Zlata's Diary

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 play over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Consider Zlata’s life and personality as described through the diary entries before and after the start of the war.

• In what ways does the war impact Zlata’s relationship with her diary? (topic sentence)
• Identify 3 places in the book that illustrate Zlata’s relationship with her diary. Compare and contrast these passages, describing how that relationship shifts over time.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect Zlata’s changing relationship with her diary with either Coming of Age During War, Hope and Perseverance, or The Support of Friends and Family.

2. Consider what the war takes from Zlata and what it does not manage to take from her.

• What sorts of things does the war take from Zlata, and which does she manage to preserve? (topic sentence)
• Identify at least 2 things Zlata loses to the war and 1 thing she does not. Provide evidence from the text to explain how the war facilitates the former and why it cannot take away the latter.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, connect what Zlata loses and keeps to either Hope and Perseverance, The Absurdity of War, or The Support of Friends and Family.

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. Trace the development of a motif, such as light and darkness, childhood, wounds, politicians as “kids,” or special occasions, throughout the diary. What does the motif add to the structure, interest, and complexity of the text? What meanings does the motif carry, and how does it contribute to a deeper understanding of the work as a whole? What larger themes does this motif develop? Ultimately, how does this motif allow Zlata to confront and order the chaotic world around her?

2. Zlata’s Diary can be read through the lens of multiple genres: as a nonfiction eyewitness account of the Bosnian War, as an antiwar persuasive piece, and as expressive writing. What strengths and limitations does the work have when read through each of these lenses? In what ways does its structure or style reflect the conventions of each genre? Which classification is most appropriate for this piece, and why?