40 pages • 1 hour read
Emmy LaybourneMonument 14
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2012A 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
Monument 14 examines the issue of gender roles and expectations. Pick two to three characters and examine how they adhere to and/or challenge gender roles.
Dean begins the novel as an outcast—does he end the novel as such? Discuss the ways in which his character and social standing develop as the novel progresses.
Monument 14 is interested in the theme of consent and boundaries. Examine the ways in which consent and boundaries are respected and disrespected.
How do the characters’ understanding of, and relationship with, technology change over the course of the novel?
The novel takes place over the course of twelve days and follows the events of each day. Discuss this treatment of structure and time—what effects does it produce?
Friendship and loyalty figure prominently in Monument 14. Pick one or two characters and examine the ways in which these themes affect them.
Monument 14 gathers together characters of different ethnic backgrounds. Discuss how issues of race are treated in the novel.
What are the roles of adults and authority in this novel? How are some of these typical roles challenged or reconfigured?
Monument 14 contains many descriptions of the female body. Discuss the ways in which the female body is conceptualized and treated in this novel.
This novel is narrated by a 16-year-old boy who describes his experience along with those of thirteen others. What is the effect of this choice of narrator? Consider how the novel would be different, were it narrated by multiple characters.
