Little Fires Everywhere

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

ACTIVITY 1: “From Page to Screen”

Celeste Ng makes the choice not to identify the Warrens as African American in Little Fires Everywhere, saying that “I thought of them as people of color, because I knew I wanted to talk about race and class, and those things are so intertwined in our country and in our culture… But I didn’t feel like I was the right person to try to bring a black woman’s experience to the page” in an interview with The Atlantic.

Watch the first and last episodes of Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu, which casts Kerry Washington, a Black woman, as Mia Warren, and think about the following questions:

• How does the show differ from the novel in the way it addresses race and class? 
• The TV show and novel each end differently. Is one more effective in its appeal to viewers/readers than the other? Why?
• Is the show more effective in teaching those with white privilege about the experiences and resiliency of people of color, especially women? Why or why not?