Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Mim can be condescending and judgmental, and she often makes offhand jokes and remarks that show biases against people’s physical characteristics.

• Does Mim’s likability matter to the reader’s investment in the story? (topic sentence)
• Discuss at least three details that illustrate different ways Mim might be an unlikable character. Explain two or three aspects of the story that might cause a reader to care about its outcome even if they do not find Mim likeable.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, argue why a reader is or is not likely to stay invested in this story given the less likable aspects of Mim’s character.

2. Sometimes a character’s greatest strength can also be their greatest weakness.

• How does Mim’s ability to escape into her imagination and ignore reality demonstrate that the same quality can be both a strength and a weakness? (topic sentence)
• Provide and discuss an example of a time when Mim’s ability to retreat into her imagination benefits her.