9th
The Book Thief
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: 1932 Nazi Germany, Molching
Character: Lisel Meminger, Hans Hubermann, Rosa Hubermann, Rudy Steiner, Max Vandenberg, Isla Hermann (the
mayor’s wife)
Point of View: Third Person omniscient from Death’s perspective
Motifs: Books, Colors
Themes: “Books shed light on bad situations.”
To Kill a Mockingbird
Genre: Personal Narrative
Setting: 1933-1935 Maycomb, Alabama
Character: Scout Finch, Atticus Finch, Jem Finch, Dill Harris, Aurther “Boo” Radley, Mrs. Dubose, Walter Cunningham
Sr., Tom Robinson, Aunt Alexandra, Miss Maudie, Bob Ewell, Mayella Ewell, Zeebo <3
Point of View: First Person flashback from the perspective of Scout as an adult
Motifs: Race, Guilt
Themes: “It’s everybody’s civic duty to help those in need.” “Courage is doing what is right even when it seems
hopeless.” “Garbagemen shed light on bad situations.”
The Odyssey
Genre: Greek Epic Poem
Setting: Various seas throughout the Mediterranean
Character: Calypso, Alcinous, Circe, Cicones, lotus Eaters, Cyclopes, Aeolus, Laestrygones, Eurylochus, Tiresias,
Sirens, Scylla, Charybdis, Antinous, Eurymachus, Telemachus, Penelope, Eumaeus, Philoetius, Athea, Zeus,
Poseidon, Hermes, Helios, Odysseus/Ulysses, the suitors
Point of view: First Person, from the perspective of Odysseus told as a flashback
Motifs: Water, Boats, Temptations
Themes: “Where there is cleverness, courage and pride, there may be recklessness and destructive curiosity.”
Oedipus Rex
Genre: Classical Greek Drama/Tragedy
Setting: Thebes
Characters: Oedipus, Jocasta, The Priest, Chorus, Creon, Tiresias, Laius, Polybus, Merope, Messenger from Corinth,
Shepherd, Palace Official, Antigone, Ismene
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Incest, Prophecy, Marks
Themes: “Do not sleep with your mother.” “You cannot control your own fate.”
Romeo & Juliet
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Verona, Italy
Characters: Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, Mercutio, Benvolio, Lord/Lady Capulet, Lord/Lady Montague, Nurse, The
Apothecary, Friar Lawrence, Paris, Prince Escalus
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Light/Dark Imagery, Opposite Points of View
Themes: “Making rash decisions does not serve one well.”
10th
East of Eden
Genre: Biblical Fiction
Setting: Salinas Valley in Northern California, King City; farm in Connecticut in 1862 to 1920s.
Characters: Adam (protagonist), Cathy (antagonist), Samuel, Liza, Tom, Dessie, Wil, Olive, Cyrus, Alice, Charles, Mr.
Edwards, Lee, Cal, Aron, Abra, Faye, Joe Valery, Ethel
Point of View: Third Person Omniscient
Motifs: Hands, Land, Cain & Abel, Perfection, Marks
Themes: “Timshel (thou mayest).” “Whether one’s life is full of happiness or sorrow is up to the individual.”
The Inferno
Genre: Epic Poem
Setting: About 1300 opening in a dark wood, and then journeying through Hell.
Characters: Dante, Virgil, Beatrice.
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Sins, Suffering, Punishment, Judgment, Death, Damnation
Themes: “Sinning in life leads to suffering in death.”
Merchant of Venice
Genre: Play
Setting: Venice, Italy between 1366 and 1396
Characters: Antonio, Shylock, Bassanio, Portia, Gratiano, Nerissa, Lorenzo, Jessica, Duke of Venice
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Money, Prejudice, Discrimination, Vengeance, Decisions
Themes: “To treat one a certain way is to teach them how to act.”
Things Fall Apart
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Umofia, Africa in the 1890s during colonialism
Characters: Okonkwo, Nwoye, Unoka, Ezinma, Ikemefuna, Oberika, Mr. Brown, Reverend Smith
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Christianity, Colonialism, Yams, Manliness
Themes: “When something new comes into a person’s life, it changes someone forever and causes them to have a
deep commitment to that person.” “Resistance to change engenders destruction.”
Night
Genre: Non-fiction
Setting: Sighet, Transylvania, Auschwitz, Buchenwald, 1941-1945
Characters: Narrator, Elie, Shlomo, Mosche the Beadle
Point of View: First Person
Motifs: Mysticism, Forced Marches, Suffering
Themes: “Humanity can overcome any obstacle.” “Faith in the unforeseeable can lead a person blinded by the night
to overcome any difficulties they may face.”
Animal Farm
Genre: Satire
Setting: Animal Farm or Manor Farm (Symbolic of Russia) in the 1920s to the early 1950s
Characters: Old Major, Snowball, Napoleon, Squealer, Boxer, Clover, Benjamin, Mollie, Moses, Frederick, Pilkington,
Mr. Whymper, Minimus, Pinkeye
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Inequality, Power
Themes: “The allure of greed leads to moral degradation.”
Lord of the Flies
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Uninhabited Island
Characters: Ralph, Jack, Simon, Piggy, Roger, Sam & Eric (Samneric), The Lord of the Flies
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Isolation, Belonging, Savagery
Themes: “Human nature is innately violent and savage.”
11th
The Crucible
Genre: Tragedy, Satire
Setting: Salem, 1692
Characters: John Proctor, Tituba, Abigail, Elizabeth Proctor, Goody, Justice Danforth, Sarah, Giles Corey
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Paranoia, Jealousy, Lies, Deceit, Poppets
Themes: “Jealousy can have disastrous effects.” “Peer pressure can lead to false accusations among other things.”
“The collapse of society is inevitable.”
Scarlet Letter
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: Boston, Massachusetts
Characters: Hester Prynne, Pearl, Chillingworth, Reverend Arthur
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Colors, Rose, Pearl, Gallows, The Letter ‘A’
Themes: “Morality is in the eye of the beholder.”
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: The Mississippi River, Missouri
Characters: Huck Finn, Jim, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn’s Father, The Grangerfords & Shepherdsons, The Duke & The
Dauphin
Point of View: First Person
Motifs: Racism, Rivers, Freedom, Journey
Themes: “A journey can lead to self-discovery.”
Grapes of Wrath
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: Driving to California
Characters: Ma & Pa, Joad, Rose of Sharron, Tom, Dead Grandparents, Casey
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Cars, Loss, Water, Grapes, Wrath, Dying
Themes: “Family is a bond that can never break.”
The Great Gatsby
Genre: Fiction
Setting: East Egg, West Egg, New York City, 1920s
Characters: Gatsby, Nick, Daisy, Myrtle, Jordan, Tom
Point of View: First Person
Motifs: Eyes, Parties, Social Status, Shirts
Themes: “One’s dream can lead to one’s destruction.”
12th
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Wisconsin
Characters: Edgar Sawtelle, Gar, Claude, Trudy, Henry, Almondine
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Friendship, Sign Language, Revenge, Water
Themes: “One must not run away from one’s problems.”
Hamlet
Genre: Tragedy
Setting: Denmark
Characters: Hamlet, Horatio, Gertrude, Claudius, Ophelia, Polonius, Laetres, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern (Ros & Guil)
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Madness, Death, Revenge
Themes: “Do not let anger become madness.”
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead
Genre: Theater of the Absurd
Setting: Denmark, Boat
Characters: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, The Players, see Hamlet
Point of View: Third Person
Motifs: Madness, Lack of Logic, Absurdity
Themes: “Death is too abstract a concept to grasp.”
Wuthering Heights
Genre: Romantic Fiction
Setting: Wuthering Heights, Thrushcross Grange
Characters: Catherine, Cathy, Heathcliff, Isabella, Linton, Mrs. Linton, Nellie, Joseph, Hareton, Hindley, Lockwood
Point of View: First/Third Person
Motifs: Love, Weather, Social Status, Revenge, Money
Themes: “Childhood experiences mold one’s behaviors as an adult.”
Heart of Darkness
Genre: Frame Narrative
Setting: The Congo, London
Characters: Marlow, Kurtz, The Russian, Kurtz’s Fiance, Marlow’s Aunts, The Director, The Cannibals, The Doctor,
The Accountant
Point of View: First Person
Motifs: Jungle, Savagery, Dark & Light, Culture, Knowledge, Stereotypes
Themes: “Society is a savage attempting to tame savages.” “When the conventions of society are taken away, man’s
true nature is revealed.”