95 pages • 3 hours read
Nicola YoonThe Sun Is Also a Star
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Essay Topics
Discuss the significance of structuring the novel through multiple perspectives. How does this narrative structure relate to one or more of the themes of the novel? How does this narrative structure illustrate the novel’s themes differently from a single perspective told chronologically?
How do Natasha and Daniel’s respective lives reflect the expectations and failures of The American Dream? What message does this novel send about The American Dream through the portrayal of Natasha and Daniel’s hopes, dreams, and fears?
Compare Natasha and Daniel’s respective relationships to their parents. What is a shared tension that they have with their parents? How does Natasha and Daniel’s encounter with each other transform this tension?
Describe the challenges Natasha’s family has had to face with U.S. immigration. What legal and cultural obstacles led to their present predicament? What does Natasha’s attempts to reverse her family’s deportation reveal about the struggle for immigrants to the U.S.?
The story of Samuel Kingsley’s journey to the U.S. to become a star actor features as a crucial part of Natasha’s character development. How does Samuel’s struggle influence Natasha’s outlook on life and love? What does the resolution of Samuel’s story reveal about Natasha’s growth?
What do Daniel and Charlie each represent in terms of being a racial minority in the U.S.? How does the tension in their relationship speak to the struggle to assimilate to whiteness in the U.S.?
Choose one of the scientific references mentioned in the novel. Describe at least three instances in which it relates to the development of Natasha and Daniel’s relationship.
Given the familiar tropes of love stories, how does this novel interpret the role of fated love? In what ways does it echo these tropes or defy them?
Why is it important that the novel tells its story in part through the perspectives of its minor characters? Choose one of the minor characters and discuss their impact on the larger narrative.
In the novel’s Epilogue, Natasha and Daniel’s chance encounter ten years later an airplane is called an “Alternative History.” How does this ending relate to the novel’s extended discussion of multiverses and alternative histories? How do you interpret this open-ended conclusion to the novel?
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By Nicola Yoon
