Look Homeward, Angel

Discuss the treatment of race and ethnicity within the novel. How does Wolfe’s treatment of race and ethnicity affect its central messages?

Analyze Wolfe’s inclusion of the epigraph at the beginning of Part 1. What does the epigraph add to the greater meaning of the text?

Consider the various foils that Wolfe presents in the novel. Choose one foil pair. How does each character interact with the other, and what purpose do these interactions serve?

Describe each of the novel’s three parts. How does Wolfe organize the novel into three distinct parts, and why?

Choose and read a work from one of the writers who inspires Eugene. Why does this writer inspire Eugene, and what do we learn about Eugene through their writing?

Modernism was an experimental literary style that focused on “making it new.” What elements of modernism exist in Wolfe’s novel? How do these examples affect the text as a whole?

Imagine Eugene’s first day at Harvard. How would Eugene act, and why? How might the lessons Eugene learned in the novel impact the choices he makes in the future?

What is the significance of the time period the novel is set in? Provide specific examples of how the time period impacts the novel.