67 pages • 2 hours read
It Ends with Us
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
CHAPTERS 1-4
Reading Check
1. What new acquaintance does Lily meet on the rooftop?
2. How might one describe the relationship between Lily’s mother and father?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does the author use Lily’s encounter with Atlas to set the tone for Lily’s character? What can readers infer indirectly about Lily’s character from this scene?
2. What are Lily’s initial impressions of Ryle, and how do these impressions evolve over the course of the first few chapters?
CHAPTERS 5-8
Reading Check
1. What is Lily’s purpose for bringing her male colleague to Ryle’s party?
2. What does Allysa warn Lily about?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Both before and after Ryle’s party, how is Lily feeling in regard to Ryle and Atlas?
2. How do the letters to Ellen DeGeneres add to the structure of the narrative?
Paired Resource
- This Masterclass article describes the literary device foreshadowing along with examples and specific types.
- In what instances does Hoover utilize the technique of foreshadowing with her various characters? Choose two examples from the text you believe might be foreshadowing; develop a prediction for each based on the tone, placement, and language of the examples.
CHAPTERS 9-12
Reading Check
1. Where does Lily reunite with Atlas?
2. How does Atlas’s return affect Lily and Ryle’s relationship?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Lily begin to feel renewed sympathy for her mother?
2. How does Lily and Atlas’s relationship as teenagers demonstrate the theme of The Necessity of Support?
CHAPTERS 13-16
Reading Check
1. What pivotal moment occurs in Lily and Ryle’s relationship regarding the lasagna tray?
2. What does Atlas give to Lily after visiting her at her shop?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Atlas confront Lily at the restaurant, and how does this scene relate to the theme of The Cyclical Nature of Domestic Violence?
2. What does Ryle’s reaction to Atlas in the restaurant reveal about his character?
Paired Resource
“The Difference Between Healthy and Unhealthy Love”
- This 12-minute TED Talk by Katie Hood details the main red flags of a toxic relationship. Readers may view this video and compare Hood’s identifying factors with Ryle’s actions.
- Information and ideas in this resource connect with the themes The Cyclical Nature of Domestic Violence and The Necessity of Support.
- In what ways does Ryle demonstrate the red flags of a toxic relationship? Identify and explain.
CHAPTERS 17-20
Reading Check
1. What happens to Atlas when Lily’s father finds him in her room?
2. What changes about Ryle’s story in regard to his childhood trauma?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Ryle demonstrate The Cyclical Nature of Domestic Violence when he finds Atlas’s number in Lily’s book?
2. In what ways does Lily recognize that Ryle is similar to her father?
CHAPTERS 21-24
Reading Check
1. What does Ryle buy for Lily after their fight regarding a move to Minnesota?
2. What does Ryle find that causes him to attack Lily?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Relating to the theme The Cyclical Nature of Domestic Violence, why does Lily believe she has become her mother?
2. How do Allysa and Marshall demonstrate their love for Ryle as a family?
Paired Resource
“Love After Love” by Derek Walcott
- This poem celebrates self-acceptance and the process of finding love and fulfillment within oneself.
- This poem connects to the novel through the theme The Necessity of Support.
- How do Allysa and Atlas relate to this poem? How might Lily one day relate?
CHAPTERS 25-28
Reading Check
1. What does Lily decide to do in regard to Ryle?
2. Where does Lily stay when recovering from Ryle’s attempted rape?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. After she leaves him, why and in what ways is Lily conflicted about her feelings for Ryle?
2. Why did Atlas not come back for Lily when he initially left years prior?
CHAPTERS 29-32
Reading Check
1. How does Lily’s mother react to Lily breaking away from Ryle?
2. What does Lily tell Ryle when he tries to physically reach out to her?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Allysa demonstrate the theme The Necessity of Support in regard to Lily?
2. What does Lily’s mother mean when she says to keep “sight of her limit” (Chapter 32)?
Paired Resource
“The Layers” by Stanley Kunitz
- This poem delves into the layers of one’s life and the process and struggles of self-discovery, similar to Lily’s.
- Shared themes include The Cyclical Nature of Domestic Violence.
- How do this speaker’s experiences relate to Lily’s journey in the novel?
CHAPTERS 32-EPILOGUE
Reading Check
1. What does Lily want regarding her marriage with Ryle?
2. What does Lily name her child, and who is the child named after?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. How does Lily represent her appreciation and love for Atlas with her daughter?
2. How does the ending represent the novel’s title, It Ends with Us?
Recommended Next Reads
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
- Three women with seemingly perfect lives become entangled in a web of secrets, lies, and domestic violence within their affluent community. As their lives collide, the façade of perfection begins to crumble.
- Shared themes include The Cyclical Nature of Domestic Violence and The Necessity of Support.
- Shared topics include domestic violence, secrets, and the complexities of women’s friendships.
- Big Little Lies on SuperSummary
Educated by Tara Westover
- This memoir tells the remarkable story of Westover’s journey from growing up in an abusive and isolated family in rural Idaho to pursuing education against all odds. It is an account of personal growth, resilience, and breaking free from a cycle of ignorance and violence.
- Shared themes include The Cyclical Nature of Domestic Violence and The Necessity of Support.
- Shared topics include family dynamics, personal growth, domestic violence, and abuse.
- Educated on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
CHAPTERS 1-4
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. It highlights Lily’s compassionate nature and foreshadows her willingness to help others. (Chapter 2)
2. She finds him physically attractive but sees that he has commitment issues. Her impressions evolve as they spend more time together, however, and she soon sees more facets of his personality that she finds attractive than worrisome. (Chapters 1-4)
CHAPTERS 5-8
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. Lily has strong feelings for Ryle while she has unresolved feelings toward Atlas. (Chapters 5-8)
2. Lily’s letters allow the reader to learn about her past and introduce her unresolved feelings toward Atlas. (Chapters 5-8)
CHAPTERS 9-12
Reading Check
1. At Atlas’s restaurant (Chapter 10)
2. It creates jealously on Ryle’s part; Lily feels the strain between Ryle and herself, which causes stress. (Chapter 10)
Short Answer
1. Lily reads through her old diary entries, recognizing the abuse her mother suffered from Lily’s father. (Chapter 10)
2. Lily supports Atlas through his sickness and tries to provide shelter when he is unhoused; in return, Atlas helps fulfill Lily’s need for positive human connection. (Chapter 11)
CHAPTERS 13-16
Reading Check
1. Ryle shoves Lily, hurting her physically for the first time. (Chapter 14)
2. Ellen DeGeneres’s autographed book (Chapter 16)
Short Answer
1. He sees Lily’s injured eye and believes that she is being abused by her new lover; this reminds him that Lily’s father abused her mother. (Chapter 15)
2. Ryle verbally attacks Atlas and engages in a physical altercation, demonstrating his violent and jealous nature. (Chapter 15)
CHAPTERS 17-20
Reading Check
1. Her father beats Atlas. (Chapter 17)
2. The truth is exposed that Ryle shot his brother accidentally. (Chapter 20)
Short Answer
1. Ryle attacks Lily, shoving her down the stairs, once again demonstrating a similar relationship to her father and mother. (Chapter 19)
2. Ryle repeatedly hurts Lily; each time, he follows up by asking for forgiveness and employing guilt-inducing tactics. (Chapters 17-20)
CHAPTERS 21-24
Reading Check
1. An apartment (Chapter 21)
2. A magnet from Atlas (Chapter 23)
Short Answer
1. Lily realizes that her spouse is abusive, much like her father was toward her mother. (Chapter 24)
2. The couple names their newborn daughter “Rylee” after Ryle. (Chapter 22)
CHAPTERS 25-28
Reading Check
1. She leaves him. (Chapter 25)
2. Atlas’s house (Chapters 25-28)
Short Answer
1. She is angry at Ryle for hurting her repeatedly, but she also feels like she lost a close lover, husband, and confidant. (Chapters 25-28)
2. He joined the military. After coming back, he saw that she was already happy and healthy. (Chapter 28)
CHAPTERS 29-32
Reading Check
1. She is positive and supportive. (Chapter 32)
2. She tells him that she no longer loves him. (Chapter 30)
Short Answer
1. Rather than telling Lily to give her brother another chance, Allysa sides with Lily and helps her. (Chapter 29)
2. She means that Lily should set healthy boundaries in her relationships and stick to them, no matter the adversity. (Chapter 32)
CHAPTERS 32-EPILOGUE
Reading Check
1. A divorce (Chapter 33)
2. Emerson; Ryle’s older brother (Chapter 34)
Short Answer
1. She gives her daughter the middle name “Dory” in homage to her letters to Ellen DeGeneres regarding her feelings toward Atlas. (Epilogue)
2. The title relates to breaking The Cyclical Nature of Domestic Violence in which Lily actively works against the generational trauma her father inflicted on her while abusing her mother. (Chapter 32-Epilogue)
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