Jesus' Son: Stories 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. Discuss the significance and affect of the narrator being without a name. How does this characteristic contribute to the overall message of Jesus' Son?

2. Write an essay that explains the symbolic value of the broken brakes on the narrator's car, as referred to in Story 2: "Two Men" and Story 4: "Dundun." What actions, circumstances, and attitudes not only in those two stories but in the collection as a whole are represented?

3. Explain how the theme of tension between desperation and compassion contributes to the meaning of Jesus' Son as a whole.