The High Kingdom is a fantasy/adventure novel, which means that it is a fictional novel set in another world. There are different types of beings in this world, (note the List of Races at the end of this section) and the time line of history is not the same as our world.

The term setting means when and where a story takes place.

The High Kingdom is set in The Scattered Realm (see map), a mountainous part of a continent bordered on the east by The Eastern Sea. To the south lies a great desert, to the north "The Frozen Wastelands", which used to be a realm ruled by the evil race of Gnomes, and to the west "The Western Realms", a province of the Scattered Realm made up of rolling plains. The time is comparable to our medieval times, during which lands were ruled by noblemen. In the Scattered Realm, not only noblemen, but military officers and elected officials from among the people all form the governments of the nation and each individual city still loyal to the Prince and His royal cause.

1. What does the term "setting" mean? _______________________________________

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2. Where does this novel take place? _________________________________________

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3. During what age does this novel take place (ie in the future, in the ancient past, etc?)

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4. What kind of government does the Scattered Realm have?______________________

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5. To whom are most of the military and leaders loyal? __________________________

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The main characters in this novel appear in two groups: The Prince's Men and the Foemen. The leader of the Prince's Men is Trodan, General of the Prince's Army and head of the Secret Actions Committee, who has spies keeping tabs on the Foemen in order to thwart their efforts to overthrow the Realm.

The leader of the Foemen is called the Ringleader. He is an unknown spy who runs his own secret operations to undermine the Realm and prepare the way for its overthrow.

Carlton Sparr, a senior Cadet just finishing his officer's training, leads a band of senior cadets to find out who the Ringleader is and to stop him from ruining the realm. There are other characters readers will meet along the way.

In studying literature, one way of discussing characters is to see whether or not they change during the course of the story. If their circumstances change their personalities, or their views on life, or their allegiance to good or evil, then they are called dynamic characters. This simply means they change. If they do not change through the course of the story, then they are simply called static characters. Some novels have one or both types of characters.

1. As you read through the novel, list the main characters you find on a separate sheet of paper.
2. After you have read this story, list whether each character has been a dynamic or static character.
3. Next to which kind of character they are, note whether they are aligned with good or evil.

The term Plot means what happens in the story, the events that transpire. In this novel,

the Scattered Realm has fallen on hard times. It's Prince has been absent for a very long time, so long that many believe him to be dead. The ruling council, made up of nobles, elected officials and the military, tries to hold the realm together until the Prince returns, and to ward off Foemen attacks from across their borders and from within the Realm itself. The council's efforts are being undermined by the Foemen, who serve the arch-enemy of the Prince, the evil one known as The Foe.

Carlton Sparr, a senior Cadet just finishing his officer's training, leads a band of fellow cadets to find out the Ringleader’s true identity and to stop him from ruining the Realm.

The Ringleader and his followers try to undermine everything the Prince stands for, and actively work to prepare the land for "The Great Onslaught", an impending invasion from the Frozen Wasteland to the north by large armies of Foemen.

Theme

One type of story is called an allegory. Look up this word in a dictionary and write the definition here:

1. __________________________________________________________________

This story has elements of an allegory. Look for them as you read it, and write down in paragraph form which parts of the story remind you of a deeper meaning.

The theme of any story is the basic idea that an author tries to convey to readers through the telling of the story. A theme can be written down in a single sentence or phrase. A theme is not necessarily true, but can be an idea that can be debated, or simple a description of life in some way. It may contain elements of an Allegory, as noted above, or not.

Some examples of themes are:

Man is a noble savage. This means the author believes that primative people are basically good. By extension, many authors will conclude that as a society of people advance, they get more evil, perhaps due to greed or hunger for power.

Man is basically good.

Good vs. Evil. (These themes should be self-evident)

2. As you read this novel, write down what you think the theme is here: ____________

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3. What does the term plot mean? __________________________________________

A number of elements go into the making of a writer’s style, and these may change from book to book. This study will include four parts:

Point of view

In simple terms, the author’s voice means who tells the story.

In the first person voice, the author writes as if one of the characters in the book is telling the story to the reader. The story will be full of that character’s feelings and opinions and actions, and is characterised by the use of "I". For example, the writer would say, "I woke up on that dreary morning to the sound of still more rain pattering against my window."

In the third person voice, the author would write as an observer of all the characters in the story who is telling the story to the reader. The story would contain the thoughts and feeling of any number of characters, and would be characterised by the use of "he, she and it". For example, the writer would say, "She woke up on that dreary morning to the sound of still more rain pattering against her window."

It is rare to find the second person voice in a novel, because it directly addresses the reader using "you". This voice is more often used in "how to do" books, like cook books and books explaining how to make things. That author would write, for example, "First, you take the cup of flour and mix it in with the other ingredients."

1. After starting this novel, write here which voice you think the author used in The High Kingdom.

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An author’s point of view is part of an author’s writing style. As the term implies, it means the vantage point from which the story is being told. In this study, we will look at two points of view authors use: omnicient and limited omnicient.

Omniscient means "to know everything." The author using this point of view can relate to the reader everything a character knows and feels, or as much as he chooses to relate.

In limited omniscient, the author chooses to only relate part of what the characters are thinking and feeling.

Which one an author uses will be partly dependent on the voice, for obvious reasons. If the writer uses the first person, the character telling the story will not be able to know what everyone else is feeling, only what he or she can observe about other characters. Thus, the author cannot use omniscient point of view if he uses the first person voice.

Using the third person voice, however, the author can know and relate what all the characters know and think and feel, and may choose either point of view in telling the story.

2. After beginning the story, write here which point of view the author is using:

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3. What does the term voice mean? _______________________________________

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4. What does first person voice mean? ____________________________________

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5. What pronoun would be used most in first person voice? ___________________

1. What kind of writing usually uses second person voice? ___________________

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2. What pronoun would be used most in second person voice? _________________
3. What does the term third person voice mean? _____________________________

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4. What pronouns would be used most in third person voice? ___________________
5. What does the term point of view mean? __________________________________

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6. What does omniscient point of view mean? Give an example. _________________

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7. What does limited omniscient point of view mean? Give an example. __________

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8. Tell which voice can not use the omniscient point of view and explain why. _______

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Pace is the term used to describe how fast or slow the author tells the story. The author may use lengthy descriptions, long sentences or conversations between characters to slow down the rate at which the story unfolds. Conversely, the author may use brief or no descriptions, shorter, punchy sentences or rapid-fire conversations to speed up the story. Most novels vary in pace through the course of the story, and for good reason. The author will wish to set a scene or a mood to give the reader a good sense of the backdrop against which the story will be told. Authors want the reader to "see" in the mind’s eye what they "see", feel something of what they feel, and will use the pace, as well as descriptive language, to convey this to the reader.

Once the action begins, the author will want you to be carried away by what the characters are doing, as in a film, so that you will become engrossed in the story and not want to put it down, at least until the end of the fast-paced scene. Then the author may switch the pace again, perhaps to set up a new scene for you to enjoy, or to take you back to a place and time, and take up again another part of the story that had been left earlier.

As you read this novel, be thinking of how the pace changes, and why you think it changes, for discussion in an essay question later.

As the term implies, descriptive language means how the author uses words to describe the setting, the characters and what happens in the plot. Authors vary greatly in their use of description, and always have a reason for why they use descriptions in the way that they do, such as to alter the story’s pace, or to set a certain style of narration.

For example, one author make use a description to tell the reader what a character’s personality is like, while another will use the character’s conversation and actions instead to reveal what a character is like. Or, one author will use a lot of description of the surrounding scenery to slow down the pace of a story and to add beauty to a scene, whereas another author will only use a limited amount of descriptive language and concentrate more on what the characters are saying, doing and feeling.

In this novel, take note of how the author uses descriptions. You will be asked to discuss this use or lack of it in a later essay question.

1. What does the term pace mean? __________________________________________

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2. What are two reasons that an author may change the pace of a story?

1. __________________________________________________________________

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2. __________________________________________________________________

1. What does the term descriptive language mean? _________________________

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2. What are two reasons why authors may choose to use less or more descriptive language in their stories?

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1. Discuss the writing style of The High Kingdom. Include the following topics:

Point of view, Voice, Pace, and Descriptive language Use examples from the novel to help explain each one of these elements of style.

2. Discuss what you think is the Theme of this novel. Use examples of characters from

the plot to support your opinion.

3. Discuss which of the main characters (if any) were static and dynamic characters. Give reasons for each character.

1. What lessons do you think the author was trying to teach using the novel as an allegory? Discuss at least three allegorical elements you found in the novel, and use them as examples.
2. What do you think the author felt about wars? Use examples from the book to support your opinions.

1. The term setting means when and where a story takes place.
2. This novel is set in The Scattered Realm, a mountainous part of a continent.
3. The time is comparable to our medieval times, during which lands were ruled by noblemen.
4. Noblemen, military officers and elected officials from among the people together form the governments of the nation and each city still loyal to the Prince.
5. Most are still loyal to the Prince.

Teacher will assess this. If teacher has not read the novel, teacher should check the TEST KEY for the answer to this question.

1. Allegory means "a speech or discourse (story) which conveys a meaning different from the literal one."

2. This theme is: "Good Vs. Evil".

3. The term Plot means what happens in the story, the events that transpire.

1. The author used the third person voice in this novel.
2. The author is using the omniscient point of view.
3. The author’s voice means who tells the story.
4. The author writes as if one of the characters is telling the story to the reader.

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5. The author would use the pronoun "I" or "we".
6. Second person voice is often used in "how to do" books, like cook books and books explaining how to make things.
7. The pronoun "you" would be used.
8. The author writes as an observer of all the characters who is telling the story to the reader.
9. The pronouns "he", "she", or "it" would be used.
10. It means the vantage point from which the story is being told.
11. Omniscient means "to know everything." (Examples will vary.)
12. Limited omniscient is where the author chooses to only relate part of what the characters are thinking and feeling. (Examples will vary.)
13. The author cannot use omniscient point of view if he uses the first person voice, because the narrator is one of the characters, and as such, he cannot know what all the other characters are thinking and feeling, and therefore cannot relate them to the reader.

1. Pace is the term used to describe how fast or slow the author tells the story.
2. Two reasons to change the pace of a story are:

1. The author will wish to set a scene or a mood to give the reader a good sense of the backdrop against which the story will be told.

b) Authors want the reader to "see" in the mind’s eye what they "see" and feel something of what they feel.

1. Descriptive language means how the author uses words to describe the setting, the characters and what happens in the plot.

4. a.) to alter the story’s pace, or b.) to set a certain style of narration.

For example, one author make use a description to tell the reader what a character’s personality is like, while another will use the character’s conversation and actions instead to reveal what a character is like. Or, one author will use a lot of description of the surrounding scenery to slow down the pace of a story and to add beauty to a scene, whereas another author will only use a limited amount of descriptive language and concentrate more on what the characters are saying, doing and feeling.

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