Parvana's Journey

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 language 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. Along Parvana’s journey, she mostly meets children. The few adults she does meet seem more helpless than the children.

• Why does Ellis focus on children throughout the novel? (topic sentence)
• Find 2-3 examples where children have more strength than the adults in the novel.
• How does her depiction of children and adults show how The Effects of War on Children are different from the effects of war on adults?

2. Throughout the novel, the characters struggle with the difficulties of war.

• How does war affect the characters in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Select one character and discuss how the war in Afghanistan transformed this person’s life.
• How do these struggles speak to the larger theme of The Senseless Nature of War?

3. In addition to the difficulties of navigating life during wartime, Parvana is continually conscious of the attention she receives as a girl. As a result, she disguises herself as a boy for much of the novel.

• Why is Parvana’s disguise as a boy significant? (topic sentence)
• Identify 2-3 examples of how Parvana’s disguise links to women’s position under Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
• How does the portrayal of Women in Afghanistan contribute to the novel’s meaning and message?

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. Parvana continues her journey in an attempt to find her mother and siblings, but she finds a sense of family with Asif, Leila, and Hassan. What is Ellis saying about family through the novel? How does her message about family relate to wartime displacement?

2. Why does Parvana take the time and energy to clean places that are only a temporary shelter, such as the house in the abandoned village and the cave? What does her habit of cleaning symbolize in the novel? Discuss how her desire to live in Green Valley shapes her decisions to focus on establishing a better living environment there and how it relates to Parvana’s character development and role in her found family.