From Blood and Ash

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What are the characteristics of the genre called “dark fantasy”? List examples of this genre. How does this genre overlap with the horror genre and with “grimdark” fantasy?

Teaching Suggestion: From Blood and Ash is a dark fantasy with elements of grimdark fantasy. This prompt offers an opportunity to establish how much students know about the dark fantasy genre and related genres. Readers might briefly share in small groups the novels in these genres with which they are familiar, recommending titles if they enjoyed the text and noting others’ recommendations if interested. If students could benefit from more information on the topic, these and similar resources can be used to fill in gaps in their understanding.

• This article establishes the characteristics of dark fantasy and helps explain the differences between dark fantasy and horror.
• This article explains the characteristics of grimdark fantasy and speculates about why it is currently so popular.

2. What is a coming-of-age story? How might this kind of story be presented in a dark fantasy novel? What advantages might this genre have for presenting this particular plot type?

Teaching Suggestion: Penellaphe, the main character of From Blood and Ash, matures as she develops her own independent identity over the course of the novel. Because fantasy novels take place in worlds other than our own, students may benefit from a discussion of how treatment of common themes—like From Blood and Ash’s portrayal of Penellaphe’s coming-of-age journey—is meant to speak to our common humanity regardless of fantastical settings and elements of magic and the supernatural.

• This brief definition of the term from Oxford Reference summarizes its origins and offers a distinction between coming-of-age and Bildungsroman.
• This article argues that dark fantasy is actually the perfect vehicle for the coming-of-age story.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Do you think that growing up is made more or less complicated by the sometimes-rigid expectations society often has about gender, class, race, and other labels? Are there aspects of your own identity that feel forced on you by society, or do you feel like your identity is completely of your own making? Was this what you expected when you were a child, thinking about becoming an adult someday? Please provide examples and rationale in your discussion.

Teaching Suggestion: Penellaphe’s journey to adulthood is made more difficult by the very structured and narrow role she is expected to play in her society. This prompt is intended to increase students’ empathy for and insight into her character by connecting their own search for identity to Penellaphe’s. Because the subject matter is quite personal, students are likely to give more honest and thorough answers in writing than they might give in front of their peers.