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. The town of Willowbee appears out of place in the Texas desert.

• What does Willowbee symbolically convey about colonialism? (topic sentence)
• Give evidence from at least three separate places in the text that supports your interpretation.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how the symbolic value of Willowbee supports the novel’s thematic concern with Prejudice and Privilege.

2. One of the cultural rules surrounding Ellie’s special abilities prohibits using her abilities to wake the ghosts of dead humans.

• How does the novel portray the difference between waking the ghost of an animal and waking the ghost of a human? (topic sentence)
• Give evidence from at least three separate places in the text that supports your interpretation.