Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations

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 graphic memoir over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Everyone has different ideas about what it means to be American, and Mira explores this question in her memoir.

• Mira Jacob believes that everyone in America deserves the right to be an American. What does being an American mean to you? (topic sentence)
• Detail your opinion on what it means to be an American; then examine how Mira Jacob answers this question, drawing on text details.
• In your conclusion, briefly summarize the ways your opinion and Mira’s compare.

2. Mira Jacob’s memoir details her life from the from her childhood to adulthood. During the writing of her memoir, she learns and grows from her reflections.

• How does Mira grow from the time she begins writing her memoir to its conclusion, and what/who facilitates this growth? (topic sentence)
• Identify Mira’s outlook and self-image in the memoir’s exposition, in the middle of the narrative, and at its conclusion.