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. Samuel is often most comfortable in the woods.

• How do Samuel’s reflections in the woods develop his character? (topic sentence)
• Provide examples in discussing specific ways in which Samuel’s experience in the woods, his reflections in the woods, and his comfort being in the woods develop his character.
• In your concluding sentences, explain why the author chose the perspective of a character who lives on the frontier rather than one who lives in the city.

2. The novel is a coming-of-age story describing Samuel’s development over the course of his journey.

• What aspects of childhood are explored in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Provide examples to describe how childhood is addressed in the novel, how children on the frontier experience childhood, and how the loss of childhood innocence is depicted in the novel.