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. Dry contains many violent incidents. Is the book suggesting that violence is sometimes useful, or does it condemn violence?

• What message does Dry convey about violence? (topic sentence)
• Offer three different examples of violence in the novel and explain how each supports the point you made in your topic sentence.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how the novel’s message about violence supports one or more of its themes: Dehydration and Desperation, Being Prepared for Disaster, and Selfishness Versus Selflessness.

2. The novel’s Snapshots show how the Tap-Out affects a broader segment of society. Their juxtaposition with each other and with the main narrative also creates a kind of commentary on the novel’s action and main characters.