86 pages • 2 hours read
Leigh BardugoA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.
Short Answer
1. In literature, characters often grapple—literally, figuratively, and morally—with the question “What makes a monster?” In what ways might human beings be described as “monstrous”? Consider historical figures that match that term. In what ways do they portray “monstrosity”?
Teaching Suggestion: This prompt will be useful in introducing the novel’s theme What Makes a Monster. Students might begin by listing characteristics of well-known “monsters” such as mummies, zombies, werewolves, vampires, and Frankenstein’s monster. After responding to the prompt, students can meet in pairs and analyze the monster characteristics they brainstormed against the historical figures they consider “monstrous” to discuss any comparisons that might be made.
By Leigh Bardugo