Firewing

Powerpoint by Jordan Jolley

Kenneth Oppel

Kenneth Oppel was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, on August 31, 1967.  This Canadian author is best known for his trilogy of Silverwing, Sunwing, and Firewing.  He has won many literary awards.  He is married to Phillipa Sheppard.  They live with their three children, Sophia, Nate, and Julia in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Protagonists

Shade:  Main bat, hero of the series, genius. Griffin:  Son of Shade, very smart, survivalist. Luna:  Griffin's best friend, died early in the book, keeps Griffin going. Java:  Very big bat, a protector of Shade and Griffin. Nemo:  Fish-eating bat, a protector of Shade and Griffin. Yorick:  Similar bat to Shade, crumpled wing, another protector. Murk:  Cannibal bat, but not agressive to the above bats; scout.

Antagonists

Cama Zotz:  Evil bat god, can NOT touch the living; created the underworld. Goth:  Former would-be king of the cannibal bats, always trying to steal Griffin and Shade's lives away to get back to the upper world.

Favorite Character

Shade Silverwing Shade has always been the main character and also my favorite character since the series began. He has always done what is right, even though it's always taking the hardest path. He is a runt in his species, but he has achieved tenfold of what any superior bat could achieve. He is always protecting his loved ones, even if it meant risking his life. At the end of this book his son, Griffin, died before Shade could do anything about it, so Shade gave up his life for Griffin to live, along with Griffin's best friend Luna.

Least Favorite Character

Goth Goth is the most evil bat that ever lived on the face of Earth.  He has caused chaos and torment to all creatures in his path since day one. Even after he died in Sunwing, Goth still managed to create (or shall I say destroy) any plan of survival for Shade. I have always been angry at him and classify him as "The bat that just won't die!" Still, there must be some evil in any story, but it's maddening to think that in the last fifteen pages of the series, Goth killed off my favorite character like taking candy from a baby.

Exposition

The book begins with an ancient Silverwing tradition. The females were with their newborns at the new designated Tree Haven, while the males are waiting at a place called Stone Hold, which is a large bridge thousands of wingbeats away. Shade, the hero and a new father, is anxious to see his son, so he stays up all day in hopes that he would be selected to be one of the five messenger bats to the females and newborns. Shade was eventually selected shortly after he was almost sucked into a strange hole in the ground. His father told him not to worry about patching the hole and just leave with the other messengers. When Shade got to Tree Haven, there was a sudden earthquake, and they figured out that his son Griffin had been sucked into the hole in the ground.

Rising Action

  The underworld was mostly a desert. Shade had newly mastered his talent to hear into the past. After meeting Java, Nemo, Yorick, and Murk, he finds his way to an oasis area where Griffin had been and aquires his new path to meet up with Griffin and his friend Luna.  Griffin almost gets killed by Goth at the cactus, Zotz tells Goth not to fail him a second time.  Griffin and Luna go into a cave that they were supposed to pass, Goth almost kills Griffin again, but Shade gets there and they all get knocked into a black river-thing.  They get out of the water, all friends but Shade go on, Shade hears their message, all head for "The Tree."  They eventually get through a real waterfall, Griffin is almost killed a third time by Goth, Zotz heals Goths broken body, Zotz tricks Shade almost to his death in a building, Shade figures out the underworld is all sound, escapes, and gathers the protectors to fly after the disguised Goth.

Climax

Goth was in disguise as Shade. Griffin was almost to "The Tree." Goth zooms in looking like Shade to lure Griffin away and proceeds to kill him just before Shade can stop him. Goth zooms through the tree and leaves everyone else at "The Tree" to figure things out. Shade does the noble thing and gives his life up to Griffin and Luna, and everyone goes through the tree.

Falling Action

Goth is back on Earth. He finds a pyramid that wasn't completely demolished, and enters it. Inside, he finds a stone tablet that could predict the next solar eclipse so he could bring Zotz back to the upper world. A few stray bats found him, and he converted them to serve Zotz.

Resolution

Griffin and Luna were back on Earth. Shade is a spirit of some kind, able to be whatever he wanted for a time. Shade enters his family's bodies and experiences their love in a way, so it was his homecoming as well.

Setting

This book was set at modern day on Earth in a city and in a forest. It was also set in the underworld, which contained deserts, oases, caves, hills, glowing rock city-like places, and of course, The Tree.

Themes

A father will sacrifice his life for his son because of love. Evil does exist. Good will conquer all even if it doesn't appear so at first.

Rating

I rate this book at an 8. I really enjoyed the book, but the end about killed me. You just can't kill off the best character, leave the plot of evil wide open, and make the afterlife almost completely boring!!!

Social Issue

In Firewing there were a few social issues such as hierarchy, father's impact and sacrifice for the son, species prejudice, rationalization for murder, and family ties. I have chosen to do my research project on the topic of the father's impact and sacrifice for the son. I have found several articles on real-life fathers who have died saving their sons.  I will also discuss the effect of living in a family without a father.

Youtube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrxY_O5o04A

Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKpRptPGtvI&feature=related

 Article 1Experimenting in living: The fatherless FamilyBy: Rebecca O'Neill, September 2002 Teenagers living without their biological fathers are more likely to:    Experience problems with sexual health    Become teenage parents    Offend    Smoke    Drink alcohol    Take drugs    Play truant from school    Be excluded from school    Leave school at 16    Have adjustment problems    Run away from home

Article 1 Continued

Percentage of children born in 1997 likely to live their entire childhood with both natural parents: 36%Percentage of all mothers who will spend some time as a lone parent: 40%Throughout the 1990s, about 55% of divorces involved a child under age 16. 25% of children whose parents divorced in 2000 were under age five.

Article 2What are fathers for?By: Michael Lamb, April 1996 Fathers have been seen as:    Moral overseer    Breadwinner    Sex role model    Nurturant/participantAbsences of fathers cause:    Psychological maladjustment    Academic/School underperformance    Antisocial behavior    Difficulty establishing and continuing intimate relationships

Article 3Does a dad's drinking influence his adolescent children's substance use?  By: Virginia Hartman, July 2009 Studies show that drinking among adolescents was lower if their father had not used alcohol in the last year.

Article 4Fathers do matterBy: Gene Davis, February 2010 Government agencies should support programs to help fathers connect with children. Households without fathers contribute to poverty, crime, teenage pregnancy, child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, lack of education, and childhood obesity. "Many fathers have not grasped how they, as role models, impact their children."

Article 5How do fathers fit in?By: The Institute for the Study of Civil Society Psychologists today all agree that fathers are important in the nurturing and guiding of their child's development."Infants with involved fathers tend to score higher on tests of thinking skills and brain development."Fathers challenge their children to try new things and to be independent.

Article 6The importance of Father's TimeBy: Seth Metcalf, 2002 Fathers have a responsibility to teach their children better values than those portrayed on TV and in video games. "An increased amount of Father-Child involvement has proven to increase a child's social stability, educational achievement, and even their potential to have a solid marriage as an adult." A child's relationship with his father produces excellence in academics and in his social sphere.

Article 7Father's CareBy: Charles A. Smith, 1982 This author lists four popular images of fathers in our society.  He calls these "The Wallet," "The Rock," "The Dagwood Bumstead," and "The Caregiver." He cites a poll in which six out of ten fathers said their families were the most important element in their life at this time.  Therefore, this contradicts the popular images he listed above. Involvement is the key.