To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 8 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. How do Jem and Scout solve the problem of not having enough snow for their snowman?

   • They make a small snow baby instead of a real snowman
   • Correct answer: They build a core of mud and cover it with snow
   • They use cotton from the house to supplement the snow
   • They wait until more snow falls the next day

   Jem devises the plan to create a mud frame and cover it with their limited snow supply, resulting in a figure that closely resembles Mr. Avery.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why does Atticus insist the children alter their snowman?

   • It is blocking the sidewalk in front of the Finch house
   • Miss Maudie complains that they took her snow without asking
   • It is too small and lumpy to be recognized as a snowman
   • Correct answer: It resembles Mr. Avery too closely and could cause offense

   Atticus calls it a "near libel" in the front yard because the snowman's stocky build is unmistakably Mr. Avery's, and he worries it will insult their neighbor.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What causes Miss Maudie's house fire?

   • A spark from Mr. Avery's chimney carried over by the cold wind
   • A lamp knocked over while she wrapped her azaleas in burlap
   • Correct answer: A flue fire, likely from keeping fires burning to protect her plants
   • Sparks from the fireplaces Calpurnia kept blazing next door

   Miss Maudie had been keeping fires going throughout the night to prevent her potted plants from freezing, and the fire is believed to have originated from a faulty flue.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Where does Atticus position the children during the fire?

   • Correct answer: In front of the Radley Place
   • At Miss Rachel's house down the street
   • In the backyard near the garden
   • Inside the Finch house with the doors locked

   Atticus tells the children to stand in front of the Radley Place, which is far enough from the fire to be safe. Ironically, this places them directly in front of Boo Radley's home.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Who placed the blanket on Scout's shoulders during the fire?

   • Miss Maudie
   • Nathan Radley
   • Correct answer: Boo Radley
   • Atticus

   Boo Radley slipped out of his house during the chaos and placed the blanket over Scout's shoulders without her noticing. Atticus deduces this afterward.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Mr. Avery blame the unusual cold weather on?

   • Divine punishment for the community's immoral behavior
   • A shift in the Gulf Stream that brought cold air north
   • The almanac's prediction of the hardest winter since 1885
   • Correct answer: Disobedient children, supposedly from the Rosetta Stone

   Mr. Avery tells the children that according to the Rosetta Stone, bad children cause the seasons to change, making Jem and Scout feel guilty about the cold.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does Atticus decide to do about the blanket after Jem's outburst?

   • Correct answer: Keep the blanket, and the whole story, to themselves
   • Give it to Miss Maudie to replace what the fire took
   • Ask Mr. Nathan Radley whether the blanket belongs to him
   • Wrap it in paper and return it to the Radley house

   After Jem pours out their secrets, Atticus says they had better keep this and the blanket to themselves. He gives no reason; most likely he wants to protect Boo from attention or trouble for having come out of the house.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these events actually happened in this chapter?

   • Miss Maudie cries inconsolably after her house burns down.

     Didn't happen

     Miss Maudie is remarkably cheerful the morning after the fire. She says she hated the old house and is looking forward to building a smaller one with a bigger garden.

   • Jem becomes emotional when he realizes Boo Radley was the one who placed the blanket on Scout.

     Happened

     When Jem connects the blanket to Boo's other acts of kindness—the mended pants, the knothole gifts—he nearly breaks down with emotion.

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9. 9

   Question 9. In this chapter, Atticus calls the children's snowman a "near libel." What does libel mean?

   • A work of art that copies another artist's style or subject
   • Correct answer: A published false statement that damages someone's reputation
   • An elaborate practical joke played on an unsuspecting neighbor
   • A statement of praise that exaggerates someone's good qualities

   Libel is a legal term for defamation in written or visual form. Atticus uses it humorously to point out that the snowman is such an accurate likeness of Mr. Avery it could be considered defamatory.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Miss Maudie calls the disguised snowman a "morphodite." What is this word a mispronunciation of?

    • Aphrodite
    • Metamorphosis
    • Correct answer: Hermaphrodite
    • Anthropomorphic

    Morphodite is a folk mispronunciation of hermaphrodite. Miss Maudie uses it for the snowman after Jem adds her sunhat and hedge-clippers to the Mr. Avery figure, and Scout picks the word up from her.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does the word "accosted" mean in the sentence about Mr. Avery stopping Jem and Scout on the sidewalk?

    • Deliberately avoided and ignored entirely
    • Correct answer: Approached and spoke to boldly or aggressively
    • Formally accused of illegal activity
    • Followed secretly from a hidden position

    To accost someone is to approach and speak to them boldly, often aggressively. Mr. Avery accosts the children in front of Miss Maudie's and blames them for making the seasons change.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What is the symbolic significance of the snowman's mud core covered in white snow?

    • It foreshadows the collapse of the Finch family's reputation
    • It represents the hidden corruption in Maycomb's government
    • It represents the fragility of childhood innocence
    • Correct answer: It symbolizes how superficial racial divisions mask shared humanity

    The dark mud hidden beneath the white snow exterior is widely interpreted as a symbol of Maycomb's racial dynamics, where appearance-based classifications conceal a common humanity.

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