And The Earth Did Not Devour Him

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. The novel’s structure is an amalgamation of short stories unified by several overarching themes.

• How do themes tie together the book’s various motifs? (topic sentence)
• Identify a combination of stories and summarize their content and explain their unifying theme.
• How does this story speak to Rivera’s use of Interdependence of Paradoxical Elements?

2. Rivera employs a stream-of-consciousness technique throughout the novel.

• What is a stream-of-consciousness narrative technique? (topic sentence)
• Identify 2-3 examples where Rivera uses this technique in the novel.
• How does Rivera’s use of stream-of-consciousness speak to the larger theme of The Power of Storytelling?

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. In the novel, Mexican migrant workers and their families experience racial discrimination at work, during their leisure time, and at school. What are the different ways that these workers are discriminated against? How does the narrator use the device of paradox to complicate traditional stereotyping and discrimination? In what ways is this a suitable and effective literary device to use in disrupting discrimination?

2. In the book, neither the narrator nor the mother (or mothers) of the soldier (or soldiers) are given a name. Discuss the significance and impact of naming some but not all of the characters. How does the lack of consistency in naming characters induce a sense of ambiguity to the structure of the novel?

3. Consider the use of religious skepticism throughout the novel. What does religious faith mean to the Mexican migrant community, and when and why does the narrator reject it?