Chapter one starts off with the narrator (Scout) talking in past tense about when Jem broke his arm, this is a slight introduction to the character that is the older brother of the narrator. We learn that Jem likes football and that when his injury healed, Jem was very self conscious because his left arm is longer than the other. The banter about this injury is an introduction to the story. It is also mentioned how the characters are southerners, and how the Finches came to be. The narrator speaks of her fathers job profession, how his last clients got hung, even though Atticus's efforts had gotten them the chance to be free on the condition that they admitted to guilt of the crime they'd been accused for. That short story has importance to the book because Atticus's 'profound distaste' in criminal law was because of that case (this is mentioned because later on this shows what type of person Atticus is when he accepts Tom's case [even though he dislikes this type of case] and the reasons he agrees to be Tom's lawyer). Then the (fictional) town in which the book is set is mentioned, author Harper Lee uses a paragraph to describe Maycomb. I think this paragraph can truly make you picture what Maycomb and it's people are like: "Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the court-house sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then; a black dog suffered on a summer's day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings od sweat and sweet talcum." -page five. This paragraph shows use of similes, sibilance, alliteration, imagery, great use of adjectives and repetition to put a real emphasis on what the author is trying to say.
I also think this paragraph gives an excellent description of the what it was like to live in the a time of the great depression in Maycomb: "People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything. A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people; Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself." -page six.
In this chapter Calpurnia the Finch's negro maid is introduced into the story. It is explained how her relationship is with Scout, how harsh Cal is on her. The audience also learns more personal things about the Finch's, that Jem and Scout's mother died, how Scout didn't miss her mother because she didn't even know her, but that Jem longed for her to still be alive but didn't really open up much about his feelings towards his mother. The neighbours are also mentioned the Radley's are very mysterious and Mrs Dubose is just plain rude. After the town and family is described the story finally starts talking about the summer that Scout and Jem meet Charles Baker Harris 'Dill' and the mischief they all get up to together involving taking a visit to the mysterious Radley house.
I also think this paragraph gives an excellent description of the what it was like to live in the a time of the great depression in Maycomb: "People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything. A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people; Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself." -page six.
In this chapter Calpurnia the Finch's negro maid is introduced into the story. It is explained how her relationship is with Scout, how harsh Cal is on her. The audience also learns more personal things about the Finch's, that Jem and Scout's mother died, how Scout didn't miss her mother because she didn't even know her, but that Jem longed for her to still be alive but didn't really open up much about his feelings towards his mother. The neighbours are also mentioned the Radley's are very mysterious and Mrs Dubose is just plain rude. After the town and family is described the story finally starts talking about the summer that Scout and Jem meet Charles Baker Harris 'Dill' and the mischief they all get up to together involving taking a visit to the mysterious Radley house.