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. In Mexican Gothic there are many allusions to fairytales and other stories and Noemí’s attitude toward them changes over the course of the novel.

• How does Noemí’s attitude toward fairytales change over the course of the novel? (topic sentence)
• Describe one situation from the first half of the novel in which Noemí views fairytales positively, then describe one situation in the later parts of the novel in which Noemí views fairytales negatively.
• In your concluding sentences, explain why Noemí’s attitude toward fairytales has changed.

2. Despite the odds, Noemí successfully breaks the curse on High Place and ends the corruption plaguing the family.

• What elements of Noemí’s personality or history enable her success? (topic sentence)
• Describe at least 3 aspects of Noemí’s personality and/or history that lead to her success.