Every Day

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

1. A has never had their own body; their life depends on the body in which they wake up.

• In general, in what bodies is A most comfortable and happy? (topic sentence)
• Compare and contrast 2 of the bodies in which A is uncomfortable/unhappy to 2 of those bodies in which A is comfortable/happy.
• In your conclusion, discuss how even with the Fluidity of Identity, the author makes a point in Every Day about what sorts of basic elements contribute to human happiness.

2. There are forty-one 16-year-old characters in Every Day, not including A.

• Considering the vast number of personalities and life experiences portrayed throughout the novel, what does A mean when they say that A believes that people are “98%” similar to each other? (topic sentence)
• Select 2 pairs of characters to analyze in which each member of the pair represents an “extreme” in the novel. How are the opposite-seeming members of the pair similar?
• In your conclusion, discuss how Love, especially when Defined as Connection and Commitment, is a commonality among many of the bodies A inhabits, regardless of the person’s race, gender, or socioeconomic status.

3. Technology, particularly e-mail, plays an important role in Every Day in keeping A and Rhiannon connected.

• How does e-mail function as the thread that connects A to Rhiannon, even as A switches from body to body? (topic sentence)
• Discuss the pros and cons of using e-mail in this way. How does e-mail help build connection between A and Rhiannon? How does it drive them apart?
• In your conclusion, discuss Technology’s Power to Connect and Separate in A and Rhiannon’s relationship.

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. A’s experience living in many different bodies has allows them a diverse and broad worldview, causing A to realize how people are often more similar than society may think. Alternatively, other characters in the novel seem trapped and blinded by their worldviews, focusing on the differences among people, and in some cases even choosing to demonize difference. What are the characteristics of the worldviews that tend to blind people? Do they share any common features? Compare and contrast A with at least one (1) character suffering this type of blindness. Cite textual evidence about how A’s Fluidity of Identity has broadened their worldview, and compare that with the identity of the character suffering from blindness.

2. Trace the evolution of A and Rhiannon’s relationship. What initially draws A to Rhiannon? Examine the early chapters in the book, when A first meets Rhiannon and realizes that A is romantically attracted to Rhiannon. As their relationship progresses, how does A define love? How does Rhiannon define love? Are their definitions compatible? In your conclusion, discuss how both A and Rhiannon seem to agree that, rather than a superficial attraction, a more authentic, deeper kind of love is defined by Connection and Commitment, and describe where that leaves them in terms of having a real relationship.

3. Justin is the first character that A inhabits in the novel. Alexander is one of the last characters that A inhabits. Compare and contrast Justin and Alexander, first as bodies – their gender, their family situation, their worldview. What would you say is the key revelation that A has made since inhabiting Justin? In your conclusion, discuss A’s relationship to the Pressure of Time, and how A, while inhabiting Alexander, has a much different perception of time than while inhabiting Justin.