The Thief

[annyeshireen.livejournal.com]

Hello. I will be teaching The Thief to my eighth graders in a few weeks. Because I am just lazy, I was wondering if anyone has made a complete list of the characters (including the gods and godesses)and settings in the book.
I love the recordings of the book, I will use them as well.
I just read the book a few weeks ago and downloaded the other 2 to my Kindle- I finished those within a few days. If anyone has any suggestions on how or what I should do with them, I would love it.

Comments

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Here is a start:

http://eugenides.wikia.com/wiki/Eugenides_Wiki

[thelasteddis.livejournal.com]

Gah! no! we're not ready yet!

Speaking as co-mod of the wikia site, believe things you find on there AT YOUR OWN RISK - a lot of them need a proof read for accuracy and grammar. Quite a few of the articles were written before KoA came out. It will take a while to get the articles to cover all the info anyone would need for an in-depth exploration the QT world.

Speaking of which, anyone who's interested feel free to edit the articles! the more people, the better. The only thing I need to clarify is that if something is a theory, even a widely accepted one such as, "Eugenides learned the sword-catching thing to avoid breaking his oath" be sure to tell the reader that. Thanks, all!!!

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

TLE, I'm working on a list of all the QT characters - as comprehensive as I can make it. I'd been thinking about it as a Summer project for a while and annye's post seems like a good excuse! Interested? I'll let you know when I've got something decent enough to post if you'd like :D

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

I made a list for my sister when she was reading it, but it was for KoA. I'm sure someone here has a great comprehensive list!

This is great! I wish I could read The Theif in school! I think there a LOT of great "prediction" and "inference" and characterization questions and discussions that could take place.
(Not sure if it's in your cirriculum but you could also ask the class to relate the story to acient Greek history (what do the kingdoms of Eddis, Attolia and Sounis have in common with acient Greece (Athens, Sparta, city-states, punic wars, Troy etc.)]

Personally I enjoy doing circle group discussion and everyone is put in pairs/groups given a sheet of paper with 3-5 discussion questions. When the entire class comes together in the big circle the groups presents their questions and everyone shares their thoughts/questions on the subject.

Anyways, I hope that helps a bit! I'd love to hear how it goes!

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

This may also be useful. Someone here drew it, but now I can't recall who...(Speak up, Map Artist!)

http://pics.livejournal.com/tearoha/pic/00004aey

[mandasarah.livejournal.com]

Oh no! That's almost exactly how I pictured it, but Sounis and Attolia are swapped. My mind, she is all confused! Is this a MWT approved map?

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

Hah, when it was posted I think most of us said "OH NOES IN MY HEAD IT IS THE OTHER WAY."

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

Lol
that's what I thought too! Still, it's a pretty aweesome map!!

okday don't laugh but i though your icon said 'i swallowed a hug' and sat here for a couple minutes trying to figure out how that works...

[keestone.livejournal.com]

It looks the right way around to me. I wonder how much the maps in our heads are influenced by where we grew up. I'm a West Coast girl and to me the mountains are East, which on a map with the compass with North pointing up, would mean to the right. And the story starts in Sounis, so in my head heading from Sounis to go over the mountains means heading right on the map.

My brain also appears to have associated the Dystopia with a rain shadow as well as a lava plain. *shrug*

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

*raises hand*

I think you're right about how where we live influences the way we automatically think the world works. When I moved away to University this year, I was forever losing my sense of direction and trying to get onto trains going the wrong way because the mountains in my new home were on the 'wrong' side.

I worked out the compass directions as best I could from the directions given in the books, mostly in TT, but a few from QoA and KoA as well.

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

(Love your icon! I remember that moment... haha. River is the best.)

[keestone.livejournal.com]

Huh. That's close to the way I pictured it, so it doesn't seem swapped to me. Although the direction of North there is a bit confusing.

[deirdrej.livejournal.com]

Gee, That's funny! It looks the right way round to me (and I am from the east coast). But I think that's because I somehow associate Attolia with Anatolia. Or Troy, or something ;-D

I can't wait to see the "real" map!

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

LOL NO! It most certainly is not. When the new map comes out, I expect to be proved utterly wrong about EVERYTHING. Them's the breaks...

[annyeshireen.livejournal.com]

Thank you!! It all has helped... If anyone thinks of anything else please let me know.

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

Your eighth graders are very, very lucky.

[kulai-raito.livejournal.com]

..and they can certainly use mwt new website(great time to put it up) to write up the biography about the author..lucky 8ers

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

Dannybailey set up a comm (The Magaron, linked to on the Sounis sidebar) to act as a kind of encyclopaedia, and one of her projects was a character list, but I don't think it really got off the ground, and so far as I know no-one's made a list as yet. I've been thinking about one, though - it could be this year's Summer project :D

[annyeshireen.livejournal.com]

The magaron doesn't have anything yet, but that may be something I can do with the boys when we finish the book. I see all the comments regarding the map, but isn't that what reading is all about. That is why I do not like going to the movies of books I read. I didn't see Harry Potter for several years after I read it. I didn't want it ruined. I e mailed M and asked her for Gens age and she wouldn't tell, and I am glad, it makes it so much mor fun for me as a reader.
If anyone has anything else to offer, ideas ect.. are very welcome!!
K

[thelasteddis.livejournal.com]

Find some greek cheeses and yogurt and have a picnic in the classroom?

Or you could do something to do with the narrative style. Maybe have kids chose a paragraph or passage that they particularly liked, and read it for the class in character, with the ending in mind. Or if two or more kids wanted to work together, they could read a dialogue. Might want to stipulate that curses should be deleted. ;-)

Of course, I'm at a very arts/acting focused school, so I'm not sure if projects like that are cool at other schools.

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

That's an awesome idea TLE! I ALWAYS did dialogues and reenactments for all my english/lit projects :]

[thelasteddis.livejournal.com]

Alas, I never read TT in class - although apparently the year after I left elementary school the book club read it. Just my luck. But that's what mirrors and video cameras are for, right?