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. Covey emphasizes that principles rather than people should be at the center of our lives.

• What benefit comes from emphasizing principles over people, according to Covey? (topic sentence)
• What are some examples Covey offers up that demonstrate how living one’s life according to principles ensures a higher morality? Name at least 3 examples from the text.
• In your conclusion, discuss how Making Personal Responsibility the Driving Force in Our Lives can help bolster and support our principles.

2. In Chapter 8, Covey lays out four different mentalities for how most people approach life: win-lose, lose-win, lose-lose, and win-win.

• Imagine two people in a relationship, where one is trying to think win-win, but the other person is invested in win-lose.