Educated: A Memoir

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. In Westover’s pursuit of a traditional education, numerous people and organizations help her along the way.

• What are at least two people or organizations who help Westover in this pursuit? (topic sentence)
• How do their values, beliefs, and behaviors differ from two or more people or organizations who hinder Westover’s education?
• In your concluding sentences, explore how Westover’s experience in Educated embodies The Different Paths to Becoming Educated.

1. There are many uses for literacy—reading and writing—in the Westover home.

• How many uses of literacy can you identify and explore in the text? (topic sentence)
• How do the uses of literacy in the Westover home differ from that Westover learns when she leaves home?
• In your concluding sentences, discuss the implications of the differences between literacy in the Westover home and at college, and how this ties into Westover’s overarching commentary on The Challenge of Memory and Story.