The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Robin Walker hour 4
Knowledge (Activity 1)
Wanted Poster- Thomas
Thomas
Estimated Age: 16
Height: Five Foot, Nine Inches
Hair Color: Brown
Thomas left the Glade when Alby and Minho were struggling to get out of the Maze before the doors closed. Thomas was warned not to leave, but chose to exit anyway. Thomas is charged with spending one night in the jail before returning to his normal duties. After serving his time in the jail cell, Thomas will return to work, and begin his training as a Runner.
Comprehension (Activity 2)
Differentiate three emotions:
Thomas shows a lot of anger throughout this novel. He is angry at the Gladers for how they treat him when he first arrives at the Glade. They treat him like an idiot who doesn't know left from right, even though they have all been in the exact same place as Thomas at one point. Thomas is constantly angry that no one has answers about that Glade or the Maze.
Confusion-
There were multiple times throughout the novel when Thomas experienced confusion. When he first arrived in the Glade he was confused because he had no memory of his life prior to coming out of the box. He was also very confused because he was the last male Glader to ever be delivered to the Glade; after he arrived, Teresa was the last person to ever be sent to the Glade. He was very confused because he had this gut feeling that led him to believe that he had known Teresa in his past life. When the Glader's go through the 'Changing', they claim to have seen Thomas while going through it, which made Thomas very curious about his past.
Courage-
Even after Thomas spends a night in the Maze, and sees all of the terrible things it has to offer, he still wants to be a runner, and spend his whole day running through it. Thomas is never afraid to stand up for himself or his friends. He always defends what he believes even against the leaders of the Glade.
Application (Activity 2)
Transfer the main character to a new setting.
Analysis (Activity 1)
Select parts of the book that were the funniest, saddest, happiest, and most unbelievable.
Unbelievable- One of the moments that I thought was the most unbelievable was when Thomas stepped out into the Maze to try to save Minho and Alby. At that point in the book, Thomas had only known the two boys for a little while, yet he was willing to risk his life to attempt to save theirs. Thomas knew that going out into the Maze was against the rules, and he knew about the terrible creatures that he would encounter while in the Maze. I was very surprised that Thomas would be willing to do this for people that were basically strangers.
Happiest- One of the happiest and most exciting moments of the novel was when Minho and Thomas finally discovered the secret to the Maze. This was a very exciting moment because people had been trying to solve the puzzle of the Maze for over two years. After a very short time of Thomas being in the Maze, he was able to help them solve the mystery.
Saddest- One of the saddest moments of this book was when Chuck was shot at the end of the book. Ever since the first day of Thomas being at the Glade, Chuck was a very faithful friend to him. Chuck had a very good outlook on life even though they were all in terrible situations. He always tried to make Thomas feel better when he was anger or sad. When Gally shot Chuck I was very surprised and sad.
Synthesis (Activity 1)
Imagine that you are one of the main characters. Compose a diary of your daily thoughts and activites during three important events in the story.
FIRST DAY- When I was first pulled out of the strange metal box, there were about 50 boys huddled around me, laughing and yelling as if they were having the times of their lives. Finally, one boy, who seemed to be the leader, pulled me out of the box and told the other boys to leave me alone. My first thought was that I had been kidnapped, or put in some kind of prison. What I can't figure out is why I can not remember anything. I can remember vague things, like eating, attending school, having a family, and what the world looks like. But I can not remember specific things like faces or names. I do, however, remember my name. Thomas. It really upsets me that no one is allowed to answer any of my questions until I finish my tour with Alby tomorrow. After chuck told me about the runners, I had this strange feeling of familiarity. Like I had been inside the Glade before. For some reason, I feel like I NEED to be a runner. And that's what I am going to do. I am going to get out of here.
SECOND DAY- Today is the day I was finally supposed to get answers about the mysteries of the Maze. Alby would not answer any of my questions until the end of the tour, but when we got about half way through it, a strange alarm went off across the Glade. Even Alby, the leader of the Glade, seemed to be surprised by the alarm going off. When I asked what the alarm was for, he told me the alarm goes off when the box comes up; once a month to deliver a new boy to the Glade, once a week for supplies. But this wasn't a normal time for the box to be coming up. When we opened the box, a girl was lying inside, looking lifeless. That was the first time a girl had ever been delivered to the Glade. She shot to life and gave us a message, "Everything is about to change." The Gladers think that I have something to do with he because we both arrived a day apart, and when she woke up, she said my name. I don't understand how a girl I had never seen before could know my name.