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. Although Tyson has some negative characteristics, he also has several positive ones.

• How does Tyson demonstrate his strengths and weaknesses in The Sea of Monsters? (topic sentence)
• Identify 1-2 strengths and 1-2 weaknesses, then discuss the scene in which these occur using examples from the text.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, consider how Tyson accepts his strengths and weaknesses and arrives at self-acceptance.

2. In The Sea of Monsters, Hermes tells Percy that the gods can only help demigods indirectly because getting directly involved would create more resentment among their children.

• How do the gods indirectly help the demigods in the novel? (topic sentence)
• What do Hermes and Poseidon each offer Percy to indirectly help with his quest? Use 2-3 examples from the text to support your claim.