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. A Different Mirror is often described as a “revisionist” account of American history.

• How does one define the term “revisionist history”? (topic sentence)
• What makes Takaki’s book different from the way American history is usually written and taught? In your response, be sure to clearly explain the primary features of the dominant narrative of American history.
• In your conclusion, answer the following question: Why are revisionist accounts of American history like A Different Mirror important to American society and culture at large, particularly in American immigrants’ Struggle for Equality?

2. Takaki makes extensive use of primary sources, from government documents to letters, to songs, poems, and memoirs throughout A Different Mirror.

• How reliable are these primary sources? Are some primary sources more reliable than others? Be sure to define “reliable” here.