63 pages • 2 hours read
The Lake House
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Essay Topics
Daffyd Llewellyn’s book, Eleanor’s Magic Doorway, is similar to The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. In what ways are these stories similar? In what ways are they dissimilar? And how does Eleanor’s Magic Doorway compare to Eleanor’s personal history in The Lake House?
Kate Morton uses many metafictional elements in this book. What are they, and how do they affect the narration?
Compare and contrast the A. C. Edevane character and with the actual English author Agatha Christie.
In Chapter 18, Alice reads Mr. Knox’s rules to detective novels to Ben. Does The Lake House follow all the rules? If not, which rules are broken? Which rules are the most important to the story?
Research the signs and symptoms of shell shock and the requirements for diagnosis. Would a physician (at that time period) have diagnosed Anthony Edevane with shell shock? Explain.
Discuss the allegory of The Tiger and The Pearl and how the story does or does not match with Eleanor’s history.
Clive Robinson emphasizes the Edevanes’ “special position in society” (199). Knowing the end of the novel, could Eleanor’s plan have worked if she hadn’t been an aristocrat? Discuss.
In Chapter 26, Alice begins to see more similarities between herself and her mother, Eleanor. In what ways are they similar? In what ways are they different?
Poetry, mostly by John Keats, is mentioned several times in the novel, especially as a way of dealing with trauma (see Chapter 19, Page 267). Is this a valid theory? Why or why not?
Fairy tales are a strong motif throughout the novel. In what ways might this genre, and thus this motif, have affected the novel’s ending?
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