The Maze Runner By: James Dashner Brooke Goodwin The Maze Runner By: James Dashner

Setting

S The Glade- In the novel The Maze Runner the glade is where the setting takes place. It is a giant courtyard that is home to about 60 teenage boys. The glade is separated into four sections the Blood House, Deadheads, The Gardens and Homestead. The glade also has the Slammer, The box and the Maze. The gladers have found out that they are in some kind of closed area. The Maze- Inside the glade there are four massive grey stone doors that lead out into the maze. There are the North Doors ,East Doors ,South Doors and West Doors. The inside of the maze changes each day. The Gardens- Where the gladers grow crops. The Blood House- The blood house is where the slicers raise and slaughter animals. It looks like an animal pens and a barn. The Deadheads- An area in the forest where they place all the deceased gladers. Its appearance is dark with many trees and graves.

S The Slammer- The Slammer is a concrete building that is used as the gladers jail. Its appearance described as boring ,and having only one chair and a window. The Box- The box is a metal shaft that is used to bring in the new gladers every 30 days. The box is also used to send request notes to the maze creators.

S This is a depiction of how the glade is set up. I chose this picture because it generally shows how I would expect the glade to look. http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2wspon2Yh1rt7ex3o1_1280.jpg

S This is a picture portraying how the maze doors and a bit of how the inside of the maze looks. I chose this picture because,it is how I would imagine the maze doors to look from how they are described the novel. http://www.philipstraub.com/assets/illustrations/Themazerunner.jpg

Characters

C Thomas- Thomas is the main character in the story The Maze Runner. He is also the main protagonist of the story because he is the person who figures out how to get the gladers out of the maze. He is a rebellious and brave character. Thomas is a dynamic character because he changes from not really knowing what he was doing there to figuring out how to escape the glade. Gender-Male Appearance-Brown hair, 5”9 Job-Runner Age-16 This is how I think Thomas would look based on how he’s described in the novel. http://www.totalfilm.com/features/30-books-that-could-be-the-next-harry-potter/the-maze-runner

C Alby- Alby is another character in The Maze Runner, he is the leader of the gladers. Alby is a minor character He is described by Thomas as being grumpy with a permanent scowl. Alby is a protagonist because, he was trying to escape the glade sacrificed his life thinking it would save the rest of the gladers from being killed that day. He does not change much throughout the novel therefore making him a static character. Gender-Male Appearance- Cropped black hair, clean shaven, with dark skin Job-Leader of The Gladers Age-17 (deceased) This is what I imagine Alby to look like. This actor is a good example of how Alby would look. http://trends-girl-ftv.blogspot.com/2011_12_13_archive.html

C Minho- Minho is The Keeper of the Runners. Minho has a very sarcastic personality and a short temper. He is also very brave because he has to go out in the maze everyday knowing that he could get stung by a griever. He is a protagonist because, he helped the gladers get out of the maze and was trying to escape as well. He is a static character because he does not change majorly throughout the novel. Gender-Male Appearance-Asian, Short Black Hair, Strong Arms, Olive Complexion Job-Keeper of The Runners Age-A bit older than Thomas This is how I would imagine Minho to look. (side note) This singer is actually named Minho in real life. http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/choi-minho?before=1342765257

C Teresa-Teresa is the only girl who was ever sent to the glade. She is a major character and the another of the story’s protagonists even though she was in a coma for the first part of the story. She helped Thomas by giving him information about the glade. Teresa is a dynamic character because she changes from just being a minor character while she was in the coma ,to being a major character after triggering the ending and coming out of her coma. Gender-Female Appearance- Shiny Black hair, Piercing Blue Eyes, Pale Skin, Thin, Beautiful Job-None Age-15-16 This is how I would imagine Teresa to look in real life. This actress has all the features of the character described in the novel. http://mazerunner.wikia.com/wiki/Top_10_list:Dream_Casting:_Teresa

C Grievers-The grievers are one of the story’s antagonists. The grievers live inside if the maze and are controlled by the maze creators. They are minor characters because, they do not come out often but, the gladers do talk about them a lot. The grievers do not change at all in the novel making them static characters. Appearance-Green ,Sluggish ,Half Animal-Half Machine, Metal Spikes, Metal Appendages This is how I would imagine the grievers to look from how they were described in the novel The Maze Runner. http://www.glogster.com/scouto/the-maze-runner/g-6lrskimdt915itu238spoa0

Plot

Rising Action Thomas wakes up in a metal shaft (the box) with no memory of his past and gets welcomed into the glade by the gladers. Thomas later meets Chuck they both hear Ben going through the changing (a painful process that brings back memories and only happens if you get stung by a griever). Chuck and Thomas become buddies and Thomas also see’s a griever for the first time. Alby takes Thomas on a tour of the Glade and tells him about the jobs. Thomas instantly wants to be a runner but Alby tells him that he can’t because it takes a lot of training and he just got there. During the tour a new glader comes and It turns out to be girl. She tells them that everything is going to change and that the end is near which makes the gladers feel suspicious about her and Thomas as well. Thomas goes looking around the glade and ends up in deadheads and Ben who is still going through the changing comes out and bites Thomas on the shoulder. Ben feels that Thomas is bad and should be killed. Alby shoots Ben in the cheek with an arrow and Ben gets banished for trying to kill Thomas. Thomas meets Minho who has found a dead griever. Alby and Minho go into the maze to look at the dead griever and end up staying in the maze too long. Thomas goes in just before the doors close which is against the rules of the glade.

Rising Action-cont. Thomas and Minho figure out how to get out of the maze without being stung but ,Alby gets stung and has to go through the changing. They call a gathering and decide that Thomas can be a runner but Gally is very against the choice. Thomas still has to stay in the slammer for one day for breaking the rules. While going through the changing Alby tells Thomas about his memories but ,when he starts talking about the flare he starts suffocating himself ; Alby tells them he was being controlled when he did that. Thomas then hears the girl talking in his head telling him that the creators sent her as a trigger and that her name is Teresa. Minho helps Thomas train to be a runner and they go to the cliff to find a way to escape the maze. They end up finding a hole that the grievers disappear through. Thomas finds out that the girl is named Teresa ,and that they were both sent there to get them out of the maze. Alby finds out that she triggered the ending and puts Teresa in the slammer. Gally tells them that the grievers will kill one glader each day until they’re all dead and gets “killed “by a griever. Thomas figures out that the maze maps hold a code but soon figures out that that’s not enough information and decides to get stung by the grievers to regain his lost memories.

Climax In the novel The Maze Runner the climax was identified when Thomas regained his memories from the changing and, figures out that they have to go through the griever hole to put in the code. Some gladers decided to go but others stayed back because they thought it was too dangerous. They all go up to the griever hole and end up fighting off grievers, while all this is happening Thomas, Teresa ,and Chuck go down the griever hole and put in the code which makes the grievers shut down. Minho and the gladers that survived jumped down the hole and they all proceeded in going down the hallway. Once they reach the end they are then greeted by the maze creators signaling that they made it out of the maze.

Falling Action The gladers after being greeted by the maze creators they end up in a laboratory. They also find out that Gally who they thought was dead is with them. Gally attempts to tell them that he’s being controlled by the creators but before he finishes his sentence he ends up throwing a knife at Thomas. Chuck dodges in front of Thomas and ends up getting killed. Thomas then beats Gally up for killing his friend. A group of people bust into the laboratory with guns and told the gladers to run. They soon figure out that they were being rescued and get on a bus with the people.

Conflict

Conflict Gally and Minho (Man vs. Man) When the gladers were having a gathering Gally felt that Thomas should not be rewarded for going into the glade and saving Minho and Alby because he broke a rule. Minho thinks that Thomas shouldn’t be punished and that Gally is a hypocrite because he has broken the same rule in the past. They both end up fighting because of their different feelings about what should happen. Thomas and Himself (Man vs. Self) In the novel The Maze Runner, Thomas was conflicted about going to get stung by the grievers so he could regain his memories. He did not know if he was going to get all of the information he needed to figure out how to escape from the glade so he felt conflicted. Thomas and The Gladers (Man vs. Society) In the novel The Maze Runner, Thomas went inside of the maze as the doors were closing which is breaking the gladers number one rule. Thomas went against the rules of the society creating conflict between them.

Theme & Resolution

Theme The theme in the novel The Maze Runner is to always be brave. Throughout the story great bravery and courageous actions are shown. The gladers all went into the maze to fight the grievers knowing that at least one of them were going to be killed. An example of another courageous action would be when Chuck dodged in front of Thomas when Gally threw a knife at his chest. Knowing he was going to die he still did it which is a sign of true courageousness.

Resolution In the novel The Maze Runner , the resolution is shown when the gladers escape the laboratory and go with the people who saved them. They have finally succeeded in escaping, which is something they have been trying to do for a long time. The gladers now feel happy having escaped. This is evident when Minho says “I’ve been shucked and gone to heaven”(Dashner 368) upon going to the dormitory with the rescuers. They also finally figured out who the creators of the maze were, even if they only saw them for a little while.