56 pages • 1 hour read
Holding Up The Universe
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Essay Topics
How do both Jack and Libby develop as characters over the course of the novel? In what ways do they change? How do they stay the same?
How does Holding Up the Universe distinguish between the types of imperfections that should be appreciated and celebrated and those that should be criticized? Use specific characters as examples in your answer.
What is the significance of seeingin the novel, both in a literal and a symbolic sense?
How does Niven use Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle to underscore the novel’s theme of taking risks and being different?
What is the significance of “Shitkicker,” the robot that Jack builds for Dusty, specifically in terms of how Jack sees himself?
The adults in Niven’s novel are as flawed as the book’s teenage cast. Discuss the flaws of at least two adult characters and explain how they contribute to one of the book’s major themes.
What is the significance of weightin the novel, both in a literal and a symbolic sense?
How does the novel show that people are in control of their own identities, rather than subject to whatever identity other people give to them? Discuss three specific moments in the novel in your answer.
Is Caroline the novel’s antagonist, or are readers supposed to sympathize with her by the book’s conclusion? Justify your answer with at least three examples from the text.
Jack writes in his letter to Libby that he will do “[a]nything to keep from being the prey. [It is] [a]lways better to hunt than be hunted” (16). Is Jack’s metaphor applicable to the typical high school experience? If so, in what ways? If not, why not?
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