Brooklyn
by Colm Toibin
About_
This study guide accompanies Colm Tóibín’s novel Brooklyn, following Eilis Lacey’s journey from small-town Ireland
to bustling 1950s Brooklyn and the difficult choices she faces between two worlds and two lives. It is designed to
test students’ recall of key plot details while also encouraging deeper reflection on themes of identity, loyalty,
grief, and belonging. Each chapter section pairs fact-based questions with an answer key alongside open-ended
analytical questions, and the guide closes with a crossword puzzle and a character study activity. This study guide
contains 65 questions across 5 chapter sections (50 Factual + 15 Critical), 1 Crossword Puzzle (12 clues), and 1
Character Focus Activity.
What’s Included_
This study guide features 5 sets of 10 Factual Questions with an answer key (50 total), 5 sets of 3 Critical Analysis
Questions (15 total), 1 Crossword Puzzle (12 clues), and 1 Character Focus Activity (8 traits + evidence prompt +
critical thinking question).
Target Grades_
Grades 10-12
Teacher Note_
This guide is built to save you prep time while giving students a genuine workout in both comprehension and
critical thinking. The factual questions anchor students in the plot, while the analysis prompts push them to
grapple with Eilis’s difficult choices and the novel’s themes of home, identity, and belonging. We hope it helps your
classroom discussions of Brooklyn come alive!