Thursday, March 27, 2008

Chapters # 16 - 20

Chapter #16
How does Reverend Sykes help the children see and hear the trial? Do you think it is appropriate for the children to be at the trial?

Chapter #17
Why does Atticus ask Bob Ewell to write out his name? What does the jury see when he does this?

Chapter #18
Is Mayella like her father or different from him? In what ways?

Chapter #19
What made Tom visit the Ewell's house in the first place?

Chapter #20
What, according to Atticus, is the thing that Mayella has done wrong?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chapter 17

Atticus asks Bob Ewell to write his name so that he can see if Mr. Ewell is right or left handed. Atticus is trying to prove that Mr. Ewell could have been the one to beat Mayella. If he is left handed, he could have easily punched his daughter’s right eye. Bob Ewell becomes very defensive when asked to write his name, which only further proves that he could have been the one to hurt Mayella.

Anonymous said...

Chapter # 19

Tom Robinson comes to the Ewell’s house in the first place because he wants to be polite to Mayella. He feels that her brothers, sisters, and father do not treat her well enough and that she deserves more. He clearly states that Mayella invited him into the house and he was not intruding. The first time that he visited, Mayella asked him to do house work. This became a regular occurrence until the supposed rape.

ONE9077 said...

You have made some really great insights. It is clear that after hearing Mr. Ewell's testimony and witnessing the writing demonstration, that he is a prime candidate for the beating of Mayella. It seems that the author has convinced us, the readers, that Tom Robinson is innocent with this evidence. Do you think that the people of Maycomb will be so easily persuaded?

ONE9077 said...

Tom Robinson is depicted as an incredibly honest and hard-working man in this piece. I agree with you, that he probably saw the circumstances in which Mayella was living and thought that it would only be right to help such a pitiful person. Why do you think the people of Maycomb reacted so badly when Tom indicated that he felt sorry for Mayella? Why wasn't a black man allowed to feel sympathy for a white person's situation?

Anonymous said...

ch. 19
Tom visited the Ewell's house in the first place to "bust up a chiffarobe. This small favor asked by Mayella soon turns into a moment that changes their lives forever. Favor's like this are supposedly asked often by Mayella and therefore lead to more clues on the relationship between the two characters.

Anonymous said...

Chapter 19
Tom Robinson comes to the Ewell’s house because he feels sorry for Mayella. He thinks that her siblings and father do not treat her very well and she is left to do all the work. Tom does housework for Mayella for free. He is polite and never intrudes. He finally goes into the house after Mayella asked him to.

Anonymous said...

Chapter 19
Tom only visited the Ewell’s house because Mayella invited him to be there. Tom said that Mayella would always invite him onto the property to do chores for her and she would talk to him while he worked. Tom would help her because he pitied her. He knew that her father was probably beating her, she had no friends, and that her siblings never helped her work. However, when Tom tells the jury that he helped Mayella without payment because he felt sorry for her, the people are shocked that a black man would even imply that he is better off than a white woman.

Anonymous said...

Chapter 20

The only thing that Mayella has done wrong, according to Atticus, is break the rules of society. Everyone in their town is under the raciest belief that a white woman should never be associated with a black person. While she did not break the law, she did something that almost everyone in Macomb finds to be wrong.

ONE9077 said...

You all have had some really great responses to the questions that have been posted. I especially like the response to the question about what Atticus says Mayella did wrong. Your answer was very inciteful and helps us all to recognize how rediculous racism truly is. An entire trial has been conducted because a white girl was attracted to a black man. Tom Robinson is on trial for his life and absolutely no crime was commited by either he or Mayella Ewell. Thank you for your response! Great job!

Anonymous said...

Chapter #18
Mayella and her father are both seen as trash by Maycomb County, however, where Bob Ewell doesn't care about the state of his home, his appearance, or the welfare of his children, Mayella makes an effort to improve these things. She plants the red geraniums, and as Scout mentioned, it looked like she washed regularly. Bob Ewell beats and abuses Mayella. It seems like Mayella wouldn't do that, but Mayella kissed Tom against his will, and then as good as kills him by accusing him of rape.

Anonymous said...

Chapter 20
According to Atticus, Mayella has only broken the code of the racist society in Maycomb. The unspoken code in Maycomb, does not allow for a white women to have feelings for a colored man.This breaks the order of segregation in Maycomb.