Station Eleven

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

1. Two plays by William Shakespeare feature prominently in Station Eleven: King Lear and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

• What role do Shakespeare’s plays have in Mandel’s novel? (topic sentence)
• Explain how King Lear and A Midsummer Night’s Dream play an important role in the story, describe the allusions Mandel makes to the Shakespearean plays, and explain the symbolic significance of each.
• In your concluding sentences, explain why you believe Mandel used these plays in her novel.

2. Station Eleven is a non-linear narrative, meaning that the events are not relayed in chronological order.

• Why do you think Mandel wrote her novel out of chronological order? (topic sentence)
• Describe how writing a non-linear story impacts the tone of the novel. Which other literary devices are affected by this method?
• In your concluding sentences, explain how the novel's tone would change if written as a linear narrative.

3. Near the novel's conclusion, it is revealed that Tyler is the prophet and is known by association to Kirsten.

• How do Tyler and Kirsten’s characters serve as foil characters in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Explain how Kirsten and Tyler play opposing roles in the novel, their contrasting reactions to the fall of society, and whether they met a fitting end at the novel’s conclusion.
• In your concluding sentences, speculate why you believe Mandel uses Tyler as the opposing character to Kirsten.

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. Following the collapse, various objects become relics and take on added significance. Clark, Kirsten, and Tyler collect different kinds of objects. Identify one object each of those three characters preserves and analyze each object’s importance.

2. Several scenes in Station Eleven have spiritual, religious, or supernatural undertones. What is the novel’s message about the search for spirituality? What forms of spirituality are present, and what constitutes a spiritual life?

3. Those who survive the collapse are forced to develop a different relationship with nature than before. What is Station Eleven’s commentary on human ecological activity? How is nature different from before the collapse of society? Are any of the changes beneficial? Are some characters' awe at human technology at odds with the newfound natural balance?