Essay prompts I Think We've Been Here Before Suzy Krause

Analytical Essay Prompts for I Think We've Been Here Before

Each prompt below focuses on a distinct element of Suzy Krause’s novel. Use the provided evidence leads to build an argument, consult our full study guide for context, or explore characters and themes for deeper analysis.

1. Character Change: Nora’s Arc from Escape to Vulnerability

Why it matters: Nora begins the novel fleeing a breakup only to discover that running away cannot erase emotional bonds. Her growth reveals how facing fear—rather than avoiding it—leads to genuine connection.

Sample thesis direction: Nora’s journey from a girl who moves to Berlin to “heal her heart” (Chapter 1) to a woman who admits “she cannot pretend anymore” (Chapter 60) demonstrates that true vulnerability requires staying present rather than escaping.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 1: Nora experiences déjà vu with Jacob, sensing a familiarity she cannot explain.
  • Chapter 22: Jacob proposes a pragmatic marriage; Nora agrees, still guarded.
  • Chapter 59: Nora and Jacob share a first kiss; she thinks “she has less than a month to live and still cannot imagine life without Jacob.”
  • Chapter 70: In the basement, Nora accepts the end without panic, finding joy in small moments.

2. Causality: Marlen’s Novel as Prophecy and Catalyst

Why it matters: Marlen writes a book about a gamma‑ray burst destroying Earth before the actual threat is announced. This uncanny prediction blurs the line between fiction and fate, raising questions about whether we shape our future or simply recall it.

Sample thesis direction: Marlen’s novel functions simultaneously as a prophecy and a catalyst—it foreshadows the apocalypse and forces the family to confront mortality, making his “nested‑lifetimes” theory a self‑fulfilling comfort.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 6: Marlen feels an urgent need to write about a gamma‑ray burst, believing it is inevitable.
  • Chapter 24: He gives Hilda the finished book; she realizes he predicted the current crisis.
  • Chapter 69: Marlen explains the nested‑lifetimes concept to the family gathered in the basement.
  • Chapter 70: Ole says “I have that feeling like I’ve been here before,” echoing the novel’s central idea.

3. Relationships: The Strategic Marriage as a Vehicle for Intimacy

Why it matters: Nora and Jacob marry for convenience—to bypass travel bans—but their staged relationship becomes more real than either expects. The paradox of pretending exposes the mechanics of love.

Sample thesis direction: In I Think We’ve Been Here Before, the fake marriage between Nora and Jacob allows them to perform intimacy until genuine feelings emerge, suggesting that love often begins as a conscious choice before it becomes an involuntary bond.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 22: Jacob proposes so he can legally accompany Nora to Canada.
  • Chapter 29: The civil ceremony is rushed, stripped of romance.
  • Chapter 32: The “newlyweds” play a get‑to‑know‑you game; Nora realizes they are “learning to lie effectively.”
  • Chapter 60: Jacob buys a ticket and declares “I have no choice” but to stay with Nora.

4. Contrasting Scenes: Berlin’s Empty Streets vs. Saskatchewan’s Farm Community

Why it matters: Krause juxtaposes urban isolation with rural interdependence to explore how different communities cope with crisis. The contrast highlights the role of physical proximity in emotional survival.

Sample thesis direction: The novel uses the deserted Berlin streets (Chapter 5) and the chaotic but connected Saskatchewan farm (Chapter 66) to argue that community, not distance, determines whether people face the end with solidarity or despair.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 5: After the news, Sonja and Nora see a “strangely empty” street; a man in suit runs past.
  • Chapter 66: Hilda drives through the city—unplowed roads, smashed windows—to the airport; the rural area still has Christmas decorations and sharing.
  • Chapter 70: The family gathers in a single basement; they talk, laugh, and make paper snowflakes together.

5. Themes: Déjà Vu and the Nested‑Lifetimes Theory

Why it matters: Déjà vu appears in nearly every character, and Marlen’s explanation in the basement offers a metaphysical framework that redefines death as a repeating cycle of tiny improvements.

Sample thesis direction: The novel treats déjà vu not as a glitch in the brain but as evidence of Marlen’s nested‑lifetimes theory—each character’s familiarity with tragedy is a memory from a previous iteration, making the present a chance to “fix” the past.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 2: Nora feels she has kissed Jacob before; he experiences “that felt like a reunion rather than a meeting.”
  • Chapter 3: The Thanksgiving family “all having some version of the same thoughts . . . this all feels very familiar.”
  • Chapter 69: Marlen explains that memory is imperfect, so each cycle allows tiny changes to accumulate toward perfection.
  • Chapter 70: Ole says “I have that feeling like I’ve been here before” while watching the pink smog.

6. Symbols: The Cat as Comfort and Constant

Why it matters: Nora’s cat appears in key moments—under the table, in apartment, rejecting a tattoo—as a silent anchor of normalcy amid chaos. Its unchanging presence symbolizes the need for stability.

Sample thesis direction: The cat functions as a physical echo of domestic safety; its refusal to acknowledge the apocalypse mirrors the characters’ own denial and, later, their acceptance of simple pleasures.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 3: The cat settles on Hilda’s toes during the tense Thanksgiving dinner.
  • Chapter 4: Nora cuddles the cat for comfort after panicking over the menu.
  • Chapter 20: The cat scratches Nora’s fresh tattoo, reinforcing her isolation.
  • Chapter 70: In the basement, the cat “basks in the glow of the incoming blast,” indifferent to danger.

7. Structure: Month‑Chapter Headings as a Countdown

Why it matters: The novel is divided into three month‑long sections—October, November, December—each acting as a timer toward the predicted gamma‑ray burst. This structural device builds suspense and mirrors the characters’ psychological escalation.

Sample thesis direction: Krause uses the month headings to compress time and focus on emotional rather than chronological progression; the countdown forces characters to accelerate their reckoning with love, loss, and forgiveness.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 1: “OCTOBER” – the story begins in autumn, a time of decay.
  • Chapter 35: “NOVEMBER” – a structural marker with no specified plot.
  • Chapter 58: “DECEMBER” – the final month, symbolizing closure.
  • Chapter 72: The family declares “December 24” even as the world ends, asserting their own timeline.

8. Foreshadowing: The Hoax Letter vs. the Blast

Why it matters: Irene receives an anonymous letter claiming the apocalypse is a hoax. This subplot creates tension between denial and acceptance and foreshadows the sisters’ eventual rift and reconciliation.

Sample thesis direction: The letter functions as a false prophecy that Hilda rejects, but its real purpose is to foreshadow Irene’s need for hope—and to prepare the reader for the moment when both sisters must choose connection over being right.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 13: Irene reads the letter; it urges calm and directs to a website; she feels “calming warmth.”
  • Chapter 27: Hilda dismisses the letter as “wishful thinking”; Irene leaves hurt.
  • Chapter 38: Hank and Irene argue about the letter at dinner; Hank knocks over his chair.
  • Chapter 71: Irene finally breaks down while reading the letter on her fridge; Hank holds her.

9. Ending: The Basement Gathering and Marlen’s Explanation

Why it matters: The novel’s climax is not action but conversation—Marlen’s description of nested lifetimes. This philosophical ending redefines death as a perpetual opportunity for improvement, offering a hopeful counterpoint to the physical annihilation.

Sample thesis direction: By having Marlen read his novel aloud in the basement, the ending privileges narrative interpretation over literal survival; the characters’ willingness to believe in infinite do‑overs becomes their final act of love.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 69: Marlen explains that life repeats like nesting dolls; “tiny changes will eventually wear away at the rough edges.”
  • Chapter 70: The family uncovers the windows, seeing pink smog; they share memories and accept the end.
  • Chapter 70: Nora thinks of Leise Park as a “quiet park” where joy exists alongside death.
  • Chapter 70: Alfie hugs everyone for the first time; Hilda says “my body knows what to do.”

10. Grief and Denial: Hilda’s Murals as Coping Mechanism

Why it matters: Hilda turns to painting obsessively after Marlen’s diagnosis and the apocalypse news. Her murals—first the kitchen, then the whole house—represent an attempt to preserve family life against inevitable loss.

Sample thesis direction: Hilda’s compulsive murals are an act of denial that paradoxically becomes an act of acceptance; she paints not to ignore death but to leave a permanent record of love before everything dissolves.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 28: Hilda buys paint; she abandons “affordable, durable, timeless” for bold colors after a teenager’s mural speech.
  • Chapter 45: She paints a kitchen mural of her family, then immediately starts on the dining room.
  • Chapter 48: She paints the bathroom bright blue with clouds.
  • Chapter 55: She paints birds in Nora’s bedroom, chosen for Nora’s love of them.

11. Family Bonds Under Crisis: Irene and Hilda’s Reconciliation

Why it matters: The sisters’ relationship fractures over the hoax letter and Marlen’s illness, but the approaching apocalypse forces a raw, honest reunion. Their reconciliation affirms that love can heal even when time is short.

Sample thesis direction: Irene and Hilda’s argument about the letter and their eventual shouting of “I love you” from opposite porches (Chapter 71) shows that crisis strips away pretense, allowing siblings to return to a primal bond that predates their disagreements.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 27: Irene shows Hilda the letter; Hilda dismisses it; Irene leaves in tears.
  • Chapter 67: Hilda invites Alfie into the group; she pulls Irene onto the porch to scream an apology.
  • Chapter 71: The two sisters shout “I love you” against the howling wind.
  • Chapter 69: Irene gives Marlen’s book as a gift at Christmas; the family laughs together.

12. Art as Coping: The Murals, Snowflakes, and Meaning in Nothingness

Why it matters: Throughout the novel, characters create—paintings, crossword puzzles, paper snowflakes, felt garlands. These acts of making become a defiant reply to meaninglessness, suggesting that beauty matters even when it cannot last.

Sample thesis direction: From the hardware‑store clerk’s insight that “everything matters the same amount” (Chapter 28) to the family making snowflakes in the basement (Chapter 70), the novel argues that artistic creation is the only rational response to annihilation because it affirms human connection.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 28: Teenage clerk explains that longevity no longer matters; “this mural they’re doing matters as much as an Andy Warhol painting.”
  • Chapter 39: Nora and Jacob craft snowflakes from sheet music and paper chains.
  • Chapter 46: Irene makes felt ivy garlands, repurposing materials from the closed senior center.
  • Chapter 70: Jacob makes paper snowflakes with Irene; Nora thinks of Leise Park as a place where joy persists near death.

Use these prompts as starting points for your own essay questions and discussions. For thematic context, see our pages on déjà vu and repetition, grief and mortality, and family bonds under crisis.