Motorcycles and Sweetgrass

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. One of the functions of a trickster figure is to create chaos within which people can question their assumptions and the sources of stasis in their lives.

• How does Nanabush disrupt the lives of key characters in Motorcycles and Sweetgrass, and how does this benefit the characters? (topic sentence)
• Give examples of three characters whose lives are stuck in a rut. Then, show how Nanabush introduces chaos into their lives and how their subsequent re-evaluations of their lives result in positive changes.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show what these changes reveal about the nature of a Trickster God.

2. John’s argument with Dan in the diner is about much more than the motorcycle.

• What is John really offended about when Dan insults his motorcycle’s age? (topic sentence)
• Give examples from three separate parts of the text that support your argument about John’s real priorities in this argument.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show what this argument contributes to the novel’s concern with The Trickster God and Theological Equivalence.

3. The main characters in Motorcycles and Sweetgrass each have a different response to Nanabush.

• What do Maggie’s and Virgil’s responses to Nanabush demonstrate about their individual strengths and weaknesses? (topic sentence)
• Give examples from the text that demonstrate differing strengths and weaknesses for Maggie and Virgil, as well as examples that demonstrate how their responses to Nanabush are related to these individual strengths and weaknesses.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain what larger meaning these differing responses to Nanabush supports.

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. What is the purpose of comparing Nanabush to Jesus in this text, and how does it relate to the idea of Theological Equivalence? What similarities and differences between the two figures does the novel posit? Consider both the novel’s explicit claims and the implicit claims created by the actions of Nanabush and the understanding of Christ that most readers will bring to the text. Why does it matter that both figures combine human and spirit qualities? What theories about divinity and human nature are embodied in each figure? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the ideas conveyed through the figures of Jesus and Nanabush in Motorcycles and Sweetgrass. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite any quoted language according to the style guide of your instructor’s choice.

2. The community’s response to Lillian’s death makes it clear that they consider her death to mark the end of an era. How is this related to Lillian’s claim that Maggie is not really Anishinaabe but a new, hybrid kind of person? Why does she use the phrase “First Nations” to describe this new kind of person? How is this related to the boarding-school era and to The Continued Subjugation of Indigenous Societies? How is this identity shift represented by a lack of belief in Nanabush? Does Nanabush’s return to the reserve change this situation in any way? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about what Motorcycles and Sweetgrass conveys about changes in Anishinaabe identity over time. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite any quoted language according to the style guide of your instructor’s choice.

3. One of the aspects of Trickster Gods that makes them both amusing and frightening is their transgressive nature. In what ways does Nanabush transgress normative boundaries and even the boundaries of “reality”? What narrative techniques does the author use to shape the reader’s reactions to Nanabush’s behavior and abilities? What purpose do Nanabush’s transgressions serve within the world of the novel? Write an essay in which you analyze what the novel’s presentation of Nanabush’s transgressive nature communicates about the desirability and necessity of transgression. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from throughout the text, making sure to cite any quoted language according to the style guide of your instructor’s choice.