Moon of the Crusted Snow

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. Strong leadership is related to community security.

• Does Terry have the leadership capabilities needed to lead the band through the crisis? (topic sentence)
• What are the qualities of a strong leader? How important is it to be able to make hard choices when the stakes are high? What are some examples of Terry’s leadership skills during normal times? What are some examples of his leadership during the crisis?
• Overall, how does Terry’s style of leadership during the crisis affect the security of his community?

2. The strain of a crisis can test the durability of tradition.

• How does the sudden disappearance of modern technology and the meddling of an evil outsider reinforce the importance of the old ways? (topic sentence)
• Before the crisis, how were the traditions of the community being maintained? How close were they to being lost forever? Did the author intend for readers to conclude that the crisis had a silver lining in restoring traditional practices? Was the community stronger or weaker at the conclusion of the story? Was the lesson in valuing its traditions worth the cost?
• What does this story suggest about changing with the times and including others versus reliance on community solidarity and traditions?

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. The author chose to base the title of this work on Nicole’s dream. Why? How does her dream relate to the larger story? What might be symbolized by her falling in the snow and needing to be pulled out by her children, for example? What might be signified by her dreaming that her children are adults who are carrying on the old ways? How does her dream foreshadow the way the story unfolds?

2. Generational trauma due to years of colonization and cultural erasure has left deep scars in the First Nation community in the novel. How do these shared traumas affect the lives of the main characters? How has their society responded and/or adapted to them?