To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 16 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What does Atticus say about Mr. Cunningham the morning after the mob scene?

   • Correct answer: He is basically a good man with blind spots
   • He is no longer welcome at the Finch household
   • He was the most dangerous man in the mob
   • He should be arrested for attempted murder

   Answering Scout's question at breakfast, Atticus says Mr. Cunningham is basically a good man who has his blind spots along with the rest of us, teaching the children that people contain both decency and prejudice.

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2. 2

   Question 2. At breakfast, whom does Aunt Alexandra name as having been there the whole time the night before, so the children were not needed?

   • Mr. Dolphus Raymond
   • Correct answer: Mr. Braxton Underwood
   • Mr. Walter Cunningham
   • Sheriff Heck Tate

   When Atticus says he was glad his disgraces came along, Aunt Alexandra answers that Mr. Underwood was there all the time. Atticus then calls it a funny thing about Braxton, since he despises Negroes and won't have one near him.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What phrase does Miss Maudie use to describe the trial atmosphere?

   • A county fair
   • A witch trial
   • A three-ring circus
   • Correct answer: A Roman carnival

   Miss Maudie calls the trial a "Roman carnival," comparing the spectators to ancient Romans watching gladiators, to condemn the crowd treating Tom Robinson's fight for his life as entertainment.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Why does Miss Maudie refuse to attend Tom Robinson's trial?

   • She believes Tom Robinson is guilty and does not want to watch Atticus lose the case
   • She is still recovering from her house fire and cannot be away from home for long
   • Correct answer: She considers watching a man fight for his life as entertainment to be morally wrong
   • Atticus asked her to stay home and keep an eye on Jem, Scout, and Dill for the whole day

   Miss Maudie refuses on moral grounds, seeing the crowd's eagerness as ghoulish entertainment rather than a genuine interest in justice.

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5. 5

   Question 5. According to Jem, what is in the Co-Cola bottle Mr. Dolphus Raymond hides in his paper sack?

   • Sweet tea
   • Medicine
   • Correct answer: Whiskey
   • Coca-Cola

   Jem tells Dill that Mr. Raymond keeps a Co-Cola bottle full of whiskey in the sack so as not to upset the ladies, and that he sips it all afternoon and steps out to refill it.

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6. 6

   Question 6. When Dill says Mr. Dolphus Raymond doesn't look like trash, what does Jem point out about him?

   • Correct answer: He owns all one side of the riverbank and comes from a real old family
   • He is a Cunningham by birth and still owns land out in Old Sarum
   • He is a lay preacher who helps Reverend Sykes at First Purchase
   • He runs the newspaper office across the square from the courthouse

   Jem insists Mr. Raymond is not trash: he owns all one side of the riverbank down near the county line and comes from a real old family, which makes his choice to live apart all the more puzzling to the children.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Where do Scout, Jem, and Dill end up sitting during the trial?

   • On the main floor near Atticus
   • Correct answer: In the colored balcony with Black spectators
   • Outside the courthouse listening through windows
   • In the jury box

   With no seats left on the main floor, Reverend Sykes leads the children to the colored balcony, the segregated gallery reserved for Black citizens.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Who leads the children to their seats in the balcony?

   • Tom Robinson's wife Helen
   • Calpurnia
   • Mr. Dolphus Raymond
   • Correct answer: Reverend Sykes

   Reverend Sykes, the minister of Calpurnia's First Purchase African M.E. Church, spots the children and takes them up to the colored balcony.

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9. 9

   Question 9. How does Scout describe Judge Taylor's courtroom demeanor?

   • Correct answer: Deceptively casual, appearing sleepy but missing nothing
   • Nervous and unsure, leaning on the solicitor to guide him
   • Openly hostile, making little secret of his dislike for Atticus
   • Stern and formal, insisting on silence from every spectator

   Judge Taylor has a relaxed, almost drowsy manner that belies his sharp attention. He appears to be sleeping but actually follows every detail of the proceedings.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What is the symbolic significance of the children sitting in the colored balcony?

    • It indicates that Atticus has lost the respect of the white community in Maycomb
    • It proves the Maycomb courthouse no longer enforces the old rules of segregation
    • It shows they are being punished for disobeying Atticus and sneaking into the courthouse
    • Correct answer: It positions them with Maycomb's marginalized community, reflecting their moral perspective

    By sitting among Black spectators, the children are aligned literally and symbolically with those the justice system oppresses, foreshadowing their deepening understanding of racial injustice.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What tragic event is part of Mr. Dolphus Raymond's backstory?

    • His children were taken away by the court
    • His plantation was burned during a dispute
    • Correct answer: His white fiancee shot herself after the wedding rehearsal
    • He was disowned by his family for fighting in the Civil War

    Jem tells Dill that Raymond's white fiancee killed herself after the wedding rehearsal, possibly upon learning about his relationship with a Black woman.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does Atticus mean by saying "A mob’s always made up of people"?

    • People in mobs lose all capacity for individual thought and judgment
    • Correct answer: Even violent crowds are composed of individuals who can be reached on a personal level
    • Mr. Cunningham organized the mob on purpose and cannot be trusted again
    • Mobs are too large and too angry to be stopped by any single person

    Atticus teaches the children that appealing to an individual's personal identity — as Scout did with Mr. Cunningham — can break through mob mentality because every mob member is still a person.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does Jem tell Scout about mixed-race children like Mr. Raymond's?

    • Correct answer: They belong nowhere — rejected by both white society and the Black community
    • They are fully accepted by the Black community because their mother is Black
    • They are popular with both white and Black children all over the county
    • They are treated as white because their father comes from a real old family

    Jem explains that mixed-race children are caught between two worlds: colored folks won't have them because they are half white, and white folks won't have them because they are colored, so they don't belong anywhere.

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