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.

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the book over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. One of Kingston’s main challenges is finding her personal power.

• How does Kingston become the woman warrior in her own life? (topic sentence)
• Compare the talk-story in “White Tigers” to Kingston’s life experiences. What obstacles did she overcome to find her personal power? Cite meaningful examples from the text and connect them directly to the events in “White Tigers.”
• In your final sentences, connect these aspects of the memoir to its title, The Woman Warrior. If possible, contextualize Kingston’s life story with connections to the Hero’s Journey.

2. Throughout The Woman Warrior, Kingston explores the tension between herself and her mother as a conflict rooted in the sex-based expectations that she finds stifling. Yet, Kingston’s mother defied many of those expectations in her own life, and later the two women find a sense of commonality.

• How are Kingston and her mother alike? (topic sentence)
• Compare Kingston as a child to her mother as a young woman, and compare what Kingston reveals about her own adult life with her mother’s.