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. Lilia occupies a unique position in the story in that she exists in two different cultural spheres. At home, she is exposed to many aspects of Indian culture, but at school, she is expected to learn American history and participate in American traditions like Halloween.

• How does Lilia’s dual knowledge of Indian and American cultures impact her development? (topic sentence)
• Identify one example and explain how it substantiates your point.
• In which ways does Lilia’s unique position link to the theme Coming of Age as a Second-Generation Immigrant?

2. While the main focus on the story is the Bangladesh Liberation War, there is also a lot of attention given to the American Revolution, which is a subject of Lilia’s education at school.