Key journal prompts (which tie together):

Prompt 1:
Prior to starting the book, The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green,
think about books summary: Sixteen-year-old Hazel, a stage IV
thyroid cancer patient, has accepted her terminal diagnosis until a
chance meeting with a boy at cancer support group forces her to
reexamine her perspective on love, loss and life. I would like you to
write for 20 minutes and summarize your personal thoughts on your
own perspective of love, loss, and life. In addition, you are welcome
to include personal experience, or just general feelings to help describe
your writings.
Prompt 2:
At this point in the novel, we have been exposed to many
traumatic experiences revolving around the stories three main
characters: Hazel Grace Lancaster, Augustus Waters, and Isaac. The
novels author John Green has stated that the novel was originally
going to be written from Isaacs perspective. With this in mind, I would
like you to evaluate and infer how the story would have turned out
differently had we not read it through Hazels lens. Please support
your theories with specific scenes from the novel, and describe how
they would have played out differently.
Prompt 3:
Reread your prompts from journals 1 and 2, and reread some of
your quick-writes. Now that we have completed the novel, trace your
thoughts throughout the unit. Has your perspective of love, loss, and
life changed from how it was prior to reading the novel? Explain how
the text either did, or did not, help your perspective develop and grow.
Use specific examples from the text to highlight instances that you
believe support your opinions and beliefs.

Reading Quote Prompts:

There is only one thing in this world shittier than biting it from cancer
when youre sixteen, and thats having a kid who bites it from cancer - Hazel
(page 8)
Im sorry Gus died. I felt kind of suffocated by his T-shirt, but it felt
good to be held so hard, pressed into the comfortable smell of my dad. It was
almost like he was angry or something, and I liked that, because I was angry,
too. Its total bullshit, he [Hazels Dad] said. The whole thing. Eighty percent
survival rate and hes in the twenty percent? Bullshit. He was such a bright
kid. Its bullshit. I hate it. But it was sure a privilege to love him, huh?
I nodded into his shirt.

Gives you an idea how I feel about you, he said.

My old man. He always knew just what to say. - Hazel and her Father
(page 278)
Prompt: How does the quote on page 278 connect to the quote on
page 8?
Then she grabbed a pair of strappy hooker shoes and said, Is it even
possible to walk in these? I mean, I would just die and then she stopped
short, looking at me as if to say Im sorry, as if it were a crime to mention
death to the dying. (Hazel and Kaitlyn) (44)
Prompt: When in your life have you instantly regretted saying
something? *add more*
I was thinking about the word handle, and all the unholdable things that get
handled Hazel (pg 60)
Story: A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress
management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone
expected they'd be asked the "half empty or half full" question. Instead, with
a smile on her face, she inquired: "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers
called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz. She replied, "The absolute weight
doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's
not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it
for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of
the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
She continued, "The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water.
Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit
longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you
will feel paralyzed incapable of doing anything." Its important to remember
to let go of your stresses. As early in the evening as you can, put all your
burdens down. Don't carry them through the evening and into the night.
Remember to put the glass down!
Prompt: What glass in your life do you need to set down?
That is the thing about pain, Augustus said, and then glanced back at me.
It demands to be felt. (Augustus Waters page 63)
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional - Haruki Murakami What I talk About
When I Talk About Running
Prompt: What are ways we can make suffering minimal, and pain
manageable?
General Prompts:

Prompt:

Describe why the movie started with a monologue by Hazel, but

the book does not?

Prompt:

Discuss the juxtaposition between Hazels time spent at her

support group and her time spent with Augustus.