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. In the beginning of Breaking Through, Panchito relates that he lived in “constant fear […] from the time I was four until I was fourteen years old” (Chapter 1).

• What is the root of Panchito’s fear? (topic sentence)
• Why did Papa instruct his children to tell people that they had been born in Colton, California? Was this smart or ill-advised? Discuss this and other character reactions in support of your topic sentence.
• In your conclusion, discuss how Panchito’s fear relates to injustice and general prejudice toward Mexican immigrants, which was a major source of stress for Papa, as the protector of the Jiménez family.

2. When Panchito’s classmate, Peggy Dossen, invites Panchito home to meet her parents, her mother becomes uncomfortable after asking him about his accent.