{"id":24489,"date":"2025-04-21T15:20:05","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T22:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.plato-philosophy.org\/?post_type=teachertoolkit&#038;p=24489"},"modified":"2025-05-19T15:10:36","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T22:10:36","slug":"the-real-thief-by-william-steig","status":"publish","type":"teachertoolkit","link":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/the-real-thief-by-william-steig\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Thief, by William Steig"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lesson Plan:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The Real Thief <\/em>raises questions about friendship and loyalty, as well as the meaning of justice. The book also includes an argument that students can analyze. In the story, Gawain, a goose and the Chief Guard of the Royal Treasury, is blamed when jewels from the Royal Treasury go missing. The Prime Minister, Adrian the cat, makes the following argument: (1) The only way to get into the Royal Treasury is through the door; (2) No locks were broken; (3) Only Gawain and the King have keys; (4) The King has no reason to rob his own treasury; (5) \u201cIt is unthinkable\u201d for the King to be wrong about any earthly thing; therefore (6) Gawain must have done it. Gawain is found guilty of the theft and escapes after he is sentenced. The perspective then shifts to that of Gawain&#8217;s friend, Derek the mouse, who is the real thief, and who has remained silent while Gawain was blamed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Friendship and Loyalty<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What should Derek have done?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why did Derek stay silent?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Was Derek a good friend to Gawain? What makes someone a good friend?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Should friends always be loyal to one another? Is loyalty an important part of friendship?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What is loyalty and what does it require?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Was Derek punished for what he did? If so, how?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Justice and Forgiveness<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Did the king and the court act unjustly?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What were the consequences for the king of his own actions? Did the king have any obligations to Gawain? What were they?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Should Gawain have forgiven the king and the rest of the community?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What is forgiveness? Does forgiveness require forgetting? When does someone deserve forgiveness?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Logic<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Does the conclusion (6) in Gawain\u2019s argument follow from statements (1) through (5)? Why or why not?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What makes an argument persuasive?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do the statements in an argument have to be true for an argument to be a good one?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lesson Plan: The Real Thief raises questions about friendship and loyalty, as well as the meaning of justice. The book also includes an argument that students can analyze. In the story, Gawain, a goose and the Chief Guard of the Royal Treasury, is blamed when jewels from the Royal Treasury go missing. The Prime Minister, <a href=\"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/the-real-thief-by-william-steig\/\" class=\"more-link\">&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  The Real Thief, by William Steig<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":24638,"template":"","toolkitcategory":[756,30,773],"gradelevel":[47],"topics":[],"class_list":["post-24489","teachertoolkit","type-teachertoolkit","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","toolkitcategory-ethics","toolkitcategory-languages-literature","toolkitcategory-logic","gradelevel-middle-school"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Real Thief, by William Steig - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Real Thief, by William Steig - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lesson Plan: The Real Thief raises questions about friendship and loyalty, as well as the meaning of justice. 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