Orphan Train

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. Vivian and Molly find a way to connect despite both of their traumatic lives.

• What forms the connection between Molly and Vivian? (topic sentence)
• Incorporate at least three quotations and reasoning to build your argument.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain what these characters reveal about trusting other people.

2. Both Vivian and Molly survive different iterations of the foster care system.

• What is a statement the book is making about the foster care system? (topic sentence)
• Incorporate three to four specific details and quotations as you build your analysis.
• In your conclusion, examine the effects of this system on the identity of Molly, Vivian, or both.

3. Vivian has experienced numerous losses in her life.

• How do Ghosts Haunt the Present for Vivian, and how does that affect her? (topic sentence)
• As you construct your analysis, include at least three to four quotations.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain ways Vivian begins to let go of some of the ghosts at the end of the novel.

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. Consider the final two pages of the novel as Molly reflects on her journey and Vivian’s biological daughter arrives. How does the author use literary strategies such as word choice, detail, dialogue, symbolism, etc. to build mood and theme? Examine which of the five senses she incorporates and where dialogue features. How do characters reveal their feelings? Finally, analyze the final line of the text and determine what can be inferred from it.

2. Molly and Vivian have experienced many different homes. What is the novel’s message about home? What brought trauma into their homes? Where do they find peace? How do the themes of Portaging and Ghosts Haunt the Present affect their homes? How do their ideas of home shift over the course of the novel?