Sadness, Hope, and Story in Everything Sad Is Untrue

About This Lesson

Through guided close reading and annotation, students engage with this passage to explore the significance and meaning of the book’s title, Everything Sad Is Untrue. By analyzing this selected passage, they will also explore thematic topics such as family, memory, storytelling, and hope. Through reflecting and participating in discussion, students will practice and apply their literary analysis skills to engage with the book’s broader themes. They will also examine literary allusions to deepen their understanding of how interconnected stories can shape meaning.

Essential Questions

• What does it mean for something to be “true”? 

• In storytelling, who decides what is true? And why does it matter?
• How can the stories we tell connect us to or separate us from ourselves and others? 

Facing History Learning Outcomes

• Critically and ethically analyze thematic development and literary craft in order to draw connections between the text and their lives.

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Introduce the Passage and Context

In their journals, have students reflect on the following questions: 

• How can storytelling and listening to the stories of others help us deal with sadness and loneliness? 
• What are the roles of stories—both personal and fictional—in helping us process difficult emotions?

Provide a brief overview of the context of the passage from “One night really late” to “Come on. Put on your shoes” (pp. 232–233), describing Daniel’s emotional response to reading The Return of the King (the final book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and his reflections on memory, family, hope, and the power of stories. Explain that this scene connects to the novel’s title, Everything Sad Is Untrue, and note its allusion to Sam’s question about the potential of “undoing” sadness in The Lord of the Rings. 

• To explore the allusion further, search for the reference to the moment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy where Sam asks Gandalf, “Is everything sad going to come untrue?’”

Activity 2: Engage in Close Reading and Annotation

Distribute the Student Handout: Close-Reading Lesson 4 and direct students to the relevant passage: pp. 232–233, from “One night really late” to “Come on. Put on your shoes.” Ask students to read the passage silently, encouraging them to use the annotation guide and to underline or highlight phrases that stand out to them, particularly those related to sadness, hope, and the power of stories. Further encourage students to note how Daniel connects his experience of reading Tolkien’s novel to his own memories and understanding of sadness.

Activity 3: Participate in Small-Group Discussions

Divide the class into small groups and provide them with the following discussion questions:

1. What is your “golden line” from this passage? Share one or two sentences that resonate with you and explain why.
2. When Daniel describes the scene from The Return of the King where Sam sees Gandalf alive after thinking he was dead, he imagines that Sam feels “it’s like seeing his grandpa return from the land of death of memories.” What do you think Daniel means by this statement? Why do you think he considers it the best part of the book?
3. Describing the same scene from The Return of the King, Daniel says,

   • And his grandpa laughed, and it says it sounded like ”water in a parched land.” I could imagine exactly what the feeling must have been like, but not what it was. Does that make sense?

   • Does this idea make sense to you? What do you think it means?
4. Why does Daniel find this specific story from The Lord of the Rings so meaningful? What about this story helps Daniel cope with his own experiences of loss and loneliness?
5. What does the phrase “maybe all the sad parts of the adventure will come untrue” mean within the context of Daniel’s life? What does this suggest about his hope or lack of hope for the future?
6. What role does memory play in this passage? How can Daniel’s memories help him cope with his current situation and understand his identity?
7. How does this passage make you feel about Daniel’s experiences in the novel? What emotions do you feel when you read about the situations Daniel has been expected to navigate?
8. In what ways does this passage illuminate new thoughts or ideas about the power of stories to connect human beings? 

After the discussion, ask each group to share their insights with the class.

Activity 4: Write a Personal Reflection

Have students individually reflect on the following prompt in their journals: 

Think of a moment when a story—whether a book, film, family story, or memory—helped you process a difficult or sad situation. How did the story shape your understanding of that event or help you find hope?

Encourage students to consider how storytelling in their own lives can act as a bridge between their past and their present.

Activity 5: Debrief in a Whole-Class Discussion

Bring the class back together to discuss the following prompt: 

• How does Daniel’s reflection on reading The Lord of the Rings connect to the novel’s broader themes of storytelling, hope, and resilience? In what ways can the stories we tell help us cope with sadness or loss, and how can storytelling serve as a tool for healing and connection?