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 below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the novel over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The House of the Spirits derives its title from the city house that the Trueba family inhabits.

• What does the “House of the Spirits” symbolize? (topic sentence)
• Which character is most representative of the “House of the Spirits”? How does this character’s journey parallel what happens to the house over the course of the book? Choose 2 important events that take place in or to the house and analyze them alongside that character’s journey.
• Use your concluding sentence or sentences to examine the importance that the character and their journey hold in the larger story, thus justifying the title of the book.

2. Romantic love forms an important aspect of the story in The House of the Spirits.