Sarah doesn't rest well and is sluggish when she goes to school the next day. When she finally gets her locker open, she knocks a vase of roses off the shelf, shattering the vase. The sound of the glass hitting the floor brings back memories of Sarah's father's death. Sarah had been the one to find her father's body on the front steps of their home. He'd been held by vampires for weeks, bled slowly, and died a painful death. Sarah discovered the body and had been so enraged that she'd lashed out, striking a window with her fist. Her mother was furious at Sarah's lack of control. As punishment, Sarah's powers were bound and she was forced to heal as a human would, slowly and painfully. She'd also been forced to train rigorously and taught to control herself.

1. Sarah is having a flashback when she thinks about her father's death. A flashback is a literary technique often used to relay information to a reader. Discuss two incidences of flashbacks in Shattered Mirror, how they were written, what information they conveyed and why they were important to the story. Use examples from your life and Shattered Mirror to support your answer.

2. Discuss the ways in which Sarah seeing her father's body on the front steps affected her life, both mentally, emotionally and in her beliefs about vampires. Use examples from your life and Shattered Mirror to support your answer.

3. Do you think Sarah's mother was unreasonable about Sarah's response to her father's body? Why or why not? Use examples from your life and Shattered Mirror to support your answer.

4. Do you think Sarah's mother's response to Sarah's anger about her father's death helped her gain self-control or do you think it may have simply made her suppress her emotions? Why or why not? Use examples from your life and Shattered Mirror to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze the theme of growth in Shattered Mirror. Consider the following questions as you write: What characters are most concerned with growth? Why? What are some symbols of growth? Symbols of rigidity? What characters seem rigid? How does the reader see the growth in Sarah?

2. Trace and analyze the theme of courage in Shattered Mirror. Which characters struggle with this issue? Why? Which characters seem to possess courage? Why? What characters might be foolhardy because of courage?

3. Trace and analyze the theme of change in Shattered Mirror. What kinds of changes occur? What are the changes in the main characters mentally, emotionally, and physically? What changes occur in the main character's life? How do the characters handle the change in their lives?

Essay Topic 3

Oftentimes, a book has more of a character-driven plot rather than action driven, and oftentimes the other way. Some books seem to balance the two. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think it means to say that a plot is character driven? Action driven?

2. How do you think the characters differ if a book is character driven versus action driven?

3. Which type of plot do you find more interesting? Why?

4. Do you think it is possible to have a plot where action and character development share equal time? Why or why not.

5. Explain the plot in Shattered Mirror. What type of plot is it?

(see the answer keys)

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