“The Smallest Dragonboy”

Anne McCaffrey, 1926-2011

Genre: Science Fiction

Objectives

• Character Traits• Character Types• Motivation• Inferences

Anne McCaffrey

How Popular Are These Stories?

Dragon*Con, the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe, has:An entire section devoted entirely to the world of Anne McCaffrey! It includes events such as costume contests, trivia contests, firelizard hatching?!?, and writing workshops.

Anne McCaffrey:Shortly after its publication, Anne's son Todd was spotted reading The White Dragon while working as a doorman to a high school function.   The conversation he had went something like this:

“Is it any good?”

Todd: “Yes, but there are a lot of typos.”

Stranger: “Are you going to tell the publisher?”

Todd: “No, the author.”

Stranger: “How would you dare?”

Todd: “She's my mother!”

All writers-even published writers-have their work proofread by others.

Literary Terms-Characters

Dynamic Characters:

Static Characters:

Protagonist:

Antagonist:

A character who grows/changes during the course of a story.

A character who remains the same during the course of a story.

Main character of the story. Often the hero/heroine.

Character in conflict with the protagonist. Often portrayed as the villain

Notes

Literary Terms

Inference:

Motivation:

An inference is an educated guess, a conclusion you make based on evidence.

Motivation is the reason that explains a character’s thoughts, feelings, actions, or speech.

Notes

Inference: An inference is an educated guess, a conclusion you make based on evidence.

Example: When the sappy commercial came on about cats, little Sally started to sob, “ Fluffy! Oh, Fluffy.”

We can infer from Sally’s reaction that she misses her own cat, and her cat is probably dead.

Motivation: Motivation is the reason that explains a character’s thoughts, feelings, actions, or speech.

If Mandy works hard and gets good grades, it could be for a variety of reasons. Maybe she is motivated because she wants to do well. Perhaps she is motivated by her parents’ expectations. It could be that she receives $20.00 for each good grade.

The reason that she does what she is doing is her motivation.

VocabularyTelepathic:

Impression:

Candidate:

Hatching Ground:

Able to communicate mentally. (Dragons and riders communicate through their thoughts.)

To bond or connect-to imprint (Dragons and riders bond for life.)

Future-possibly-dragonriders. They are in training and waiting to be chosen by a dragon.

Where the dragon eggs are, awaiting their hatching. (The candidates take care of the area and hope to spend time with the dragons.)

Notes

SynopsisOn the planet of Pern, there is a dangerous red star. At certain intervals the red star rains down deadly red threads; these threads are plantlike spores which devour everything in their path. If the Thread makes it to Pern soil, it will destroy everything in its path.

To protect the planet, dragonriders and their dragons ride through the skies, breathing fire at the spores and burning them to ashes. These dragon riders live in special areas called Weyrs, where they train to protect the planet.

SynopsisWhen dragons are born, they choose their own rider from candidates. Once they have Impressed on their rider, it is a bond that lasts a lifetime.

To be chosen is considered a great honor, but not everyone will be chosen.

At the start of this story, Keevan is a young candidate in his first year as a candidate. He longs desperately for his own dragon and a chance to prove that his small size does not make him less a dragonrider.

Dragons Background

Green: Green dragons were more numerous, small, and fast.

Brown: Brown dragons are larger fighting dragons.

Blue: Blue dragons are slightly larger than green dragons.

Bronze: Bronze dragons are rare, and are larger than the other colors, except for the queen.

These are examples from other stories about Pern. In our story, the largest and most important dragons are the bronze ones.

There is one dynamic character in this story. Name that character. What makes this character dynamic?

There are many static characters in this story. Name one. What makes the character static?

Identify the protagonist in the story. How do we know this is the protagonist?

Identify the main antagonist in the story. How do we know this is the antagonist?

Pg. 148: “Just as he knew many other things that his foster mother told him he ought not to know, Keevan knew that Beterli, the most senior of the boys, set that spanking pace just to embarrass him, the smallest dragonboy.”

Inferences

What can we infer about Keevan based on this excerpt? What can we infer about Beterli?

Inferences

Pg. 150 “That particular egg was the one Beterli had marked as his own, and no other candidate dared, on pain of being beaten by Beterli at his first opportunity to approach it.”

What does this suggest about Beterli’s character?

Inferences

Pg. 150 “And naturally, Beterli, who’d been presented at eight Impressions already and was the biggest of the candidates had chosen it.”

What can we infer about Beterli from his having been presented at eight Impressions?

Inferences

Pg. 151 “You’d better make sure a dragon sees you this time, Beterli,” Keevan replied. “You’re almost overage, aren’t you?”

What can we infer about Keevan’s taunting of Beterli? What might happen when a potential dragon-rider is overage?

Inferences

Pgs. 153-154 “With a sinking heart, Keevan knew what the news must be, and he could only stare with intense desolation at the older boy.”

What inference does Keevan make? What does he base his inference on? Is it correct?

Inferences

Pg. 157 “Gingerly, he took a step. The broken leg dragged. It hurt in spite of the numbweed, but what was pain to a dragonman?”

Why does Keevan deny or ignore the pain in his leg?

Pg. 158 “Never seen anything like it,” the Weyrleader was saying. “Only thirty-nine riders chosen. And the bronze trying to leave the Hatching Ground without making Impression.”

“A case in point of what I said last night,” the Weyrleader replied, “when a hatchling makes no choice because the right boy isn’t there.”

“There’s only Beterli and K’last’s young one missing. And there’s a full wing of likely boys to choose from…”

“None acceptable, apparently. Where is the creature going?”

What does the dragon’s refusal to choose a rider suggest about him?

Inferences

Motivations

Pg. 149 “People were always calling him “babe” and shooing him away for being too small or too young for this or that. Keevan was constantly working, twice as hard as any other boy his age, to prove himself capable.”

What motivates Keevan to work so hard?

Motivations

What motivates Beterli to treat Keevan the way that he does? How does this affect Beterli in the end?

Motivations

Why don’t Lessa and Mende tell Keevan that the Impression is about to begin? What motivates them to keep the information from Keevan?

Motivations

What is a possible reason that the bronze baby dragon chooses Keevan? What might motivate the dragon to choose Keevan over the other dragonriders?

Reading Check Pg. 162

A. What does Keevan want as the story opens?

B. How are dragonriders chosen?

C. Why does Keevan think he might be kept from the Impression?

Reading Check Pg. 162

D. How does the bully Beterli try to ruin Keevan’s chances on Hatching Day?

E. Describe Keevan’s struggles to reach the Hatching Ground.

F. What happens to Keevan just when he is most discouraged?

Thinking Critically Pg. 162

2. Make a chart showing the conflicts that Keevan faces. Which conflict do you think is the hardest for him?

External Conflicts Internal Conflicts

Thinking Critically Pg. 162

4. Why does K’van reject the help Lessa offers him at the end of the story? What inference can you make about K’van from his action?

Thinking Critically Pg. 162

5. List the women in the story. Do you think they have powerful positions in Pern society, or do only men hold power? Explain. If you were writing about Pern, what roles and responsibilities would you give to men and women?

Reader’s Comprehension

1.Who is the smallest dragonboy?

2. Why are the dragons needed in Pern?

3. What is the event everyone is waiting for?

4. Explain what an Impression is.

5. Describe what happens to Beterli after his fight with Keevan.