48 pages • 1 hour read
Erik Christian HaugaardThe Samurai's Tale
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1984A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Compare the actions of the two conquerors of Iwamura Castle—Lord Akiyama and Lord Oda—and explain how the differences in their choices could illustrate the contrast between idealized samurai values and the reality of war.
How do Harutomo’s mentors help him to develop his sense of integrity?
How do Harutomo’s interactions with horses set him apart from other samurai?
Compare and contrast the warlords Takeda Shingen and Oda Nobunaga. How are they the same, and how are they different?
How does Harutomo’s character grow and change over the course of the novel? Identify and analyze the development of his character traits including his attitude and decision making.
Which of Harutomo’s mentors made the biggest impact on his life, and why? Develop a thesis and support your claim with evidence from the text.
The author of the novel said in an interview that his experience of being uprooted by war later became a theme in his novels. How does this theme show up in A Samurai’s Tale? Trace the development of the theme and examine how it impacts Harutomo.
Which of the characters in the book represents the best example of samurai ideals and why? Support your response with evidence from the text.
The characters in A Samurai’s Tale live in a violent period of history that was marked by near-constant civil war, and they react to their experiences in ways that are influenced by the culture of their times. Choose one character and explain how that person’s reactions might be different if the novel was set in modern times.
Harutomo experiences several rites of passage. How are his experiences similar and different from rites of passage that young people experience in contemporary society? Choose at least one modern example of a rite of passage, analyze its role in the lives of young people, and discuss how the role of that event could be compared to one of Harutomo’s experiences.
