Breathing Underwater

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 below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Nick’s past is told through journal entries while he also relays present-day events that occur to him.

• What is the role of time in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Explain how the journal entry dates serve a purpose in the novel and how the novel portrays the past and the present.
• In your concluding sentences, describe a reasonable scenario for Nick’s future based on his later journal entries.

2. Nick is described as coming from a wealthy family.

• How does the socioeconomic status of Nick and his father function in the story?
• Explain how Nick’s wealth provides both allowances and constraints in the novel.
• In your concluding sentences, evaluate the potential purpose(s) the author had in characterizing Nick’s household as she did.

3. Nick is arguably an unreliable narrator.

• Besides his abusive behavior, why might Nick be considered unreliable? (topic sentence)
• Provide evidence from the novel to explain how Nick’s narration might be unreliable; consider a variety of points in the story. You may also want to consider voice, tone, language, and style in his words and messages.
• In your concluding sentences, briefly explain how the novel’s message would be different from Caitlin’s perspective.

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. Some characters in the novel act as foils or opposites of each other—for example, Tom and Saint O’Connor, Liana and Ashley, Nick’s father and Caitlin’s mother, Tom and Elsa. Choose a pair of character foils and make an argument for how the two represent opposing characteristics. Then analyze the significance of their pairing. Why is the pairing important for understanding the novel’s themes of the Generational Cycles of Violence, Vulnerability, and Fantasy Versus Reality?

2. When Nick assaults Dirk at the party to defend Caitlin, Caitlin calls him a hero. Later, when asked about his father in a group meeting, Nick refers to him as a hero; in his poem, Nick also calls Tom a hero. How do these descriptions of heroism depict and represent the characters’ understanding of abuse? How do Nick’s later descriptions of Tom’s heroism illustrate his shifting understanding of what it means to be heroic?

3. The novel highlights issues of sexism and misogyny. Nick and other members of the family violence group often make crude remarks. Describe two events in which the characters display characteristics of sexism or misogyny. Explain how sexism and misogyny contribute to the Generational Cycles of Violence.