Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones

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. Clear’s book utilizes a unique structure, where each new chapter has new page numbers.

• What does this unique structural choice communicate to readers? How does Clear’s writing pattern reflect his thinking patterns? (topic sentence)
• Point out and discuss other elements of the book that reveal how Clear thinks based on how he presents his ideas.
• In your conclusion, reflect on how your own writing, or that of someone you admire, reveals your unique pattern of thinking.

2. Clear’s work is popular because it makes complex ideas about habit formation accessible to people from all walks of life. It also includes new and interesting information about how we can all form better habits and stick to them. 

• Which of Clear’s ideas subverts what you previously thought you knew about habits? (topic sentence)
• Select 2-3 of Clear’s principles and describe how they expand, contradict, and make things you previously learned about habits more concrete and applicable.
• In your conclusion, describe how you might apply this information to your life in the near future.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Clear often uses anecdotes, scientific studies, quotes, and historical stories to illustrate his points. Select one chapter from the book and analyze how effective Clear’s examples are as support for his arguments and principles. As a reader, how well are you persuaded by his writing technique and research presentation?

2. Clear points out that fear of failure, taking on too much at a time, or expecting perfection and success right away are major inhibitors to forming strong habit systems. Write a personal narrative essay about a time you encountered one of these stumbling blocks. What happened? What did you learn? Because this is a narrative essay, focus on storytelling rather than explaining. Use narrative and literary devices to help tell your story. See if you can answer the question without overtly stating the challenge or the lesson.