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 text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Although all characters are united for a common purpose, many of them are openly discriminated against in the novel.

• In which ways does Gratz use this novel as an opportunity to speak about 1940s Discrimination Through Different Lenses? (topic sentence)
• Select one character as an example and explain how s/he is discriminated against.
• Does the setting of war time impact the discrimination this character faces? Why or why not? Summarize your thoughts in your concluding sentences.

2. Compare the narrators’ motivations for enlisting in the military.

• Do the characters’ parents influence their decision to enlist or do they join for their own reasons? (topic sentence)
• Identify the motivations of the narrators’ enlistment as examples.
• In your concluding sentences, explain how this novel speaks more broadly on the theme of Parents’ Impacts on Their Adolescent Children.