To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 14 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What word does Scout ask Atticus to define in Chapter 14?

   • Acquittal
   • Correct answer: Rape
   • Prejudice
   • Contempt

   Scout overhears the word "rape" in town in connection with the Tom Robinson trial and asks Atticus for its meaning. He gives her a straightforward legal definition.

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2. 2

   Question 2. How does Atticus define the word for Scout?

   • He tells her she is too young to understand and should wait until she is older
   • He refuses to answer and tells her to ask Aunt Alexandra about it instead
   • He gives her a vague, child-friendly explanation and quickly changes the subject
   • Correct answer: He provides the legal definition: carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent

   Atticus treats Scout’s question with his characteristic directness, giving her the precise legal definition without embarrassment or evasion.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Aunt Alexandra want Atticus to do about Calpurnia?

   • Correct answer: Fire Calpurnia from the household
   • Ask Calpurnia to stop taking the children to church
   • Hire a second housekeeper to help Calpurnia
   • Give Calpurnia a raise

   Aunt Alexandra argues that Calpurnia is no longer needed since Alexandra is living with them and believes Calpurnia’s influence on the children is inappropriate.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What reason does Atticus give for keeping Calpurnia?

   • The children would refuse to mind anyone else who looked after them
   • He cannot afford to hire anyone to replace her in the house
   • Correct answer: Calpurnia is a member of the family and the children need her
   • Alexandra has no experience running a household with children

   Atticus insists Calpurnia is family, that she has been harder on the children than a mother might have been, and that she will stay as long as she wants to.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What triggers the physical fight between Scout and Jem?

   • Jem refuses to let Scout look at his new football magazine
   • Correct answer: Jem orders her not to antagonize Aunty or he'll spank her
   • Jem and Scout quarrel over whether Boo Radley will come out
   • Jem teases Scout for being scared of Aunt Alexandra

   Jem, worried that the Tom Robinson case is weighing on Atticus, tells Scout not to antagonize Aunty and threatens to spank her. Scout takes it as Jem telling her what to do and punches him.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Where does Scout find Dill hiding?

   • Behind the kitchen door
   • In the Radley yard
   • Correct answer: Under Scout’s bed
   • In the treehouse

   Scout steps on something warm and alive under her bed, which turns out to be Dill Harris, who has run away from home.

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7. 7

   Question 7. How did Dill travel from Meridian to Maycomb?

   • Correct answer: He took the train to Maycomb Junction, then walked and rode a cotton wagon
   • He hitched a ride with a traveling animal show into Alabama
   • His mother drove him partway and he walked the rest of the way
   • He stole a bicycle and rode the whole distance from Meridian

   Dill caught the nine o'clock train from Meridian to Maycomb Junction, walked ten or eleven of the fourteen miles to Maycomb, and rode the rest of the way clinging to the backboard of a cotton wagon.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What false story does Dill first tell about his escape?

   • He said he swam the river from Abbott County to escape his new father
   • He said his parents had sent him to Maycomb to spend the summer
   • He said he won a train ticket in a contest at the picture show
   • Correct answer: He said he was chained in a basement and escaped with an animal show

   Dill initially spins an elaborate tale about being chained in a basement by his new stepfather and escaping with a traveling animal show before admitting the simpler truth.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What is the real reason Dill ran away from home?

   • His new father beat him and locked him in the basement in Meridian
   • He was expelled from school in Meridian and afraid to face his mother
   • Correct answer: His parents showed no genuine interest in him despite providing material comforts
   • He wanted to be in Maycomb in time to watch the Tom Robinson trial

   Dill’s parents buy him whatever he wants but emotionally neglect him, closing their door and leaving him to entertain himself. He feels fundamentally unwanted.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Who does Jem tell about Dill’s presence, against Scout and Dill’s wishes?

    • Aunt Alexandra
    • Correct answer: Atticus
    • Calpurnia
    • Miss Rachel Haverford

    Jem tells Atticus, recognizing that an adult needs to know about a runaway child. Scout views this as a betrayal of childhood loyalty.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What phrase does Scout use to describe Jem’s betrayal?

    • Correct answer: He rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood
    • He went over to the grown-ups' side and left ours behind
    • He had forgotten every promise we three had ever made
    • He had crossed a line that we could never uncross again

    Scout says Jem broke "the remaining code of our childhood", referring to the unwritten rule that children do not involve adults in their private affairs.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does Atticus do after learning Dill is in the house?

    • He scolds Dill for running away and sends him to Miss Rachel’s house
    • He drives Dill straight back to his mother's house in Meridian
    • He telephones the sheriff to report Dill as a runaway child
    • Correct answer: He has Scout feed Dill and goes next door to tell Miss Rachel he is there

    Atticus handles it gently: he tells Scout to fill Dill up, then goes over to tell Miss Rachel that Dill is there and to ask whether Dill may spend the night.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What question does Scout ask Dill about Boo Radley?

    • Correct answer: Why Boo Radley never ran away from home
    • Whether Boo Radley has any friends of his own
    • What Boo Radley looks like up close
    • Whether Boo Radley is as dangerous as folks say

    Lying in the dark after Dill's flight from home, Scout asks him why he reckons Boo Radley has never run off, linking Dill's situation to Boo's isolation.

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14. 14

    Question 14. What is Dill's answer about why Boo never ran away?

    • Maybe his father would catch him
    • Correct answer: Maybe he has nowhere to run to
    • Maybe he prefers being alone
    • Maybe he is afraid of the outside world

    Dill answers that maybe Boo doesn't have anywhere to run off to, a reply that echoes Dill's own feeling that his family gets on better without him.

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15. 15

    Question 15. What does Jem’s decision to tell Atticus about Dill reveal about his character development?

    • He is jealous of Dill's close friendship with Scout and wants him gone
    • He is trying to get Dill in trouble so he will be sent back to Meridian
    • He is becoming more rebellious against Atticus and the other adults around him
    • Correct answer: He is growing into adult responsibility and leaving childhood loyalty behind

    Jem’s choice to involve Atticus shows he is maturing and beginning to align himself with adult values, even at the cost of his childhood bond with Scout and Dill.

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