When You Trap a Tiger

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. 

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the novel over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. When Lily, Sam, and Mom move in with Halmoni, they form a multigenerational household.

• In which scene or through which conflict are their generational differences particularly clear? (topic sentence)
• What different ideas and values do each of the three generations of characters represent in that scene or conflict? Support your ideas with quotations and evidence from the novel.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, describe the way(s) in which one generation learns something from another in the conflict.

2. Conflict between Lily and Sam exists on several levels; the distance between them might be typical sibling struggle, but confusion and hurt from past situations play a role as well.

• By comparison, how would you describe the conflict between Mom and Halmoni? (topic sentence)
• Provide examples of the conflict between Mom and Halmoni. For example, how does Halmoni try to exert control over Mom? How does Mom respond? Support your ideas with details from the text.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, describe how the conflict between Mom and Halmoni is resolved and what Lily and Sam might learn from Mom’s actions.

3. Apology and forgiveness occur several times in the story.

• With which character or characters do you most closely associate the motif of apology and forgiveness? (topic sentence)
• In what scenes does that character seek, accept, or offer forgiveness, even if they use other words to achieve it?
• What, specifically, does the novel as a whole teach about forgiveness? Discuss this question in your concluding sentence or sentences.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least 3 main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. In a scary moment midway through the novel, Halmoni cannot recall who Lily is. Lily reflects on the extent to which memories impact our identities: “Who is Halmoni without her memories?” (201). How do memories of the past impact characters’ traits and actions throughout the book? Consider at least three characters or three times that a memory affects decisions or actions.

2. Throughout the first half of the story, Lily and Sam are distant in all but a few moments. Each sister acquires an archetypal Ally (Jensen for Sam, Ricky for Lily). How does the presence and assistance of an Ally help to steer the course of each sister’s goals or needs? How might having an Ally help to change the dynamic/mood of the sisters’ relationship with one another? Be sure to cite details from the book to support your answer.

3. Many novels have a clear Shadow archetype (the antagonist or villain) who works in opposition to the protagonist. Discuss the concept of an antagonist in relation to both the framing plotline of When You Trap a Tiger and to the stories told by Lily, Halmoni, and the tiger. Who or what is the force working against the protagonist? Does the protagonist or the antagonist “win” each conflict, and how? Select three strong conflicts to discuss in your response.