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. Sepetys places nonfiction historical documents in between many of the chapters.

• What is the intended impact of these historical documents? (topic sentence)
• Offer at least three examples, from three different documents, that support your interpretation.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how the impact of these documents supports one or more of the book’s major thematic concerns: Fascism, Resistance, and Silence.

2. An important setting in this novel is the hotel, Castellana Hilton Madrid.

• What messages are conveyed through the use of this particular setting? (topic sentence)
• Give at least three examples from throughout the text that support your interpretation of this setting’s significance.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how this setting supports one or more of the book’s major thematic concerns: Fascism, Resistance, and Silence.