Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

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. Although Jeffrey’s illness is a shocking and troublesome event, the characters are forced to stay resilient for his sake.

• How is resilience incorporated throughout the novel? (topic sentence)
• Select one character and analyze the way in which this person remains resilient despite the challenges of Jeffrey’s diagnosis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, consider how this character’s actions fit within the overall theme of Resilience in the Face of Adversity.

2. Sacrifice is the act of giving up something that you want for the sake of someone else, usually in relation to something of higher priority. Discuss the idea of sacrifice in the novel.

• What kinds of sacrifices do characters make, and for what reasons? (topic sentence)
• Select one character and identify the sacrifice this person makes, as well as the impact of that sacrifice on their own well-being.