In our double period we talked about plot events for Chapter 3.
We then had each group make 3 questions based on chapter 3
and submit the questions to be used in the trivia game.
HOMEWORK:
-Please read chapter 4 by Thursday.
-Complete chapetr 3 questions.
-Finish Vocab. sheets.
UP COMING:
-Chapters 1-3 Quiz and Vocabulary Tuesday, May 1st.
Here is a summary of Chapter 3:
Jem invites Walter Cunningham over for lunch when he finds out that the boy doesn't have any food. Walter hesitates but then takes Jem up on the friendly offer. At the Finch house, Atticus and Walter discuss farming, and Scout is overwhelmed by their adult speech. Walter asks for some molasses and proceeds to pour it all over his meat and vegetables. Scout rudely asks him what he's doing and Calpurnia gives her a lecture in the kitchen about how to treat guests - even if they're from a family like the Cunninghams.
Back at school, there's a big scene when Miss Caroline screams upon seeing a louse ("cootie") crawl off of the head of one of the boys in the class. This boy, Burris Ewell, comes from a family so poor that Atticus says they "live like animals." Their children come to school on the first day of the year and then are never seen again. The children inform their teacher of this, explaining that "He's one of the Ewells." Miss Caroline wants Burris to go home and take a bath, but before he leaves the room for the rest of the year, he yells crude insults at her and makes her cry. The children comfort her and she reads them a story.
Scout feels discouraged returning home from school. After dinner she tells Atticus she doesn't want to go back. Atticus asks her to understand the situation from Miss Caroline's point of view - Miss Caroline can't be expected to know what to do with her students when she doesn't know anything about them yet. Scout wants to be like Burris Ewell and not have to go to school at all. As Atticus explains, the town authorities bend the law for the Ewells because they'll never change their ways - for instance, Mr. Ewell can hunt out of season because everyone knows he spends his relief checks on whiskey and his children won't eat if he doesn't hunt. Atticus teaches Scout about compromise: if she goes to school, Atticus will let her keep reading with him at home. Scout agrees and Atticus reads to her and Jem from the papers.
Analysis:
Atticus's patient teaching gives Scout a lesson that he says will help her "get along better with all kinds of folk": she has to remember to judge people on their intentions rather than their actions, and put herself into the other person's shoes in order to understand them best. The chapter establishes that Atticus can relate to all kinds of people, including poor farm children. The last sentence of the chapter, "Atticus was right," applies not only to his prediction that Jem will come down from his tree house if left alone, but also to most issues of character judgment. Atticus’s opinions can usually be trusted, and he is convinced of the importance of dealing fairly and reasonably with all people, no matter what the circumstances.
Atticus's patient teaching gives Scout a lesson that he says will help her "get along better with all kinds of folk": she has to remember to judge people on their intentions rather than their actions, and put herself into the other person's shoes in order to understand them best. The chapter establishes that Atticus can relate to all kinds of people, including poor farm children. The last sentence of the chapter, "Atticus was right," applies not only to his prediction that Jem will come down from his tree house if left alone, but also to most issues of character judgment. Atticus’s opinions can usually be trusted, and he is convinced of the importance of dealing fairly and reasonably with all people, no matter what the circumstances.
The chapter introduces the Ewell family, who will figure heavily into the latter part of the book. Burris Ewell and his family manage to live outside the local and national laws because they are so poor and ignorant, belonging to the lowest circle of white Maycomb society. The Ewell children only need to come to school for the first day, and then the town will overlook the fact that they are absent, even though schooling is mandatory for all children. Likewise, Mr. Ewell is allowed to hunt out of season because he is known to be an alcoholic who spends his relief money on whiskey - if he can't hunt, his children may not eat. Here we see how the law, which is meant to protect people, can sometimes be harmful if followed too absolutely. Sometimes, it is in everyone's best interests to bend the law in special cases. The town’s opinion is that no law will ever force the Ewells to change, because they are set in their "ways". Rather, the law must change to accommodate them and protect the children, who should not have to suffer needlessly.
Scout also learns that the reason Walter Cunningham doesn't pass first grade is because he has to leave school in the spring to help around the farm. The Cunninghams are not all necessarily illiterate and ignorant because of a lack of intelligence, but because they are subject to a system which subverts their chances of receiving a good education. The Cunninghams must keep the farm running in order to survive, and because the school system does not make any accommodations for farm children, there is a self-perpetuating societal cycle for farm families to remain uneducated and ignorant.
