The School For Good and Evil

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. The friendship between Agatha and Sophie is built on Agatha’s belief that she needs Sophie and Sophie encouraging that idea.

• How does the power dynamic shift between Agatha and Sophie? (topic sentence)
• Include at least three quotations and key details from scenes in the book that depict this dynamic shift and explain your reasoning.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, identify a lesson Agatha or Sophie has learned from their relationship and discuss why it is important.

2. The Storian records fairy tales and foreshadows events, and it writes Agatha and Sophie into their own fairy tale.

• Do Sophie and Agatha have more control over their fate, or does the Storian? (topic sentence)
• Incorporate at least three quotations or specific details to build your analysis and explain the relevance of each piece of evidence.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, state to what extent characters in the novel make their own choices.

3. Throughout the novel, characters, especially Sophie and Agatha, experience Friendship and Betrayal.

• What argument does the novel make about when a betrayal is beyond forgiveness? (topic sentence)
• Using important relationships in the story as a guide, compose your essay with at least three quotations or specific details to develop your analysis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, evaluate the novel’s argument about betrayal. How much do you agree or disagree, and why?

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. Sophie blames the school for making her act cruel, but Lady Lesso tells her, “It doesn’t matter what we are […] It’s what we do” (Chapter 22). To what extent is the school responsible for Sophie’s actions? Consider Sophie’s actions before arriving in the school. How much choice does she have once she is there? Which characters influence her? What do her inner thoughts reveal, and what motivates her to act in key scenes like the Trial, the woods, and others? As you write your essay, incorporate at least three quotations from the novel to build your argument, citing each page number.

2. The novel revolves around fairy tales. How does it both use and upend traditions of the genre to build one of its main themes: Friendship and Betrayal, The Complex Nature of Good and Evil, and Coming of Age and Identity? Reflect on what Sophie and Agatha believe about their placements in the schools. What does each school value? How do gender roles, the setting, or the narrator affect the theme? As you compose your essay, incorporate at least three quotes from the novel that strengthen your argument. Cite your quotations with page numbers.