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 below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. In the world of Binti: The Complete Series, society is fragmented into numerous tribal factions that are often at odds with one another.

• Compare the Meduse, Khoush, Himba, and Enyi Zinariya people. Why are there tensions between these groups? (topic sentence)
• What are the similarities among all these groups? What are their differences?
• In your conclusion, explore which factions thrive at the end of the trilogy, noting which ones have demonstrated the most Growth and how that might be the Key to Survival.

2. Though the Himba tend to be somewhat insular, Binti develops friendships outside of her clan’s immediate circle.

• Binti has relationships with Okwu (a Meduse) and Mwinyi (a member of the Desert People), which many Himba might view as strange.