To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 13 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why does Aunt Alexandra say she has come to stay with the Finch family?

   • To escape a difficult situation at Finch's Landing
   • To take over the household from Calpurnia
   • To help Atticus prepare for the Tom Robinson trial
   • Correct answer: To provide feminine influence for the children

   Aunt Alexandra tells the family she has come because the children, especially Scout, need some feminine influence in their upbringing.

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2. 2

   Question 2. How does Aunt Alexandra fit into Maycomb's social life?

   • She mixes only with the Finch family's closest friends
   • She struggles for months to gain acceptance among Maycomb's ladies
   • Correct answer: She fits into Maycomb society like a hand into a glove
   • She remains isolated and declines most social invitations

   Maycomb welcomes her with visits and a Lane cake, and she fits into the town like a hand into a glove, hosting the Missionary Society and becoming Secretary of the Maycomb Amanuensis Club.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Aunt Alexandra believe determines a family's character?

   • Accumulated wealth and the business success of its leading men
   • Correct answer: Heredity and family "Streaks" passed through generations
   • The individual accomplishments of particular family members
   • A family's religious devotion and charitable missionary activity

   Alexandra insists that every Maycomb family has an inherited Streak — a Drinking Streak, Gambling Streak, Mean Streak, or Funny Streak — that defines its members.

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4. 4

   Question 4. According to Aunt Alexandra, what makes a family "Fine Folks"?

   • Correct answer: How long the family has lived on a particular piece of land
   • Having ancestors who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War
   • Having educated its sons at the University for generations
   • Being active in religious and community organizations

   In Alexandra's worldview, the longer a family has been squatting on one patch of land, the finer it is. Jem jokes that this makes the Ewells fine folks, though Scout grants that her theory had something behind it, given how old Maycomb is.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What did Cousin Joshua St. Clair actually do, according to Atticus?

   • Correct answer: He went round the bend at the University and tried to shoot the university president
   • He abandoned the University to enlist in the Union Army during the war
   • He became a celebrated attorney in Montgomery and served in the legislature
   • He became a respected poet whose meditations the entire county admired

   Despite Alexandra holding up Cousin Joshua as a point of family pride, Atticus has already told the children the truth: Joshua went round the bend at the University and tried to shoot the president.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Aunt Alexandra pressure Atticus to do?

   • Send Jem to a military academy for additional discipline
   • Relocate the entire family to the old homestead at Finch's Landing
   • Correct answer: Lecture the children about their family's gentle breeding
   • Enroll Scout at a boarding school for young ladies

   Alexandra pressures Atticus into giving a speech about the Finch family's gentle breeding and the importance of living up to the family name.

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7. 7

   Question 7. How does Atticus behave during his "gentle breeding" speech?

   • Angry and loud, criticizing the children's disrespectful manners
   • Correct answer: Stiff and awkward, fidgeting and clearing his throat
   • Humorous and lighthearted, treating the entire speech as a game
   • Calm and relaxed, delivering it in his usual easy manner

   Atticus is visibly uncomfortable delivering the speech — he fidgets and clears his throat, behaving completely unlike his usual natural self.

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8. 8

   Question 8. How does Scout react to Atticus's lecture about family pride?

   • She retreats angrily to her bedroom and slams the door behind her
   • She agrees immediately and promises to behave like a little lady
   • She argues back, defending her own and Jem's behavior
   • Correct answer: She begins to cry, feeling her real father has been replaced by a stranger

   Scout starts crying because the stiff, formal Atticus delivering the speech feels like a stranger — not the father she knows and trusts.

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9. 9

   Question 9. How does Atticus resolve the "gentle breeding" conversation?

   • Correct answer: He tells them to forget what he said and just be themselves
   • He sends them to Aunt Alexandra for further instruction
   • He promises to finish the discussion with them another evening
   • He doubles down and grounds the children for disrespect

   Atticus abandons the lecture entirely, telling Scout and Jem to forget everything and simply be themselves — restoring the trust between them.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What central theme does Chapter 13 primarily explore?

    • Racial injustice within Maycomb's legal system
    • The loss of childhood innocence as Jem and Scout grow older
    • Correct answer: Class consciousness and the importance of family heritage
    • Moral courage in opposing the opinion of the community

    Chapter 13 is Harper Lee's most focused exploration of Maycomb's class system, through Alexandra's obsession with heredity and social standing.

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11. 11

    Question 11. How did Sinkfield make sure the county seat grew up around his tavern?

    • He sold the surveyors the courthouse property at a reduced price
    • He relocated his tavern to the exact spot the surveyors had selected
    • He bribed Governor Bibb with ammunition to select his tavern
    • Correct answer: He got the surveyors drunk and had them move the county's center

    Sinkfield reduced the visiting surveyors to myopic drunkenness, had them adjust their maps so the county's center fell at his tavern, and sent them off with five quarts of shinny.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does Atticus's retraction of the "gentle breeding" speech reveal about his values?

    • He prefers to avoid any conflict with his sister, whatever it costs him
    • Correct answer: He prioritizes authenticity and his children's well-being over social pretension
    • He is indifferent to what his children or his sister think of him
    • He secretly agrees with Alexandra but lacks the courage to follow through

    By retracting the speech, Atticus shows he would rather disappoint his sister than teach his children values he doesn't believe in.

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13. 13

    Question 13. How does Scout's narration treat Aunt Alexandra's theories about family Streaks?

    • With boredom, hurrying past them as quickly as possible
    • With sincere admiration for her aunt's knowledge of families
    • Correct answer: With deadpan delivery that exposes their absurdity
    • With open anger that she expresses directly to her aunt

    Scout reports Alexandra's Streak theories in a matter-of-fact tone that functions as satire — the reader sees the absurdity even though Scout doesn't directly mock it.

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