1. Create a Web site to introduce A Separate Peace to other readers. Design pages to intrigue and inform your audience and invite other readers to post their thoughts and responses to their reading of the novel. 2. Choose a scene from the novel and dramatize it for other classes. […]
Read more Study Help Practice ProjectsStudy Help Essay Questions
1. On the beach, Finny calls Gene his “best pal,” but Gene cannot respond in the same way. At this point in the novel, how is Finny a “best pal” to Gene? How is Gene not a “best pal” to Finny? Do the friends’ feelings about each other change as […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsStudy Help Full Glossary for A Separate Peace
Abominable Snowman a large, hairy, man-like creature reputed to live in the Himalayas; also called yeti. Here, Leper in his ski gear reminds Brinker of the creature. aide-memoire (French) a memorandum of a discussion, proposed agreement, etc. Here, Knowles uses the term comically. Archangel seaport in northwestern Russia, at the […]
Read more Study Help Full Glossary for A Separate PeaceCritical Essays Gene and Finny: Doubles
Shortly after Finny’s fall from the tree, Gene, consumed by guilt and fear, obeys a strange compulsion to dress like his roommate. He puts on Finny’s clothes — even the unconventional pink shirt that was the “emblem” for the Allied bombing of Central Europe — and looks at himself in […]
Read more Critical Essays Gene and Finny: DoublesCritical Essays From Innocence to Experience in A Separate Peace
A Separate Peace tells the story of Gene’s painful but necessary growth into adulthood, a journey of deepening understanding about his responsibility and his place in a wider world. At the beginning of the novel, the young Gene stands unconcerned, self-absorbed, by the tree that will test his true nature. […]
Read more Critical Essays From Innocence to Experience in A Separate PeaceJohn Knowles Biography
Early Years John Knowles won both critical and popular success with his first novel, A Separate Peace. In the 40 years since its publication, the novel has become a classic for both young adults and adult readers. Although he has written eight other novels, including Peace Breaks Out, which shares […]
Read more John Knowles BiographyCharacter Analysis Elwin (Leper) Lepellier
Leper is another important minor character in the novel. In fact, he acts as a kind of narrative catalyst, inadvertently bringing about the final tragedy in the novel. The nonconforming loner Leper serves as a contrast to Finny, another nonconformist who nonetheless succeeds as a leader. Quiet and shy, Leper […]
Read more Character Analysis Elwin (Leper) LepellierCharacter Analysis Brinker Hadley
Brinker plays a secondary role in the novel as Gene’s inquisitor before and during the Assembly Room trial. His public performance in the Assembly Room represents his most dramatic moment; aggressive, but scrupulously polite, he pursues responsibility irresponsibly. A successful, conventional student leader, Brinker stands in contrast to both Finny […]
Read more Character Analysis Brinker HadleyCharacter Analysis Phineas (Finny)
Finny is the only character in the novel for whom Knowles does not provide a last name. Unlike Gene Forrester, whose name offers two different meanings (well-born and hardy), Finny’s character needs no qualification: Finny is just Finny. True to his aquatic-sounding name, Finny lives in action like a fish […]
Read more Character Analysis Phineas (Finny)Character Analysis Gene Forrester
Gene serves as both the narrator and protagonist in the novel. Telling the story from his perspective, he recounts his own growth into adulthood — a struggle to face and acknowledge his fundamental nature and to learn from a single impulsive act that irrevocably shapes his life. Gene’s name suggests […]
Read more Character Analysis Gene Forrester