52 pages • 1 hour read
Before We Were Yours
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Essay Topics
What is gained in telling the story in a polyvocal, non-linear structure?
How do gender roles impact the characters in the story? In what ways are the female characters in greater danger because of their gender identity?
How is memory both a help and a hindrance for these characters? In what ways are they empowered by memory? In what ways are they crippled by it?
What role does social class play in the book? How are members of both the very elite and very poor locked into their station in life?
What role does faith or religion play in the book, both organized religion and more personal ideas on faith?
How do vices and addiction figure into the novel? What impact does drinking have on the child characters?
How does the book define family? What makes a family, and if separated, how can familial bonds endure?
How does the book present the experience of finding one’s self, especially via Avery’s narrative? What does one need to overcome or accept in order to achieve true self-actualization?
Medical concerns figure prominently into the book—both Grandma Judy’s dementia and the Senator’s cancer. How do physical and emotional health overlap in the narrative?
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