The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

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

1. Consider the novel’s use of malapropisms like “Out-With” and “the Fury.”

• How do the connotations of these mangled words relate to the terms they derive from? (topic sentence)
• Analyze the novel’s use of these words in depth, drawing on at least three separate passages to support your claims.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to state what these malapropisms tell us about children’s understanding of war.

2. Consider the novel’s second-to-last line: “Of course all this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again” (Chapter 20).

• What is Boyne implying with this statement? (topic sentence)
• Identify three additional passages in the novel that support your interpretation of this line and explain how they do so.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to discuss how this statement relates to Boyne’s depiction of war or humans’ propensity to dehumanize one another.