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. Some walls and doors are more obvious than others.

• What role do boundaries and thresholds play in the arc of the story? (topic sentence)
• Consider how the wall may be a metaphor for other kinds of segregation in the novel and its period, the invisible thresholds of coming of age, the ways doors and openings are used in the story, and the significance of Yvaine’s transformation if she crosses the wall.
• Conclude with a thematic statement about what Stardust can teach us about boundaries in our own world.

2. The pursuit of youth is one of the driving forces in the novel.

• How does Stardust portray youth and old age? (topic sentence)
• Compare and contrast young and old figures in the novel, such as Yvaine and the aging witch-queen, or Primus and Septimus.