The Keeper of Stars

What is the primary focus of the part names and chapter titles? What function does this focus serve?

George is the only character in the novel specifically identified as Black. What is his role in the narrative? In what ways does his portrayal reflect harmful tropes into which Black characters sometimes fall, and in what ways does he not?

How would you describe Jack’s treatment of Sara? How does his treatment of Sara impact your understanding of his character? Does the book itself seem to share your perspective?

The novel makes frequent use of flashbacks and written sources to fill in missing information about the past and characters’ motivations. Which flashbacks and documents create the most significant shifts in the reader’s understanding of Jack and Ellie? How, specifically, do these memories and writings develop their characterizations?

How would you describe the tone of the passages devoted to describing the natural environment? How do diction, imagery, and figurative language work to create this tone? What impact does this tone have on the reader’s understanding of Sims Chapel and the people who live there?

Do the book’s allusions to Christian religious beliefs and traditions serve only as elements of characterization, or is there a connection between these references and the larger themes that the book seeks to convey?

How would you characterize the tone that this narrative takes toward the culture of East Tennessee? How does your answer impact your understanding of the tensions in Ellie’s relationship with Jack? How does it impact your understanding of Jack’s character?

Jack and Ellie disagree about the impact on their lives of Marie’s interruption of Jack’s planned proposal in August of 1950. How do their individual personalities and histories impact their differing perspectives? Does evidence in the text support one of these perspectives over the other?