The Tale of Despereaux

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. Chiaroscuro means the artistic balance between light and darkness.

• In what ways does Roscuro display signs of light and darkness in his character? (topic sentence)
• Provide two examples in which Chiaroscuro represents light and two ways in which he represents darkness.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain whether you believe Chiaroscuro is an appropriate name for the character.

2. Despereaux and Roscuro’s tails are both severed over the course of the story.

• What do the reactions of the two characters indicate about their personalities? (topic sentence)
• Explain the similarities and differences in the scenes where Roscuro and Despereaux severed their tales.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain what the reactions of the two characters indicate about their personalities.

3. Consider the characters that demonstrate empathy through their shifting perspectives.