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. Explore the significance of nature and the winter setting in Tobias Wolff’s “Hunters in the Snow.”

• How do the characters’ interactions with nature contribute to the theme of Man Versus Nature? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 or more passages in which the characters’ hunting activities or encounters with the natural setting contribute to this theme.
• Finally, conclude your essay by summarizing the way in which the setting shapes the characters’ relationships and moral dilemmas.

2. Dirty Realism explores the darker side of human nature in contemporary life, focusing on the mundane lives of average, unheroic people in an unglamourous world.

• Why does the story “Hunters in the Snow” fit the subgenre of Dirty Realism? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 passages from the text where the characters and/or storytelling embody the qualities of Dirty Realism; analyze and explore the significance and purpose of each.