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 novel’s structure is an amalgamation of short stories unified by several overarching themes.

• How do themes tie together the book’s various motifs? (topic sentence)
• Identify a combination of stories and summarize their content and explain their unifying theme.
• How does this story speak to Rivera’s use of Interdependence of Paradoxical Elements?

2. Rivera employs a stream-of-consciousness technique throughout the novel.

• What is a stream-of-consciousness narrative technique? (topic sentence)
• Identify 2-3 examples where Rivera uses this technique in the novel.
• How does Rivera’s use of stream-of-consciousness speak to the larger theme of The Power of Storytelling?

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.