4. S In the prominent Brother/Sister Brothers and Sisters
relationship in novel (Jaime &
Cersei), how is control S Why is Daenerys so tolerant of
imposed and manipulated. her brothers violent tendencies
towards her?
S How does this contrast with
the relationship Daenerys and S Why can’t Daenerys stand up
Viserys have? for herself?
S Why does Arya have a deeper
connection with her half
S Why would Jamie and Cersei brother Jon rather than her full
want to kill Bran, a small boy, blooded siblings?
when he was most likely very
confused about what he just S Will Arya or Jon’s differences
saw and didn’t understand ever be accepted by the
what he heard? society they live in?
S Why does Cersei need the
status and power as Queen?
What is planning to do with it?
5. S Does Jon enjoy his life under Ned?
Jon Snow
S What would have happened if
Catelyn accepted Jon as one of her
S Why, after so many own?
years does Catelyn S Will Jon ever fight for his place in
insist on being hostile the Stark family?
toward Jon? S Who is Jon Snow’s mother? Where
is she? Who is she for Ned?
S Why does Jon accept
this from Catelyn S Why don’t Eddard or Benjen Stark
warned Jon of the type of life he
instead of trying to would have to live on the Wall?
gain her trust and
love? S The Night’s Watch meant no family,
and the chance of survival is slim. If
Ned really loved Jon, why did he
S More interestingly, I allow him to join?
wonder how life would
S Does Jon regret his choice to join
have turned out for the Night Watch ?
Jon if Catelyn did
accept him.
6. Sansa’s Relationships
S Arranged marriage: is it
morally right? Are Sansa
and Joffrey too young? S Why is it that Sansa and Arya
are unable to get along with
S But why would the parents each other?
want to force their children
into a marriage, when they
were forced into marriages
that they were and still are
not happy with? S Why would Sandor Clegane(
the Hound) reveal his past to
S Why does Sansa lie to Sansa?
protect Joffrey?
S Why was the Hound so
S Why does Sansa not tell aggressive with Sansa? Why
didn’t Sansa threaten she
the truth knowing that Lady
would tell Septa Mordane?
is going to die for it?
8. Who will you
choose?
There 42 choices available
based on single characters
(Jaime Lannister) or groups of
characters (The women at
Winterfell: Old Nan; Septa
Mordaine).
There are two selections for
each of the eight chapter
characters (Eddard, Catelyn,
Daenerys, Tyrion, Jon, Bran,
Sansa and Arya)
9. S There are character lists on
the tables in front. They are
organized by family, castle, or
country.
S I will call you up in order of
your score. In the case of ties,
we will draw numbers to
determine who goes first.
S When your turn comes, write
your name on the line below
the character you have
chosen.
S Tell me who you have chosen,
so I can mark him or her off of
a list that will show on the
overhead.
S Keep in mind who you want
as we move through the
process, so when it is your
turn, you can choose quickly.
10. Introduce Essay #1
S Essay #1 The Character Analysis
S Write a 3-4-page character analysis essay. You will be graded on
your rough draft, revision, and final copy of this essay.
S To analyze a character, you must find out what makes him or her
“tick” by looking at social, behavioral, physical, and mental or
emotional traits. You also must examine how the author presents
those traits through actions, words, thoughts, looks, and reactions.
Select a character and write an essay answering one of the following
questions about him or her. Feel free to use the character for which
you are the analytical authority. You are not, however, limited by this
for your character analysis essay.
11. S TOPIC 1: Not all supporting characters play an
integral role in a story; however, sometimes a
minor character is so important to the novel that
the theme, plot, protagonist, or antagonist would be
greatly changed if that character did not exist.
From A Game of Thrones, analyze a minor
character that plays a significant role. Write a well-
developed essay in which you analyze the
character and explain why he or she is a significant
character in the work. Be sure to use specific
examples and quotations to support your claims.
12. TOPIC 2: A dynamic character is one who
changes or grows emotionally or psychologically
from the beginning of the novel until end. Many
novels have multiple dynamic characters. Choose
one character from A Game of Thrones and write a
well-developed essay in which you prove that he
or she is a dynamic character. Be sure to use
specific examples and quotations to support your
claims.
13. TOPIC 3: Often a character reflects the culture of
the country in which he lives, that is, he or she
exemplifies the skills, arts, values, beliefs, and
ideals that of a certain people or country. From A
Game of Thrones, choose a character that embodies
the culture of the people he or she represents. In a
well-developed essay, define the culture of one
character and show how that character illustrates
that culture.
14. TOPIC 4: Analyze a character that reveals his or her
personality, ethics, morals, and nature through the
challenges he or she faces. Think about the different
types of conflict that exist. Conflict can be external,
such as person versus person, person versus nature, or
person versus society. Conflict can also be internal,
for example, person versus self. How does your
chosen character experience conflict during the
novel? Keep in mind how conflict causes a character
to change throughout the course of the story.
15. TOPIC 5: Aristotle's ideas about tragedy were
recorded in his book of literary theory titled
Poetics. In it, he has a great deal to say about the
structure, purpose, and intended effect of
tragedy. His ideas have been adopted, disputed,
expanded, and discussed for several centuries
now. In a well-written essay, analyze a character
from Game of Thrones, arguing for or against his
or her status as a “tragic hero.”
16. One Step at a Time
S Let’s just start by describing our
characters. One rhetorical strategy we
can use to do this is analogy.
S An analogy is reasoning or explaining
from parallel cases. In other words, an
analogy is a comparison between two
different things in order to highlight
some point of similarity.
17. S Despite similarities, an analogy is not the same as a
metaphor. According to The Elements of Figurative
Language (Longman, 2002), the analogy "is a figure of
language that expresses a set of like relationships among
two sets of terms. In essence, the analogy does not claim
total identification, which is the property of the metaphor.
It claims a similarity of relationships."
18. An analogy is not quite the same as comparison and
contrast either, although both are methods of explanation
that set things side by side.
You might show, in writing a comparison and contrast,
how San Francisco is quite unlike Boston in history,
climate, and predominant life-styles, but like it in being a
seaport and a city proud of its own (and neighboring)
colleges. That isn't the way an analogy works. In an
analogy you yoke together two unlike things (eye and
camera, the task of navigating a spacecraft and the task
of sinking a putt), and all you care about is their major
similarities. (The Bedford Reader: Bedford/St. Martin's,
2008)
19. Examples of Analogies
S Pupils are more like oysters than sausages. The job of teaching is not
to stuff them and then seal them up, but to help them open and
reveal the riches within. There are pearls in each of us, if only we
knew how to cultivate them with ardor and persistence.
(Sydney J. Harris, "What True Education Should Do," 1964)
S "They crowded very close about him, with their hands always on him
in a careful, caressing grip, as though all the while feeling him to
make sure he was there. It was like men handling a fish which is still
alive and may jump back into the water." - George Orwell, A Hanging
S "Withdrawal of U.S. troops will become like salted peanuts to the
American public; the more U.S. troops come home, the more will be
demanded." - Henry Kissinger in a Memo to President Richard Nixon
20. Examples of Short Analogies
The captain is to his ship as the leader is to his tribe
A fish is to swimming as a bird is to flying
What death is to life, blindness is to vision
What sweets are to a diabetic, water is to fire
What gold is to a goldsmith, iron is to a blacksmith
What cold is to ice, heat is to fire
21. In-class writing:
S Write three or four analogies you might
use to describe or explain your
character. For example, you can
compare your character to a machine,
a plant, another character or person, or
a season. The possibilities are endless.
22. Homework
S Read A Game of Thrones through 400
S Post #6 In-class writing: analogy
S Post #7 Describe your character; include page
numbers
•What does your character look like? Include, for example, hair,
eyes, height, weight, build, or other physical characteristics.
• Now choose one aspect of the character’s appearance, a detail
(bitten nails, frizzy hair, a scar) and elaborate on it.
• Write a short scene in which your character is looking in the mirror
or write a short scene in which another character first sees your
character.