Dreamland Burning

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

1. Examine the tension in the novel between what is legal and what is right.

• What message does the novel convey about whether illegal actions can sometimes be morally right? (topic sentence)
• Provide 3 instances in which the characters in the novel perform an illegal activity that is morally right.
• In your concluding sentences, explain why you think these characters broke the law and whether they did it because it was moral or because it benefitted them in some way.

2. Examine the two narrators in the story to determine if they are reliable.

• Are Will and Rowan reliable narrators? Why or why not? (topic sentence)
• Give 3 examples to support your claim as to whether Will and Rowan are reliable narrators.
• In your concluding sentences, explain how the dual narration of Will and Rowan provides additional information to the reader.

3. Compare two parent/child relationships in the novel.

• What are two parent/child relationships in the novel? Are these two relationships more similar or more different? (topic sentence)
• Describe 3 aspects of one parent/child relationship and explain how they reveal differences or similarities to the other parent/child relationship.
• In your concluding sentences, explain how the characters in the novel might have made different choices if they had had different relationships with their parents.

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. Dreamland Burning addresses several important social issues by using the past to comment on the present. Other than racial violence, what is one major social issue that the novel broaches? How does the novel compare that issue in the past to the issue in the present? What gains have been made in society since 1921? What are some gains that still need to be made to achieve the ideal society? What unique perspective can be gained by analyzing the events of the past and comparing them to the events of the present?

2. In the book and in real life, a single incident—Sarah Page accusing Dick Rowland of assault—led to the riot and brought major ramifications. What is one other moment in the novel that has significant consequences? What actions could have been taken to resolve the conflict peacefully? How is the conflict related to the lawlessness of the 1920s in Tulsa? What relation does the conflict have to the novel’s themes of Racialized Violence and The Telling of History?

3. There are several antagonists in the novel who do unforgivable things. Choose one of them and discuss evidence from the story that supports the label of antagonist. What are their motives? Who supported or permitted their wrongdoing? Do you think that the person is redeemable? Why or why not?