Tracks

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 throughout your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Fleur and Pauline personify a conflict between Traditional Chippewa/Ojibwe Beliefs Versus Christianity.

• How do Fleur’s or Pauline’s beliefs influence the character’s development? (topic sentence)
• List three beliefs of the character, noting whether they are traditional Chippewa/Ojibwe or Christian. How does each belief manifest itself in the character’s life? What is the outcome of each belief for the character?
• In your closing sentences, analyze the author’s message about traditional and Christian beliefs within the Chippewa tribe.

2. Survival is an important theme in the novel. The Chippewa are trying to survive, but so are the individual characters.

• Choose a main character. In what ways is this character trying to survive? (topic sentence)
• Discuss each strategy the character uses, using evidence from the text to support your claims.
• In your closing sentences, evaluate the character’s success.

3. Fleur and Pauline show that The Spirit World Influences the Living World.

• Does the spirit world help or hinder the survival of Fleur or Pauline? (topic sentence)
• In what ways does Fleur or Pauline survive or fail to survive?
• In your closing sentences, consider which world holds more power in Chippewa culture, and why.

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. Particularly with regard to Nanapush’s and Fleur’s stories, nature and animals play pivotal roles. Does Fleur have a reciprocal relationship with nature? Does Fleur give and take as much from nature as nature does from her? Choose three instances of a power dynamic/struggle between Fleur and nature and examine how Fleur’s character changes because of it. Does she gain or lose power? Does nature help or hinder her character growth?

2. Strong women, such as Fleur and Margaret, and weak men, such as Eli and Nestor, propel the story. Examine the gender relationships demonstrated by the Matchimanito clan and how gender roles affect the development of each character. In what ways do Fleur and Margaret hold family power, how do they use it, and to what result?

3. Consider the idea of family and survival in the novel. Nanapush has no blood relation to Fleur, Lulu, or Eli. Yet, he calls them daughter, granddaughter, and son. Fleur and Eli are not married, so there is no legal relationship between Fleur and Margaret. Additionally, Margaret is not Lulu’s grandmother. Yet, these characters form a family unit and hitch their destinies to each other. In what ways does this family unit serve each other, and in what ways do they harm each other?