Session 2 - Discussion Director

Chapter 3

1)Do you think it was really necessary for CALPURNIA to smack Scout when she was being a bad hostess to Walter, or do you think her father, Atticus should have done it?

In my opinion, I think Scout’s father, Atticus should’ve pulled Scout into the kitchen to smack her and tell her that she wasn’t being a good hostess. It was Atticus’ place to do it because he is her father. When on the other hand, Calpurnia is just the housekeeper and has no right to smack her. Think about it, if your parents invite some friends over and you weren’t being polite and your housekeeper pulled you into the kitchen, and smacked you, is it her place or your father or mother’s? I think your parents.

2)Do you think it was right for Miss Caroline to overreact when a “cootie” jumped out of Burris Ewell’s hair?

How would you feel if a teacher on the spot went in front of the whole class and embarrassed you? How would you feel? In chapter 3, it doesn’t say how Burris Ewell felt, but how would you feel? It was wrong for Miss Caroline to embarrass the poor child in front of the whole grade 1 class and put him on the spot. My answer for this question is: “How would you feel?”

3)Do you think it was right for Atticus to go behind the teacher’s back and still read with Scout when the teacher said not to?

I think Atticus was smart to keep on reading with Scout even though Miss Caroline said not to because you always want to do better. It would enhance many things like your reading, writing, and vocabulary. It’s always a good thing to be better than to be worse and you always want to excel in school.

Chapter 4

1) If the curriculum is going to slow for somebody, and they’re doing well, but you see he or she is not paying attention, would you move him or her up or keep him or her at the same level?

Imagine, sitting in French class, in group 3, and you know everything already but your teacher doesn’t want to take the chance and move you up. Would you want to move up? Something like this happened to me last year. I kept getting high marks and it was just so boring for me, that at times I just didn’t want to listen. So my teacher moved me up and did the right thing so I could challenge myself and see if I could do it. Not Miss Caroline. Even though she knew that Scout was more advanced, and she knew that it would be boring for her, she still didn’t want to move her up. If I was Scout, I would go to Miss Caroline and say “move me up so I can see for myself that I can do it. Let me take a risk.”

2) Why do you think Jem and Scout made such a big deal about seeing chewed gum and Indian coins in a knot whole?

I think Jem and Scout made a big deal because they knew the stories of what happened about that house. They knew who might live in it. And they knew the scary ancient legends about it.

3) How did Harper Lee make the game that Jem, Scout and Dill were playing, Boo Radley seem scary?

The way that Harper Lee made the game “Boo Radley” scary was by putting in the fact that Atticus came outside to where the kids were playing and asked what they were doing and if it had something to do with Boo Radley. Jem lied to him and then Atticus went back in the house. The kids wondered if it’s safe to play their game anymore.

Chapter 5

1) If Scout felt left out of the friendship of Jem and Dill, then how come she didn’t go to her friends her age, and not her uncle’s friend, Miss Maudie?

I think that Scout hung out with someone older than her because maybe she doesn’t feel comfortable with her age group. That since she’s so smart they’ll say o she’s to smart we don’t want to hang with her. Or maybe because she’s used to hanging out with her older brother, she’s used to hanging out with older people.

2) If you knew the truth about someone, but you still heard all the rumors about him, would you tell your friend the truth, or not tell them at all and make them think what they hear?

Miss Maudie grew up with Boo Radley. In fact he was a very nice boy. And he is still alive. If you knew that your friend knew these rumors, would you say something even though they knew bad things about him? If it was me I would most definitely tell my friend because you wouldn’t want bad things said about you even though your friend thought he was dead. I would say something to my friend, and I would want a friend to say something to me so I wouldn’t spread rumors.

3) Do you think it was nice that Jem and Dill put a note through the window asking Boo Radley if he wanted to get ice cream?

If you look it in a way, you’d think it’s so nice that they’re asking Boo Radley to come with them to get ice cream. But if you read on, you will see that they were actually teasing him and tormenting him. But Atticus come out and finds them doing that and orders them to stop tormenting that man with either notes or the “Boo Radley” game.

-Jillian