Throughout the diary, Zlata changes, grows, and develops over time. In what many ways has she grown as a person? In what ways is this development “typical” for a young person, and in what ways has this development been “atypical”? What might Zlata’s experiences reveal about universal experiences of children at war, perhaps related to themes such as Loss Due to War, Hope and Perseverance, or Coming of Age during War?

Teaching Suggestion: Students may require prompting to move away from generalizations by reminders to support their answers with specific textual examples. They may also need prompting to explicitly connect Zlata’s experience to specific examples from external sources explored during the unit. 

Differentiation Suggestion: For a more challenging approach, have students use the question set to facilitate a student-led discussion, or have them brainstorm their own questions related to 3-5 key themes for a student-run Socratic Seminar.