Setting
This country is where both Nya’s and Salva’s stories take place.
What is Southern Sudan?
This type of characterization occurs when the author directly tells the reader what a character is like.
Direct characterization.
This large-scale conflict forces Salva to flee his school and village.
What is the civil war in Southern Sudan?
This literary device helps readers to see or picture a scene.
What is imagery?
Identify the literary device:
"The Nile" Uncle said. "We will soon come to the Nile River and cross
to the other side"
The Nile: the longest river in the world, the mother of all life in Sudan.
Uncle explained that they would come to the river at one of its broadest
stretches.
"And what is on the other side?" Salva whispered, still fearful.
"Desert" Uncle answered.
What is contrast?
This natural feature forces Nya to walk for hours each day.
What is the pond (or water source)?
This type of characterization requires the reader to infer traits based on what a character says, does, or feels.
Indirect characterization
The type of conflict Salva faces when he must escape danger and survive on his own.
What is external conflict (between the character and the environment)?
Identify the literary device:
“The mosquitoes rose up… their high-pitched whine filling the air” (p. 49).
What is sensory language?
Identify the literary device:
“A blessing of darkness fell across the desert, and it was time to rest” (p. 54)
What is metaphor?
This part of the setting forces characters to conserve energy and water.
What is extreme heat?
Direct or indirect?
“Salva was a good student.”
What is direct characterization?
The type of conflict Salva experiences when he feels fear, grief, and uncertainty after losing his family.
What is internal conflict?
Identify the literary device:
“He clung to Uncle like a baby or a little boy” (p. 40).
What is figurative language: simile?
Identify the literary device:
As a special treat, his father sometimes bought mangoes. A bag of mangoes was awkward to carry, especially when the bicycle was already loaded with other goods. So he wedged the mangoes into the spokes of his bicycle wheels. When Salva ran to greet him, he could see the greenskinned mangoes spinning gaily in a blur as his father pedaled.
What is flashback?
This setting detail explains why during this part of the year, Nya’s family must dig in the lakebed to find water.
What is the dry season?
Direct or indirect?
“He clung to Uncle like a baby.”
What is indirect characterization?
The type of conflict Salva faces when war, hunger, animals, and the environment threaten his survival.
What is an external conflict (between a character and their environment)?
Identify the literary device:
“The Nile: the longest river in the world, the mother of all life in Sudan” (p. 42).
What is symbolism? Or What is metaphor?
This object represents survival and hope during Salva’s journey, especially in the desert:
The gourd used to carry water
What is symbolism?
This environmental condition forces characters to conserve energy and move carefully to survive.
What is an unforgiving desert climate?
Dynamic or Static?
Salva responds differently to danger as the story progresses.
What is a dynamic character?
This type of conflict occurs when Salva struggles with fear, grief, and exhaustion while continuing his journey.
What is an internal conflict?
Identify the literary device:
“The sun was relentless and eternal.” (p. 52)
What is personification?
Identify the literary device:
The repeated focus on long journeys on foot—Nya walking daily for water and Salva walking to escape danger—which builds meaning about survival across the novel.
What is motif?