To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 18 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. How old is Mayella Ewell when she takes the witness stand?

   • Correct answer: Nineteen and a half
   • Twenty-one
   • Seventeen and a half
   • Eighteen and a half

   Mayella states during her testimony that she is nineteen and a half years old.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Why does Mayella accuse Atticus of mocking her?

   • He mentions her father's drinking problem
   • He ridicules her uneducated way of talking
   • Correct answer: He calls her "Miss Mayella" and "ma'am"
   • He questions her intelligence and good sense

   Mayella is so unaccustomed to basic courtesy that she interprets Atticus's polite address as mockery. Judge Taylor has to explain he is simply being respectful.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Mayella claim she asked Tom Robinson to do?

   • Carry water buckets
   • Remove the old icebox
   • Repair the yard fence
   • Correct answer: Bust up a chiffarobe

   Mayella testifies that she asked Tom to come inside the fence and bust up (break apart) a chiffarobe for a nickel.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How many siblings does Mayella have?

   • Six
   • Correct answer: Seven
   • Eight
   • Five

   Asked how many sisters and brothers she has, Mayella answers "Seb'm" (seven), and she confirms that she is the eldest.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What caused the injury to Tom Robinson's left arm?

   • Correct answer: A cotton gin accident in childhood
   • A violent fight in his younger days
   • A disability he was born with
   • A farming accident as a teenager

   Tom's left arm was caught in a cotton gin when he was a boy, leaving it withered and useless, twelve inches shorter than his right arm.

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6. 6

   Question 6. When Atticus asks whether Tom blacked her eye with his right fist, how does Mayella answer?

   • She accidentally admits her father hit her
   • She insists he struck her with his left hand
   • Correct answer: She says she ducked and the blow glanced off
   • She says the question is deliberately mocking her

   Pressed on which fist struck her, Mayella suddenly claims she ducked and the blow glanced off. Scout remarks that Mayella had finally seen the light: the defense's case turns on which hand did the beating.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What is the significance of the red geraniums mentioned in connection with the Ewell property?

   • They were planted by Tom Robinson on one of his odd jobs in the yard
   • They show the Ewells have extra relief money for decorating the yard
   • They prove Mayella is exaggerating her family's poverty to the jury
   • Correct answer: They represent Mayella's small attempt to create beauty amid squalor

   The geraniums belong to Mayella and are the only beautiful thing near the Ewell house, symbolizing her desperate effort to create something good in her degraded world.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does Atticus suggest actually happened on the night of the alleged assault?

   • Tom attacked Mayella exactly as she testified
   • Correct answer: Bob Ewell, not Tom Robinson, was the one who beat her
   • An unidentified stranger from town attacked Mayella
   • Mayella accidentally injured herself falling

   Atticus asks whether Mayella screamed only when she saw her father in the window and presses, "Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or your father?" suggesting Bob Ewell beat her and the charge against Tom was his best defense.

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9. 9

   Question 9. How does Mayella's testimony end?

   • She breaks down and finally admits her father was responsible
   • Correct answer: She calls the courtroom cowards, bursts into sobs, and refuses to speak
   • She faints on the stand and is carried unconscious from the courtroom
   • She calmly and politely finishes answering every question

   Mayella turns on the entire courtroom, declaring them cowards if they don't convict Tom, then breaks down crying and refuses to answer any more questions.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What is established about Bob Ewell in the previous chapter that becomes critical evidence here?

    • He cannot read or write
    • He has a criminal record
    • Correct answer: He is left-handed
    • He was not home that night

    Atticus demonstrated that Bob Ewell is left-handed, which becomes significant when combined with Mayella's right-side bruising and Tom's useless left hand.

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11. 11

    Question 11. Why is Mayella's inability to understand the concept of "friends" significant?

    • It shows she is lying about how well she knew Tom Robinson
    • It shows she is too proud to admit to having friends in town
    • It proves she is too unstable to be a trustworthy witness
    • Correct answer: It reveals the depth of her isolation and loneliness

    When Atticus asks if she has friends, Mayella frowns as if puzzled and then accuses him of making fun of her again. Her confusion reveals how completely cut off she is from other people.

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12. 12

    Question 12. How does Mayella's demeanor on the stand contrast with her father's?

    • Correct answer: She is terrified and defensive while Bob was crude and confident
    • She is calm and composed while Bob was anxious and timid
    • She is just as brash and cocky on the stand as Bob was
    • She is far more aggressive and vulgar than her father was

    Unlike Bob, who was brash and self-assured on the stand, Mayella is visibly frightened and treats even Judge Taylor's kindness with suspicion.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What question does Atticus ask that Mayella hesitates painfully before answering?

    • How many brothers and sisters she has
    • Whether she is the eldest of the Ewell children
    • Whether she knew who Tom Robinson was
    • Correct answer: Whether her father has ever beaten her

    When Atticus asks if her father has ever beaten her, Mayella hesitates for a long time before denying it. Her hesitation strongly suggests the truth is yes.

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14. 14

    Question 14. Scout's wondering whether anyone had ever called Mayella ma'am or Miss Mayella in her life primarily reflects which theme?

    • The corruption of Maycomb's courts and legal system
    • Correct answer: The isolation and neglect that shape Mayella's life
    • The importance of getting a good education in school
    • The generosity of Maycomb's citizens toward the poor

    Mayella takes offense at routine courtesy, and Scout wonders whether anyone had ever called her ma'am before and what on earth her life was like. The detail gives a first glimpse of how isolated and neglected Mayella's life has been.

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15. 15

    Question 15. Where are Scout, Jem, and Dill watching the trial from during this chapter?

    • The front row of the courtroom
    • Outside through a window
    • Correct answer: The colored balcony
    • The judge's chambers

    The children are seated in the colored balcony—the segregated section reserved for Black spectators—where Reverend Sykes found them seats.

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