Broad questions for discussion

AUTHORITY

All teens question authority, it's just their levels of acting upon their questions that varies. Perceptions of authority also varies across cultures, religions, race, regions, etc. This could be a good one that will bring out the opinions of students from different cultures, while bringing them all back together with what they all have in common: they're teenagers.

• The adults in the town treat children in what we would consider an "old school" parental way. The girls at the academy are subject to harsh punishments like being hit and locked in a closet for hours. Students can discuss the purpose in this and how they feel about it. Does this kind of punishment serve a greater good?
• Olana lies to the girls by telling them that the princess would get a fancy house for their family to get them to work harder. Is it okay for an authority figure to do this if has a greater purpose? Students can discuss lies and decide which ones are okay and which ones aren't.
• Miri's father doesn't want her to work in the mines because her mother died there. Students can discuss times that they think parents might be overprotective and decide whether they think it is valid or not.
• Miri questions authority a lot and does not obey it much of the time. Is this okay? Should she have acted differently? Does this make her a hero  overall? When is it okay to defy authority and when is it not?
• What about when Britta's father got her involved in a lie so she would marry the prince?
• Do all people question authority and does authority have its flaws or weaknesses?

Vocabulary

Most of the vocabulary in this book can be defined using context clues, as they aren't really "real" or common words, so context clues could be something great to teach with this book.

1. linder- a brilliant white stone marbled with pale veins of pink, blue, green, or silver (not real)   (p.8)
2. wafted- to float easily and gently on air (p.9)
3. scree- broken rock that appears at the bottom of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders. (p.13)
4. tethers- cords that anchor something, such as an animal or small child, to something else, such as a pole. (p.17)
5. supplication- a humble request; a prayer or entreaty to a god (p.22)
6. gruel- a type of preparation consisting of some type of cereal boiled in water or milk. It is similar to porridge, but is more often drunk than eaten. (p.24)
7. brusque- rudely abrupt, unfriendly (p.42)
8. reverent- showing respect (p.65)
9. tome- large or scholarly book (p.66)
10. unrepentant- showing no sorrow for doing wrong (p.68)
11. plating- braiding (p.78)
12. interlocutor- someone involved in a conversation (p.93)
13. affronted- insulted (p.96)
14. blathered- talked rapidly without making much sense (p.97)
15. jop- a fluty instrument (not real) (p. 99)
16. impudence- shamelessness
17. adament- inflexible (p. 117)
18. dross- waste (p. 152)
19. ruffians- deceitful, brutal, and unreliable persons (p. 162)
20. demeanor- the way people behave on the outside to others (p. 162)
21. grimace- smirk (p. 213)
22. stoically- a manner of enduring pain and hardship without showing feeling or complaint (p. 215)
23. disparaging- insulting (p. 221)
24. cudgels- a short heavy club with a rounded head used as a weapon (p.232)
25. staves- the individual woodstrips that form the sides of a barrel (p.232)
26. despondency- the loss of hope or confidence (p.258)
27. deft- quick and neat in action; skillful (p.264)
28. precarious- dangerously insecure or unstable (p. 281)
29. promenade- to perform the stylized walk of a square dance (p. 287)
30. divination- a forseeing or foretelling of future events (p.295)
31. diligent- performing with intense concentration (p. 308)

Background

Ok...here's our blog! I kept the blog itself under my own account just to keep it more uniform. We will mostly just be posting anyway. If there is something you want to add to the background or anything like that, just send the image or file to me. For the most part, anything you want to add can be done in your posts. I really want a great background and if anyone runs across one, let me know! I will be looking too.