The Westing Game
By Ellen Raskin
About the Author
• Ellen Raskin was born in 1928, in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• As a student at the University of Wisconsin, she studied
journalism and fine art.
• She later moved to New York where she was a
freelance illustrator of magazine book publishers. She
primarily designed book covers.
• In 1966, she wrote and illustrated a children’s picture
book, Nothing Ever Happens on My Block.
• In all, she wrote four young adult novels; The Westing
Game, a Newberry winner and published in 1978, was
her last.
• She suffered from a rare and painful connective tissue
disease and died in 1984, at the age of fifty-six.
Genre
• The Westing Game is a mystery.
• What do you know about mysteries?
K
(What I know
About a mystery...)
W
L
(What I want to know
about a mystery…)
(What I learned
about a mystery…)
H
(How will you find out?)
The Westing Game is a written in the
tradition of a “cozy mystery.” In this
type of mystery, characters work
together as amateur detectives to
solve an elaborate puzzle (or play a
game). While characters may feel they
are placed in jeopardy, they are
actually relatively safe as the mystery
unfolds. Most characters are likeable
but often quirky.
Elements of a Mystery
evidence
Predict-O-Gram Activity for
The Westing Game
Work individually to place the 24 terms from
the novel in one of the six categories.
Then work with a partner to share your
information and to explain why you placed
each term where you did.
You may change an answer but do so in a
different color of ink.
Themes in
The Westing
Game
• People are not always who they
appear to be.
(Appearances/Identity)
Theme is the most
important message in a • Money makes people act oddly.
story. It will say something
Money doesn’t always buy
about life or human
nature. Because the
happiness. (money)
theme is a message, it
• America is a land of opportunity.
must be expressed in a
complete sentence.
(Patriotism)
Sometimes the theme
must be inferred through
• There are two types of family –
careful reading and
analysis.
the one we are born into and
the one we choose. (family)
Setting of The
Westing Game
Remember,
setting is the
time, place, and
situation of the
story.
It is an
important plot
element in this
novel.
• Sunset Towers (a modern
apartment building) is
important to how the
characters interact and
perceive each other.
• The Westing House (this
house neighbors Sunset
Towers) is isolated, dark, and
mysterious.
• Lake Michigan, Wisconsin
(cold climate/lake snow
effects) helps set the stage
for being “snowed in,” an
important part of the plot.
Characters in The Westing House
• Authors use direct and
indirect methods to
reveal character traits.
• What do direct
characterization mean?
• Indirect?
• Ellen Raskin matched
the characters for the
“game.” Think about
her motivation for
matching the characters
the way that she did.
• Protagonist: Turtle
Wexler
• Antagonist(s): Sam
Westing (and
others)…you decide 
Point of View in The Westing Game
•
As yourself…who is the narrator?
Can he or she reads minds, and more
importantly, can we trust him or her?
•
First Person (the narrator is a
character in the story…can be quite
limiting…uses first person “I.”)
•
Third Person (uses third person
pronouns)
– Omniscient (the narrator is outside the
story but is all-knowing which allows
the reader to understand the thoughts
of all characters.)
– Limited (the narrator is outside the
story and only shares the thoughts and
ideas of a limited number of characters,
usually only one)
• The Westing Game is
told in Third Person
Omniscient Point of
View.
• This is the perfect
point of view for a
mystery because it
allows Ellen Raskin to
represent the thoughts
of each character at
any time.