This Is Where It Ends

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Keeping the Light”

In this activity, students will explore character, conflict, voice, and style by creating an original narrative from the point of view of one of the characters coping with the trauma of the novel’s events.

This is Where it Ends explores the immediate effects of mass violence. While the characters seek closure afterward and promise to hold on to their light in the lantern vigil at the end, in many ways only Tyler’s story is over. For this assignment, you will explore the next arc of a character’s story in an original narrative. Choose a character and write a narrative that explores how they have chosen to move forward in pursuit of their dreams while navigating grief and unresolved conflicts. Attempt to remain “in character” by building on elements of voice, style, and conflict from the novel. Your narratives will be shared with the class.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity offers students a chance to show deep understanding of literary techniques while also allowing them to speculate and draw conclusions regarding ideas or questions the novel does not answer. Clarifying that students can take creative license rooted in source material may increase engagement. Feedback during each phase of the writing process may help students meet requirements. Formal sharing options may include class read-alouds or performances, publication on a class website, or a digital anthology.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students with organizational or executive functioning differences, graphic organizers or step guides may be beneficial. For multilingual learners, preselected and/or prehighlighted passages related to their character may help with time management and ease transition from language comprehension to character and style analysis. To include more learning styles and cultures, consider allowing options for group work, visual or performance art form such as video or storyboarding, or oral response forms such as a monologue. To provide opportunities for reflection, consider having students write statements that explain their choices regarding topic, medium, structure, and style.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Many characters display Heroic Courage throughout the course of the novel. Choose only one character for the purpose of this essay.

• What does this character’s actions reveal about the realities of heroism? (topic sentence)
• Choose 2-3 actions this character takes and explain why they can be considered heroic.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, reflect on what Nijkamp’s depiction of heroism adds to popular conceptions of what it means to be a hero.

2. Guilt for the event plagues many of the characters in the novel. Choose only one character as the focus of this essay.

• What motivates this character to feel guilty about Tyler’s actions, and does this suggest they are partially responsible? (topic sentence)
• Explain the circumstances that lead this character to feel as though they have played a role in the violence and whether a different response on their part might have prevented the outcome.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, consider what position Nijkamp takes regarding whether parents, school officials, and others bear responsibility for mass violence.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Sibling relationships inform the arc of the narrative from start to finish. What kinds of sibling relationships does Nijkamp explore? How do siblings respond to each other’s life choices and struggles, and how do these struggles inform their choices as the narrative unfolds? What does comparing the different sibling pairs and their struggles to adapt to each other as they grow and change reveal about the power of familial bonds and/or the connection between Personal Relationships and Family Trauma?

2. Consider CJ and Claire’s realization that the survivors are the “lucky ones.” What does framing their trauma in this context reveal about the lasting effects of trauma? How do guilt and shame play into the drama of the active threat, and why do they linger afterwards? What does survivor’s guilt show about the power of violence and the motivations of those who weaponize it against others?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Considering the context of the story, which of the following literary devices makes the town’s name an effective choice?

A) Allusion

B) Symbolism

C) Imagery

D) Irony

2. What is ironic about Tomás’s “bad boy” reputation?

A) He is secretly bullying Tyler.

B) He secretly gets good grades and cares about others.

C) His reputation is due to rumors.

D) He plans to join the military while Sylv attends Brown.

3. What is the effect of contrasting Sylv and Tomás’s attitude toward Tyler with Autumn and Claire’s attitude?

A) It implicates some of the characters for the crime.

B) It keeps readers in suspense about the shooter’s identity.

C) It shifts focus from how Tyler is operating to why.

D) It shows how quickly a person can change.

4. What does Sylv mean when she says “we lost them” in reference to the Browne family after the death of Autumn and Tyler’s mother?

A) She implies that the town gave up its support of the troubled and angry family.

B) She implies that the family lost its faith and the religious town took offense.

C) She implies that the family was ostracized for its role in Mrs. Browne’s death.

D) She implies that the family left town in the aftermath and returned changed.

5. What effect does the detail of the janitor that Fareed and Tomás find wrapped in the America flag create in the narrative?

A) It builds horror and suspense for the two outside characters.

B) It foreshadows the fall of democracy in the aftermath of the shooting.

C) It characterizes Tyler as beyond respect to treat elders and flags so callously.

D) It creates incongruent imagery that sickens and disgusts the reader.

6. What commentary does the social media post in which reporters reach out to victims during the event offer regarding news media?

A) It reveals how common the event has become because the reporter is so casual.

B) It highlights the significant role media plays in getting first responders on site.

C) It expresses support for the media’s first amendment rights even during tragedy.

D) It offers censure regarding how media groups profit from others’ traumas.

7. Tyler and Autumn’s relationship is most closely contrasted by which other relationship?

A) Sylv and Tomás

B) Claire and Matt

C) Claire and Chris

D) Autumn and Sylv

8. How does Sylv’s understanding of her grandmother’s stories of brujería explain Tyler’s motives?

A) Someone in town cursed Tyler with the Evil Eye, and he is committing that evil.

B) At any point Tyler might have been cured, but he chose to conjure evil.

C) Grief allowed a darkness inside of Tyler, and the darkness infected his spirit.

D) Evil actions are a result of evil omens at birth, and they cannot be changed.

9. What does Autumn hope to do by speaking with Tyler in the auditorium?

A) Say the right words to make him stop what he is doing.

B) Distract him from targeting others to give law enforcement more time to arrive.

C) Challenge his distorted thinking with facts.

D) Bargain with him so that he takes his revenge on her alone.

10. Wha role does Matt play in the story?

A) His purpose is to exploit reader emotions.

B) His innocence and compassion underscore the depths of Tyler’s moral disengagement.

C) He is the sole motivating factor behind Claire’s actions.

D) He sets up the novel for a sequel exploring Claire’s recovery after her loss.

11. What does the futility of students’ and teachers’ efforts both inside and outside the auditorium reveal about the realities of mass murder?

A) Everyone fends for themselves in a crisis.

B) People are too afraid of an assertive person with a gun to make wise choices.

C) Every choice feels wrong in an impossible situation.

D) Agency and control are illusions when people operate outside of moral boundaries.

12. How does Claire grapple with her emotions as she realizes Matt may die?

A) She finds courage in remembering past experiences with Matt.

B) She pulls away from the situation by convincing herself it is all a bad dream.

C) She allows Chris to take charge.

D) She holds onto Trace’s advice to think about the future.

13. What is an advantage of having multiple perspectives in this narrative?

A) Multiple perspectives mimic the confusion of a violent event.

B) Multiple perspectives offer more reasons why Tyler’s actions are horrible.

C) The technique lets the author create suspenseful cliff hangers without slowing action.

D) The technique is more realistic because a mass event has so many survivors.

14. What narrative function do Jay’s, CJ’s, and Mei’s social media posts serve in closing each chapter?

A) They create suspense through dramatic irony and foreshadowing.

B) They provide insight into how students cannot function without social media.

C) They represent the attitudes of the rest of the town as people wait for rescue.

D) They show how trolls like Bored Opportunist feed on shocking news.

15. What message about grief does the lantern vigil reveal?

A) Trauma creates darkness that swallows up light forever like the disappearing lanterns.

B) There is more evil than good in the world just as there is more dark than light in the sky.

C) People always have a choice and the best choice is hope.

D) Recovering from grief and trauma is possible with support and a hopeful outlook.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How does Nijkamp redefine what it means to be a hero within the novel?

2. How does Nijkamp humanize Tyler, and why?