Song for a Whale

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. Iris experiences stereotypes because of the differences between the hearing and Deaf communities.

• How does the plot of the novel challenge stereotypes? (topic sentence)
• Describe two instances of stereotypes that occur in the novel and explain how Iris addresses the stereotypes.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain why the author likely chose to include stereotypes in the novel.

2. At the beginning of the novel Iris is more self-reliant but later begins to collaborate more with others.

• Why does Iris begin to collaborate more in the story? (topic sentence)
• Explain why Iris is self-reliant at the beginning of the novel and how it makes her feel. Then explain why she begins to collaborate more with others.