The Girl Who Owned a City

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 various problems Lisa faces over the course of the novel.

• How does Lisa use critical thinking to overcome these problems? (topic sentence)
• Identify two moments when Lisa confronts a problem and discuss her problem-solving strategies. If she successfully meets the challenge, explain what works; if she fails, explain why.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to discuss what these examples suggest about what it means to Think Through Problems.

2. Consider Craig’s decision not to return with Lisa to Glenbard.

• How does Craig’s philosophy (on life, society, work, etc.) differ from Lisa’s? (topic sentence)
• Identify three passages where Craig and Lisa clash on one or more of these issues and analyze them in relation to your topic section.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to discuss what the conflict between Lisa and Craig tells us about either Idealism Versus Practicality, Individualism Versus Collectivism, or The Nature of Proper Governance.

3. Consider the stories Lisa tells Todd.

• How do these stories relate to Lisa’s ideas about individual work ethic? (topic sentence)
• Choose one passage from each of the three stories and discuss it in relation to your topic sentence.
• Finally, use your concluding sentence or sentences to discuss why Lisa sees Earning One’s Way as important and whether her views on this evolve over time.

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. Lisa argues quite forcefully for the value of earning one’s own way through life. From whom does she face opposition on this point? What values do they hold, and to what extent might their perspective be valuable? How (if at all) does Lisa’s philosophy accommodate those who, like the children in Jill’s care, necessarily depend on others due to age or other factors?

2. Toward the end of the novel, Lisa, Charlie, et al. travel to nearby towns to try to raise an army to take back Glenbard. They find three different towns that have suffered three different fates. What led to each town’s particular situation? How did Lisa and the children of Glen Ellyn manage to avoid those fates? In what ways does Lisa’s success relate to the novel’s ideas about what economic and political society should look like?

3. When we first encounter her, Lisa has already been forced to mature so she can take care of Todd. Todd, on the other hand, begins the novel quite young and still rather childish. How do we see Todd grow over the course of the novel? In what ways does he demonstrate maturity in the final two sections? In what ways is he still childlike? How does Todd’s character arc support the novel’s broader themes—e.g., the importance of critical thinking?