Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

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. Throughout the play, the concept of family is an important and sensitive topic for each of the couples.

• How does the play comment on the idea of the American Nuclear Family? (topic sentence)
• Provide 1-2 examples to substantiate your point.
• How does this play react to the importance of The Nuclear Family in the early 1960s?

2. In addition to the structure and expectation of family, the subject of children is a personal topic for each of the characters.

• What is the significance of children to each of the characters in the play? (topic sentence)
• Provide 1-2 examples for each character of the importance of having children.
• How does the significance of childrearing link to Albee’s larger theme of The Tensions Between Generations?

3. Albee’s play is considered to possess elements of Absurdism in the script.

• Based on the text as well as the resources in this Unit, do you think Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is part of the Theatre of the Absurd canon? (topic sentence)
• Provide 1-2 examples from Albee’s script as well as the resources in this Unit to substantiate your argument.
• In which ways does Albee’s script connect with the larger theme of Blurring Lines Between Truth and Illusion?

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. Consider the role of alcohol in the characters’ development. How does it perpetuate the chaos of the night? Choose one character and follow their relationship with alcohol throughout the night and explain how alcohol functions for them. In which ways does this character’s use of alcohol connect with the concept of dysfunctional families?

2. Albee’s play was written and produced during a pivotal moment in the Cold War. Research the Cold War and what it meant to Americans in 1962. How might you view the play as an allegory for the Cold War? What are some of the clues within the play that exemplify this?

3. In the beginning of the play, Nick and Honey present themselves to be a modest and polite couple. Over the course of the play, how do Nick and Honey reveal their true selves? How does this reality differ from their appearance? How do Martha and George force these revelations?