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. 

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the play over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The central dilemma that Dana faces is her obligation to save Rufus Weylin in order to avoid a time-travel paradox despite the fact that he is a slave owner.

• How does her lack of free will mirror the predicament of the enslaved people on the Weylin plantation? (topic sentence)
• In what other ways are the characters in this book trapped by power systems and mutual need?
• What is the book trying to say about the relationship between enslaved people and slave owners?

2. Dana’s marriage to a white man is controversial, even in her time.

• What is the book trying to say about contemporary race relations? (topic sentence)
• How does Dana and Kevin’s relationship represent some of the challenges faced between Black and white people in America? In what ways do they struggle to understand each other, both in the present and in the past?
• Is this tension resolved in the book?

3.