These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the novel.

Personal Response Prompt

What is the difference between tolerance and true acceptance? How can you account for this difference in the way that people sometimes treat one another?

Teaching Suggestion: The Ramifications of White Liberalism is one of the themes of this novel. This prompt can encourage students to think about the ways in which some Shaker Heights residents view themselves as racially tolerant while actually contributing to the community’s deep racial tensions. More generally, this question provides an opportunity for writing about the difference between tolerance and acceptance as it plays out in a community.

Post-Reading Analysis

Little Fires Everywhere begins with a fire and ends by revealing that it is Izzy who started it. Who did you think started the fire when you read the opening of the novel? Why is it important that Izzy starts it? Why does she do it, and what do her actions symbolize?

Teaching Suggestion: Fire is a motif that frames the novel; students should reflect on Izzy’s reasons for starting the blaze and the effects of the fire on each character. For example, Izzy’s future seems uncertain at the end of the book, and her family must start over in many ways.