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

1. Throughout the novel, gender influences the behavior of characters.

• What role does gender play in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Describe the way women perceive men in the novel, the way women are perceived by men, and how these attitudes affect the way they behave toward one another.
• In your concluding sentences, explain why you believe Agatha Christie chose to present the genders as behaving this way toward one another.

2. In the conclusion, the reader learns that Justice Wargrave was the murderer on Soldier Island.

• What clues does Agatha Christie leave for the reader to interpret? (topic sentence)
• Explain the clues Christie leaves to indicate that Justice Wargrave is the killer and the red herrings she employs.