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

1. Abdi loves American films and frequently mentions them.

• What effect do Abdi’s references to American films have on the narrative? (topic sentence)
• Discuss 3 of Abdi’s references to specific American movies to support your claim. What do they demonstrate about Abdi’s character and goals?
• Finally, in your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how Abdi’s view of America from movies is altered when he arrives in the United States.

2. The life of Abdi’s mother, Madinah Iftin, is very different at the end of the book from where it started.

• What is the overall arc of Madinah’s character? (topic sentence)
• Using 3 examples from the text, describe how Madinah changes over the course of the book.
• Finally, in your concluding sentence or sentences, connect Madinah’s character arc to Abdi’s journey.