1. Setting: Describe the settings of both pieces and identify how the eras in which they take place—with their distinct societal attitudes and customs—affect the main characters? 2. Characters: “Battle Royal:” Discuss the young man and his grandfather. Why do we never learn the young man’s name? What do the grandfather’s dying words reveal about him? “The Birthmark:” Describe the main characters: Aylmer, Georgiana and Aminadab. What is important to each? 3. Point of View: In which point of view (first- or third-person) is each piece told? If the point of view in “Battle Royal” was changed, would it have made the story more effective, or less so? 4.Symbolism: “Battle Royal:” Analyze the deeper meaning of the following: the “battle royal” itself, the naked blonde, and the young man’s dream at the end of the story. “The Birthmark:” What does Georgiana’s birthmark signify, first to her and then to Aylmer? What does alchemy represent in the story? 5. Themes: What are the main themes/messages of each piece? What, in other words, do you think the authors, Ralph Ellison and Nathaniel Hawthorne, are trying to communicate about life and human nature in their respective stories? 6. Fear: What role does fear play in both pieces? 7. Discrimination: Both stories address physical appearance, specifically one’s skin, and the way people may discriminate against others because of external characteristics they deem inferior. Compare and contrast how discrimination and prejudice are presented in “Battle Royal” and “The Birthmark.” 8. Final Thoughts: Author Tim O’Brien wrote, "That's what fiction is for. It's for getting at the truth when the truth isn't sufficient for the truth." Talk about how literature might give us “truer” insights into the human experience by appealing to our senses, emotions and empathy. Describe a situation in which you or someone you know may have been discriminated against because of appearance, gender, race or another attribute. What did the experience teach you?