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. Describe how Henry uses conflict to help Griffin grow into a better person and show the importance of the theme Change Inspired by Kindness and Diversity.

• Identify two conflicts Griffin faces in the novel that lead him to experience a Change Inspired by Kindness and Diversity. (topic sentence)
• Describe how Griffin reacts to the two conflicts you have identified.
• In your conclusion, discuss how these conflicts influenced Griffin to Change Inspired by Kindness and Diversity.

2. After Cheyenne’s accident and her mother’s death, she did not want to live anymore. How did she change her attitude and become a strong and determined young woman who is capable of Seeing Things From a Different Perspective?

• Who or what inspired Cheyenne to learn to care for herself after becoming a blind person? (topic sentence)
• Describe two experiences Cheyenne had that helped prepare her to deal with life as a blind person.