1. How do character descriptions create expectations for readers, and what happens when characters meet or fail to meet those expectations?

2. What does Nadia's black robe reveal about reader expectations, and how do her other details and actions complicate that initial impression?

3. How do Saeed's appearance, actions, and statements reveal his position between religious tradition and changing social norms?

1. What are motives and how can readers infer a character's motives from their actions or inactions?

2. How do Saeed's work performance and his distraction by the hawk reveal the conflicting forces motivating his behavior?

3. What does the tension between Saeed's professional obligations and his desire for Nadia suggest about his emotional state?

1. What is the difference between a narrator and an author, and why is this distinction important for understanding a story?

2. How does the narrator's use of 'we' and philosophical commentary in Exit West shape readers' understanding of the characters?

3. How does the narrator's accepting and nonjudgmental perspective affect readers' feelings toward Saeed and other characters?

1. What does the narrator's comparison of how Saeed and Nadia walk through their city reveal about each character's personality and approach to danger?

2. How do comparisons reveal both the narrator's perspective on a character and innate qualities of that character?

1. How does Saeed's father's perspective shift after his wife's death, and what does this change reveal about the impact of traumatic events on character perception?

2. Why is it significant that characters' perspectives can change as the narrative progresses?

1. What is a dynamic character and how do dynamic characters' decisions shape the arc of a plot?

2. How does Tom Joad's transformation from a self-focused prisoner to a person devoted to helping others drive the plot of The Grapes of Wrath?

3. What is the relationship between crisis, climax, and resolution in a character-driven plot?

4. How does Janie Crawford's journey through three marriages demonstrate both internal and external character change?

5. How do Saeed and Nadia's changes in Exit West differ from the dramatic transformations in The Grapes of Wrath and Their Eyes Were Watching God?

1. What is a static character and what role do static characters play in developing themes and highlighting dynamic characters?

2. How does Joe Starks' unchanging nature in Their Eyes Were Watching God contrast with Janie's development and what does this reveal about the novel's theme?

3. How do static characters like Connie Rivers in The Grapes of Wrath contribute to readers' understanding of character complexity?