Chapter 3 Practice Quiz — To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 3
Why does Scout attack Walter Cunningham Jr. in the schoolyard?
She blames Walter for causing the trouble she got into with Miss Caroline, who punished Scout for trying to explain why Walter would not accept a lunch loan.
Who stops the fight between Scout and Walter, and what does he do next?
Jem pulls Scout off Walter and invites Walter home to eat lunch with the Finch family.
What does Walter Cunningham do at the dinner table that shocks Scout?
Walter asks for molasses and pours it generously all over his meat and vegetables, which Scout considers bizarre and rudely questions.
How does Calpurnia respond when Scout mocks Walter's eating habits?
Calpurnia summons Scout to the kitchen and scolds her sharply, telling her that Walter is company and must be treated with respect regardless of how he eats.
What disrupts the afternoon session at school in Chapter 3?
Miss Caroline discovers head lice (cooties) crawling in Burris Ewell's hair and tries to send him home to wash, leading to a confrontation.
How does Burris Ewell respond when Miss Caroline tells him to go home and bathe?
Burris turns on Miss Caroline with vicious, threatening language and reduces her to tears before leaving the classroom.
What compromise does Atticus reach with Scout about school?
Atticus agrees to keep reading with Scout every evening if she agrees to continue attending school, a bargain Scout accepts.
How does Walter Cunningham Jr. behave at the Finch dinner table beyond his eating habits?
Walter engages Atticus in a surprisingly mature conversation about farming, crops, and rural conditions, impressing Scout with how Atticus treats him as an equal.
What role does Calpurnia play in Chapter 3 beyond being a cook?
Calpurnia acts as a moral authority and parental figure, teaching Scout about dignity and hospitality with the same weight as Atticus's own lessons.
How does Burris Ewell differ from Walter Cunningham in Chapter 3?
Both boys are poor, but Walter is polite and dignified while Burris is filthy, hostile, and deliberately cruel, showing that poverty does not determine character.
What do the other students tell Miss Caroline about the Ewell family?
They explain that Ewell children only attend school on the first day each year to satisfy truancy laws, then disappear until the following September.
How does Atticus explain the Ewells' exemption from school attendance?
He tells Scout that the law bends for the Ewells because enforcing their attendance is impractical, but he emphasizes that the Finches are not like the Ewells.
What is the central moral lesson Atticus teaches Scout in Chapter 3?
Atticus tells Scout she will never truly understand a person until she considers things from their point of view, until she climbs into their skin and walks around in it.
How does Chapter 3 illustrate the theme of social class?
It contrasts three families at different levels of Maycomb's hierarchy: the comfortable Finches, the poor but honorable Cunninghams, and the destitute and hostile Ewells.
What argument does Chapter 3 make about education?
The chapter suggests that real education happens at home through empathy, conversation, and moral guidance, not in the rigid and often ineffective formal classroom.
What does Calpurnia's reprimand of Scout reveal about the novel's values?
It establishes that hospitality and human dignity transcend social class, and that treating guests with respect is a non-negotiable moral standard in the Finch household.
What literary device does Atticus use when he tells Scout to climb into someone's skin?
He uses metaphor. The image of physically inhabiting another person's skin is deliberately visceral, conveying that empathy requires active effort, not passive sympathy.
How does Lee use juxtaposition in Chapter 3?
She places the polite, dignified Walter Cunningham directly beside the aggressive, feral Burris Ewell to highlight how two families in similar poverty respond in opposite ways.
What is ironic about the school scenes in Chapter 3?
The institution designed to educate children fails entirely, while Scout's real lessons about empathy, dignity, and social understanding come from Calpurnia and Atticus at home.
What does "entailment" refer to in the context of the Cunningham family?
An entailment is a legal restriction on property inheritance that prevents the owner from selling the land. The Cunninghams' entailment keeps them land-rich but cash-poor.
What are "cooties" as mentioned in Chapter 3?
Cooties refers to head lice, which Miss Caroline discovers crawling in Burris Ewell's hair, prompting her to try to send him home.
What does it mean when Scout says Calpurnia was "furious" with her?
Calpurnia was extremely angry and indignant at Scout's rude behavior toward a guest, angry enough to deliver one of the sharpest reprimands Scout receives in the novel.
Who says the line about never understanding a person until you climb into their skin?
Atticus says it to Scout at the end of Chapter 3 while advising her about dealing with people she disagrees with, including Miss Caroline.
What does Calpurnia tell Scout about how to treat Walter as a guest?
Calpurnia tells Scout that Walter is company, and if he wants to eat up the tablecloth, she should let him. Anyone who enters their home deserves courtesy.
What argument does Scout make to Atticus about not returning to school?
Scout points to the Ewell family as a precedent, arguing that if the Ewells do not have to attend school, she should not have to either.