1. The document outlines a class discussion on character analysis in A Game of Thrones. Students are placed in teams and will discuss their character analyses. 2. The class will choose from 5 essay prompts focusing on different aspects of character analysis like whether a character is minor but significant, dynamic, embodies their culture, reveals their personality through conflict, or can be considered a tragic hero. 3. Outlines are provided for developing theses for each prompt to help students choose which one to write their essay on. The outlines also guide students in developing their arguments and including specific examples.

2.  Teams
 In-class writing: What defines your
character?
 Group Discussions
 Choosing your prompt
 Formulating a tentative thesis
 Outlining your essay
 Introductions: Writing a directed summary

3. 1.
For the rest of the quarter, we will use teams to
earn participation points. Your teams can be made
up of 3 or 4 people.
1.
The teams will remain the same through the
discussion of material for one essay.
2.
You must change at least half of your team after
each essay.
3.
You may never have a new team composed of
more than 50% of any prior team.

4. The first team competition starts today and
consists of two class discussions based on
writing essay #1, practicing rhetorical
strategies, and one class period dedicated to a
library visit and activity: Class 8 (next
Thursday).

5. Sit with your
team
members in
class to
facilitate
ease of
group
discussions

6.  Point accumulation
starts today, so make
sure one of your team
members is tracking
points.
 Make sure your name
(first name, last initial)
is on the team point
sheet.
 Total the points for your
team and write the
number at the top of the
page.

7.  Points will be earned
for correct answers to
questions, meaningful
contributions to the
discussion, and
provocative questions.
Each team will track
their own points, but
cheating leads to death
(or loss of 25
participation points).
 Answers, comments,
and questions must
be posed in a manner
that promotes
learning. Those who
speak out of turn or
with maliciousness
will not receive
points for their
teams.

9. How do others perceive
your character?
How does your character see
him or herself?
If there is a difference, what
causes it?

10. What makes your character who he or she is?
Write out brief answers that explain or defend
his or her behavior and actions. Consider
these influences:
Culture
Family history
Personal history
Class/Occupation/Ass
ignment
Gender/Sex
Aspirations

11.  Write at least three questions that you would like to
ask other characters in your group. For instance, you
might ask why a character treats your character a
certain way, or you might ask about the motivation for
an action or behavior.
 Choose questions that will shed light on their
motivations and behavior. Try to make others question
their characters’ integrity, ambition, or other
motivation.
When we get into groups, these questions
will be the fodder for your discussion
today.
Jot down any discoveries you make about
your character.

12.  Team 1





Danerys: Nancy N
Danerys: Albert X
Khal Drogo: Joanne Tran
Viserys: Joanne Trinh
Ser Jorah: Richard W
• Team 4
• Tyrion: Michael
• Catelyn: Sayumi
• Jon: Eric N
• Bran: Jules
 Team 2
 Eddard: Anchit
 Robb: Christian
 Arya: Aleks
 Bran: Julian
• Team 5
• Tyrion: Sharang
• Jon: Nicole
• Catelyn: Jenna
• Samwell: Edwin B
 Team 3
 Robert: Mohamad
 Eddard: Tao
 Sansa: Phoung
 Petyr: Sharon C
 Arya: Sabrina M
• Team 6
• Cersei: Natasha
• Sansa: Cassie
• Sandor: Jason L
• Varys: Heng L

13. In your groups,
discuss your
characters. Use
the writing you
have done so
far—that we did
in class today and
whatever other
writing you feel
appropriate—to
drive your
discussion

14.  Is he or she a minor or major character?
 Does your character grow during the
novel?
 Does your character reflect his or her
culture in a significant way?
 Does your character suffer internal or
external challenges that reveal his or her
ethics, morals, or nature.
 Could your character be read as a tragic
hero?

16. 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.

17.  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.

18.  TOPIC 3: Often a character
reflects the culture of the
country in which he or she
lives, that is, he or she
exemplifies the skills, arts,
values, beliefs, and ideals 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.

19.  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.

20.  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 wellwritten essay, analyze a character
from Game of Thrones, arguing for
or against his or her status as a
“tragic hero.”

22. 1. Analyze a minor character that plays a significant role. Write a welldeveloped essay in which you analyze the character and explain why
he or she is a significant character in the work.
2. Choose one character and write a well-developed essay in which
you prove that he or she is a dynamic character.
3. Choose a character that embodies the culture of the people he or she
represents. Define the culture of one character and show how that
character illustrates that culture.
4. Analyze a character that reveals his or her personality, ethics,
morals, and nature through the challenges he or she faces. How does
your chosen character experience and manage conflict?
5. In a well-written essay, analyze a character, arguing for or against
his or her status as a “tragic hero.”

23. Testing your Choice

24.  Your thesis is a statement or theory that you put
forward as a premise to be maintained or proved.
 It is also a map for your essay; that is, it tells the reader
what you are suggesting and why you believe your
theory is true.
 But your thesis does more than help the reader. A
good, clear working thesis (one that may not yet be
beautiful prose but that details your plan) can help you
outline your essay.

25.  [Jon] is faced with a myriad of conflicts, both external
and internal, which come from different sources: his
heritage, his loyalty, and his aspirations –which tackle
different aspects of his life. Jon Snow is the one
character that is constantly challenged to pick sides,
and, as a result, grows from these trials. These
conflicts bring out Jon’s priorities and values and
test his loyalty and result in the growing of Jon
from a distressed kid into a likable and honorable
man who appears to have found a place in this
world.

26.  If you don’t yet know which prompt to address, responding
to a couple of them by writing rough theses might help you
choose.
 Write out a rough thesis for at least one of the prompts: for
example, if you chose topic 4, you might start with “Jon
Snow reveals his personality, ethics, morals, and nature
when he faces his life challenges. He struggles with both
internal and external conflict: life at Winterfell, life as a
bastard, life on the wall, and his struggle with honor,
justice and duty. Jon changes as he confronts each of these
issues, growing from an angry boy into an honorable man
of the night’s watch.”

27.  Of course, this working thesis is in its simplest form.
 You will likely change it significantly as you refine your
thoughts and ideas about your character.
 For example, instead of saying “Jon Snow reveals his
ethics, morals, and nature when he faces his life
challenges,” I would likely assert what kind of
ethics, morals, and nature that he reveals. I might
even limit my thesis to the two most fruitful
categories.

28.  The more I understand about Jon and who he is based
on how he confronts his conflicts, the more specific I
would make my thesis.
 For now, a working thesis and a simple outline can
help you see which questions you can, or want to,
answer.
 They can also help you develop ideas about what you
will write before you launch into your project.

30.  Intro
 Thesis
 Internal Conflict
 Ethics
 Justice/fairness
 Morals
 Struggle with duty on
the wall
 Nature
 Mother/birth
 Wanting to be a ranger
 External Conflict
 Ethics
 Defending Samwell
 Morals
 Catelyn
 Nature
 Direwolves
 Conclusion

31.  Once you have your thesis (or theses
written), start sketching out a
working outline.
 Use your thesis to determine what
you will write.
 As you make your outline, briefly
consider which textual examples you
will use as support.

32. How to write one!

33. • A directed summary provides readers of your
paper with the information they need to
understand your argument and explanation.
• State the title and author of the literary work
near the beginning of the first paragraph,
perhaps in the first sentence. This is essential
so that the reader knows which work you are
discussing.

34. • Hook the reader. In the first sentences, write what is
particularly interesting about the work. This thoughtprovoking information must also be relevant to the
topic you will discuss in your essay.
• Assume that the reader is familiar with the work
about which you are writing. Do not include too much
plot summary in the introduction or in the rest of the
essay. Do include the part of the story that will
support your thesis. This might or might not include
some aspect of your character description

35. Example of the Directed Summary
Approach to the Introduction
In A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, a series of obscure
events in the kingdom’s capitol pulls Eddard Stark of Winterfell
from his comfortable, although icy cold, zone and pits him against
charlatans and a rising coup d’état that threatens the safety of his
family. As this political time bomb ticks, the last surviving
descendants from the previous royal family, the Targaryens, are
scheming up a coup of their own. Amidst all this political
controversy, a particular bastard boy under the name of Jon Snow is
faced with obstacles of his own. Although Jon is the illegitimate son
of Eddard Stark, the lord of Winterfell, he still faces the ruthless
fate that his society’s status quo has chosen for people like him. The
whole novel is rife with conflict; however, Jon Snow clearly
becomes the epitome of conflict and self-reflection.

36. • Use transitions throughout the introduction. Because
there are so many aspects of the work that have to be
included, the introduction can end up fragmented
and confusing. Make sure that it makes sense on its
own as a paragraph. Clearly transition from your
introduction into your thesis.
• State the thesis near the end of the introduction
(your introduction might be more than one
paragraph). The thesis should clearly state what the
essay will analyze/assert/argue and should be very
specific.

37. [Jon] is faced with a myriad of conflicts, both
external and internal, which come from different
sources: his heritage, his loyalty, and his
aspirations –which tackle different aspects of his
life. Jon Snow is the one character that is
constantly challenged to pick sides, and, as a
result, grows from these trials. These conflicts
bring out Jon’s priorities and values and test
his loyalty and result in the growing of Jon
from a distressed kid into a likable and
honorable man who appears to have found a
place in this world.

38.  Begin your directed summary.
 Consider what details you must
include to prepare the reader
for your essay.
 Try funneling your
introduction, that is, narrowing
your topic as you summarize
the relevant parts of the story.
The thesis will be the neck of
the funnel and will direct the
reader to your specific
argument.

39.  Read A Game of Thrones through
page 600
Post #10 Post your working thesis
and outline. Find evidence to
support your points. Include exact
quotations and citations in your
outline.
 Post #11 Directed summary
 Study Vocabulary list #3: Test
next class
 There will be NO WORD BANK