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. Each of the farm animals in Harris and Me plays a key role in the story and symbolizes an aspect of the novel’s themes, characters, or plot.

• How does each animal on the farm influence the protagonist’s Growing Up, as well as the way he learns about The Importance of Friendship? (topic sentence)
• Choose at least three animals. Explain each animal’s purpose in the story and determine what each animal symbolizes.
• In your conclusion, examine what the farm itself symbolizes and why the author chose to use a farm as the story’s setting.

2. The protagonist’s experience of Home, Family, and Acceptance shifts while he is living on the Larson family farm.

• What makes the Larsons such a welcoming and accepting family, and how does this impact the protagonist? (topic sentence)
• Detail at least three times in the novel where the Larsons demonstrate their acceptance of the protagonist as a member of their family, and how the protagonist reacts to these actions.