PLOT:
INTRODUCTION:
-introduced to main character, Hazel Grace, who has cancer
-see what it's like to be a teenager living with cancer -hovering/worrying parents -missing school/losing touch with friends -watching a lot of reality TV -going to a support group
-doesn't want to become her illness

RISING ACTION:
-Hazel meets Augustus Waters at support group
-hit it off immediately, and from this point Hazel's point of view changes
-Hazel discusses her favourite book (An Imperial Affliction) and gives it to Augustus to read, and soon they're discussing in depth the ending of the book
-Hazel sees a life outside of her cancer one after she meets Augustus
-Augustus uses his Wish Foundation wish to take him, Hazel, and Hazel's mom to Amsterdam to meet Peter Van Houten, the author of An Imperial Affliction
-all while e-mailing Peter Van Houten, so Hazel can meet her idol, and all while trying to convince Hazel's parents and doctors to let her go
-Hazel and Augustus are falling more in love, but Hazel can't express it due to her holding back and not wanting to hurt Augustus -because of her illness and because of what previous happened to Augustus

CLIMAX:
-Hazel and Augustus are in Amsterdam and everything leads up to their time spent together there
-Peter Van Houten turns out to be a drunken and rude man
-Augustus yells at him for being rude and vague to Hazel when she asks him questions
-his assistant Lidewij, quits and takes Hazel and Augustus to explore amsterdam
-Lidewij takes them to Anne Frank's house, where they both give in and kiss each other
-they get back to the hotel and thing escalate from kissing
-Augustus tells Hazel that his cancer has come back, and it's stronger than before

FALLING ACTION:
-Augustus' health is decreasingly significant, and quickly
-Hazel stays by his side the entire time, which makes her parents worry that she's made him her whole life
-Augustus—knowing he's going to die—arranges for Hazel and Isaac to prepare and say eulogies to him before he passes
-Hazel spends every minute with Augustus until he finally dies
-she takes his passing very hard because he was her first love, and he changed her life

CONCLUSION:
-Hazel gets some closure from Peter Van Houten, who she learns is only the way he is because his daughter had died from cancer
-discovers from Isaac and Lidewij that Augustus was writing something before he died, and that he has been in touch with Peter Vanhouten
-Peter Van Houten sends Hazel what Augustus sent him, which was his feelings towards Hazel, and how he's happy with his choices and that he hopes she is happy with hers too
SETTING:
-2 main settings -Indianapolis and Amsterdam
-main settings create contrast -Indianapolis is dull, boring a lifeless compared to Amsterdam, which creates an important contrast and develops Hazel's mood throughout the book
-in Indianapolis, settings shift from hospitals, support group, their houses, and occasionally each others houses
-all dull and very routine
-Indianapolis represents the life mood of living with cancer
-Hazel feels trapped in Indianapolis “It was a cloudy day, typical Indianapolis: the kind of weather that boxes you in” (Green 53-54)
-Indianapolis as a setting puts limitations on Hazel, even as she begins to see brighter with the arrival of Augustus, Indianapolis always seems to be a constant reminder of their situation
-even with Augustus in her life, they're both limited as to what they can do, both from their cancer and Indianapolis as a “trap”
-Amsterdam is the complete opposite -bright, full of life and colour
-shows Hazel's new mood and point of view on life, one that Augustus made her see
-Hazel's character changes along with the setting, in Amsterdam she is more free minded and allowed to be more of a teenager
-hopelessly trapped in Indianapolis; alive and free in Amsterdam
-Hazel's mother even changes in Amsterdam -goes from constantly worrying and tending to Hazel to allowing her self to relax, go sight seeing, and let Hazel loose a little
-once they leave Amsterdam and after Hazel learns of Augustus' return of cancer, her mood goes back to dull and lifeless

CHARACTERIZATION:
-all characters in the novel are dealing with cancer, either directly, or with the effects of having someone in your family or close friend group who has it
-5 significant characters: Hazel, Augustus, Peter Van Houten, Isaac, and Hazel's mom (Mrs. Lancaster)

HAZEL:
-has cancer but doesn't want that to define her, says this out right from the beginning, aware of her fate “Whenever you read a cancer booklet or website or whatever, they always list depression among the side effects of cancer. But in fact, depression is not a side effect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of dying”(Green 3)
-this puts into perspective what cancer is to a person who has, not just what is the general agreement
-she doesn't feel sorry for herself, and instead uses humor to deal with her cancer “I didn't tell [Augustus] that the diagnosis came three months after I got my first period. Like: Congratulations! You're a woman. Now die.” (Green 24)
-knows who she is and what she likes, doesn't care what's “cool” “I take quite a lot of pride in not knowing what's cool.” (Green 40)
-witty, and tries not to hurt people, especially her parents “There is only one thing in this world shittier than biting it from cancer when you're sixteen, and that's having a kid who bites it from cancer.” (Green 8)

AUGUSTUS:
-charming, confident, quick witted and blunt, he wants to leave his mark Hazel: “Why are you looking at me like that?” Augustus: “Because you're beautiful” (Green 16)
-like Hazel, he doesn't want his cancer to define him, and also approaches it with humor, and makes light heart of the situation—both his and Isaac's—without being rude “...oblivion...I fear it like the proverbial blind man who's afraid of the dark” (Green 12)
-it's a light heart jab at Isaac, who is going blind due to his type of cancer
-wants to live a meaningful life that will go down in history Augustus thinks he needs to have an impact but doesn't realize he already is (he changes Hazel completely)

PETER VAN HOUTEN:
-seemingly a genius, but in reality is not the person Hazel expects him to be
-he's an alcoholic, and a rude man, but for a good reason, not an excuse, just a reason
-seems to not care about Hazel and Augustus, but actually does “...I realized Peter Van Houten had a dead person in his family.” (Green 285)

ISAAC:
-true friend to Augustus and Hazel, portrays friendship by being there for both, beginning to end
-a lover, and he reminds us that while cancer is sad, it's also frustrating and unfair (he is completely devastated when his girlfriend Monica breaks up with him) “...Augustus and I stood a few feet away, bearing witness to the madness.” (Green 62-63)

MRS. LANCASTER:
-worrisome and willing to do anything for Hazel, tries to make her life better with the little things “HAZEL! IT'S YOUR THIRTY-THIRD HALF BRITHDAY!” (Green 40)
-feels guilty about Hazel's cancer, and about her trying to become a social worker because she feels Hazel will resent her for thinking about something other than her, but Hazel has the opposite reaction

POINT OF VIEW:
-Hazel's point of view
-allows the reader to connect and understand on a more personal level what it's like to have and live with cancer
-constant awareness that Hazel feels trapped -both by the setting and physically due to her cancer
-through her telling the story, and using her words and personality, it brings the reader into her world
-her world is a cancer-central one, one that has obstacles to be faced everyday, most of which are the same
-through Hazel telling the story, it draws the reader in, and affects our interpretation by having it be a very personal journey
-it's like she's telling us directly what it's like to be a teen with cancer, and it's like we're right there with her and she's experiencing life

IMAGERY AND SYMBOLISM:
“HEART OF JESUS”:
-refers to the church basement where the support group that Hazel and Augustus attend is held
-the support group leader, Patrick, finds comfort in the fact that the presence of God is with them, but Hazel and Augustus find this fact more suffocating than comforting
-the place to them is not their ideal place, but they find themselves there multiple times throughout the book, and that emphasizes how they feel they can't escape the feeling of suffocation and being trapped

CIGARETTES: “They don't kill you unless you light them...