Blended

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. Izzy’s school experiences are important in helping her learn more about racism, both as a topic in discussions about literature and history and through the actions and reactions of her peers.

• What is the most influential lesson Izzy learns about racism as a result of topics and events at school? (topic sentence)
• Discuss why this lesson is the most influential to her character development; use at least 3 specific details regarding topics or events at school to support your discussion.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, summarize how classroom lessons or discussion can encourage overall tolerance and harmony between people of different races and backgrounds.

2. Izzy’s responses to the poems of Langston Hughes and Joyce Kilmer show how individuals can be inspired by literature but still must express their own perceptions and ideas.

• Contrast the way Izzy feels about Hughes’s poem with her reaction to “Trees.” (topic sentence)
• What experiences in Izzy’s life likely lead her to feel this way? Discuss at least 3 events, scenes, or characterization details from the real time plot or the backstory of the novel to support your thoughts.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how Izzy’s two original poems also contrast.

3. Anastasia Covington-McAdoo and John Mark Metzker are important secondary characters. Izzy comes to understand that each one is more complex than she first assumes.

• Choose either Anastasia or John Mark and summarize the way in which Izzy’s relationship with that soon-to-be step-parent changes over the course of the novel. (topic sentence)
• What 3 events contribute most directly to this change? Identify and discuss scenes and details that support your topic sentence.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, summarize the way in which Anastasia’s or John Mark’s actions and attitude in the hospital scene represent their complex characterization and/or their relationship with Izzy.

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. As a first-person narrator, Izzy defines her character through the vehicle of her voice. Compare the first and last chapters of the book. How has Izzy’s voice changed? What experiences over the course of her narrative most strongly influence the change in Izzy’s voice and her accompanying coming of age? How does this change in Izzy’s voice connect to the theme of The Implications of Biracial Identity?

2. In considering the objects, actions, and events of Blended, select one that is a strong symbol for racism and one that is a strong symbol for acceptance. Discuss the roles of those objects, actions, or events; how do they contribute to the plot in a literal way? How do they contribute to the overall story in a figurative, symbolic way? What do Izzy and others learn as a result of the symbolism attached to each? How do these symbols support or connect to the theme of The Persistence of Racism in the novel?

3. The motif of music can be found throughout Blended. How is music represented in the novel in ways that go beyond Izzy’s recital preparation? How does the music motif contribute to the theme of The Power of Music? Discuss at least 3 ways that other experiences with music, rhythm, harmony, or sound influence or affect Izzy, and connect these examples to what Izzy learns about herself, her family, or the need for acceptance in general.