53 pages • 1 hour read
Kent HarufOur Souls At Night
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
How does Louis’s and Addie’s sensitivity toward outside opinions change over the course of the novel? Cite examples to support your answer.
What role does the setting play in the events of this story? How might this story be different if set in a larger city?
Compare the novel to the 2017 film version. What changes did the filmmakers make to the story? How do you think the story translates to film?
Addie and Louis discuss seeing a play based on a trilogy set in Holt County. These are references to Haruf’s other novels set in Holt. Why do you think the author included these references? How do these allusions affect your understanding of the literary setting of Holt?
How does the author’s lack of quotation marks affect your reading of this story? How might it read differently if he had included them?
Analyze the Ruth’s role in the story. What is the significance of her opinion of Louis? How does her more advanced age affect the characters and themes?
Analyze Jamie’s role in the story. How does his arrival, and then departure, change the nature of Louis and Addie’s relationship?
Why do you think Louis’s and Addie’s acquaintances and children reacted negatively to their relationship? Do you find these reactions wholly unsympathetic? Explain why or why not.
Based on what you know of the characters, how do you think Addie's and Louis’s relationship will proceed? How has their relationship changed them?
What do you think this novel has to say about people’s relationships to the past? Give examples of two characters who have different attitudes toward the impact of the past in their present lives.
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By Kent Haruf
