spreading to other houses. Miss Maudie’s house burns to the
ground and, in the confusion, someone drapes a blanket
over Scout. It is later revealed (by Jem) that it was Boo
Radley, Jem explains to Atticus about the knothole, the
presents and the mended pants. Atticus tells them to keep
to themselves. The next day, Miss Maudie is cheerful, telling
the children about her new plans to build a smaller house
and how she hated her old one. She says that she wishes
she had been there when Boo put the blanket on Scout to
catch him in the act.
9 Scout has fight. Scout starts a fight with classmate Cecil Jacobs after Cecil “My folks said your daddy’s a
Atticus tells Scout uses an offensive racial slur to declare Atticus defends black disgrace an’ that n**** oughta
to keep her fists people. Atticus tells scout that, although he cannot hope to hang from the water tank!” - Ceci
down. Uncle Jack win, he must argue to uphold his sense of Justice and Jacobs
arrives. self-respect. At Christmas, Uncle Jack comes to stay and is
unimpressed when Scout continues to curse in his presence. “It was the first time I’d ever
On Christmas day, the siblings go to Finch’s Landing to see walked away from a fight.”
Aunt Alexandra. Aunt Alexandra insists that Scout dress like
a lady instead of wearing pants. One night, Francis insults “Be a ray of sunshine in [her]
Dill and Atticus in front of Scout, who curses at him and father’s lonely life” → “Can be a
beats him up. Frances tells Alexandra and Uncle Jack that ray of sunshine in pants just as
Scout hit him, and Uncle Jack punishes Scout. Later on, in well”
Maycomb, Scout explains her side to Uncle Jack, who
becomes furious but doesn’t tell Atticus upon Scout’s “I was born good but had grown
request. Later, Scout overhears Atticus telling Jack that Tom progressively worse every year.”
