Krantz
English 3720
Reading guide
Wizard of Earthsea
Chapters 4-7

1. What clues does LeGuin give us about the effects of the Master Changers teaching on Ged?
2. How is "real magic" defined in the book? How does it differ from other types of magic?
3. How does Vetch help to redeem Sparrowhawk's past?
4. What does the test to leave the Mage school reveal about the one who passes it?
5. Medieval christians spoke of the fall of Adam and Eve as a "happy fault." How is Ged's great sin also a "Happy Fault"?
6. What do Ged's friendships reveal about him?
7. Why is sailing denoted as a sacred art?
8. What does Sparrowhawk's attempt to heal Pechvarry's son reveal about the mage?
9. What characteristics of the Otak allow it to wake Ged "from the dead" (so to speak)? To what in Lewis's story is this analogous? Does the act function the same way in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?
10. What about Ged gives him power over the old dragon? Why doesn't he kill the dragon?
11. What clues does LeGuin give us that Ged's journey to Osskil is filled with danger from the start? What characteristics of Osskil itself mark it as a place of evil?
12. What symbolism associated with Serret belies her evil?
13. In Osskil Ged shows that he still has some of the lack of wisdom associated with youth. Where is this shown?
14. What (several things) finally give Ged the clues he needs to discern the evil that Serret asks of him?
15. Knowing Serret to be evil, why does Ged still try to save her?
16. Where do we see the suggestion of a greater design in Ged's being healed after assuming the shape of the Peregrine falcon?
17. What do you think (if you have not completed the book) might be the name of the shadow that Ged pursues and why might it be named so?