Literary Devices in Hope Was Here
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
The Big Cheese: WisconsinLet's start out big—like a big wheel of cheese—a big wheel of Wisconsin cheese, that is. Hope Was Here is largely set in America's Dairyland or, as Hope lovingly dubs i...
Narrator Point of View
We spend a lot of time in Hope Yancey's brain as she narrates the story about food, fathers, and finding love, but it's a good place to be. Aside from being insightful, engaging, and funny, the you...
Genre
Here's an analogy: Hope Was Here: Young Adult Literature :: Halloween: Horror Movies. In other words, it's a perfect fit. In today's world, most young people can relate to the things Hope deals wit...
Tone
G.T. doesn't take himself very seriously either and treats the whole cancer issue with a lighthearted manner. He jokes about the side effects of chemotherapy ("Now that I lost my hair to the chemot...
Writing Style
It was my fourteenth birthday, and I took to waitressing like a hungry trucker tackles a T-bone. (2) The rest of the morning went down like cold rolls with a hot meal. (51) [...] Addie's face had g...
What's Up With the Title?
HOPE WAS HERE. If you look really closely, you'll see these words handwritten on the wall above the dessert case at the Ballyhoo Grill in South Carolina, on the boarded-up windows of the Blue Box D...
What's Up With the Ending?
It's not surprising that everyone (well, almost everyone) lives happily ever after in Hope Was Here. With a storyline and characters as sweet and comforting as a slice of Addie's deep-dish apple pi...
Tough-o-Meter
Hope Was Here goes down like a piece of silky chocolate cream pie. The plot isn't full of twists and turns, and the vocabulary isn't exactly arduous (e.g., you won't find the word "arduous" in the...
Plot Analysis
"There's a lot of cheese where you're going, Hope" (5) Sixteen-year-old Hope and her aunt, Addie, are moving from Brooklyn, NY, to a small town in Wisconsin to start new jobs at the Welcome Stairwa...
Trivia
Joan Bauer first achieved notoriety as a writer when she won second place in a "Fruit and Vegetable Poetry Contest" sponsored by a newspaper. Her dislike for lima beans really impressed the judges....
Steaminess Rating
Most of the steam in this novel comes from the piping-hot food served at the Welcome Stairways diner, not from the characters themselves. Hope and Braverman hold hands, hug, and share a kiss that t...