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. Nick Bottom, a foolish and conceited individual, is a comedic character.

• How does Bottom contribute to the play’s comedic nature? (topic sentence)
• Bottom believes himself to be an actor of unparalleled wit and talent; in what specific ways do his demonstrations, as well as the reactions of others, belie this opinion?
• In your conclusion, consider how the donkey’s head may be emblematic of Bottom’s personality (and why Puck may have therefore intentionally chosen this animal in his prank).

2. The laborer’s play, which constitutes a play-within-a-play, mirrors many of the thematic features of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

• How are themes and symbols from the broader play mirrored in the laborer’s play? (topic sentence)
• How is “The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe” a hyperbolic representation of The Complexity of Love? Determine and discuss at least three specific ideas.