Six of Crows

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Wanted: Six of Crows”

In this activity, students will create three “wanted posters” depicting main characters in Six of Crows that demonstrate each character’s motivations, traits, key narrative activities, and connections to themes.

In the novel Six of Crows, Kaz Brekker and his team conduct a heist by breaking an individual out of prison and destroying part of the Ice Court. As such, each individual would be wanted for their crimes.

Choose the 3 individuals from the team (Kaz, Inej, Nina, Jesper, Wyland, or Matthais) whom you believe are the most responsible for the outcome of the heist and therefore the most wanted by authorities. Then, create 1 “wanted poster” per chosen character detailing their traits, actions, and implied thematic connections.

On each “wanted poster,” include:

• An original image (drawn, sketched, or painted) of the character
• Descriptions of their physical features and personality traits in bulleted points
• Brief paragraph explanations with textual evidence of their involvement in key narrative plot points
• Summary statements revealing their suspected motivations tied to the main themes of the novel

Once your posters are complete, share them with the class. Take a stance and argue why select chosen characters deserve to be pardoned or punished based on the evidence on the wanted posters.

Teaching Suggestion: It might be helpful to choose a character from the novel who is not one of the main protagonists (e.g., Pekka Rollins or Van Eck) and create an example of a “wanted poster” with the class as a model.

Differentiation Suggestion: For differently abled students, it may be beneficial to offer a wanted poster template and/or the option to utilize a found image or composite visual, allowing them to focus on the content and characterization.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The Dreg’s personal gang motto is “No mourners, no funerals.”

• What is the meaning of this phrase with regard to the story? Paraphrase the motto for other readers. (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 instances in the novel that connect to this phrase. Analyze and discuss the ways in which these instances demonstrate the meaning you attributed. Evaluate how well the characters’ actions in these instances support the underlying meaning of the phrase.
• In your concluding sentence(s), briefly summarize how this phrase connects to one of the main themes of the novel.

2. The theme What Makes a Monster is prevalent throughout the novel, portraying various characters as “monsters” based on others’ points of views.

• Which character is perceived as the most “monstrous” as others’ views change throughout the narrative? (topic sentence)
• Summarize the ways in which the views of this character in others’ eyes evolve toward being the most monstrous in at least 3 points. Support your argument with text details and quotations.
• In your concluding sentence(s), evaluate Bardugo’s portrayal of this character as monstrous in the eye of readers. How effective is the characterization of this “monster” in terms of the traditional protagonist/ antagonist dichotomy?

3. Various characters in the novel are motivated by personal vengeance (a vendetta), whether toward an outside party or an individual within their own heist group.

• How does Vengeance most directly impact character choices during the mission? (topic sentence)
• Summarize the ways in which this vendetta creates cause-and-effect circumstances as the heist plan proceeds. Determine which characters are most directly affected and how the plot might have altered course without the impact of this vendetta. Identify a minimum of 2 instances using textual evidence highlighting the motives for vengeance and analyze their justifications for taking revenge.
• In your concluding sentence(s), evaluate the motives. Is the desire for vengeance morally sound? Summarize your rationale.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. The entirety of the novel provides points of view of 6 different characters: Kaz, Inej, Matthias, Nina, Jesper, and Wyland. How does each character’s point of view contribute to both the revelation of the heist and the novel’s overall narrative? In a 3- to 5-paragraph essay, analyze 3 of the 6 characters in terms of voice, characterization, and effectiveness in contributing to the story. Incorporate cited quotations and evidence, and evaluate each character’s impact on others, both positively and negatively.

2. Consider each character’s home of origin and their regard for it. How does each character relate to the theme The Search for Home? Choose 1 of the main characters and in a structured paragraph, describe the place they originally called “home,” whether it be a literal place or with certain people. Then, analyze the ways in which they Search for Home throughout the novel. Evaluate the extent of struggle they face in this journey and if, by the end of the book, they find what they are looking for. Throughout your essay, incorporate cited quotations and evidence to support your claims.

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following statements best demonstrates the significance of jurda parem?

A) It is utilized to enslave and create a domineering presence over the Grisha.

B) It increases the Grisha power to allow the Grisha to become the most powerful race.

C) It weakens the Grisha, allowing other races to exterminate them.

D) It neutralizes the Grisha, causing them to be powerless.

2. Which statement best describes Kaz’s perception of Inej?

A) Kaz views Inej as a personal investment.

B) Kaz sees Inej as second-in-command, able to take over if he were to die.

C) Kaz struggles with his affections for Inej and his personal trauma.

D) Kaz expresses his love for Inej while struggling with his feelings for Nina.

3. Why does Wyland’s father send him letters?

A) He suffers from deep-seated guilt for betraying his son.

B) He is mocking his son who cannot read.

C) He is attempting to make amends with his son.

D) He is trying to blackmail his son into betraying Kaz and the team.

4. Which of the following statements best states the similarities between Nina and Matthias?

A) Nina and Matthias each want to kill the other.

B) Nina and Matthias are both Grisha and ashamed of this fact.

C) Nina and Matthias both lost their parents due to the opposing race.

D) Nina and Matthias both suffer from indoctrinated views of the other’s race.

5. Which description best characterizes both Kaz and Matthias?

A) Traumatized and timid

B) Resilient and loyal

C) Skilled in combat and compassionate

D) Determined and magically gifted

6. What is Kaz and his group’s initial mission?

A) To save Kuwei from the drüskelle

B) To steal 30 million kruge

C) To break out a scientist from the Ice Court

D) To reclaim stolen jurda parem

7. Which of the following best states what the “crow” motif symbolizes?

A) Power

B) Family

C) Destruction

D) Addiction

8. In what way does having multiple points of view best benefit this particular heist novel?

A) The multiple viewpoints allow the author to exercise creative solutions to the mission.

B) The multiple viewpoints allow the author to create more complex situations in the mission.

C) The multiple viewpoints allow the reader to better understand the villains of the heist.

D) The multiple viewpoints allow the reader to understand the hidden motives of each character involved in the heist.

9. Which of the following quotes best relates to the theme What Makes a Monster?

A) “Inej had wanted Kaz to become someone else, a better person, a gentler thief. But that boy had no place here. That boy ended up starving in an alley. He ended up dead.” (Chapter 45)

B) “More than any place in the Ice Court, more than any place in the world, this felt like home to him.” (Chapter 29)

C) “She wanted a storm—thunder, wind, a deluge. She wanted it to crash through Ketterdam’s pleasure houses, lifting roofs and tearing doors off their hinges.” (Chapter 25)

D) “He had survived the fever, but he might well die out here on the Reaper’s Barge.” (Chapter 22)

10. “‘This must be hard for you,’ [Inej] said quietly. ‘To be here but not really be home.’ [Matthias] looked down at his cup. ‘You have no idea’” (Chapter 21). Which statement best relates this quote to the theme The Search for Home?

A) Matthias misses his home and is unable to return because he is too far away.

B) Matthias connects with Inej feeling out of place in her homeland.

C) Matthias is in his homeland but feels unwelcome, having been deemed unfaithful and dishonorable.

D) Matthias has successfully returned home and feels the need to help Inej do the same.

11. “He would run Nina Zevik to ground and make her pay in every way imaginable” (Chapter 7). To which of the following themes does this quote best relate?

A) The Search for Home

B) Found Family

C) What Makes a Monster

D) Vengeance

12. How does Jesper’s opinion of Wyland change throughout the novel?

A) Jesper initially finds Wyland endearing until the end of the mission.

B) Jesper is annoyed with Wyland but eventually grows fond of the boy.

C) Jesper is ambivalent toward Wyland upon meeting and slowly grows irritable toward him.

D) Jesper falls in love at first sight with Wyland, but the love fades after Wyland betrays them.

13. How does the mission’s objective change by the time they escape the Ice Court?

A) The team rescues Yul-Bayur’s son, Kuwei.

B) The team kills Pekka Rollins.

C) The team overpowers the Ice Court and takes over politically.

D) The team steals the treasury fortune of the Ice Court.

14. When Kaz takes off his gloves, why does he react poorly to skin-on-skin contact?

A) Kaz is germophobic and fears various viruses and bacteria.

B) Kaz is embarrassed by the disfigurement of his hands.

C) Kaz’s hands lack the nerves to feel touch.

D) Kaz is traumatized by childhood experiences.

15. What is best implied by Kaz stealing Rollins’s watch and Rollins’s reaction?

A) Kaz has demeaned himself to pure theft rather than murder.

B) Kaz finds value in wealthy objects.

C) Rollins recognizes the danger of Kaz’s skill.

D) Rollins lacks observational skills.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How does Matthias Helvar’s internal struggle with his Grisha-hunting past relate to the theme What Makes a Monster?

2. How does the character of Inej Ghafa exemplify the theme The Search for Home?