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

1. Childhood is often seen as a time of innocence. However, Peter commits several acts that cannot be considered innocent, including killing Captain Hook. 

• In what ways is Peter no longer the child he wanted to be forever? (topic sentence)
• Identify and discuss examples of Peter’s actions, experiences, and ideas, then explain how they are  not as child-like as he wants to be.
• In your concluding sentence(s), explain Peter’s motivations behind wanting to remain a child. 

2. Peter Pan adamantly proclaims that he does not like mothers, yet he brings Wendy to the island to act as a mother figure to the lost boys.

• Why does Peter bring a mother figure to the island despite his negative feelings about mothers?  (topic sentence)
• Identify examples of the ways in which Wendy is important to the function of Peter’s household and explain why these functions may outweigh his negative feelings.