To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 12 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why is Atticus absent from Maycomb at the beginning of Chapter 12?

   • Correct answer: He has been called to serve in the state legislature
   • He is visiting his brother Jack in Nashville
   • He has gone to Montgomery to argue an appeal before a judge
   • He is traveling for a legal case in another county

   Atticus is called away for two weeks to serve in the Alabama state legislature, leaving Calpurnia in full charge of the children.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What change in Jem troubles Scout at the opening of Part Two?

   • He refuses to play outside and reads all day
   • He has begun imitating Atticus and correcting her grammar
   • He has started getting into fights at school
   • Correct answer: He has become moody and withdrawn, pulling away from her

   Jem has turned twelve and become moody and inconsistent. He tells Scout to stop pestering him, starts telling her what to do, and, as Calpurnia says, wants to be off to himself a lot.

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3. 3

   Question 3. Why is First Purchase African M.E. Church called "First Purchase"?

   • It was the first church in Maycomb with a steeple and bell
   • It was the first building bought by the town of Maycomb
   • Correct answer: It was purchased with the first earnings of freed slaves
   • It was the first church to hold integrated services

   The church was named because freed slaves pooled their first earnings to buy the building, making it a symbol of self-determination and community pride.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Who confronts Calpurnia for bringing white children to First Purchase Church?

   • Zeebo
   • Correct answer: Lula
   • Helen Robinson
   • Reverend Sykes

   Lula is a tall woman who blocks their path and challenges Calpurnia, arguing that the white children have their own church and do not belong in a Black congregation.

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5. 5

   Question 5. How does the rest of the congregation respond to Lula's objection?

   • Correct answer: They overrule Lula and warmly welcome Jem and Scout
   • They hold a vote on whether the children can stay
   • They stay silent and let Calpurnia settle the dispute alone
   • They silently agree and ask the children to leave

   Lula vanishes as a solid mass of the congregation closes in, and Zeebo steps forward to tell Jem they are mighty glad to have the children there and to pay Lula no attention.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What is the practice of "linin'" at First Purchase Church?

   • Passing a single hymn-book along each pew so every member reads one line
   • Standing in a line at the altar to receive communion from Reverend Sykes
   • Correct answer: A call-and-response method of hymn singing where a leader reads each line aloud
   • Assembling along the pathway outside to greet visitors before the service

   Because most of the congregation cannot read and there are no hymnbooks, Zeebo reads each line of the hymn and the congregation repeats it in song.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Who leads the hymn singing at First Purchase Church?

   • Reverend Sykes
   • Calpurnia
   • Lula
   • Correct answer: Zeebo

   Zeebo, Calpurnia's eldest son and the town garbage collector, is one of the few literate members of the congregation and leads the linin'.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Why does Reverend Sykes order the church doors closed during the collection?

   • Because the congregation had grown restless and he wanted nobody departing before the concluding hymn
   • Correct answer: Because the initial collection fell short and he will not let anyone leave until ten dollars is raised
   • Because a storm was approaching and he wanted to keep the dust and rain outside the church
   • Because Lula had threatened to return with others and disrupt the remainder of the service

   The collection is for Helen Robinson, Tom Robinson's wife, who cannot find work. Reverend Sykes insists on raising the full amount.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Why can Helen Robinson not find employment?

   • Mr. Link Deas has turned her away from picking cotton in his fields
   • The sheriff has ordered her to remain in the Quarters until the trial
   • She has been physically unable to work since Tom's arrest
   • Correct answer: Most folks will not hire the wife of a man accused of raping a white woman

   The accusation against Tom Robinson has made most folks unwilling to have anything to do with his family, punishing them before any trial. Reverend Sykes hopes Mr. Link Deas will take Helen at picking time.

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10. 10

    Question 10. How did Calpurnia learn to read?

    • Correct answer: Miss Buford taught her out of Blackstone's Commentaries
    • Miss Maudie gave her reading lessons as a young woman
    • She attended a school for Black children in Maycomb
    • Atticus taught her when she came to work for the Finch family

    Calpurnia says Miss Maudie Atkinson's aunt, old Miss Buford, taught her letters out of Blackstone's Commentaries, a book Granddaddy Finch gave her. She later taught Zeebo with it and a page of the Bible every day.

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11. 11

    Question 11. Why does Calpurnia speak differently at church than at the Finch home?

    • She is embarrassed about her education in front of Jem and Scout
    • She forgets her formal English when she is relaxed
    • Correct answer: She does not want to appear to be putting on airs among her neighbors
    • Reverend Sykes requires everyone to speak in dialect during church services

    Calpurnia explains that using formal English at church would alienate her community. She deliberately code-switches to show respect for her neighbors.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does Scout ask Calpurnia after the church visit?

    • Why Black and white people have separate churches
    • Correct answer: If she can visit Calpurnia's house sometime
    • Whether Calpurnia has ever attended the Finch family's church
    • Whether Tom Robinson is truly innocent

    Scout is fascinated by the discovery that Calpurnia has an entire life outside the Finch household and asks to see where she lives. Calpurnia warmly agrees.

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13. 13

    Question 13. Who is waiting on the Finch porch when the children return from church?

    • Correct answer: Aunt Alexandra, in a rocking chair
    • Dill, arriving early for the summer
    • Atticus, who has returned early from the legislature
    • Miss Maudie, bringing a cake

    Jem points to their own porch, where Aunt Alexandra is sitting in a rocking chair as if she had sat there every day of her life.

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14. 14

    Question 14. What does Chapter 12 reveal about the relationship between Maycomb's Black and white communities?

    • Both communities suffer equally during the Depression, and the town generously shares its schools and hymn-books with the Quarters
    • Correct answer: The Black community lives under systematic deprivation but maintains strong solidarity, while integration is almost nonexistent
    • The Black community resents every white person, and the entire congregation supports Lula in rejecting the Finch children
    • The two communities mingle freely, since Black and white families regularly worship together at First Purchase

    The poverty of First Purchase, the absence of schools and hymnbooks, and the congregation's collective support for Helen Robinson all paint a picture of a community holding itself together under the weight of segregation.

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