51 pages 1 hour read

Maria Semple

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

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Essay Topics

1.

Analyze one or both of the houses Bernadette creates in Los Angeles. What do Beeber Bifocal and/or the Twenty Mile House reveal about Bernadette as a character: her personality traits, values, and ideals?

2.

Compare and contrast Elgin Branch’s project, Samantha 2, with Manjula, Bernadette’s “virtual assistant.” What roles do they play in their users’ lives? What role do their makers’ motives play in shaping their functions?

3.

Religion plays a complicated role in the characters’ lives. Choose one character who undergoes a significant religious experience and explore what it means to that character, and how it affects that character’s behavior toward others.