The Dark is Rising is a quest and an adventure, but it is also a coming-of-age story, which has a number of characteristics distinct to itself. Those characteristics can appear in any other genre or type of story, but its main points include:

1. A young (or immature) protagonist who grows up over the course of the story

2. The protagonist experiences some loss of childhood innocence and learns something new and significant about adulthood.

3. The protagonist experiences inner conflict that results in personal growth.

4. The protagonist learns to think less about themself and be more aware of what’s going on in the adult world.

5. The protagonist figures out something about their adult role and where they fit in the larger world.

6. The protagonist experiences a dramatic change that divides their life into a before and after.

Will experiences each step in the course of this story, some of them multiple times. Some of his changes seem good. Others might seem questionable. What are some of the benefits of growing up? What might be lost in the coming-of-age process?

Teaching Suggestion: Students might identify examples of each point and discuss whether the examples seem positive or negative. Before the exercise, you might also ask students to reflect on Will’s comment that it can be hard to be both an Old One and a young boy—but not always.