The Life You Save May Be Your Own

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. Analyze the use of the car as a symbol in the story.

• What does the car symbolize in the story? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 passages where the car appears and what its significance is for Mr. Shiftlet, Mrs. Crater, or the relationship between them.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, state how the symbolism of the car relates to the theme of The Spirit Versus the Law or The Possibility of Salvation.

2. Consider the ways in which the story is part of the Southern Gothic tradition in literature.

• What elements of the Southern Gothic tradition does the story include? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 passages that clearly reveal one or more of the elements of Southern Gothic writing. Analyze and discuss how and why these passages relate to that tradition.