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. Throughout the novel, the protagonist carries his briefcase with him.

• What might the briefcase symbolize about his journey? (topic sentence)
• Identify three examples form the text in which the briefcase is mentioned, then explain how they help us understand the protagonist’s character development.
• Finally, in your concluding sentence or sentences, make a clear connection between your topic sentence and one of the following themes: Journey Toward Self-Understanding and Adult Identity or Race in 20th-Century America.

2. The protagonist is from the South, but Bledsoe sends him on a journey northward to New York. The protagonist also describes regional climates as he tells his story.

• What might the descriptions of the differing climates of the North and South reveal about the tone of the novel at different moments? How are these details about the setting important? (topic sentence)
• Identify three examples from the text in which the protagonist mentions the weather or his physical setting, and explain how these moments connect to the larger story.