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. Vince’s stated goal, at both the beginning and the end of the novel, is to get as far away from his family as possible.

• Does Vince find a way to escape his family? (topic sentence)
• Explain why Vince wants to escape his family, how his motivation for escaping changes, and whether he finds a way to escape his family.
• In your concluding sentences, explain whether you think the ending of the novel is happy or sad.

2. Vince’s family is unusual in some ways, but they are also typical in other ways.

• In what ways does Vince’s family exhibit typical family traits? (topic sentence)
• Describe three separate instances in the novel when the Luca family demonstrates traits of an average family.