13 REASONS WHY STUDY GUIDE.pdf - JacobEnglish11

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Plot Overview
Clay Jensen, a peer of Hannah, is a shy student who is described as the “perfect
guy.” One day, after school, Clay receives a box sitting in front of his door. In side the
box, Clay discovers seven tapes and a map by Hanna Baker, who was a regular high
school student. However, one day Hannah decides to commit suicide. She believes that
she has no needs to live anymore. The novel Thirteen Reasons Why is narrated by two
characters: Hannah and Clay. Before Hannah dies, she had recorded tapes for the
thirteen reasons why she decided to commit suicide. Hannah gave instructions to the
first tape listener to pass down the tapes when he or she is done listening.
The first person who played a role in Hannah’s death was Justin Foley. He was
the first kiss Hannah had. Freshmen year of high school, Hanna had a crush on him.
However Justin exaggerates the kiss he had with Hannah. Hannah was new to her high
school and since Justin lied about his kiss with her, this creates a negative impression
about Hannah. Justin appears in the tape two times. The second reason he appears is
because at a party with Jessica Davis, she leaves her in a room and Jessica gets raped.
Hannah was hiding in the closet and viewed the tragic event that happened to her
“friend.”
After the negative reputation, Alex Standall adds on the reputation making
everything worse. During class, Alex creates a Who’s Hot and Who’s Not list and under
the hot column, Hannah is marked with the “Hottest Ass in the Freshman Class.” On top
of the exaggerated kiss gossip with Justin, Alex decides to create the list where the whole
school figures out. Hannah starts to become the object of sexual harassment, the sexual