The Body in the Woods: A Point Last Seen Mystery

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. In her first encounter with Harriman, Ruby talks about Locard’s exchange principle.

• How does Locard’s exchange principle figuratively describe what happens between Alexis, Ruby, and Nick as they become friends? (topic sentence)
• Explain what Locard’s exchange principle means on a literal level.
• Give examples from the text that demonstrate how Alexis, Ruby, and Nick influence each other in a way that mimics Locard’s exchange principle.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how this exchange among the three friends helps convey the novel’s thematic message about Friendship.

2. In Chapters 39 and 40, Alexis’s mother returns, the teens believe they have captured the killer, and Ruby’s parents agree to let her return to the search and rescue.