The Great Gilly Hopkins Papers & Assignment Topics

Essay Topics/Writing Assignments

These 20 essay questions can be used as essay questions on a test, or as stand-alone essay topics for a take-home or in-class writing assignment. Students should have a full understanding of the text in order to answer these questions. They ask for a thorough analysis of the text.

1. Have the students write an essay about what it was like for Gilly being a foster child. What does it mean to be a foster child? Is there a stigma being a foster child? How many foster homes had Gilly been in before Mrs. Trotter's? Why? Was it any fault of her own? How did this affect her attitude?

2. Have the students write about Gilly's pride that everything she does that was bad. It is normal for a child to act out occasionally, but is Gilly's acting...
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