The Reluctant Fundamentalist

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

1. Throughout the novel, Changez mentions a number of American movies.

• What do his mentions of these movies symbolize? (topic sentence)
• What are three movies that Changez mentions and how do they relate to the way he thinks about his experiences?
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect this to the theme of The American Dream or Identity.

2. Lahore and New York City are the two primary settings for this novel.  

• How are these two cities similar and different? What do they represent for Changez? (topic sentence)
• Explore at least three ways these cities contribute to the motif of geography and how they help Changez to think about his Identity.
• Finally, in your concluding sentence or sentences, describe how the overall setting of the novel contributes to Changez’s view of the United States.