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 to one of the topics below, using the  bulleted items to organize your ideas. Cite details from the text throughout your response to provide examples and support.

1. Waverly says her mother teaches her a strategy for winning arguments and chess games called Invisible Strength.

• Define the term invisible strength. (topic sentence)
• Explain the ways that both Waverly and her mother show invisible strength.
• In your closing sentences, discuss who wins the argument between mother and daughter, and why.

2.  Like many of Amy Tan’s stories, “Rules of the Game” is more a story about Mother-Daughter Relationships than it is a story about chess.

• Based on her status as a Chinese American immigrant, explain how Waverly’s mother defines the mother-daughter relationship. (topic sentence)
• Discuss the ways Waverly adopts or rebels against her mother’s definition of the mother-daughter relationship.
• In your closing sentences, discuss what each character learns about mother-daughter relationships by the end of the story.