Firekeeper's Daughter

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. In some ways, Daunis and Levi are almost twins (for example, their hockey experiences, their father), but in others (their tribal status, financial status, family heritage), they are very different.

• How does Levi act as a foil to Daunis? (topic sentence)
• Compare the two characters throughout the course of the novel. What does Levi reveal to Daunis about herself when she finally sees who he has become?
• In your conclusion, explain how Daunis begins to see Levi’s Whole Story for the first time, which changes the nature of their relationship.

2. At the start of the novel, Daunis tends to see the world in black-and-white terms.

• What in Daunis’s life has caused her to view the world in this either/or binary? (topic sentence)
• What is an example of Daunis’s change in thinking in her ability to accept that two seemingly disparate things can be true at once? Cite 2-3 moments in the text demonstrating this.