I Know What You Did Last Summer

“The note was there, lying beside her plate when she came down to breakfast.”

This is the opening line of the novel. The note contains the title phrase and is sent to Julie by the antagonist (Bud/Collie). It connects The Effects of Guilt About Manslaughter with Family and Identity Formation, as Julie’s breakfast is made by her mother, and her mother brought in the mail for her.

“The cold feeling in her stomach was spreading higher, up where it touched her heart.”

This passage describes Julie’s feelings of guilt about the accident. Throughout the novel, emotions are conveyed with physical descriptions. These sensory details help the reader understand what the characters are feeling.

“The girl in the mirror bore little resemblance to last year’s Julie, bubbly, bouncy, spark plug of the pep squad, the cheerleader with the smallest size and the biggest yell.”

Here, Julie notices the emotional and mental toll that the trauma from the accident has taken on her. The changes in her personality—becoming more introverted and studious—are The Effects of Guilt About Manslaughter.