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. Rather than forgive Tony, Felix devotes years of his life to a revenge that is ultimately unsatisfying.

• What message about forgiveness does Hag-Seed convey? (topic sentence)
• Give at least three examples from separate places in the text that support your interpretation.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect your analysis to the novel’s larger thematic concern with the ways in which Your Mind Can Be a Prison.

2. Hag-Seed contains three epigraphs from well-known texts.

• What is the relationship between one of these epigraphs and the rest of Hag-Seed? (topic sentence)
• Give at least three examples that demonstrate this relationship.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect your analysis to the novel’s larger meaning.

3. The Fletcher County Correctional Institute plays a significant role in the story.