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 below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Why do Matthew and Emily react differently to the Crane family’s constant moving?

• What differences in their circumstances and personalities cause the two siblings to respond differently to the family’s moves? (topic sentence)
• Offer evidence from the story that shows how their circumstances differ; then offer evidence from the story that shows how their personalities differ.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how these differences between the two siblings lead them to respond differently to the family’s frequent moves, and comment on how this relates to the novel’s theme of Stability Versus Adventure.

2. Besides Emily, are there other characters in this book who have something to learn about what it means to be a good friend?

• Who is a character who fails to be a good friend, and does this person learn to be a better friend by the end of the book? (topic sentence)
• Give details from the beginning, middle, and end of the book that show how this person fails to be a good friend and whether or not they change by the end of the book.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect your ideas about this specific character to the book’s broader concern with How to Be a Good Friend.

3. In what way is Mr. Quisling both a good and bad person?

• What qualities make Mr. Quisling a good person, and what qualities make him a bad person? (topic sentence)
• Give details from at least three different places in the story that demonstrate the two sides to Mr. Quisling’s character.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, comment on whether Mr. Quisling is, on balance, a good person or not and what messages are being conveyed through his character.

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. How do the various characters in the story struggle with their need to win at all costs? Choose two characters who both show a need to win regardless of the cost. Show how these characters’ motivations and behavior are both similar and different in important ways. Do either or both have an epiphany where they realize that the cost of getting what you want can sometimes be too high?

Comment on how these characters illustrate the novel’s thematic concern with Winning at All Costs. Use evidence from throughout the story to support your ideas, and remember to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

2. How do books function in this story? Books further the plot, certainly, but what else does the novel’s reliance on books add to the story? Are the books important because of the ideas they hold inside, or are they more important as physical objects? Could something else be substituted for books, or do the plot and theme depend on the scavenger hunt being based on books? What kind of books are featured in the story, and why do you think these books were chosen rather than others?

Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the function of books in Book Scavenger. Use evidence from throughout the story to support your ideas, and remember to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.

3. In what sense are puzzles a motif in this book that applies to more than the literal puzzle of the Book Scavenger game? What other puzzles do characters need to solve, in their personal lives and in the larger world outside of themselves? How might framing an issue as a “puzzle” rather than as a “problem” change a person’s approach to the issue?

Write an essay in which you consider the many kinds of puzzles in Book Scavenger and explore what messages are being conveyed by the book’s framing of problems as “puzzles.” Connect these messages to one or more of the book’s main themes (Winning at All Costs, How to Be a Good Friend, and Stability Versus Adventure). Support your ideas with evidence from throughout the story, and remember to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.