Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard

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

1. Throughout the book, the author employs certain text-based writing strategies to indicate tone and voice.

• How does Mawi’s employment of text-based strategies contribute to the characterization of the people and places in Of Beetles and Angels? (topic sentence)
• Discuss ways in which Mawi uses a variety of voices and viewpoints to achieve indirect characterization. Point out specific examples from the book in your discussion.
• How do Mawi’s choice of text-based strategies connect to The Refugee Experience? (conclusion)

2. Food, as a cultural object, appears at various points throughout Of Beetles and Angels.

• How is food both a help and hindrance to assimilation for Mawi and his family, an experience shared by many immigrant communities in America? (topic sentence)
• Discuss instances in which food is meaningfully mentioned in the text to support your response; explain the ways in which these examples are both a help and a hindrance to Mawi’s family members.