The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan discussion guide: Home
Jenni Fagan
Articles, Interviews, and Reviews
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Surveillance StateNew York Times Book Review, July 18, 2013
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The Panopticon by Jenni FaganThe Washington Post, July 30, 2013
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Review: The Panopticon by Jenni FaganBetween the Covers, August 26, 2013
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Jenni FaganFoyles
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In 'The Panopticon' They're Always WatchingNational Public Radio, July 27, 2013
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I Went from Growing Up in Care to Being a Best-Selling Granta AuthorMarie Claire UK, August 30, 2013
More about the idea of The Panopticon
Videos about Jenni Fagan's The Panopticon
Discussion Questions
1. How did you experience the book? Were you engaged immediately, or did it take you a while to
"get into it"? How did you feel reading it—amused,
sad, disturbed, confused, bored...?
2. Describe the main characters—personality traits, motivations, inner qualities.
• Why do characters do what they do?
• Are their actions justified?
• Describe the dynamics between characters
(in a marriage, family, or friendship).
• How has the past shaped their lives?
• Do you admire or disapprove of them?
• Do they remind you of people you know?
3. Do the main characters change by the end of
the book? Do they grow or mature? Do they learn something about themselves and how the world works?
4. Is the plot engaging—does the story interest you? Is this a plot-driven book: a fast-paced page-turner? Or does the story unfold slowly with a focus on character development? Were you surprised by the plot's complications? Or did you find it predictable, even formulaic?
5. Talk about the book's structure. Is it a continuous story...or interlocking short stories? Does the time-line move forward chronologically...or back and forth between past and present? Does the author use a single viewpoint or shifting viewpoints? Why might the author have chosen to tell the story the way he or she did—and what difference does it make in the way you read or understand it?
6. What main ideas—themes—does the author explore? (Consider the title, often a clue to a theme.) Does the author use symbols to reinforce the main ideas? (See our free LitCourses on both Symbol and Theme.)
7. What passages strike you as insightful, even profound? Perhaps a bit of dialog that's funny or poignant or that encapsulates a character? Maybe there's a particular comment that states the book's thematic concerns?
8. Is the ending satisfying? If so, why? If not, why not...and how would you change it?
9. If you could ask the author a question, what would you ask? Have you read other books by the same author? If so how does this book compare. If not, does this book inspire you to read others?
10. Has this novel changed you—broadened your perspective? Have you learned something new or been exposed to different ideas about people or a certain part of the world?
Reserve a copy
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The Panopticon by
ISBN: 9780385347860Anais Hendricks, fifteen, is in the back of a police car. She is headed for the Panopticon, a home for chronic young offenders. She can't remember what's happened, but across town a policewoman lies in a coma and Anais's school uniform is covered in blood. Raised in foster care from birth and moved through twenty-three placements before she even turned seven, Anais has been let down by just about every adult she has ever met. Despite the parade of horrors visited upon her early life, she greets the world with the witty, fierce insight of a survivor.
Recommended Reading
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A Clockwork Orange by
ISBN: 9780393312836A vicious fifteen-year-old droog is the central character of this 1963 classic. The story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. When the state undertakes to reform Alex to "redeem" him, the novel asks, "At what cost?"
If you liked The Panopticon, you might enjoy the following books.
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Rose of No Man's Land by
ISBN: 9781596921603A whirlwind exploration of poverty and dropouts,Rose of No Man’s Landis the world according to Trisha–a furious love story between two weirdo girls, brimming with snarky observations and soulful wonderings on the dazzle-flash emptiness of contemporary culture. -
Lullabies for Little Criminals by
ISBN: 9780060875077A subtly understated yet searingly effective story of a young life on the streets—and the strength, wits, and luck necessary for survival. At thirteen, Baby vacillates between childhood comforts and adult temptation: still young enough to drag her dolls around in a vinyl suitcase yet old enough to know more than she should about urban cruelties.