The Characters:
Galifalia: an old woman
with a mysterious past asked to adopt an orphan babe.
Aga: he brings the child to Galifalia and appears from time
to time to look after him.
The Boy, also called Straw: he is a twice-orphaned
street urchin when accepted into the dragon compound to serve Star.
Star: a Luck Dragon living in the Dragon Compound, cared for
by the children of the nobility.
Garth: Dragon Master of the Dragon Compound.
Mali: in charge of the stall boys.
Keg: the Barn Master making sure that everything in the barn
stays in top order.
Flek: cousin to the king, one of the stall boys who loathes
Straw and makes his life miserable.
Colin: the first stall boy to extend friendship to the boy
and remains close to him throughout his stay.
Alis: Colin’s twin sister who works in the kitchens, also one
of Straw’s friends.
Lord Malvise: an ambitious warrior-king who wants to battle
Star to increase his fame.
Questions for Discussion
-
Why does Aga bring the orphaned boy to Galifalia?
As she says, she’s old and won’t see him to manhood. Why isn’t
Aga worried about this?
-
Do you think Aga is a wizard or just a meddling
old man? How can you tell which he is?
-
What keeps the boy coming back every day to stand
before the great gates? Imagine and describe the life he is
living on the streets and the people he has to deal with.
-
Describe life in the dragon compound. Add your
own details.
-
Would you like to live there? Why or why not?
-
Have you ever lived in or visited a place that was
self-contained and well organized (such as a vacation village, a
farming village, a small town, a cruise ship)? Tell about your
experience. What did you like about it? What did you not like
about it? Would you like to go back, and for how long? What
would make it the perfect place for you?
-
Why doesn’t Flek like this newcomer? Have you
ever seen a newcomer in your class or neighborhood treated with
the same scorn or indifference? What was this person like and why
do you think he or she was treated this way? Has it happened to
you? What’s your story?
-
Have you ever been bullied by a group of other
children? Have you ever seen it happen to someone else? Describe
your experience.
-
Why do you think Colin extends friendship to the
boy? What was the risk he was taking? Have you ever known anyone
like Colin? What was he or she like?
-
We don’t get to see much of what girls do in the
dragon compound, other than Alis who works in the kitchen. Why do
you think girls are not working in the barn like the stall boys?
Do you think they should have been allowed to clean the barn as
well as the boys? What other work do you think the girls are
doing there? If you were living at the dragon compound, what work
would you like to do there? What work would you absolutely want
to avoid?
-
Do you think it’s fair that the boys have to work
in the afternoons? Why? What extra work would you volunteer
for? Why?
-
Do you think it’s fair that Alis gives Colin and
Straw treats? How do you think the other children felt? Do you
think others had their own ways of getting a special treat? How?
Have you ever gotten a special treat and felt you had to hide it
so others wouldn’t see it? Tell your story.
-
What do you think Star is doing in the evenings
when he soars above the compound singing?
-
What do you think of the meals they eat at the
compound? What seems to be missing from them? What would you
add? What would you take away? Why do you think so much of their
food is served in bowls? Why so many soups and stews? Why not
pizza on Tuesday and mac and cheese on Thursdays?
-
Flek’s attempt to make fun of the boy results in
his nickname. What do you think of his nickname? Does it fit
him? How would you feel if you were only called “girl” or “boy”?
What nickname would you have given the boy? Do you have any
nicknames? What are they and how did you get them? If you’ve had
more than one, which are your favorites? Which don’t you like?
Why?
-
Straw wonders if it was only a coincidence that
Star moved over at his request. Have you ever sensed that an
animal understood what you were asking it to do? Describe your
experience. Have you ever experienced this with a wild animal?
What happened?
-
Did the autumn procession festival remind you of
any town or school festival you’ve been to? Describe your own
experience.
-
Straw feels that the other boys in the compound,
even his friends, give him a hard time over what happened during
the procession. How do you think they could have reacted that
would have made it easier for Straw? What could his friends have
said that would have helped him figure out how to react to this
event?
-
Flek baits Straw into reacting. Have you ever
been taunted by someone to the point of reacting with your words
or getting physical? Have you ever been the one to do the
taunting? Tell your story.
-
Garth puts Straw on the spot to prove himself, and
the results change his life. What do you think Garth would have
done if Straw had failed? Have you ever been put on the spot like
this? Were you able to prove you could do what you were asked?
Tell your story.
-
Straw spends long hours alone with the dragon
scrubbing Star all over. What would it be like doing this every
day? How would you feel? Have you ever had to do a job that was
monotonous? What was it and how did you keep your spirits up?
-
To Straw’s great surprise, Star can talk and he
can understand the dragon’s speech. If you were in Straw’s
position, what conversation would you have with the dragon? What
questions would you ask? Imagine that conversation and give
Star’s answers.
-
Straw sneaks out in the night to go visit Star in
the barn. Have you ever snuck out of bed when your parents or
sitters thought you were asleep? Tell your story.
-
Star tries to get the boy to realize that he is
descended from a race of people known as the Dragon Tamers. What
is your lineage? Who are the people you descend from on your
mother’s side? On your father’s side? How is each side alike?
How is each side different? How do you see yourself as a
combination of both sides? Do you have an affinity (an
attraction) more to one side than the other? Explain why.
Activity: collect pictures of your parents when they were young.
Then pictures of your grandparents. Go back as many generations
as you have pictures. Then get photos of your brothers and
sisters. Now make a collage, like a big funnel, leading down to
you.
-
Star begins to teach Straw how to fight. The boy
is delighted to do this because he is attracted to the knights and
fantasizes that one day he could become one. Are there any skills
that you would like to learn and wish you had a skilled teacher to
take you on as an apprentice? Tell what that is and why you want
to learn that skill.
-
You are learning a lot of new things at this time
in your life both in school and outside of school. What do you
enjoy learning the most? What do you enjoy the least? Why do you
think you don’t enjoy learning them? What makes them boring or
hard? Is there something you enjoy learning, but it is hard to
learn and you struggle? Why do you like learning it anyway?
-
Throughout his stay in the dragon compound, Straw
expresses how much he likes the food. What are your favorite
foods? Who prepares food just the way you like it (parent,
grandparent, aunt, uncle, restaurant)? What makes it perfect for
you? What foods give you the strength to work even harder? What
foods do you like just because they comfort you and taste good?
-
Flek accuses Straw of lazing around with the
dragon on their outings to the river. Have you ever been accused
of goofing off when you were actually working hard? How did it
feel? Did you defend yourself? What was the reaction? Tell your
story.
-
Straw and the dragon fail in their attempt to
dissuade Lord Malvise from wanting to fight with Star. In fact,
Malvise becomes even more interested in battling with the dragon.
How would you have done it differently so that Malvise would go
away and leave them alone?
-
Straw can’t get Corin to listen to what he
observed about how Malvise fights. Have you ever seen something
others didn’t notice? Did you try to get someone else to see it,
because it would be important, but you were ignored? Tell your
story.
-
Straw finally gets caught fighting with the
dragon. Star knew it couldn’t go on forever. What if they had
never been caught? How would the story have gone?
-
Why did Garth never tell him until the end that he
knew what was happening? Why did Aga never reveal himself until
it was too late? What was their motivation? How would it change
the story if they had told Straw they knew?
-
It is a big moment when Aga and Garth dress Straw
as a knight, give him a horse and a new name. How do you think he
is feeling? Have you ever felt that way before? Tell your story.
Topics for Research and
Discussion
Topic #1: Dragons in
Literature
Dragons have been
written about since earliest times.
-
What are the earliest references to dragons you
can find?
-
How are dragons usually depicted in western
literature?
-
How are they viewed in the orient?
-
Compare and contrast the view of dragons in the
west and in the orient.
-
What other books about dragons have you read?
Compare them to this book.
-
Here are several art projects:
a. Do you like to draw? The Dragon Boy offers
one artist’s conception of what Star looks like.
What is yours? Draw Star flying over the compound. Draw
Straw scrubbing Star in the river. Draw them sparring together.
Create your own scenes.
b. Do you
like to make models? Take some clay, beeswax or plasticene (a
type of modeling clay that does not dry out) and make a
3-dimensional model of Star.
c. Go
big! Make a large papier-mâché model of Star and paint it.
d. Make a
3-dimensional model of the Dragon Compound with open or
partially open roofs to see the interiors of the spaces. You can
show Star lying in his barn.
Topic #2: Fantasy
Literature
-
What characteristics identify this book as fantasy
literature? Is it just the dragon, or are there other details?
What are they? What qualities make a fantasy book different from
science fiction? From general fiction?
-
What other fantasy novels or stories have you
read? How do they compare to this book? How are they alike? How
are they different?
-
A fantasy book creates a world similar, yet
different from our own. How is the world in this book similar to
our own? How is it different?
-
What is your perfect fantasy world? What does the
land look like? How do the people live? What do they do? Who do
they have contact with? What creatures live there that we don’t
have in our world? How is your perfect fantasy world different
from our world? How is it alike?
Topic # 3: The Hero’s Quest
From the time people
first began telling and recording stories, one dominant theme that
appears over and over again is the Hero’s Quest. This archetype has
elements that emerge in a recognizable form in each story. Some
elements may be emphasized, others barely mentioned, and the order a
bit jumbled, but they are generally all present in one shape or
another.
Joseph Campbell in his
book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, explains these steps as
the hero’s journey. Here is the outline of those parts. Find
correlations to events in The Dragon Boy.
1. Departure
The Call to Adventure—the hero is called (by
outer or inner forces) or forced to leave familiar surroundings.
Supernatural Aid—the hero is aided by a being (or
beings) with powers beyond the normal.
The Crossing of the First Threshold—the hero
leaves behind everything familiar and enters “unknown territory.”
Whereas this territory may be barren of life or a crowded urban
setting, it is a new experience for the hero.
The Belly of the Whale—the hero is separated from
his or her companions and returns transformed in some way with
special powers.
2.
Initiation
The Road of Trials—the hero is faced with a
succession of tests.
The Ultimate Boon—the hero is given a gift, although
its greatest advantage may only be understood later.
3.
Return
Crossing of the Return Threshold—like the first threshold, the
hero now re-enters the world left behind at the beginning. The
special powers gained in the belly of the whale section may have
been used in the initiation phase, or they become only evident now.
Master
of Two Worlds—how has the hero’s journey prepared him to live
a different life upon his return? What gifts does he bring
with him? How is he transformed?
In The
Dragon Boy investigate each of these moments in the hero’s
journey. How do they relate to the boy and his adventure? Are
there places where the outline and the story do not match up? Where
is the order different? Are there elements more strongly emphasized
and other elements left vague? How is the end of the book like
beginning the cycle all over again?
Topic #4 Women in The
Dragon Boy
-
Women do not have a large presence in The
Dragon Boy. What role do women play in the book? Although
their role is not emphasized, is their presence important or
simply taken for granted? How would the book be different if they
were left out altogether?
-
Do you find that the women and the girls play an
equal role to the men and the boys? What does equal mean? Equal
jobs or equal respect and opportunity? Do you detect prejudice
against them? Examine these questions in relation to the Dragon
Compound in Nogardia. Examine them as well in relation to your
school or your community.
-
How would you like the women to be depicted
differently in the book? What expanded role, if any, would they
take? What different characters or situations would you add? Go
into detail.
Topic # 5 Social Systems
-
The Dragon Compound is run like an independent
town, providing for its own needs. Describe what you understand
about its daily functioning. What does it all revolve around?
Who is in charge? Is one person in charge of everything? Are the
workers and masters answerable to anyone else? Does it run
smoothly? What aspects are run efficiently? What aspects are not
efficiently run? What is the motivation of the people who live
there to keep it running well? Where could the system possible
break down? What would happen to the compound when the dragon
leaves? Would you like to live there? Why? What role would you
like to take on if you lived there? Imagine yourself in that role
and describe a day in your life living at the Dragon Compound.
Describe a week or a whole season. Now take a vacation day and
enjoy a festival procession.
-
The stall boys are cautioned never to fight in the
presence of the dragon. Otherwise, they are left pretty much to
work things out among themselves. Straw has to endure hazing and
pranks. Why do you think that was so? Why could the Masters not
prevent Flek and his companions from playing pranks on Straw?
Have you ever experienced any social context similar to this?
That is, someplace where you knew you could not get away with
treating one another poorly, but in other contexts it was easier
to do. How does this relate to your experiences in school? Be
specific.
