Untamed

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their textual analysis skills by requiring references to the text throughout the essay. 

Scaffolded/Short-Answer 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. Choose one of the four “keys” to freedom that Doyle talks about in Part 3, and show how this concept is central to the liberation of a famous female leader.

• Which “key” to freedom changed the life of which female leader? (topic sentence)
• What does this key to freedom mean, exactly? Define it in your own words and give an example of it from Doyle’s text.
• How did this principle operate in the life of the female leader you have chosen? Give at least two details from this person’s life that demonstrate this “key” to freedom in operation.
• Finally, discuss in your concluding sentence or sentences how the life of this female leader relates to Doyle’s theme of Society’s Influence on Gender.

2. Doyle writes that “The voice I heard that day was my own—the girl I’d locked away at ten years old, the girl I was before the world told me who to be—and she said: Here I Am. I’m taking over now.” (page 46, Part 1) Explain what Doyle means in this quote and how it relates to The Power of Inner Knowing.

• How does this quote demonstrate The Power of Inner Knowing? (topic sentence)
• What does the quote mean? Explain it in your own words.
• What are Doyle’s ideas about The Power of Inner Knowing? Give at least three details from the text that show how she thinks about this topic and how it operates in her life.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to clearly connect Doyle’s belief in The Power of Inner Knowing with the quote.

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. A metaphor describes one thing in terms of another. Identify one of the text’s recurring metaphors. What does Doyle’s use of this metaphor imply about how she thinks about the situation she is representing metaphorically, and how does this metaphor either aid clarity about, or obscure, the situation?

• Where does the metaphor appear in the text, and does its meaning evolve in any way?
• How accurate is the metaphorical comparison? What assumptions does Doyle make in asserting that one thing is like another in this metaphor?
• When you consider what the metaphor reveals about Doyle’s thinking, what evidence do you see that using this metaphor either helps or hinders her ability to think clearly about her situation?

2. How does the structure of Doyle’s memoir contribute to—or detract from—its ability to convey thematic ideas?

• Consider Doyle’s use of the vignette, the way time’s passage is conveyed, and the relationship of the book’s three main parts to one another.
• What does Doyle’s purpose seem to be in choosing the structural elements she uses?
• How does the text’s structure contribute to or detract from its success in conveying a major theme like The Power of Inner Knowing, Society’s Influence on Gender, or Cycles of Death and Rebirth?