Essay prompts Things we Left behind Lucy Score

Things We Left Behind: 12 Analytical Essay Prompts

Why These Prompts Matter

Things We Left Behind weaves together themes of grief, justice, trust, and found family across a dual-timeline story. The following prompts are designed to help you write focused, evidence-driven analyses that go beyond plot summary. Each prompt targets a specific literary element—character change, causality, relationships, contrasting scenes, themes, symbols, structure, foreshadowing, or the ending—and provides a defensible thesis direction along with concrete chapter/scene evidence leads.

1. The Function of the Cherry Tree as a Bridge Between Two Worlds

Why it matters: The cherry tree appears in both the teenage flashbacks and the adult timeline, serving as a physical and symbolic link between Sloane’s and Lucian’s separate lives. Analyzing it reveals how the novel uses a recurring image to chart the evolution of their relationship.

Sample thesis direction: The cherry tree functions not only as a literal escape route for Lucian but also as a symbolic bridge between his abusive home and the safety of the Walton household, and later between the emotional distance he maintains and the vulnerability he eventually allows.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 5: Lucian climbs the cherry tree into Sloane’s bedroom for the first time after kicking a rock into her fence.
  • Chapter 11: Again, Lucian climbs the tree after his father’s attack; Sloane tends his wounds and they listen to Shania Twain.
  • Chapter 38: After the library fire, Lucian climbs the same tree to reach Sloane’s window, marking his recommitment.
  • Chapter 45: The Morgan brothers bury Sloane’s porch in cherry blossoms, and Lucian proposes under cherry imagery, completing the symbol’s arc.

2. How the “Burrito” Motif Encodes Lucian’s Hidden Care

Why it matters: The novel repeatedly uses food (especially the burrito) as a vehicle for Lucian’s unspoken tenderness. Tracing this motif illuminates the gap between his harsh words and his protective actions.

Sample thesis direction: The burrito—first forced on Sloane after her father’s funeral—becomes a recurring emblem of Lucian’s secret caretaking, allowing him to express love through practical gestures while verbally denying emotional investment.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 1: Lucian orders Sloane’s favorite breakfast burrito and scolds her for not eating.
  • Chapter 2: Evidence snippet shows Sloane brings him a burger and fries; he eats it despite his intentions.
  • Chapter 6: At the diner, Sloane forces Lucian to taste her hot chocolate; he feigns disgust but gives a delayed grimace.
  • Chapter 40: Lucian reveals he quit smoking because “she doesn’t date smokers,” showing how his actions contradict his denials.

3. The Role of the “Peace Talks” in Chapter 24: Vulnerability Through Structured Conversation

Why it matters: After their intense physical affair begins, the peace talks scene marks a turning point where both characters voluntarily lower their defenses within a temporary framework. This mechanism foreshadows the therapy session in Chapter 44.

Sample thesis direction: The twenty-minute “peace talks” in Chapter 24 create a controlled space for emotional honesty that neither character would allow outside it, demonstrating how structured vulnerability can bypass years of defensive hostility.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 24: Sloane proposes twenty minutes of honest talk without repercussions; Lucian admits buying her parents’ condo to repay kindness.
  • He reveals the worst six days of his life were the week Wylie jailed him at eighteen.
  • Sloane hugs him, touched; their moment is interrupted by friends’ texts.
  • The pattern recurs in Chapter 44 where Emry’s therapy session forces similar structured honesty.

4. Contrasting the Two Flashback Arrests (Chapter 19 vs. Chapter 22) and Their Impact on Trust

Why it matters: The novel presents two critical arrests from different perspectives—Lucian’s arrest after his father’s attack, and Sloane’s intervention that leads to the same arrest. Examining these contrasting scenes reveals the central wound in their relationship.

Sample thesis direction: By juxtaposing Lucian’s perception of betrayal (Chapter 19) with Sloane’s courageous but guilt-ridden decision to call 911 (Chapter 22), Score dramatizes how the same event can be interpreted as betrayal by one party and protection by the other, creating a twenty-year trust deficit.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 19 (Lucian’s POV): He attacks his father; police arrive because Sloane called 911. He feels betrayed and is arrested.
  • Chapter 22 (Sloane’s POV): She sneaks into the Rollins house with a camcorder, witnesses the attack, calls 911, and smashes the glass door. She breaks her wrist.
  • Chapter 11: Earlier flashback shows Lucian making Sloane promise never to intervene (the fence between good and bad).
  • Chapter 44: In therapy, Lucian admits he blamed Sloane for the arrest but now sees her actions as protective.

5. Justice vs. Injustice: The Mary Louise Upshaw Subplot as a Mirror for Lucian’s Past

Why it matters: The legal case that Sloane champions—a mother serving 20 years for protecting her son—echoes the novel’s larger theme of systemic injustice and parallels Lucian’s own experience of being punished for defending his mother.

Sample thesis direction: Mary Louise’s disproportionate sentence for protecting her son mirrors Lucian’s arrest for protecting his mother, allowing the novel to critique the justice system while also providing a concrete project through which Sloane and Lucian can work together and heal.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 8: Sloane finds newspaper clippings about Mary Louise Upshaw’s extreme drug sentence in her father’s desk.
  • Chapter 15: Sloane and Lucian visit the prison; Mary Louise explains she pled guilty to protect her teenage son Allen.
  • Chapter 26: Attorney Fran Vereen explains that Virginia’s abolition of parole means Mary Louise must serve 85% of her sentence.
  • Chapter 43: Sloane connects private prisons (Rex Management) to Anthony Hugo’s network, linking the arson to Hugo’s attempt to silence her.
  • Chapter 46: Mary Louise’s case is finally freed when Judge Atkins is implicated in Hugo’s corruption.

6. The TENS Machine Scene (Chapter 13) as a Microcosm of the Love-Hate Dynamic

Why it matters: Chapter 13’s forced civility through shock therapy is a comic but pointed device that lays bare the power struggle between Lucian and Sloane. It also emphasizes the role of the Knockemout community as meddlesome but loving.

Sample thesis direction: The TENS machine scene functions as a controlled, humorous pressure valve that externalizes the internal tension between Lucian and Sloane, forcing them into a truce that paves the way for genuine cooperation later.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 13: Knox forces Lucian and Sloane to wear TENS units; Waylay controls the remote and shocks them for insults.
  • They negotiate a truce: stagger attendance at shared events, avoid conflict in groups.
  • The truce allows them to work together on the Mary Louise case (Chapter 14-15).
  • The scene highlights the found family’s role in mediating their conflict.

7. The Symbolism of the Snow Angel and the Shooting Star (Chapter 4)

Why it matters: In a single quiet moment, Sloane’s snow angel and the shooting star create a visual and symbolic turning point in Lucian’s emotional arc. This scene is pivotal for understanding his internal shift from surveillance to affection.

Sample thesis direction: The snow angel Sloane makes while wearing Lucian’s coat, combined with the shooting star she sees and his handprint on the glass, transforms Lucian from a distant watcher into a man ready to acknowledge his compulsion to protect her as love.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 4: Sloane goes outside in Lucian’s coat, makes a snow angel, sees a shooting star; Lucian watches from his window and presses his hand to the glass.
  • He realizes his compulsion is rooted in his promise to Simon Walton.
  • The coat becomes a token: Sloane keeps it, and Lucian later sees it as evidence of his attachment.
  • The shooting star is echoed in the proposal scene when the Morgan brothers bury the porch in cherry blossoms.

8. The Library as a Sanctuary Under Threat: Symbolism and Its Destruction

Why it matters: The library is Sloane’s “pride and joy,” a place of safety, knowledge, and community. Its burning in Chapter 37 represents the collapse of her independent life and forces her to rely on others, especially Lucian.

Sample thesis direction: The library fire destroys Sloane’s physical sanctuary—a space she controlled and curated—and catalyzes her surrender to accepting help, marking the point where her need for independence gives way to allowing Lucian to protect her.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 12: Sloane describes the library as her “pride and joy,” and she runs it with passion.
  • Chapter 27: A threatening note is found in the book drop: “Stop now before someone gets hurt.”
  • Chapter 37: The fire starts, sprinklers fail, phone line is dead; Sloane is trapped until rescued by Officer Grave Hopper.
  • Chapter 38: After the fire, Lucian holds her, draws her a bath, and vows never to leave again.
  • The library’s destruction also symbolizes the end of Sloane’s fight to remain independent from Lucian’s help.

9. The Significance of the Vasectomy Reversal (Chapter 45) as a Grand Gesture

Why it matters: Lucian’s vasectomy reversal is a literal undoing of his earlier decision to avoid fatherhood. It is the most concrete demonstration of his commitment to building a family with Sloane, contrasting with his previous emotional and physical barriers.

Sample thesis direction: The vasectomy reversal functions as the narrative’s ultimate proof of Lucian’s changed priorities, transforming his earlier self-protective sterility into a willingness to create the family he once felt unworthy of.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 18: Lucian reveals he had a vasectomy at a young age, blaming his father’s abuse for his aversion to family.
  • Throughout the novel, Sloane expresses her desire for a family (Chapter 3: “biological clock,” Chapter 39: she refuses to restart the relationship because of incompatible goals).
  • Chapter 45: Lucian surprises Sloane with the reversal procedure and proposes, confessing he has loved her for over twenty years.
  • The proposal under the cherry blossoms ties the gesture back to their childhood bond.

10. The Duality of Lucian Rollins: “Ruthless CEO” vs. “Secret Philanthropist”

Why it matters: The novel deliberately juxtaposes Lucian’s public persona—cold, powerful, demanding—with his private acts of radical kindness. This duality is a core tension that Sloane must reconcile to trust him.

Sample thesis direction: Score establishes Lucian’s character through a pattern of hidden generosity—funding Sloane’s library grants, paying for her father’s experimental treatment, sending her mother to a spa—that contradicts his overt hostility, forcing Sloane (and the reader) to recognize his love is expressed through action, not words.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 7: Lucian secretly funds a halfway house for trafficking victims (revealed by Lina).
  • Chapter 32: Sloane discovers Lucian secretly funded her library grant through shell companies.
  • Chapter 35: She finds a medical invoice showing he paid for her father’s experimental cancer treatment.
  • Chapter 40: He installs security at her home and cooks for her family, taking over care.
  • The author’s note (Chapter 51) confirms the characters taught about love and loss.

11. The Role of the Cherry Blossom / Shania Twain Motif in the Proposal (Chapter 45)

Why it matters: The novel weaves together two motifs—the cherry tree (safety, bridge) and Shania Twain (emotional touchstone from the pillow nest scene)—to create a resonant climax. The proposal scene in Chapter 45 explicitly merges them.

Sample thesis direction: The proposal scene synthesizes the novel’s two central aural and visual motifs—the cherry tree as a bridge between worlds and the Shania Twain song as a marker of emotional safety—to signal that Lucian has finally integrated his past with his present and is ready to build a future with Sloane.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 11: Teenage Lucian and Sloane listen to “From This Moment On” and “I Won’t Leave You Lonely” in the pillow nest.
  • The cherry tree is the literal bridge between their homes in flashbacks (Chapters 5, 11).
  • Chapter 45: Nash plays Shania Twain from a bullhorn while the Morgan brothers bury the porch in cherry blossoms.
  • Lucian’s proposal speech in Chapter 45: He admits he has loved her for over twenty years.
  • Chapter 49 (Epilogue): A mysterious angel ornament resembling Simon appears on the cherry tree, hinting at his blessing.

12. The Ending (Chapter 49/Bonus Epilogue) as a Circle of Healing: From the “Fence Between Good and Bad” to “All for You. Always.”

Why it matters: The novel’s final lines and bonus epilogue—set ten years later—show the complete transformation of Lucian, who starts as a boy trapped between a corrupt father and a life he didn’t choose, and ends as a grandfather surrounded by the family he never believed he could have.

Sample thesis direction: The epilogue completes the novel’s arc from the binary “fence between good and bad” that Lucian describes in Chapter 11 to the integrated, loving family he builds, demonstrating that healing comes not from escaping the past but from reimagining it as a foundation for the future.

Evidence leads:

  • Chapter 11: Lucian tells young Sloane about “the fence between good and bad” that he can’t cross.
  • Chapter 49: On their wedding day, Lucian climbs through the window to reassure Sloane, echoing their teenage meetings.
  • Bonus Epilogue: Lucian holds his first grandchild, Amara, at a Christmas Eve dinner; the house is full of children, dogs, and family.
  • The angel ornament on the cherry tree suggests Simon’s presence.
  • Lucian’s internal reflection: “All for you. Always.”
  • The author’s note (Chapter 51) confirms the series conclusion and the characters’ enduring resonance.

Downloadable Essay Starter

For each prompt, begin by locating the key scenes in the book, annotate the evidence listed above, and build your thesis around the tension between what characters say and what they do. Use our character profiles and thematic guides to deepen your analysis.

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