80 pages • 2 hours read
Antoine de Saint-ExupéryThe Little Prince
Fiction | Novella | Middle Grade | Published in 1943A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Essay Topics
The drawings in The Little Prince are arguably just as central to is meaning as its words are. Choose one of the drawings in the book and discuss how it contributes to the story's meaning.
The prince implies that the drawing of the sheep will actually come alive back on his home planet. What is the significance of this, in terms of the book's themes (imagination, meaning, etc.)?
Each section of Home of the Brave begins with an African proverb. What are these five proverbs and how do they align with Kek’s journey in his new country?
The fox says that he wants to be tamed because his current life consists only of hunting chickens and being hunted by humans—an existence he describes as "monotonous" (59). What elements of modern human existence does Saint-Exupéry suggest are comparable to this struggle for survival?
Why does Saint-Exupéry include the story of the prince's journeys to other planets? Choose two or three of the adults the prince meets on his travels and explain how these episodes contribute to The Little Prince as a whole.
In the story's final pages, the pilot wonders anxiously whether the sheep he drew for the prince has eaten the flower. What role does the sheep serve in The Little Prince, and why might the book end with this question?
The prince remarks at one point that he "shouldn’t have listened to [the rose]" (24) because her words weren't reflective of her true character. How does Saint-Exupéry work through and around the rose's language to show his readers what she is truly like?
When the geographer meets the prince, he describes the latter as an "explorer" (46). Discuss the significance of this term in light of the prince's overall character.
How does Saint-Exupéry use the prince's naiveté to make things we typically accept as normal seem strange? Include two to three examples in your response.
