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. Our Town features a glimpse into the simple lives of everyday Americans in the early 1900s but was written by Thornton Wilder in the late 1930s.

• Why might Wilder have chosen to write a play on a simpler version of American life during the 1930s? (topic sentence)
• In the body of your essay, consider historical events of the period that might have inspired his return to a simpler time, as well as the aspects of the play that most illuminate simplicity.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explore the possible reasons why Our Town continues to serve its purpose of returning to simplicity.

2. Thornton Wilder insisted on using few props and stage equipment in his plays in the hopes that the audience would be able to place their own world within the ones he created.