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. In many ways, Ned is an underdog—someone who is often told that they will amount to nothing—yet he never allows other people’s perceptions of him to limit his own strength and identity.

• How is Ned able to remain true to his own identity despite the negative perceptions surrounding him and his people? (topic sentence)
• In what ways is Ned an underdog, and how does he overcome the limits of this position and assert his own self-worth?
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, consider the theme of The Navajo as Underdogs and explain why the main character as an underdog is a fitting trope.

2. Throughout the novel—whether at boarding school, bootcamp, or fighting in a war—people and circumstances attempt to mold Ned into someone else, but Ned resists.