Reading Group
Exercises and Questions for Discussion

1. In the first chapter Matt tries once again to rescue his father—even among dinosaurs—but he fails. Have you ever tried to accomplish something over and over again and consistently failed? How did it make you feel? One thing about Matt is that he's persistent. Do you think that at some point you should give up? Nelson Mandela went to jail for twenty-seven years, but all that time he still believed that he could free South Africa from apartheid. When he was finally released, he became the first Prime Minister of a multi-racial democracy and began the transformation of that country. Can you think of other examples of persistence and ultimate achievement?
2.  In Chapter Two, the timeline has been discontinued because of something that happened in Nubia in 701 BCE. a) Have you ever heard of the Nubians? If so, what do you know about them?
   b) Look up the Nubians on the Internet, examine a map, and get a feel for where and how the Nubians lived. List what you think are important facts, then make another list as you go through the book and add details. See if you've learned anything new or different at the end of the book and discuss it with the group.
3. In Chapter's Three and Four, Matt and Sarah discover what Nubia looks like—in this particular area—and which creatures inhabit it. What is unique about this location? Describe the landscape and how it's different from what they expected. Which animals do they encounter? In the DVD—Mystery of the Nile, Imax—Orbita, 2005—a team of explorers try to navigate the Blue Nile from its source to the sea. When they negotiate rapids, they find that crocodiles like to lurk in the regions just at the end of a series of rapids. Why do you think they do this?
4. In Chapters Five and Six, Matt and Sarah encounter the Nubian prince Taharqa. Why is this "a bad thing?" The average person could have influenced events in history, but why were kings and princes more likely to? Or today, the Prime Minister or the President of a country? Can we, as ordinary citizens, change laws, influence world events, set certain wheels in motion? If so, how do you think we could do this? It's amazing what the average person can do. A conflict exists in Sudan today—an ongoing conflict in the Darfur region that led to thousands of people being killed or dying—but six people decided they would try to do something to stop it—two actors, an international prosecutor, a Sudanese rebel, a sheikh, a leader of the World Food Program and a waiter in a restaurant. (Darfur Now, Don Cheadle, Mark Jonathan Harris and Cathy Schulman, 2007) The waiter, Adam Sterling, introduced a bill to keep California funds from investing in companies with interests in Sudan and convinced Governor Schwarzenegger to sign it. Can you think of other examples of ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things? Discuss your examples with the group.
5.  In Chapter Six, Taharqa mentions peacekeeping and how he sees that role. What do you know of the peacekeeping that is done around the world? Who takes an active part and what do they do? Name some countries where recent efforts have been made in peacekeeping.
6. In Chapter Nine, Sarah learns that her captors are raiders because they disagree with the pharaoh's policies on slavery. The Egyptian pharaohs once captured Nubians as slaves. In this time period the Nubians capture other Africans as slaves. Why do you think this practice continued, even though the Nubians were once slaves themselves?
7. Qeskaant and Taharqa discuss ma'at at different points in the story. What is your understanding of ma'at?  What do you think Matt and this idea have in common?
8.  In Chapter Ten, Matt has his first encounter with average Nubian citizens and the farmland along the Nile. a) Search through the chapter and list what he sees and experiences.
   b) Sketch (in words or draw if you like) the average citizen and the average soldier. Hint: you'll have to turn back to Matt and Sarah's first encounter with the Nubians to get a description of the soldier. Next, add Taharqa. There will be other descriptions later in the book of clothing, weapons, and other individuals, including one of a priest. Leave room for added details.
   c) In this chapter, Matt makes a bargain with Taharqa. What is it and why do you think it will be difficult for Matt to keep?
9. In Chapter Twelve: a) The chapter heading begins with the word Ta-Seti. What does that mean? Why is the Nubian land called this?
   b) Matt learns why the Medjay are feared by the Nubians. Explain. Often we have misconceptions about people when we first meet them. What did you think of the Medjay at first? What do you think of them now?
   c) At this point in the story, the prince is training Matt, but also praising him, even though he does a few things wrong. Why do you think Taharqa does this? See # 2 in Activities to further explore this question.
10. In Chapter Thirteen: a) Matt discovers gold in Taharqa's palace. Why does it seem meaningless to him? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be really rich? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be without or lose someone you love? Given the choice of having one but only without the other, would you still want to be rich? To consider this question further, go to Activity #3.
    b) There's a description of the city of Napata and the pharaoh's palace in this chapter. List as many details as you can find.
11. In Chapter Sixteen: a) Matt encounters his father and Nadine. Why is this a poignant moment? What did the author do with this moment? Did it have greater impact because of her use of humour or would it have been better if it were serious?
    b) Upon their encounter, Matt, his father, and Nadine discuss the timeline alteration. What is the butterfly effect? If the permafrost melts in the peat moss bogs of the Arctic—just a small rise in temperature—it could release billions of tons of methane gas, which will increase the level of global warming at a much greater rate. A small increase in temperature could trigger a huge rise in temperature and all the subsequent climatic issues. Can you think of an example of a small change made in your school, in your neighbourhood, in your country, or somewhere in the world that has had drastic consequences on a much bigger scale? It could be scientific, like the example above, or social, or political, or something else.
12. In Chapters Nineteen and Twenty, Matt discovers that his father isn't everything he thought he would be. How does the prince describe people? What do you think he means by this? Have you ever been disappointed in someone or surprised that someone you didn't like very much was a better person than you thought? Did you find out later that there was more to that person than meets the eye? Discuss this with the group, but keep names and identifiable people out of the discussion.
13. Sarah encounters a goat in Chapter Twenty-two and names him "Matt." Matt has also named a horse "Sarah." Why do you think the author included these animals in the story? Generally everything in a novel has a purpose: to add more character details, to touch upon emotions, to decrease tension and add some humour, to avoid deus ex machina (look it up) and  insert a character or event into the story that will assist in the plot later, but doesn't have a clear role at the time of introduction. There are many more reasons, but these are significant. Make a heading of each reason and list which thoughts, pieces of dialogue, or actions in this chapter correspond to each. For the last one, see what the goat does later on.
14. In Chapter Twenty-three and Chapter Twenty-five, the prince is continuing to train Matt for battle. Why do you think the author included these training exercises? What do you notice about each successive exercise the prince orders? Have you ever watched a movie or read a book where the main character has no background knowledge of or skill in a certain activity that requires a high level of expertise, but can suddenly do it with no difficulty? Did that make any sense? In an adventure novel, characters are often placed in extraordinary circumstances, but if they don't have at least some of the character strengths and preliminary skills to deal with these situations, it strains believability. What does the prince want Matt to do? List the skills he will need and the training exercises that helped to hone these skills?
15. Sarah and Matt have been traveling through the desert for a number of days. List all the features, creatures, and details about the desert the author has described. This might require sifting through a few chapters.
16. Matt learns about the paradoxes in time travel in Chapter Twenty-six. Look up the "grandfather paradox" on the Internet. Now discuss how it applies in this situation. What is the author's solution? Is it confusing? Yes! The solution is related to Harmony Theory for the paradox with a few author additions. Based on the story so far, what major mistake do you think the characters might make (or might have already made)?
17. In Chapter Twenty-seven, Matt comes to the conclusion that he's a lot like his father. Discuss the actions of both Matt and Nathan Barnes that illustrate their similarities.
18. In Chapter Twenty-eight, Matt figures out what their first and worst mistake was. What was it? What is he forced to do? What would happen, according to the paradox and the author's suggestion in Chapter Twenty-six, if he didn't make this choice? This is probably one of the hardest choices a person could be forced to make—a choice even someone in charge of world affairs or a country would have a hard time making. Why do you think the author put the prince and Matt together in this story? What is important for the main character(s) to do in most stories? Do you think Matt is changing throughout the book and throughout the series? If so, discuss how his character is changing and the qualities he had to begin with that allowed for these changes.

 

Activities

1. Think of a place and people from another time that you've always been interested in. Search the Internet and the library, consult history books and even modern-day travel books, and find out everything you can about that time, place, and the people who lived there. While you're researching, a story idea might spring from what you read. After doing all this research write a story that takes place in that time period with the people you read about, incorporating the important details that give readers a sense of that place. Don't just use visual description—think in terms of all the senses and keep it moving. Your main characters move through a scene like it's a movie.
2. Have you ever seen people transform because of what other people—particularly those who are guiding them—say to them or about them? Either they wither under criticism or they shine from praise. Everything you say to others has an impact. Positive feedback increases confidence and empowers an individual to do even great things. Even corrective feedback can be positive. Think of something nice to tell your teacher, your friend, your parents, or someone else and watch the transformation. While in a group, get up and sit beside someone you don't usually talk to. Say five nice things to them, about them.
3. We've all dreamed of finding buried treasure, while ignoring the treasures all around us. Think of the treasures you have and see every day and list them. Include your favourite things, but don't forget people and nature—what you see outside your window, what's in your backyard or a traditional vacation spot. Number them in terms of value to you—1, 2, 3, etc. Now think about losing them and which ones it would hurt the most to lose. Number them again, if this changes things.
4. Have you heard of the Aswan Dam? Look it up on the Internet, gather information about Abu Simbel and the temple that was moved. Look at pictures. Draw a diagram of the temple. Think of how difficult it was to move this temple. Investigate how the temple was moved and write a report about it or write a report on the Aswan Dam and which Nubian artifacts and monuments were lost under Lake Nasser.

 

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