Literature circle book The Maze Runner By: James Dashner

1. Literature circle bookThe Maze RunnerBy: James Dashner Kristen Banks

2. S The mine shaft The first setting that is introduced to us in ‘The Maze Runner’ is a large, lightless metal room. It seemed to be like a mine shaft with chains and pulleys. This shaft hung by a chain and pulled upward. At the times that the shaft jerked upward, the shaft swung back and forth. The sent of burnt oil floated in the air. Several times in this book does the box come into play. Major parts take place around this strange, deep, dark hole in the ground, therefore, this setting in very important. I think this picture represents the ‘large lightless box’ because the box was described as a dark deep hole, like a mine shaft, above, this is a dark deep hole, that is a mine shaft.

3. S The Maze When the walls closed on the Glade, the maze seemed to wear a veil of darkness. The maze is what is outside of the Glade, filled with passages and corridors. All sign of light had completely disappeared. Looking at the walls from the maze, they were mammoth, like enormous tombstones in a weed infested cemetery. If someone had reached out, and touched the walls, they would feel like sandpaper. The maze is the fist most important setting in The Maze Runner. This is where Thomas, the main character finds qualities that he hadn’t known about himself until. The main rule of the Glader’s is to never leave the Glade, Thomas has to break this rule to find himself. There are two major parts in the book where the Maze is the setting, one including a war. I think this picture represents the maze, because it is a maze, confusing, and hard to complete.

4. S The Glade The Second most important setting that is introduced to us is the Glade itself. The Glade is the center of the maze, where all the Glader’s live there life. The Glade is the most important setting because it is where most of the main events take place. The glade is a vast courtyard, were four enormous walls made of stone surround everything inside it. The walls are extremely high, about 100 feet. Each wall had a split in the exact middle, beyond this were several passages and corridors. The ground is made of huge stone blocks, and the sky is cloudless and blue. From the sky came light, but there is no sign of a sun. The sent of freshly turned dirt, pine, something rotten, and something sweet. All of these details are mixed together to make the completion of the maze. I think this represents the glade because it is a clear, realistic drawing that looks just like the description given.

5. C Thomas This represents Thomas because it is a clear drawing of Thomas just as described. In The Maze Runner, Thomas is first introduced to us when he is in the mine shaft. This part of the book shows us that he hadn’t any memory, or clue as to what he was doing, or where he was. His memory had been wiped. Not only was Thomas frightened, he is brave, heroic, quick thinking, and curious. We are introduced to these qualities throughout the book. Thomas possessed brown hair and a height of 5’9. We are told that he looks about 16 of age, and later that he is named after Thomas Edison. While Thomas has several strengths, his main strength would be intellect. His intelligence gets him out of some nasty spots. Thomas is the main protagonist. This is because his mind is set on saving the people in the Glade and he can not leave a man behind. He isn’t selfish, and he isn’t trying to destroy anyone who disagrees with his thoughts. Obviously, Thomas is a major character, this is due to his recurring part in the book. Throughout the book, Thomas stays with choices, he had always wanted to be a runner, and he has always had the same thoughts of the maze itself. This makes him static.

6. C Teresa Even though Teresa is introduced to us in the middle of the story, she is still major. She was the only girl ever to enter the maze, and she had come with a note from the ‘creators’ saying that she was the very last one. When she entered the maze, she was in a coma, for weeks even, but eventually wakes up. When she does, she and Thomas both realize that they have certain powers that react with each other, showing they have the same thoughts, and the same feelings about almost everything, making her a protagonist, and static. The description given to us was; she was thin, maybe 5’6. she looked like she could be 15 or 16 years old, and her hair was tar black. Her eyes were burning blue, and often described as beautiful. I think this represents Teresa because the looks in this picture matches the description given almost perfectly.

7. C Alby In the Maze Runner, Alby is considered the ‘leader’ of the Glader’s. He is described as a clean shaven 17 year old boy, dark skinned with short cropped hair. Late into the story, we are told that he was named after the great Albert Einstein. At a point in the story, Alby struggles to survive inside the maze, but is saved by the main character, Thomas. Alby is one of the characters that were Introduced to us in the beginning, and stays with us to the end. For this reason, he is a major character. While he was in the maze, he was ‘stung’. Meaning one of the creatures that lurks in the maze got him, and injected a weird fluid, to kill him. Lucky for Alby, Thomas got him back in time to be saved, and he went through what they call the changing. He got his memory back and changed his mind about everything he has ever known; including Thomas. This makes him dynamic. Alby is also a protagonist because with Thomas, all he wanted is to save the Gladers’s from the maze.

8. C Minho Minho is a major character that is introduced to us in the middle of the story. Thomas first meets him when Minho comes running in, and yelling about a dead griever. Minho posses strong arms, showing he as athletic and short black hair. His olive completion went along well with his older look. Older than most of the Gladers. Minho is definitely Static, for his thoughts on everything, and the way he reacts to everything stays the same throughout the story. Minho is the maze runners, proving how athletic he really is. I think this represents Minho because the description given in the book matches this picture.

9. C Chuck In The Maze Runner, Chuck is the youngest of of the Gladers. He possesses short brown hair, and blue eyes. Even though Chuck is a friend of the main character, Thomas, he is considered a minor Character. Chuck is short and pudgy, and about 12. At a point in the story, Chucks mind becomes set on everything he has every thought, therefore, he is static. Towarsds the end, he along with the rest of the Gladers go into battle for the good, so he is a protagonist. I think this picture represents chuck because he is young, like the picture, and the description matches just enough.

10. P Rising action- a point that builds toward the point of greatest interest The first rising action I found in The Maze Runner, is when Thomas first sees the runners and decides that he wants to be one. This is because the fact that Thomas feels like he needs to be a runner, connects him to his past life, giving his vague feelings of remembrance. I think this represents the rising action Because Thomas sees the runner running back into the Glade. In the picture, the runners are running back.

11. P Rising Action The second rising action I found was when Thomas first sees Teresa. Teresa was connected to Thomas very deeply in their past lives, giving Thomas both confusion and comfort at the same time. Even though he can’t remember how they were connected, he knew they were. I think this represents the rising action because Thomas and Teresa were connected somehow, even though they didn’t know how, like the picture, they will always be connected.

12. P Falling action-falling action occurs after the climax has been reached and the conflicted has been solved. The main falling action is when Thomas and the Gladers who survived are inside the corporation, and chuck gets shot. This is because Thomas and Chuck became very close friends, and the fact that Chuck would risk his life for Thomas had touched him. I think this represents the falling action because after chuck risks his life for Tomas, they are connected more than they ever were, even if Chuck wasn’t physically there anymore.

13. P Climax-the highest or most tense point in the development or resolution of something. The climax is when Thomas begins to remember his past. This is because, Thomas discovered qualities about himself that he would never have thought he would possess. This is a breaking point for Thomas, and also for the book itself. I think this represents the climax because it is a picture of someone with an open mind, filled with lots of information, like Thomas when he got his memory back.

14. C The main conflict in The Maze Runner, is being stuck in the Glade. The Gladers have been put there by a group of people, and forced to create a community, and fend off the killing machines known as the Grievers. This conflict is man VS society because they were put there by society. Another conflict would be the last and final Glader, which was a girl. The girl was the first ever girl in the Glade, and she was the last. This was a conflict because the rest of the Gladers didn’t know what was to come. This problem is Man VS fate. I think this represents the final Glader because she was ‘the final cut’.

15. C Another Conflict is The Changing. This is man VS self. The changing is man VS self because when a Glader goes through the changing, their memory is coming back, causing them to fight against the pain that they are conflicting on themselves. This is giving them unwanted information. Also, a conflict that effected the ending of the book, was the doors not closing. This let the evils in the maze through and into the glade, terrifying everyone who lived there. This would be man VS society, because the society that put them there, made the choice of not closing the doors. I think this represents the changing because what they experience changes their whole personality, like painting over the old coat, with a new, much different one.

16. C One of the conflicts in The Maze Runner is the memory wipe. The memory wipe would be considered Man VS Society. This is because a group of people had wiped the Gladers memory and sent them to the Glade. This gave the Gladers the problem of not having enough information. I think this represents the memory wipe because one minute their memory is there, but when you erase it, its gone.

17. T - The subject of a piece of writing or a topic I believe that the theme of The Maze Runner is ‘You can’t do things on your own’. One reason I have to believe this is when Thomas finds a way to escape the maze, they all come together, a total of 42, to fight their way out. “Tonight they’d make their stand, once and for all”(pg. 108) Another reason I have to believe this is when Minho and Thomas were stuck in the maze, they both pulled the stunt to get to grievers to fall off the edge of the cliff. Thomas not Minho could have done that by themselves. I think this represents the theme because they are all together, and they are doing what they do, together.

18. R I believe the main resolution to the main conflict in The Main Runner is, finding the secret code hidden in the maps. The secret code gave them the passcode to the computer in the secret tunnel. Even though this led to yet another conflict, they had solved the maze, and were able to break free from the tightly clutched hands of their creators, for now. I think this picture represents the resolution because they used the maps to find their way out.

19. CITATIONS FOR PICTURES • http://www.hfd4.com/ • http://dystopiandaze.wordpress.com/ • http://media-cache-lt0.pinterest.com/upload/106608716149208001_g0XpYGv2_b.jpg • http://th04.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/234/9/7/maze_runner__thomas_by_idasouth-d5c2ezc.jpg • http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2ppb7ZBeP1rqbpq6o1_1280.jpg • http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9mxlj9Bal1r46f4yo6_250.png • http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9c9t1jaNK1rbkx25o6_250.png • http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9c9t1jaNK1rbkx25o1_250.png • http://bit.ly/23LihH • http://ebizdocs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_0002.jpg • http://www.colourbox.com/preview/2096878-232689-round-of-peoples-as-a-friendship-symbol.jpg • http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tAUGPv05ZNo/T87GQ2dJjXI/AAAAAAAACNQ/sPEkfNYJ0K8/s1600/memory+wipe+chalk+board.jpg • http://api.ning.com/files/w3vIIvgIdO5eOSLDEToaBHCMp67Pyd5GmYdwGNVYc-6xwDf6AT*tZYGAWsannu1PoYZjn09roFcaUxZ1-22pTXDQu0SVZJVl/change.jpg • http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/745/031321_44.jpg • http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/file404/file4041203/file404120300085/12715266-conceptual-illustration-of-a-open-minded-man-departing-from-the-idea-of-the-head.jpg • http://www.liesyoungwomenbelieve.com/assets/images/couple%20bonded%20together.jpg • http://www.changerus.com/images/bonded%20teams.gif