Two characters in the sweet hereafter who are flat characters are:
a. sean walker and bear otto
b. billy ansel and risa walker
c. abbott driscoll and wendell walker
d. wanda and hartley otto

the sentence does not violate the phrase structure second rule (introduced by noam chomsky) because noun phrases consist of a determiner such as a, the or every, and a noun. in the sentence, the noun phrase the cake includes a determiner (the) and a noun (cake).

on the other hand, the first rule indicates that a sentence encloses a noun phrase, followed by a verb phrase. the example sentence can be analysed as follows:

john (n) + ate (v) + the (det) + cake (n).