52 pages • 1 hour read
Julie BuxbaumTell Me Three Things
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.
Essay Topics
Jessie's favorite word is “waffle,” given that it is a breakfast food and also a verb, meaning to equivocate or vacillate. Why is this an appropriate word, given her circumstances?
By the end of the book, Jessie realizes that returning to Chicago and her “old life” would not be the solution she had hoped for, that “in some ways, moving back would just be moving backward” (304). What makes her come to this conclusion?
To what extent does speaking online (through emails, texts, IMs) allow Jessie and SN/Ethan to be more honest versions of themselves? Are these versions any more authentic than who they present to be in person?
What is the significance of the novel's title?
Why is T. S. Eliot's “The Waste Land” an apt poem for Jessie and Ethan to work on together? What is significant about the parts of the text they discuss?
Looking back through the text, there are several moments between Ethan and Jessie that could have suggested he was SN. Is it convincing that Jessie does not suspect SN could be Ethan until the very end? What prevents Jessie from “seeing” SN's true identity?
Because Jessie tells the story from her perspective, readers are engulfed in Jessie's personal grief. When she finally makes up with her dad, Jessie admits to herself: “It could be that this adjustment has actually been harder for him than for me” (309). How does grief manifest for other characters (Bill, Rachel, Theo, Ethan)? How does the shared experience of grieving connect Jessie to them?
At the end of the novel, Ethan admits that he first emailed Jessie anonymously because “it felt safer to be undercover” (322). Was it fair of Ethan to keep his identity a secret for as long as he did? How might their dynamic have changed if Jessie found out who SN was sooner?
The excerpts of Jessie's online conversations provide a sense of intimacy and immediacy, which is exactly what Jessie is craving now that her best friend is halfway across the country. As reassuring as it is for Jessie to have Scar, and later, SN, at her fingertips, what are the drawbacks of relationships that are exclusively virtual?
Upon arrival, Jessie feels like a guest overstaying her welcome in Rachel's massive, immaculate house. Weeks later, she still considers it to be a place where she just “[eats] and [sleeps]” (186) and thinks to herself that “home doesn't really exist anymore” (167). At what point does Jessie begin to feel like LA is her new “home”?
