The Book of Three

By: Eric Michels

Lloyd AlexanderBorn and raised in Philadelphia

As a boy he decided to be a writer

Attended the University of Paris where he met his wife, Janine.

Got his inspiration from the beautiful features in Wales and from the book King Arthur. He would use a lid from the trash can as a shield and his uncle’s cane as a sword in his early youth.

He was a member of an army combat intelligence team during World War 2.

Now he has written five series of the Chronicles of Prydain.

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ProtagonistTaran of Dallben

Assistant pig-keeper

Always has been striving to be a hero/ warrior

Acts as the leader ,but always chooses the wrong path or direction throughout the journey.

He is in search for his pig Hen Wen until he finds himself lost in the land of Prydain.

Now it is up to Taran to warn everyone of the evil Horned King and his surprise attack on Caer Dathyl.

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Antagonist

The Horned King

Two big horns on his skeleton head with glowing red eyes

War leader of Arawn’s army

In search of the oracular pig Hen Wen

He was thought to be destroyed in the end ,but no one knows for sure.

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Favorite CharacterMy favorite character is princess Eilonwy. She is the one who saved Taran in the dungeon ,and she also found the magical sword Dyrnwyn. Her sense of humor is always up-beat and happy. Sometimes she can get annoying ,but overall she is a hot princess. In the end Taran finally shows some interest in her and she stays with him in Dallben.

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Least Favorite Character

Gurgi is my least favorite character because he irritates everybody during the journey. He flees whenever danger presents itself and makes it worst than it already was. Gurgi only follows Taran in the beginning just to beg for food. He even attacked Taran from behind in the beginning of the book. He also slows down their pace when he hurts his leg. Gurgi has never done anything special to help out anyone and he has no special abilities.

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ExpositionIn the small town of Caer Dallben lives an assistant pig-keeper Taran. He has the simple duties of farming and taking care of a special pig. One of his biggest dreams is to become a hero just like Gwydion Son of Don. One day his guardian Dallben tells him of the evil King Arawn and his war leader the Horned King. These evil men are trying to take over all of Prydain through the use of Taran’s pig Hen Wen. Now Taran has only one goal which is to protect Hen Wen from the evil Horned King. All of this occurred in the early castle age time period in the land of Prydain.

Rising ActionOne ordinary day while Taran is feeding Hen Wen, she runs away into the forest. Taran has no choice ,but to find her as soon as possible before the Horned King gets her. Taran has never been in the forest and he suddenly finds himself lost in its depths. During his search through the forest Taran saw the Horned King and was almost seen by him. He has never been more terrified in his life when he took a glimpse at the Horned King’s red glowing eyes. This is when Gwydion Son of Don found him helpless. Gwydion was on a journey to warn Caer Dathyl of the Horned King’s attack. The two journeyed together to accomplish their different tasks. During their journey they were captured by Arawn’s cauldron born warriors. They were sent to Spiral Castle where both of them were sent to the dungeon. Taran thought he would never see Gwydion again while trapped in the castle.

Climax

While Taran is trapped in Spiral Castle he has almost gave up hope ,but all of that changed when Princess Eilonwy came out of a trapped door. She set him free and they both traveled through the underground passageway in the castle. On their way out they found a secret room with treasures and weapons in the hands of dead kinsmen. This is when Princess Eilonwy found the magical sword Dyrnwyn. She wouldn’t let it out of her sight and she also wouldn’t let anyone touch it. After they got out of the castle it crumbled down because it sensed the loss of the sword.

Falling ActionTaran and the princess ran into the forest after their escape from Spiral Castle. That is where they met Fflewddur, the old king who has been traveling by himself for a long time. Gurgi also found Taran again ,but this time Taran let Gurgi follow them for his protection. The four decided to travel to Caer Dathyl and carry on the dead Gwydion’s task to warn the people of the Horned King. Taran also wanted to find Hen Wen on the way there. As they passed through the mountains they saw a black lake down in the valley. Taran said they would save more time by crossing the lake. Once they stepped into it they were sucked down into its depths. They woke up in an underground cave in the land of King Eiddileg. This is where Hen Wen has been the whole time and the group was led out of the cave by their guide Dolli.

ResolutionTaran has slowed down their pace by leading them into the lake so they had to move faster. The Horned King was right behind them on the same trail ,so they picked up their pace. Right before they arrived to Caer Dathyl the Horned King’s army caught up with them and started to attack. Taran tried his hardest to get rid of them ,but there was too many warriors. The Horned King started to attack Taran from behind. That was when he decided to take the magic sword from the princess and fight with it. He took out the sword and it burn him very badly because its power was too strong for him to handle. The Horned King disappeared out of no where and Taran woke up a week later in Caer Dathyl. Gwydion was alive and he took Taran back home to Caer Dallben. Taran had wanted to be home for a long time and he finally had time to sit back and relax. Princess Eilonwy stayed in Caer Dallben with Taran because they liked each other. And all lived happily ever after!

SettingTime period

The story took time during the castle age when there was knights and kings living in big castles. The time period in this story is hundreds of years ago in the 1600s.

Place

This was in the made up land of Prydain. The author made it similar to the geography of Wales. Prydain is made up of ancient castles, mountains, forests, and lakes.

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ThemeAdventure- Throughout the story Taran and his comrades venture through parts of Prydain that they have never been to. They find valuable items and fight off powerful leaders. This book is an adventure the whole time.

Danger- Taran gets himself into danger countless times ,but he always finds a way out. Everyone gets hurt at sometime and in the end they are all healed.

Friendship- In the beginning of the story Taran only knows a couple of people ,but throughout the book he makes countless friends. He also learns to believe in the people that seem like a total mess. Taran his made long term friendships by working together the whole journey.

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Rating of BookI give this book a rating of 6. That is because I thought it could have been more creative with a better story. Some times throughout the book I would get bored of the typical hero ambition. I wanted to read about the characters different ambitions and dreams. This book has a similar plot to most fantasy books ,so it wasn’t one of my favorite books. It never really grabbed my attention ,but it did bring back memories of when I was younger because it is from the movie” The Black Cauldren.”

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Social IssueRelation

My book relates to crime in many ways. The Horned King roams around killing any one in his path.

The evil Arawn tortures people and steals from them without any consequences.

The whole civilization doesn’t have any boundaries which impacts the crime level.

Every person during this specific time has no law to follow ,so crime happens everyday.

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Definition

Crime- a wrongdoing classified by the state or Congress as a felony or misdemeanor.

An offence against the public law

Any action that is done in rebellion to one’s country.

Violent Crime

My social issue is very broad so I narrowed it down into one topic. Crime violence is very common today in society and everyone at sometime does get involved with it. Statistics say that across the country last year, some 2,500 people were killed in organized-crime-related-violence. Not even four months into the new year, unofficial tallies are as high as 850.

Resolution

People are taking action to stop crime and its bad effects on the community. From a quote that I found in a newspaper article it describes how and what people are doing to stop crime. “The department is firing corrupt cops and trying to change the culture so that they don’t fall into corruption. Even if the government pays the criminals $3,000, the mafias will pay them $6,000.”

Beith, Malcolm. "Crime Crackdown." Newsweek 16 Apr. 2008: 1-3. Print.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN1ueKeKLLw