To Kill a Mockingbird — Chapter 3

About This Passage

Selected for thematic weight (this is the most important sentence in the whole book — Atticus is teaching Scout the rule she will need for everything that comes next), and rhetorical sophistication (the surprising image of climbing into someone's skin makes a hard idea simple enough for a child to remember).

Narration Prompt

Tell someone what happened in this chapter in order. When you get to the most important part, slow down and tell it carefully — what happened, why it mattered, and what you think about it.

Discussion Questions

1. Walter pours syrup all over his food, and Scout says it out loud at the table. Calpurnia takes Scout into the kitchen and scolds her hard. Was Calpurnia right to scold Scout that strongly, or could she have used softer words? What in the story makes you think so?
2. In Chapter 1 we met the Cunninghams as a poor but proud family. In Chapter 2 we learned that Walter would not take a quarter. Now in Chapter 3 Walter eats lunch at the Finch house and pours syrup over everything because that is the kind of food he is used to. What is the author teaching us about Walter by showing us all of these little things instead of telling us about him directly? What in the story makes you think so?

+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide