To Kill a Mocking Bird Summary?

Question

In my English ll class we have to write a summary on the 3rd and 4th chapters. I can't really seem to get into the story enough to read. Can someone give me some of the main ideas? And don't say anything about doing your own homework. Its great to have help.

I can't really start the chapter. Its just really boring to me. It starts with the main character beating up on some kid named walter and Jem stops them and invites walter to dinner.

How is jem changing in ch.4?

Answer 1

im gona give you a couple of websites in the "sources" section below...

after you visit whatever site you decide on picking, there should be a box to type in the title of the book. after that shows up, there should be chapter summaries you can click on.

hope this helps!

alright. just an exception... i decided why not copy and paste it for you rightt here. but dont get used to it :) here:
(totally bestanswer material right here!!)
:D


Chapter 3

Jem invites Walter Cunningham over for lunch when he finds out that the boy doesn't have any food. Walter hesitates but then takes Jem up on the friendly offer. At the Finch house, Atticus and Walter discuss farming, and Scout is overwhelmed by their adult speech. Walter asks for some molasses and proceeds to pour it all over his meat and vegetables. Scout rudely asks him what he's doing and Calpurnia gives her a lecture in the kitchen about how to treat guests - even if they're from a family like the Cunninghams.

Back at school, there's a big scene when Miss Caroline screams upon seeing a louse ("cootie") crawl off of the head of one of the boys in the class. This boy, Burris Ewell, comes from a family so poor that Atticus says they "live like animals." Their children come to school on the first day of the year and then are never seen again. The children inform their teacher of this, explaining that "He's one of the Ewells." Miss Caroline wants Burris to go home and take a bath, but before he leaves the room for the rest of the year, he yells crude insults at her and makes her cry. The children comfort her and she reads them a story.

Scout feels discouraged returning home from school. After dinner she tells Atticus she doesn't want to go back. Atticus asks her to understand the situation from Miss Caroline's point of view - Miss Caroline can't be expected to know what to do with her students when she doesn't know anything about them yet. Scout wants to be like Burris Ewell and not have to go to school at all. As Atticus explains, the town authorities bend the law for the Ewells because they'll never change their ways - for instance, Mr. Ewell can hunt out of season because everyone knows he spends his relief checks on whiskey and his children won't eat if he doesn't hunt. Atticus teaches Scout about compromise: if she goes to school, Atticus will let her keep reading with him at home. Scout agrees and Atticus reads to her and Jem from the papers.


Chapter 4

School continues; the year goes by. Scout doubts that the new educational system is really doing her any good - she finds school boring and wishes the teacher would allow her to read and write, rather than ask the children to do silly activities geared toward "Group Dynamics" and "Good Citizenship." One afternoon, as she runs past the Radley house, she notices something in the knot-hole of one of the oak trees in the front yard. She investigates further and finds two pieces of chewing gum. Scout is careful, but eventually decides to chew them. Upon learning she is chewing found gum, Jem makes her spit it out. Later, toward the end of the school year, Jem and Scout find two polished Indian-head pennies, good luck tokens, inside the same knothole. The children don’t know if the knothole is someone’s hiding place or if the pennies are a gift, but decide to take them and keep them safely at the bottom of Jem’s trunk.

Dill comes to Maycomb for the summer again, full of stories about train rides and his father, whom he claims to have finally seen. The three try to start a few games, but quickly get bored. Jem rolls Scout inside an old tire, but he pushes so hard that it ends up in the Radley’s yard. Terrified, Scout runs back home, but leaves the tire behind. Jem has to run into the yard and retrieve the tire. Dill thinks Boo Radley died and Jem says they stuffed his body up the chimney. Scout thinks maybe he's still alive. They invent a new game about Boo Radley. Jem plays Boo, Dill plays Mr. Radley, and Scout plays Mrs. Radley. They polish it up over the summer into a little dramatic reenactment of all the gossip they've heard about Boo and his family, including a scene using Calpurnia's scissors as a prop. One day Atticus catches them playing the game and asks them if it has anything to do with the Radley family. They deny it, and Atticus replies, "I hope it doesn't." Atticus's sternness forces them to stop playing, and Scout is relieved because she's worried for another reason: she thought she heard the sound of someone laughing inside the Radley house when her tire rolled into their yard.

Answer 2

while I can't remember off the top of my head what happens in any particular chapter (go to www.sparknotes.com for chapter by chapter summaries) the main themes deal with childhood innocence and race discrimination. A black man is convicted of rape and put to death simply because his accuser is white. The narrator of the story is Scout, a young tom-boy girl whose father is the man's lawyer, and defends him with all his power. I agree with the former, this really is a book worth reading. But if you're having a hard time catching on, sparknotes.com does a pretty thorough job.

Answer 3

To Kill a Mockingbird is a great book. The best thing to do would be to just read the chapters and if you are still really confused, check out cliffnotes.com and they summarize the chapters for you.

Answer 4

I do not feel like going back to the book and looking at what chapters 3 and 4 were about so it would be of much help if you kind of reminded me what they are on.. a little bit of what goes on.. and where you left off.

Answer 5

It's a really boring book. The gist is, in the deep south a black man got accused of either killing or molesting someone, which he didn't do. A white lawyer (Atticus) stood up for him and represented him in court, which caused every other white man to dislike him. He only was doing what he thought was right.

So it's a very racial book, but also about standing up for what you believe in.

Answer 6

It's a coming of age story for a girl in the South. It's got some social injustice stuff and whatnot. You should though read the story.

Answer 7

Turn the computer off and read. This is an amazing book.
Enjoy.

Answer 8

Lazy...do your own homework!

(pssst...get the movie...Gregory Peck was great in it.)

Answer 9

go to www.sparknotes.com